Matti's Birthday

Poor Matti (or more like poor Matti's mommy!--she wanted a swim party and instead we were outside freezing!!) the weather was absolutely ridiculous for August!!!
Here's a cute pic of My sister Jayna, her hubby Chris and the birthday girl Matti Marie. She's so stinkin' cute!

Matti eating her cake, i think Jayna was hoping she'd be a little more dramatic with it and get it EVERYWHERE! She's just too much of a little lady for that! LOL!

THe dessert table was adorable. Mom made the cake and the cutest cupcakes. They tasted yummy too! :)

Here is Matti's cake. It think the candles were adorable. She got them in Branson when on vacation last week.

Jayna had all these activities planned and all we played was volleyball--we all agreed we are too old and fat to be athletic again! :) It was agood time!! :)

Angel of Hope Ceremony

The Angel of Hope Ceremony took place on Saturday August 29th. It was an amazing thing to witness and be a part of. This angel is only the 2nd in Missouri. THere are less than 70 in the United States. The angel is for the memorial of any child who has died. The are memorial bricks around the statue. Our brick is ordered in memory of our son, Ben, and will be placed at a ceremony in November.

Here is the angel lit up at night at the end of the ceremony. It's absolutely breath taking--if u ever get a chance to take a moment and visit her she is in Weinand Park in Troy, MO (across from McCoy and Blossom funeral home)

Part of the ceremony had guest speakers. One of which was Mandy Murphy a fox 2 news anchor. SHe has lost 3 children. She gave a great speech that touched me. She talked about how people have good intentions when they walk up and ask oh hey hows the baby didn't u just have her? And when she answers we lost the baby they reply oh it's okay u'll get over it. I can't even imagine how hard it would have been for her considering she announced on the air that she was preggo and then to lose the baby with everyone knowing. Awful!

They also released balloons during the ceremony. I thought this would be simple to get through b/c we released balloons at Ben's burial. But oh, my goodness was I wrong! All these parents are shouting to their children (u just had to be there--it's making me tear up to think about it) It was a beautiful moment.

I got roses for our family members adn added Ben's footprints and on the back was the poem I read at his burial. (u know me can't leave anything plain jane!)

Here is a quick pic of my family. Unfortunately it was a busy night so the only ones who could make it were, my mom and dad, my sister jayna and her husband, my older sister Sandi. In November both sides of the family will be there. I can't wait to see how the brick turns out.

Old Threasher's

We participated in the Old Threashers at Montgomery City again this year. This first picture was Sunday at the Parade of Power.

Sunday showing off the tractors!

Aaron participated in the tractor games in the morning. He ended up winning a tropy for the barrel race and for the balloon popping. He had a blast and Izzy and I enjoyed watching him!

On Friday night they do a parade through Montgomery.

First day of School!

SO it's the night before her first day of Kindergarten. We still hadn't decided on an outfit. Wasn't that always the greatest part of school the back to school clotehs? I still remember how it felt to pick the perfect outfit for the first day. She did a quick fashion show before deciding on her black skirt and green shirt. She decided not to go "too dressy" the girl cracks me up!!

The next important step for the first day of school is breakfast! She picked her fav--biscuits and gravy--although she didn't really eat very much--guess she was too nervous??

Next big step--lunch! Aaron packed her lunch while I was gettting her dressed and doing hair. He got such a big kick out of doing it! He even cut her sammie in half!!! :) Such a cute dad!! He did scold me for writing on her napkin (which HE packed!) He said the others would make fun of her--I politely reminded him that she nor the others would even be able to READ it!!! LOL!!! I figured the hearts would get her attention! :)

Izzy went to bed early so the school fairy visited our house!!! The school fairy brought her all kinds of fun stuff! She got a new puzzle, Tinkerbell playing cards, new pencils, a paint book, and even a sticker book! She just thinks the school fairy is the neatest lady!!! LOL!! The things we do for our kids! wink, wink!!!

Lastly, the supplies. Oh the feeling of new school supplies, takes u back doesn't it?? Nothing like using a new box of crayons or that first page of ur notebook! I know my little girl will have a FANTASTIC year! I am sooo proud of her (and me for not crying!) My advice to parents everywhere--cherish every moment with ur little ones they grow too quickly!! Soon she'll be off to college! LOL!

This picture just captures it all! I can't believe my baby is in school!


Okay I just have to say OMG! We get to school and she is doing great. It was when we went into the room with all the other kiddos and parents that she FLIPPED out! She was SOBBING!! Seriously, I was shocked I ripped her hand from mine gave her a quick hug and made a beeline for the door. Aaron on the other hand, not so quick he stayed with her. I'm in the hall surrounded by moms crying and I can here her screaming for me! It was HORRIBLE!!! Finally I pushed my way back thru and consoled her and then the teacher came and took her from us! I could NOT believe it! I had to get out of there before I lost it so we dashed for the door. Aaron's shirt was soaked! I'm not exaggerating! But I made it I did not shed a tear--felt like throwing up in the parking lot! LOL! Aaron and I anxiously waited until the end of the day to pick her up and sure enough she was just fine! She was smiling and bouncing out the door! I knew she would be okay. I was able to talk to the teacher after school and she said Izzy relaxed after about 5mins. What a mess! LOL!

First Day Continued!!!!!

Here are some more pics!
Here she is in the morning. The teacher was busy so I never got a pic with her before school started--don't worry--I got one after school! :)

Okay so I had to take this pic to show how weird the bathrooms are at Izzy's school. So u can see her Kindergarten door and look the sinks are right outside. Then the stalls are on either side (girls on the left, boys on the right) Different huh?? Okay so maybe it's just me! LOL

Izzy putting her things away. Such a big girl!

Waited almost 25 minutes after school let out to get a picture of Izzy with her teacher. (i'm sure she thinks I'm a stalker!!!) I was NOT missing this chance! So here she is! It's gonna be a great year!

Izzy enjoying her Sinclair icecream after her first day of school. Who knew a gas station would have such good icecream! LOl we weren't the only ones! Gotta love small towns! P.s. Try the birhtday cake--it's amazing!! :)

Finn Inn, Grafton, IL

Here we are on the ferry again (this was after the finn inn)

Me and Izzy (not a very good picture) We just love visiting this place. It's just a great atmosphere. (it's small and u generally have to wait in line for awhile but it's worth the wait!)

Izzy staring at the fish. The walls are lined with tanks and the fish can usually swim the entire lenght so u get to see a variety of fish (does that make sense?)
The restr. even has giant alligator snapping turtles. They used to have 5 but they donated 2 to the STL zoo. So the table across the isle from us had the turtles. Izzy freaked out when the one went up for air! So funny!!!

Izzy had to move to the other side of the table to get a different view!

Then she moved back! But as u can see the scenery of fish keep changing.

Raging Rivers Cont.. . . .

More Raging Rivers

Each time the bucket fills up with water it tips and pours over so the kids love standing there and getting drowned!

Izzy was too worried about the bucket dropping water than to look at daddy with the camera!

Here's a pic of Izzy coming down the slide. Okay well really it's the best pic I got of her --not that u can see her or anything! LOL!

THis is Aaron being spit out of the flusher. In all the years I've been to Raging Rivers--never once have i done this!! U go down a long slide and then roll around in the funnel until u drop--I am not exaggerateing aaron rolled around 5 times before dropping. U just stand there and listen to them rolling and clunking around!!!

Izzy loved it! She chose to go in the one that was an enclosed funnel so it was dark!!! Crazy kid!

Raging Rivers

We took Izzy to Raging Rivers Water Park in Grafton, IL this past Sunday. I have been nursing a bulging disc in my back so we needed to get out of the house and have some fun. Plus it was the perfect excuse to not have to do the slides!! LOL!
Here are Aaron and Izzy walking up all the hills to get ot the top of the slides.

Here's the slide that Izzy loved going down! Crazy kid!

She loved the kids area. The tire swing was lots of fun for her!

Getting ready to get wet--she all of a sudden got slightly bashful--she got over her anxiousness very quickly!

In order to get to Grafton we took 2 different ferries. It's kinda fun! Izzy loves it!

Ta Da!

Okay so I think I'm caught up for a while! Not sure where the summer has gone! I'm hoping things will slow down a bit in the fall. Izzy starts kindergarten in about two weeks so I'm sure things will just get crazier! LOL!

I am hoping to keep up a little bit better on my blog posts. So bear with me!

XOXO
Steph

Hair Bows !

Had to take a minute and show off my lastest obsession! Hairbows again! I'm not making them and selling some at my sister's hair salon. It beats just sitting watching tv at night! :)





Okay so not the greatest pics they are all sidways --but u get the idea!

Mo Co Fair

Izzy on the carasel(?) We love going to the MoCO fair b/c it's soooo much smaller than Troy's. She was able to ride every ride she wanted and we only waited in line ONCE!!! IT's wonderful when u have a little kid and don't have to worry about waiting FOREVER!!
Izzy and Gpa Dennis watching the tractor pull. (looks very similar to last years pic huh? Check it out here
Izzy going down the giant slide--it was too boring for her! When did she get so grown up?

She absolutely LOVED the swings. I seriously thought I was going to puke watching her. I was sick with worry! I'm such a freak--I HATE carnival rides (seriously any ride u can pack up in a couple hours and drive down the road can not be safe!!!!) But I sucked it up and let her go--OVER and OVER again!! I mean that thing went pretty fast and pretty high! Friggin daredevil! Where did she get it from??!!

Izzy on the dragon