August Ten on the Tenth

The idea is to take ten photos on the tenth of the month and share it, documenting a day of your life and the ordinary moments. There is beauty in the ordinary.


When did the beginning of August become the end of summer? Well, here we are celebrating another day, trying to see the beautiful in the ordinary...

This morning started pretty early... I have to run before Ross goes to work, but I guess it gets me up and ready. Here is breakfast for Ross getting started.



I had to get the kids up early too for a doctor visit. Just annual check-ups.



As a treat after their doctor visits, we headed to Barnes and Noble... we seem to go here a lot on the tenth of the month. coincidence?



And then Ross called and said he could meet us for lunch! Always fun!


We went home after lunch and watched some Olympics. Max was running some sprints. Later in the evening we were doing a relay as a family around the kitchen! Everyone argued who could run the anchor leg.


We headed out to dinner too. Friday nights are better that way, right?




The kids were having the pillow pets have races down the stairs.



And the temperature outside was actually very cool. The coolest we've had since May, so Ross and I enjoyed the sunset on the deck.

I took pictures and he did this...



And then we watched the sunset, which is one of the best things about this house for us...


Cheers to you on the this tenth!

Last Day of School!!

Since it's almost August, I figured I should do my last day of school post!!

Here they are, the soon to be 5th and 2nd grader!!

Graduation - YOLO!

Our neighbors from Boston live here and we often get together for dinners and events. When we met them, their daughter, Lauren, was Zoey's age! And she graduated this year from high school. It makes me stop and hug my kiddos as I realize once again how quickly time goes by!

I actually got to take Lauren's senior pictures this year... here are a couple from our sessions...




and this one was for fun, just to see the little girl we used to know:)



So, Lauren introduced us to the popular phrase YOLO! It stands for "you only live once" for those of you not quite as "with it" as we are. It kind of became a joke whenever we would see her to yell YOLO around her. And then she told us it was their graduation theme, and well, Ross couldn't help but be supportive...

he kept another shirt on all day, until he revealed:



her reaction... she loved it, of course!


Posing while trying to keep a straight face


Gotta live it up, you do, after all, only live once!


Congratulations, Lauren.

And just a cute one of Max at the party...

Zoey's Week, part 2

During the week of Zoey's talent show, she had to go to a practice, and a dress rehearsal after school and then do the performance during the day. And each evening, she went to a soccer tryout for our local select soccer club. She decided she wanted to try a competitive league for the following year, so she had four nights of tryouts. I knew she also had nerves about this (she didn't know anyone at the tryout, where most girls new each other from playing together before, as they tryout again each year), but she did great and hopefully had a little fun. She would tell me that she didn't care about the results and whether or not she made the team, but, of course, we were all hoping she would.

Tryouts ended Thursday evening, but they wouldn't tell us the results until the following Monday or Tuesday. So we waited and waited and finally got an e-mail inviting her to be a part of the team! We were so excited and proud of her. We yelled to the kids to get their shoes on and we headed to the local ice cream shop.

Once we got the ice cream, we told Zoey the news!

Her face as Ross reads her the e-mail.


Max smiling for her!


Proud of you, Zoey and excited for the season to start!

Zoey's Week, Part 1

The second to last week of school for Zoey was definitely an interesting one. It was mildly stressful for me, so I can only imagine what her thoughts were. She had a lot going on and I was so proud of her in so many ways, that I needed to capture it here.

First, she decided that she wanted to participate in the school's talent show. She had done it the year before with friends, but this year wanted to go solo. Zoey isn't a singer or dancer, which are typical things seen in the show, so I figured she'd do some Tae Kwon do forms or something. She decided she wanted to hula hoop, and not only that, she made up her routine and picked her music. They had a couple of practices and only after they did that did she mention being a little nervous up on stage. But, it didn't seem to bother her too much and she pushed through and put on a good show! And I totally loved her music choice... Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys!













And true to Zoey, she adds in a big kick and ends with a yoga pose!

The pictures do not portray it well, here is a video...

Random Ross

Just a couple of pictures from Ross doing what he does...

make things (this is a table... it is closer to being finished now and very interesting, so I will show you when it's done)



and get dirty... he was like a little kid here and didn't even know his face was like this!



love you, ross:)

Up Close and Personal...

“I must have flowers, always, and always.” ― Claude Monet

“All things are artificial, for nature is the art of God” – Thomas Browne

“The earth laughs in flowers.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson