october 25

drop off for gavin's 2nd day of school went smoothly, but when i picked him up i got reports that he was pretty sad during the day.  he shed tears several times because he was missing me :(  i guess the excitement and the newness has already worn off.  it will be an adjustment, but i know he'll quickly come to love school.  thankfully, joey is in his class and is the sweetest boy ever.  he gives gavin lots of hugs and plays with him all day long.  knowing that gavin has joey gives me so much peace of mind.  brooke has also been so supportive of gavin.  she is like his little cheerleader, and it makes me so thankful for the relationship they have.

after school today we played on the school playground with jackson, joey and chase.  gavin was in his element with the big boys and had fun running around like a crazy man.  poor brooke is always surrounded by boys these days.  thankfully, she's handling it pretty well.

october 24

gavin turned 2 1/2 last week so today he was able to start preschool.  i still can't quite believe that my baby is already heading off to preschool 2 mornings a week.  i didn't cry, but i did come home and eat a lot of chocolate :)  the house was SO quiet... but i know this will be good for him.  he has spent nearly every minute of every day of his life with me, and i know a little separation will do us both some good.  he was all smiles this morning and even did a happy dance in the shower.  look at that big grin!  drop-off went great - i barely got a kiss in before he ran off into his classroom to wash his hands and start his day.

october 23

we kept the halloween festivities rolling today with a trip to the pumpkin patch at shaw farm.  we took brooke there when she was 1!  it was like i remembered but even better because there was more for the kids to do.  we ran into some of our friends and met up with family... same group as last night :)  we took an awesome hay ride through fields that were decked out for halloween; we listened to some good ole country music in a barn; we picked pumpkins right off the vine, and of course, the kids played... a lot.  i think their favorite thing was the train of little cars pulled by a tractor pretty fast in a circle around the field.  they begged to ride that again and again, and it was totally worth the $2.00 ticket to see those big, radiant smiles on their faces.

october 22

today marked the start of our halloween activities.  after a great, crisp Fall day we had heather, danny and stella over for dinner and then met up with the rest of the family for anderson's jack-o-lantern walk.  all of the cousins were there (minus chase) and even some of the cousins' cousins :)  brooke and sydney are always so happy when they get to see each other, and i love having an older girl around for brooke.  the kids all looked so cute in their costumes!  stella was the most adorable little witch i have ever seen, and my sister made/embellished her entire outfit (minus the hat).  loved it!!!  the kids had fun looking at all of the jack-o-lanterns, eating treats and getting their faces painted (which took most of the night), and it was so much fun to see them all together in their costumes.

october 21

i am loving Fall in cincinnati.  it is every bit as good as i remember.  today was another beautiful day.  brooke was at her friend lynn's house all afternoon, so i had a bit more time to myself than i normally do.  tonight tonda and will came over to visit for the first time since we moved back.  i had so much fun catching up with tonda and watching our kids play together.  it sure did make me feel so grown-up (aka "old" :)  we had pizza and wine followed by a nice evening outside by the fire.  the kids love our new outdoor fireplace because they can't get enough s'mores!  fun times.

october 20

today it was my turn to attend the fall festival at brooke's school, and megan had gavin for the morning.  another great luxury... swapping kids with my sister-in-law!  i loved being with brooke and getting a fun glimpse into what her days at school are like.  but this was also a special day filled with lots of fun games and activities and snacks and music.  brooke is thriving in her new school and learning so much every single day.  i really can't ask for more than that.  and i was struck by how independent brooke was compared to her classmates.  she was thrilled to have me there, but she clearly didn't need or want to hold my hand or have me help her in any way.  she is really growing up!  speaking of growing up... gavin turned 2 1/2 today!  unbelievable.

october 19

the guys were back trying to fix some remaining issues with our hardwood floors, so we had to be out of the house all day.  i took gavin to breakfast, ran some errands and then picked up brooke from school and drove to my sister's house in the pouring rain.  it didn't bother me to be out in the miserable weather because i was just so happy to be able to drive to my sister's house in the middle of the week and just hang out.  it feels like such a luxury and such a gift after being away for over 2 years.  and i love that stella and i get to know each other a little more each week.  today we played and read books and did a whole lot of nothing.  but it was perfect.

october 18

i got to babysit chase for several hours this morning while megan attended jackson's fall festival at school. as of two months ago poor chase barely knew his aunt tara, but i'm happy to report that he was perfectly happy with me today :)  thankfully he sees me several times a week coming and going at school.  gavin loves his little cousin and is so sweet and gentle with him.  he even turns on his sweet baby voice when he talks to "baby chase."  i absolutely loved having my nephew for the morning, and i hope i'm called on to babysit again soon!

october 17

i love how much the kids like to be in the kitchen.  this evening when i was preparing dinner, i gave brooke and gavin their own bowl and a handful of ingredients to make their own creations.  they love doing this.  it reminds me of my childhood when my brother, sister and i would make up some concoction and then want my mom to taste it.

and seeing all the stuff crammed into our family room in this picture will serve to remind me that after being in the house over a month, our floors are still not "fixed."  c'est la vie.

october 16

we had the pleasure of attending my cousin shannon's wedding today at the manor house in mason.  it was a beautiful morning for a wedding, and it was great to see my aunt, my uncle and my cousins that i don't see very often.

october 15

what a great day for football!  it was UC's homecoming game against Louisville at Paul Brown Stadium.  bob and kaye came down, and we took the kids to the game with us.  the morning started off really cold, so we bundled up and packed all kinds of winter hats and gloves and blankets, but luckily we did not need any of them.  it turned out to be a beautiful day.  UC won, and for the first time, the kids made it through the entire game.  gavin even took a little nap in my lap during the game.

october 14

brooke and lynn became fast friends on day 2 of pre-k.  now we're in a regular rotation of play dates with lynn, and today was the first one at our house.  i am so happy that brooke has made a new friend so quickly, but i have to admit that it felt a little weird to have a girl in the house other than hanna.  it was different... for me and for brooke.  but as anastasia reminded me, brooke and hanna had A LOT of time to get to know one another.  and i reminded myself that things weren't so smooth in the beginning.  so, different isn't necessarily bad.  it's just different.

tonight we rekindled our friday night pizza tradition.  we ate at mio's and then came home and had our first fire in our outdoor fireplace.  we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and it was the perfect ending to the week.

october 13

tonight was observation night at brooke's new ballet studio.  i always love watching her dance.  they did some really cute routines tonight, and i got to take lots of pictures.  i'm very happy that we found a great dance studio right down the street, and brooke seems to be pretty happy with it, too.

october 12

we have this little thing going on that is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse.  gavin has started getting out of his bed and coming into our bed.  sometimes it's 2:30 in the morning, and he wants to be in our bed and on my pillow.  sometimes it's 6:30 in the morning, and it's a blessing that he'll crawl in and cuddle up with us until a reasonable hour.  sometimes he plays games on our iphones or watches a show on them.  on rare occasion he falls back asleep.  this morning happened to be one of those occasions, and he slept until almost 9:00am!  i couldn't believe it.  poor thing must be so worn out from our trip to chicago.

kaye came down today to watch the kids so i could get a facial (my b-day present from them).  i had a wonderful facial and got my haircut while the kids had fun with grandma making halloween cookies.  i call that a good day!

october 11

this was gavin's dinner, which became his breakfast.  we stopped at outback in anderson last night because we got home late and needed to eat.  as soon as we pulled in, gavin recalled getting sick the last time we were at outback (because of a lingering stomach bug, not the food!).  what a memory!  perhaps that is why he didn't touch his dinner of steak, carrots and broccoli.  who knows, but i told him if he didn't eat any of his dinner he would have to eat it for breakfast in the morning.  i stuck to my guns.  we came downstairs for breakfast, and i gave brooke cereal and gavin his warmed up dinner.  he didn't eat it.  we dropped brooke off at school and stopped at the grocery store where gavin did not get any treats because he had not eaten his "breakfast."  after coming home and playing outside for a while, gavin finally declared that he was ready to "eat his veggies."  and he did.  then i fed him whatever he wanted :)

october 10

we packed up and headed home today.  what a great weekend!  on our way out of town we stopped and did some shopping for the house and had the most delicious burgers at epic burgers.  yum!  we ended up shopping for entirely too long, which made our trip home seem that much longer.  we did manage to fit a new desk for kevin into our car (with all of our bags and 2 kids' bikes!) and ran into kevin's best "girl" friend from college.  this kind of stuff always happens to us!

october 9

this picture makes me happy.  we had another wonderful day in chicago including a trip to a local farm and an afternoon at the beach.  who would have thought it would be warm enough for the beach in october in chicago?  it was amazing.  brooke and gavin were over the moon.  i just let them go for it in their clothes and all.  brooke and gavin waded out waist deep in the water fully clothed, and by the end of it, gavin was wet and covered in sand from head to toe.  and the smiles... the smiles on their faces made it so worth it.  this was definitely one of my favorite days - ever.

october 8

are these three not the cutest things?  we were waiting on the train to take us into the city, and the kids were very excited for our big adventure.  it was a glorious day in chicago.  i've always thought that there is nothing better than a perfect fall day in the windy city, and it felt good to be there.  all of the excitement of the day really lied in our modes of transportation - train, water taxi, our own two feet, a real taxi and a very crowded return train ride.  i'm pretty sure that brooke and pierce held hands most of the day.  it was easy to see that pierce loves his cousins!  it felt so good for us all to be together again.  i loved that brooke brought her new sketch book along and drew pictures of all the things she saw during our trip into the city - tall buildings, a woman riding a bike with a dog in the basket :)

october 7

we made the drive to chicago today for our first visit with carl, mercedes, pierce and london in their new home in winnetka.  it was a long 6-hour drive, but it was beautiful out, and the trees were beautiful shades of fall, and the kids were really great.  we arrived at carl & mercedes' in the late afternoon, and we were all so happy to be there.  it was our first time meeting our new niece/cousin, london, and brooke was very excited to meet the newest girl in the family.

october 6

i love my iphone for helping me to capture priceless moments like this one.  my boy.  all boy.  warrior, sword-fighting, super hero.  his imagination is super-charged these days, and i just love to watch and listen to him at play.  i think if i could freeze him in time, it would be right at this age.  i can't get enough of it.

october 5

gavin had a play date with jack mcghee this morning at beech acres.  i sure do miss having a park right out our front door, but i love having this great park just a couple of minutes down the road.  there is so much for the kids to do and play with at this park, and the sand area is great any time of year.  gavin and jack didn't have a lot of interest in playing "together" but that's not really a surprise at this age.  i did love how gavin kept asking me, "where's my buddy?"  i think he totally got the concept :)

october 4

we made the most of a beautiful day with lunch at beech acres park with heather, megan and all the kids.  i love that we get to spend so much time together.  the kids love it, too.  so far october is making up for what september lacked in gorgeous fall days.  i'm looking forward to a great month!

october 3

today i slowed down.  i forgot about the to-do list, and i played with my children.  we built towers and knocked them down.  it was good for my soul.  theirs, too.

october 2

brooke and i went to our neighbor's house this afternoon for a family game party while kevin and gavin made chili in preparation for our dinner with the lemoines.  when we left, gavin had run upstairs to get all of brooke's chef gear and was sitting on top of the counter watching daddy.  when we returned 1.5 hours later, gavin was still in the exact same position!  i could not believe my eyes.  kevin said gavin had been completely engaged in the cooking of the chili the entire time we were gone and actually helped with a lot of the cooking.  i love that he takes an interest in cooking, and i love his girly chef get-up even more!

tonight we finally were able to have antje, randall, lexi & kenzie over for dinner and to see our new house.  it was so much fun to watch the 4 kids together.  lexi and kenzie really warmed up once they saw all of the toys upstairs :)  they loved brooke, and by the end of the night they were jumping into her arms so she would hold them.  so adorable!

october 1

tonight we had the pleasure of taking brooke and gavin to gram vicki's condo for their first sleepover.  it makes my heart happy to be able to do these things now that we're close to family again.  brooke and gavin were very excited to be at grandma's, and kevin and i were very excited to have dinner alone at nada :)

september 30

brooke's favorite thing about her halloween costume last year was the red yarn hair that we made for "jessie."  so this year when thinking of ideas for halloween costumes, i noticed she kept gravitating to costumes that required red hair (ariel).  brooke's not going to have red hair for halloween this year, but i couldn't resist buying her this ariel wig just for fun.

september 29

some days just call for something a little out of the ordinary.  today it was a picnic lunch in our backyard.  it was a little windy, and the kids were complaining they were cold.  so, our picnic only lasted until lunch was finished, and then we headed back indoors.

september 28

i love to have the kids in the kitchen with me.  today we baked halloween "blondie" bars.  brooke and gavin took turns adding ingredients, stirring and topping with halloween-colored m&ms.  i hope i'm teaching them to love the process just as much (ok, almost as much :) as the end result!

september 27

we had a big old play date at the house today with heather, megan & all the kids.  we had lunch together and let the kids play for a couple of hours.  jackson and gavin are two peas in a pod; totally inseparable when we're all together.  joey is always super sweet with brooke, and today when everyone was leaving brooke asked me if joey could have a play date at our house sometime :)  brooke loves having stella around, too, especially when she's dealing with a house full of boys!  i love having my nephews and niece in my house on a regular basis.  it's by far the best thing about being back in cincinnati.

september 26

i'm having a hard time adjusting to our new schedule with brooke in school every day but only for 2.5 hours each morning.  it really breaks up my day and makes it hard to get anything done, but the silver lining is that i get a couple of special hours with gavin each morning.  some mornings we make a late breakfast together, like french toast, and i treasure just sitting with him at the table, just the two of us, having breakfast.

september 25

my mom came early this morning and picked up the kids.  she watched them, along with stella, all day at heather's house so we could get some things done.  it's amazing how productive you can be when you have a whole day without kids!  kevin and i got the garage cleared out enough so that we can both park in there (there's a first time for everything!), and we also got the storage area in the basement organized so that we could set up the kids art area.  i'm pretty happy with the end result, and i'll sleep easier knowing that we finally got something accomplished.

september 24

a cool, fall saturday only means one thing - football!  oh, how i love this time of year.

september 23

happy birthday to chase!  we had so much fun celebrating chase's 1st birthday tonight.  i was just so happy to be in town to be a part of it.  the kids had a blast playing together.  the night ended late with a ball fight between some of the crazy little boys (jackson & gavin) and some of the crazy big boys (danny, kevin, hayden).  once there were balls all over the floor, we decided to have a dance party.  because a party just isn't a party without some dancing.

september 22

elementary poker lessons after dinner tonight... my grandpa would be proud.  i laughed when brooke won the first round and decided to pass on the second round and keep the chips :)

september 21

thank goodness brooke likes to be my big helper because i need about an extra 10 arms and legs right now to get this house in order.

september 20

today we had an impromptu play date with jackson.  i got to pick him up from school and bring him back to our house for lunch.  on the way to pick up brooke and jackson from school, gavin said to me, "jackson my best friend."  he adores his big cousin jackson :)  it was quite different for me to have 2 boys and a girl in the house.  the dynamics were so different than what i'm used to with 2 girls (brooke & hanna) and a boy!  we had fun nonetheless.  the kids played and painted and enjoyed being together.

september 19

we had such a fun weekend, and now it's back to the reality that our house is still a disaster and nothing got done all weekend because we were too busy having fun!  i guess there's always next weekend...  in the meantime, i'm really happy to see brooke making new friends in our neighborhood.  today anna and ella came to ask if brooke could come play.  they were on their scooters, so brooke rode her bike to their house.  brooke isn't super comfortable on her bike yet, so i followed behind her to make sure she made it. there were a few times she needed my encouragement, but she did it!  this is hopefully a first of many more bike rides to friends houses.

september 18

today we celebrated my birthday by taking the kids to P&G's dividend day at kings island.  the first 2 years we took brooke were a total bust because she was not into the rides, but this year was totally different.  she and gavin rode just about every ride and had more fun than i could have ever imagined, which made for a great birthday present for me.  we ran into our good friends, the kemme's, who have a girl and boy close to brooke and gavin's age, so we spent most of the day with them.  it was so cute to see the 4 kids enjoying the rides together and coming up with what they wanted to do next.  we were there all day and finally forced ourselves to leave so we could go to dinner.  we had a delicious meal at el coyote, and i couldn't have been happier.  that is, until we came home and the kids sang happy birthday to me and helped me blow out the candles on my chocolate, chocolate cake :)

september 17

just when i start complaining about the weather, we get a really warm day :)  we took the kids to the bearcat game today at nippert.  it was fun to be back and fun to be there as a family - our first game at nippert with both kids.  it was so warm i thought we all might melt, so i got the kids 2 sno-cones, which kept them busy for a while.  until they saw the man with the cotton candy... :)  we had a great time, but the kids were not fans of the cannon that is shot off every time the bearcats score.  poor brooke held her ears the entire time we were there :( which was only until halftime...  then we went home and grilled out for the first time on our new patio.

september 16

the weather has been pretty disappointing since we've been back.  it's been unusually cold and rainy for september in cincinnati, but gavin really took it to extremes when he got the sled out today and asked me to push him down the hill!  i told him he was going to have to wait a couple of months for that :)

september 15

today i got to spend the entire day with my sister and my niece, and i had so much fun watching brooke and gavin play with stella.  i got to see more of stella's personality than i ever have before, and it made me realize how much i've been missing...  then my brother called to ask if gavin could go to the reds game with him, jackson and joey.  i know that this is the kind of thing that gavin's dreams are made of, so of course i said yes!  they came to pick gavin up, and again it made me realize how much i've been missing...    and i'm so grateful to be experiencing it now.

september 14

if you ask the kids what their favorite thing about the new house is, they'll likely say "the basement!"  they love having a basement, and they love the fact that they have their very own "art room" tucked away in the unfinished part of our basement.  they enjoy playing down there even though it's a total disaster area (much like the rest of our house right now).  today they had fun playing in gavin's little sandbox, and i loved seeing the smiles on their little faces as they played together.

september 13

we've been trying to get out to mt. orab to spend a day with dad & jennie for at least a year now, but something always got in the way.  so when i knew we were going to have one "free" day (brooke didn't have school today), i booked us a trip to mt. orab :)  and then i prayed for good weather because i really wanted the kids to be able to swim.  my prayers were answered.  we had perfect weather and a perfect day with jennie.  it might just be our last day of summer around here, and i can't imagine a better way to have spent it.  brooke was a little fish in the water.  she swam all over the place with her floaty on and didn't need (or want) any help.  i was very proud of her.  she has been very slow to build confidence in the water, but i think it's finally starting to happen.  gavin had fun playing on the steps of the pool, and we all soaked up some good ole sun.  brooke and jennie picked vegetables from the garden and made us a delicious salad.  dad came home from work and threw some barry burgers on the grill, and i swear my burger was the best burger i've put in my mouth in a very, very long time.

i've called a lot of places home over the course of my life, but there is really only one place that always feels like home no matter how much times passes or how much life changes.  and i was glad to spend the day there today.

september 12

brooke's 1st day of pre-K and 1st day at her new school!  kids don't think twice about embracing change. they just do.  brooke has been a great example for me during this move.  she hit the ground running today when i dropped her off at school (quite literally).  after meeting her teachers last week, she has been so excited to start at her new school.  she was very happy and had a great day!  she's already making friends and seems to like her new teachers.  nothing makes me happier than that.  now, if only i can get used to this new schedule... :)

september 11

we haven't even been back for a week yet, and life is already back to a Cincinnati-style pace.  on top of moving in, we packed in two parties this weekend.  today we joined owen to celebrate his 5th birthday.  owen and brooke were in P&G daycare together back when they were just little things.  i look at them now and just can't believe how much they've grown; how much time has passed.  i'm so happy for the friendships that have remained.  it was great to catch up with some old friends on our first weekend back in cincy.

september 10

after a long day of unpacking, we were lucky enough to attend a neighborhood barbeque and meet all of our new neighbors.  i was so proud of the way brooke & gavin jumped right into the mix with the other kids.  they played all night long and begged to stay for the movie in the driveway.  so, of course we let them (for part of it anyway).  it was a long day, and we're all beat.  i think we're going to like our new neighborhood though.

september 9

it's move-in day!  things got off to a rough start this morning, but by the end of the day the boxes were off the truck, and we had beds to sleep in.  we have lots of work ahead of us...

september 8

i think this is the first day all year that i have not taken a picture.  we closed on our house today.  things did not go as smoothly as we would have liked, but for better or for worse, we are moving into our new house tomorrow.

september 7

we were able to squeeze in some family time today before our closing, before the movers arrive, before school starts and schedules get crazy... we have lots ahead of us, but today we took some time to enjoy being with family again.

september 6

i have been so captivated by mt. rainier since we've lived in seattle.  mt. rainier on a clear day is so majestic and stunning and breathtaking.  i never, ever tired of seeing it.  so today as we took flight to cincinnati, i couldn't help but try to capture the beauty from the air.  goodbye for now, seattle.

september 5

today kevin and i celebrated our 7th anniversary.  brooke took this picture of us outside pike place market.  she does pretty well with my big camera!  we had a great, low-key day just taking in the city.  we did a duck tour and got to go out onto lake union on a gorgeous day.  it was a lot of fun, and the kids really got into it (until gavin fell asleep in my lap from exhaustion :)

tonight anastasia and hanna met us for dinner at cuoco.  we sat outside and let the kids play in the courtyard.  we had a delicious meal and enjoyed our last couple of hours together.  it was hard to say goodbye when the night ended.  hanna, brooke & gavin exchanged big hugs and kisses.  i sure am going to miss the three of them together.