A LOT CAN BE DONE WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A CAR

Rob's truck broke down on tuesday, so all week me and the kids have been stranded at home with no choice but to stay home! what a bore. it actually has been quite a blessing. i have been able to get a lot done and spend some quality time with the two little home babes. we love to play outside and water all the flowers. i have actually gotten to my pile of clothing repairs in the laundry room. i've made a good meal every night, my house has stayed clean..... the list goes on. it's been quite nice. today me and sofia and ollie decided to venture out and take a walk up to annelies and nico's school. we had lunch with annelies and gave a big squeeze to nico before we went to play on the really fun school play ground before all the big kids came out. it's been a very nice and peaceful week.

THE FUNNY FACES OF SOFIA

i came across these pictures on my cell phone. they are of sofia making some of her funny faces! she is such a goof ball and her only goal is to make you laugh hysterically.

JONAS BROTHERS

heading to the concert!

waiting for all the fun to begin

IT'S STARTING!! (that's nico by the way)

Jakob is looking for some sign of the Jonas Brothers!

WOW!! what an experience we had last night.... let me back track a little bit. for nico's birthday he got Jonas Brothers concert tickets and last night, August 20th, was the BIG NIGHT. i got 3 tickets and had to decide if i should bring Jakob or Annelies. i chose Jakob because i really thought he would like the bright lights and loud noise. WRONG!! it was hot, we had lawn seats and he fell asleep with the blanket as a pillow halfway through the concert. oh well~ lesson learned Nevertheless, me and nico had fun. my one major complaint (other than jakob) would have to be that it took FOREVER for the J.B. to come out. it was a full hour or longer after the opening act finished that Jonas Brothers FINALLY made their appearance! UGH, all the poor kids just waiting around. it was actually pretty ridiculous. all in all nico had a great time and that is what matters!

BACK TO SCHOOL

the kids started back to school on monday and my life got a whole lot easier. i have to admit that i look forward to the kids going back to school. for me it means i only have to tote two kids around town instead of five.... it means my days are free to get done what i need to and that my two year old will actually get to take a nap without being woken up by screaming big kids!! lucky for me, the kids were happy to start school also. they are still young enough to think school is more fun than work and that they will have a great time hanging out with there friends.

Annelies started kindergarten, so she was super excited to be able to FINALLY ride a bus. she and i went shopping for all new clothes and picked out the perfect first day of school outfit. she was ready to say the least! 

For Jakob and Nico, this was just another year. they are old pros and the excitement has warn off just a little, but they were still excited. 

Jakob goes to a different school than nico and annelies!

BOYS WAKE-BOARDING

Nico and Jakob have had so much fun this summer at the lake. nico turned 9 this summer, so Rob had it planned for nico to start wake~boarding. after several attempts at it, Jakob decided he was ready to try..... on his first attempt, he was up. the kid has some super strong muscles from all of his physical therapy through the years. Nico then decided that he was not going to be shown up by his younger brother and made one more attempt. these videos are from 4th of July. It was so fun. thanks to our good friend Joe who really helped the boys out a lot!!

CATCHING UP.... AGAIN!!

Annelies has finally talked her daddy into teaching her how to ride the four wheeler. she was glowing and rob was so proud of how well she did.

we have gotten some good use out of our new sport court. the kids love playing tennis and rob introduced dodge ball to them. we had so much fun playing outside and being with the kids! there something to that FHE thing!

our friend Hunter, who trains dogs came over with a new litter of puppies the other day and the kids were in HEAVEN!! the puppies were so cute and playful and they had a great time with our kitten and nibbling on the kids ankles.

and this picture says it all, but what would be summer without Jakob peeing in the front yard! he is not bashful at all..... this is our front yard in our neighbors yard! UGH!!! 

CATCHING UP....

our summer has been a rush of events and camps and fun, fun, fun!!! nico had a great week of guitar camp and ollie was fascinated by all the guitars!

Sofia had a very fun play date with one of her best little girlfriends from church, Genevieve.

We got to take a trip out to the possibly new casa de Boot and the kids had so much fun running and playing while us big kids enjoyed Lorna's plans for every square inch of the house! (gorgeous!!!)

The kids had SO MUCH FUN playing with there cousins at a great blow up slide gym. melanie and i had our fair share of climbing and playing too!!