First day of Middle School

Oh boy....I'm old enough to have a middle schooler. :( Oaklen first day of school went fine. He said it only took him half a day to get into his locker. Haha. We mentioned many times this summer getting him a practice lock and he kept saying "it won't be hard to figure out".

We had to work on getting his schedule changed to include band in which he will be playing the drums. Oaklen said he did NOT want to join the band he wanted to draw, watch tv and play video games. After getting his equipment I think he is excited. Are you seeing a pattern here? He's at that age where nothing mom and dad say can be right until he tests it himself.

These little ones below want to be just like bubby and had to have a "pack pack" too. Luckily I found these lunch boxes that were perfect size to pass as little back packs. :)

Cincinnati Zoo

We enjoyed a trip to Cincinnati to visit with my dad and brother at the zoo. Very proud to say Addison is completely potty trained all day all night. I even tried to put her in a diaper for the trip. She had a big fit and although I won, she wore it, she refused to pee in it the entire drive. This was a nice trip all around. The kids behaved nicely despite missing their nap and travelled to and from wonderfully.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A new pet

He's borrowing in this spot because there is a heater posistion under him.

Oaklen went to the gun range with my dad and came home with a box turtle (named Tank). It was crossing the road and almost got hit. Instead of just picking him and moving him to the side of the road he found his way to my home via my 11 year old. We are a pet free home except for a beta and thought ok maybe this is something Oaklen can take care of on his own because I have enough to do. I mean it's free right? Surely they are low maintenance right? NO THEY ARE NOT! After a little research I found that there were many thing we needed for the survival of this turtle. After going to the pet store I found that there was even more needed. So this turtle has cost us a bundle but here are some pictures of the kids enjoying the turtle and his new home which somehow ended up in my room?

Water day at Nonni's

Oaklen is home!

Bubby got home really late so when the kids got up they jumped into O's bed. They were so excited to see him it's so nice to capture these sweet moments. Especially now that we have 3 terrible 2's and a preteen. These moments don't seem to happen daily.

O loved his new room. He came in that night and I told him to go peak in on the babies. He went to his room (formerly their room) and threw himself on the bed. He absolutely loved it!

Oaklen was baptized two sundays ago and it can be seen at the following site. It's at the end of the service and you can fast forward through.
http://www.truthcasting.com/player.aspx#showChannel=10000091

He came home a little more tan than he left and I think 2 inches taller. :)