i seem to spend most of my day driving my car, shuttling the kids everywhere... or driving a shopping cart. and i think my mobile pics are evident of that..


um, ellie, your pacifier is both backwards and sideways...



lookie here, mom, i like it that way!



we love target!



the kids love these types of grocery carts, and every time we see one available. i'm think to myself, "darn!" it's a bear to maneuver this thing between the aisles! i'm sweating by the time i get to my car!



i never get tired of looking at my kids in these goofy sunglasses.

fall = a season of colds and cider mills :)

so it's been exactly 7 days since we noticed that little ellie had a runny nose. we were driving on our way to church and i look back at her and saw that she had a little trail of watery snot coming of her nose. i thought, oh no. maybe if i look away it'll be nothing and just go away.... i thought to myself... maybe she has allergies....maybe it's just saliva that she smeared up to her nose?? okay, probably not that. ellie (knock on wood) has been a pretty healthy baby. she's hasn't had nearly the amount of colds and such as addison at that age. she's our little tank... armored against sickness, a tough shell of a body that doesn't feel trips, falls and bumps. she's a tough cookie. but as the day went on, i realized it was the real deal. she's catching a cold. no big deal. everyone gets a cold. and plus colds and sickness only make us stronger. i consider myself also very healthy. i rarely ever get sick. and when i do, i try not to let it affect me too much. i try not to think about it and just do what i normally do. well, i ended up catching what ellie did... but with runny nose, sore throat, etc. i have to keep on plugging away at my normal duties because i have a familiy that depends on me. and then addison and jimmy also caught it. of course, i mean this is bound to happen, right?? we all do live with each other. this was the first time we all got sick at the same time. it was a little rough... addison felt horrible and basically skipped 4 full days of any type of activity. she threw up one morning, complained about her ears and her throat. i took her to the doctor and it turns out she was starting to get an ear infection... got antibiotics for that.. and she's coughing a lot. poor ellie had a bad case of diarrhea which led to a very bad diaper rash where her bottom was raw and she would scream in terror from the pain. i had to make a concoction of hydrocortisone and lotrimin (per nurse) and put that on her bottom and then put a barrier cream over that. and she was on a particular diet to prevent the runs. and then there was jimmy... exhausted and stressed from work plus his lack of sleep probably made his immune system weak and then being exposed to all the germs... of course he caught this too. but no fevers for any of us... just a lot of coughing and runny noses. anyway, it's the tail end of this illness and i am seeing a light at the end of this tunnel. i started to feel a bit run down from tending to everyone at one point, but reminded myself that's just what a mom has to do and managed to fight through my own cold quickly. a few good things that came out of this... 1.) i found a jook recipe that i made and liked so i'm happy to add that to my recipe book. 2.) i found some sort of strange burst of energy as i started to feel better and cleaned all our screens on our windows.... so now we have clean windows! :) and did a number of other household projects that i've been putting off 3.) and jimmy and i and the girls got to spend some time all together while everyone stayed home from work and school. i am sure this is just the beginning of many family sick episodes. but we'll get through it again! :)

so we were all feeling a lot better by today... we went to the cider mill just down the street from our house to get some fresh air and of course, donuts and cider!! it's fall time in michigan!


these donuts are a little piece of heaven... it's buttery and sugary and crispy on the outside and so soft and delectable on the inside. and not to mention they are warm... freshly made! they are really good, but probably sooo bad. well, once in a great while is okay. ;)



ellie the tank's first cider mill experience...



and she's a believer...



"sick? who's sick??"


















ahhh, it's nice to be out! :)

ellie's got some moves part 2

another dancing video. she really likes this music dog. but then in this video she gets distracted and moves on to the something else. oh well. :)

busy sunday

we had a busy sunday... church, birthday party, and first day of soccer. it was busy, but it was fun. :)

addison and i went to her friend, joylyn's 5th birthday party. her mom asked me to take some photos, which i much happily obliged. gorgeous sunny weather, beautiful children, happy occasion... it was a joy!





the birthday girl. goregous isn't she??!






the birthday girl's baby sister. she is a darker-haired version of her older sister.



she is the youngest of 4 daughters. she is cute as a button.









good ole addie with her kool-aid smile.



really enjoying the cupcake! :)



happy birthday, joylyn!!


and then immediately after the birthday party, addison had her first day at soccer. she skipped her nap. i was hoping that she would be okay. but i think the extra sugar from the cupcakes was the fuel that kept her going. :) we knew that one of her friends was also going to be there. but apparently, there were 150+? some kids signed up so we thought the chance of her and her friend, andrew being on the same team would be slim to none. but when we got there and they read off the teams, it turns out that they DID get on the same team! needless to say, addison was super excited.






at a local high school. it was really packed. i was surprised and impressed with how organized this little league was. i never played soccer as a kid so this was all sort of new to me. i was pumped up!



addison and next to her is her buddy, andrew






a little huddle



this is a little far away... but if you zoom in, you can clearly tell that addison is so happy to be with andrew! they are more goofing around at this point! they are doing some sort of weird happy dance.



andrew was cruising!! he was doing awesome!



"go addie!!! go after the ball!" okay, another thing that surprised me was that i so totally turned into "that soccer mom" that's always cheering for their kid on the sidelines. i was a little embarrassed by myself! but i couldn't help it! haha






"get it girl!!"









their team scored here. i can't remember if this was the time when addie happened to tap it in.



my sunshine face









ellie wanting to get in on the action






nice work!! until next week.... :)

soccer

addison starts her soccer season this sunday. previously, the soccer classes that she's taken in the past involves the kids just running around back and forth kicking the ball. it seemed more like a way to tire the poor kids out. there were some lessons on stopping the ball. but mostly, it was just a bunch of 3-4 year olds running around. this fall we signed up for hopefully something a little more real. our sundays will consist of 30 minutes of practice and 30 minutes of a game. shin guards are required, soccer shoes are optional. so we finished getting addison her gear today and now she's ready to go. we did a test run today in our backyard with all her gear on. she's excited and i think she's got some decent skill. though the one thing i'm concerned about is that sometimes she gets frustrated and throws a fit and wants to quit (typical of any 4 yr. old, I suppose). but i think that is why team sports are so very important. so hopefully her being in soccer will teach her to stick with something because your team counts on you. and that good sportsmanship is so key to not only sports but in other aspects in life....behaving with dignity no matter what the outcome may be. though addison has her plate full this fall with soccer, dance, piano, korean school, plus her regular preschool, we hope that she has fun in each activity and that she learns a little something different from each. i'm a little worried to be honest about her load, but we'll just play it be ear and if it gets to be too much, we'll figure it out and go from there.

but anyway, here she is practicing today...

The action shots...











so i asked addison to pose for me and this is what she does! hahaha! still a girlie girl!




ellie giving it a go!








ellie, that ball is as big as you!




peek a boo!


daddy making the girls to some drills. ;)


ellie, don't lick the ball!!




okay, time for us to go in now... :)