all about Olivia

Olivia, Olivia, what can I say about Olivia?!

She is smart. She is funny. She is sarcastic. She loves her little sister. She is beautiful. She loves her cousins very much. She is in 1st Grade. She is 6 years old. She wants to be a cheerleader. She asked me last night when she can get her own car, because she wants a pink one. She loves to dance around the house. She loves to swim. She is very happy that her BFF Katie is in her class again this year. She loves Taco Bell. She eats ketchup with nearly everything. She sleeps on the top bunk of the bunk-beds and complains that nobody can sleep up there with her. She begrudgingly rides the bus to school. She makes funny faces. She loves to play Wii. She is emotional & will cry at the drop of a hat. She is sensitive. She is kind, with a bit of a mean streak. She is happy. She is loving. She is the oldest. She is very loved by her very proud mama!

all about Rachel

Seems like there has been a lot of Olivia on here lately, so I wanted to share some of my littlest stinker too.

Rachel, Rachel, what can I say about Rachel?!


She is goofy. She is loving. She is my baby. She loves her big sister. She loves going to see her friends at day care. She is funny, & she will tell you "I funny". She is talking more & more every day. She has the cutest freckles on her cheeks. She is obsessed with bouncy balls. She loves El Reys. She may have a bit of a toddler hoarding disorder. She likes to collect things. She loves Scooby Doo. She is 2, but will be 3 in 2 months from today. She still takes a pacifier (I know, I know). She loves chocolate milk. She loves to sing. She is scared of dogs, but not bugs. She copies everything Olivia does. She loves swimming. She is most definitely a Daddy's Girl. She likes to eat, almost everything. She can do a perfect summersault. She is currently being potty-trained. She gets sad when she can't get on the bus with her sister each morning. She loves her "Do-Do" (cousin Andrew). She can climb ladders & is fearless. She is already a little bit of an instigator. She loves to laugh. She has an adorable fake cry. She says please & thank you quite regularly. She says grace before she eats. She is scared of band-aids. She is very loved by her very proud Mama.

jump - quotes - moving on

We all need a little bit of silly every now & then.

And this picture is nothing but fun. Oh, and it proves, that I am vertically challenged in every way possible! I promise you, that I did in fact jump. Gravity was working though & I came back down before the picture was snapped. HA!

My sister on the other hand (second from left) doesn't even look like it's any effort for her to jump. Brad & Tim (that's me between them) both have the same jumping method. Jarrett (on the right end) looks hysterically funny.



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Olivia told me the other night, "If I don't get into the bathroom right now, there is going to be a situation" -- so funny!

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On the way home from picking the girls up yesterday, a car honked in the distance. Rachel immediately yelled "HI" out the window. I jokingly asked her who that was & she said "My boyfriend, my Owen" -- Really Rachel. You are too much sometimes.

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Are you as tired of hearing me say that I want to lose weight as I am of saying it? You probably aren't as tired of it as Jarrett is. Poor guy catches the brunt of it. (I figure that is part of his husbandly duties, right?) He has a tendency to be extremely impatient, but when it comes to me being wishy-washy & down on myself he has the patience of a saint. He reassures me. He loves me, no matter what. He is, overall, a pretty good guy.

I have decided, I have been down on myself too long. I am going to be happy with me, no matter what - if Jarrett can, then so can I.

I'm done putting myself down. I'm done making excuses. I'm done being the person I don't want to be. I am making it a point to be happy.

I'd like to blame this extra poundage on stress & the grief buffet that ensued when my Grandpa was very ill & then passed. But let's face I can only blame the last 10 pounds or so on that. The rest is all me -- laziness & poor choices.

I have started anew. I have brought my lunch each day this week. I have been drinking a ton of water! I have been making better choices (aka - no McDonalds). I have been controlling my portion sizes better. I am starting to move. This lovely stretch of weather has been a great time for me to get out & take walks. The family joined me for 1, and I took 2 by myself.

I'm doing it.

a boy & his barbie scooter

Olivia got a barbie scooter for Christmas, but it appears her father enjoys it even more than she does.

Dearest Jarrett,

Sorry I lied to you when you asked "what are you taking pictures for? Those better not end up on your stupid blog or facebook." These are too funny not to share.

what a difference...

a year makes...

She sure has grown in a years time...

1st Day of School

Friday was Olivia's first day of 1st Grade! I can hardly believe it!

She is a pretty big deal now. In fact, she was so excited for school that she put her backpack on with her pjs.



Here are some official 1st day of school pictures - Miss Rachel had to sneak in there too.








She loved her first day - said it was lots of fun. Lets hope she keeps this up for the rest of the school year!

Holy First Day of School, Batman!

Can you even believe it is the the first day of school already?!?! How on earth did the summer go by so fast? Luckily, I have the day off of work to escort my now 1st Grader {sniffle sniffle} off to her 1st day of the school year. Wish me luck.

I am feeling far less emotional about this 1st day then I have been the last 2 years. I feel the reason for this is 2-fold. #1 - pre-school was her very first time going to school. I was blubbering mess. #2 - kindergarten was all day school. I was worried about a big adjustment for her. This year, 1st Grade - piece of cake. I may still get a little misty eyed when the bus picks her up Monday morning. We shall see when the time comes.

I still need to find something to do with my crazy 2 year old while I am taking Liv to school & helping her carry in all of those fabulous school supplies. I should probably get on the horn about that...

If the day goes as smoothly as I have it planned out in my head, I will be one happy lady. I have envisioned a very easy wake up & get ready for Miss Livie. Take no less than 20 pictures of her on the 1st day of school. Then shuffle Miss Rachey Girl off somewhere for about 10 minutes while I take Liv in. Then the morning with just me & Rachel. Then pick Liv up from school. Lunch of some sorts. Home to wait for Jarrett to arrive. Then off to the State Fair for all 4 of us.

Of course, pictures to come. I'm filled with excitement & pride for Olivia. She is going to have fun in 1st Grade. She will, no doubt, excel & do very well in her school work. And she is a very lucky little girl - her BFF Katie is in her class again this year.

Well, I better go - time to rally the troops!

How I Spend Wednesday Nights

You know in school when they ask you, what did you do over your summer break...

I don't get a "summer break" per se, but I do get Wednesday nights to myself (meaning no hubs & no kids - hey I gotta do it during the summer because come harvest time I will be home with the kids by myself every night). I spent my Wednesday nights from May - August playing co-ed softball with my favorite people. I also played in Lincoln on Thursdays - Jarrett & the girls went to every game, so I don't count that as "me" time :)

Sturgeon's Woodworking represented in Normal Park District's Slow Pitch C0-Ed League for the 2nd year running. Woot Woot!!! Like I said last week - us Sturgeons take our sporting events pretty seriously.

{grade school softball pose - modeled by yours truly}

{high school softball pose - modeled by my sister}

{my mad running skills - it feels like i run really really fast although i know its not true}

{my handsome brother - married to hilary}

{my cousin Amber}

{me & my friend "Blue" i think his real name is Jeff, but i don't know. we chat it up every wednesday night behind the plate.}

{Huff}

{Sarah}

{Travis - aka dexter}

aaaaaah...Summer. You are almost a distant memory for me.

A Girls' Day

My best gal & I did some back to school shopping on Saturday. She claims that she has never been to Target. She kept saying things like "Target is so awesome, Mom!" & "I love Target! It's the best store!" Maybe I need to get my kids out into the world a little more often.

She picked out a backpack. It cost $30. I steered her towards the $12 ones. And now she is the proud owner of a little pink backpack with monkeys, rainbows, & hearts on it. And of course we had to get the matching lunch bag.

She picked out a few back to school clothes.

Namely this


She plans on wearing it ALL.THE.TIME. This vest & 2 t-shirts ought to hold her over until we have to do some fall/winter shopping. She has a bazillion summer clothes that she should be able to wear for at least the first month & half of school.

After shopping, I figured what the hey - let's do lunch & a movie.


So we ate at The Shack. Where Olivia said "every bite is like cheeseburger heaven".



Olivia wanted to see Dispicable Me, I may have steered her towards Ramona & Beezus. I loved the Ramona books when I was little. Now I think I should buy them for my best gal to enjoy too.

It was a super fun day!

Da Bears - oh how I have missed you

That's Right!!!

Bears Pre-Season starts tonight!!!

If you need me, you will be able to find me oogling my boyfriend Jay Cutler & cheering on Da Bears in the comforts of my living room.

And as Rachel would say "Go Football!"

And as Olivia will say "Mom, there's your boyfriend!" I know babe, I know!