Cute little 1 year old and new Bibles

We were so excited to get to celebrate a whole year of life with Caleb on the 13th!  He is such a joy and a busy little guy.  He loves life, food, and his family.  It has been such a blessing to have him nearby and watch him grow.

 Speaking of growing, each year the 2nd graders get a Bible from the church.  We've watched this happen every year for a long time and today it was our kids' turn.  Matt still has his Bible that he received from the church.  It's a great stepping stone from their little kid Bibles up to the adult Bible (with no pictures!).  So exciting!

First Day of School

On August 10, 2016, we started back to school with two 2nd graders.  Emerson was nervous and shy, but she had to pick out the fanciest dress she could find.

  

 Landon was excited and full of hope for a new year.

 Emerson is in Mrs. Clark's class and Landon is in Mrs. Garey's class.

They are both loving their teachers and working hard.  It is always a hard transition to go from 4 people off work and school all summer to everyone back in a routine.  It takes a few weeks to iron out the kinks and to stop from having breakdowns every Friday night. :)  But we're doing great.  It's so exciting to see what a new school year brings.

End of summer pictures

Yes, I realize it is not technically the end of summer yet.  But with school back in session (we've got a whole 13 days in already), the carefree days of summer vacation are over for us.  But, we made a lot of great memories.

4H Fair

We spent 2 days at the fair this year.  On Saturday, our church helps in the pork producers building.  This year, the kids helped us out because we were serving drinks.  It was miserably hot (as you can see by their red faces), but they did a great job helping.  A highlight for them is always riding the rides.

This year, they had a really neat butterfly exhibit where you could go in a tent with a sugar stick and you could watch the butterflies eat.  It was really cool!

Our second day at the fair was a Wednesday.  We went to watch Grace show her pigs and then since it was kids day, the kids wanted to ride more rides.  I love that they are getting more adventurous and want to do the big rides now!  We had a great time on another blazing hot day.

Soccer

The soccer season ended the Saturday before school started.  The kids had so much fun this season.

Landon enjoyed the physical part of the game where Emmy enjoyed the social aspect of it. :)

Great season Marlins!

Strikes and Spares
On the last day before I had to head back to work, the kids decided they wanted to go to Strikes and Spares in Mishawaka.  We had a fun day mini bowling, riding bumper cars, mini golfing, and playing arcade games.  I also snuck in a little school shopping at Old Navy. :)

Stitch Fix #6

I got a new fix for back to school.  Yeah for new clothes, boo for going back to work! :)  This time I asked for some fun, new clothes for teaching and jeans.  I saw several people getting designer jeans and just raving about them so I wanted to try it for myself.  This is what my stylist, Lindsey, sent:

41 Hawthorn Renesme Geo Cube Jersey Faux Wrap Dress $78
I wasn't too sure about the print of this dress when I first opened my box.  But when I tried it on, I really liked it.  It is very different from the normal black dresses I own.  I had pinned a wrap dress on Pinterest and Lindsey did a great job of getting ideas from there.  This dress should be pretty versatile.  I can wear it to work with a cami underneath, to church, or on a date with my hubby!
Verdict: Keep

 Crescent Tybalt Keyhole Front Blouse $48
I LOVED the color of this shirt right away and was really excited to try it on.  Unfortunately, I felt like it was overall too big and the sleeves were a bit too flowy for me.  I could've requested a smaller size, but I didn't think I liked the style enough.
Verdict: Return

 Kut from the Kloth Simmons Bootcut Jeans $88
These jeans are incredibly soft!!!  I loved the feel of them.  Unfortunately, they were very long.  Yes, I could've kept them and found someone to hem them (I don't sew more than buttons).  But I didn't want to go to the trouble.  So even though I loved the softness, I sent them back.
Verdict: Return

Length of sleeve; too long for 3/4 length, too short for long sleeves

Jeans are much too long!

 Kut from the Kloth Kate Distressed Boyfriend Jean $88
One of the reasons I like Stitch Fix is because it pushes me out of my comfort zone.  I did not own a pair of distressed jeans, but Lindsey noticed I had several pinned, so she sent me a pair.  These jeans fit really well and I like the distressing because it's not too overwhelming.
Verdict: Keep

close up of distressing

 Just Black Andorra Skinny Jean $88
These jeans were great too!  They are a really dark wash, which I like.  And would be great with a lot of different outfits.  I really wanted to get these too.  I even tried to get a price match on a similar pair of distressed jeans that I found for a cheaper price online.  But the distressing and wash were not the same, so no price match.  That meant I had to decide, since I didn't feel like I could spend $176 on two pairs of jeans.  Ultimately, I decided I had another pair of skinny jeans (not as nice as these) but I didn't have any distressed so the others won out.
Verdict: Return

pricing sheet

 Lindsey did a great job picking out these items.  It really felt personalized with her note (she even asked how my Disney trip was :) ).

styling cards

If you are curious about Stitch Fix, you can check out the personalized styling service here .

To see my other 5 fixes, check out the links below:

Stitch Fix #5

Stitch Fix #4

Stitch Fix #3

Stitch Fix #2

Stitch Fix #1

What do you think about this fix?  What would you keep or return?  Returns are always free, which is another reason I really like this service!

Soccer, Guys/Girls Weekend, camping

We are in the midst of soccer season.  The hottest sports season there is. :)  Both kids are playing this year on the Marlins team.  They are both really enjoying it.  Landon loves scoring goals and runs after that ball like crazy.  Emerson is more reserved and doesn't kick real hard, but she is always right there in the action.  I need to remember to get a picture of these two before a game, but this is usually what they look like after:

 We had our annual Guys/Girls Weekend mid-July.  The boys went up to the U.P. in Michigan (Matt, Landon, Mikel, Gunnar, Amos, Tyler, John, Greyson) to stay in a cabin and fish.  It was chilly for them and rained a little, but it sounds like they caught a lot of fish and had fun.

 Emerson and I traveled with mom and dad down to Columbus, Indiana to stay with John and Nancy Mathis at their lake cottage.  The Clarks drove down as well and we also got to see Justin, Laura, Ruth, and Sarah Burdick since they live nearby.  We went out on the boat several times and Emerson tubed a TON!  She loved it and didn't even mind when her Uncle Steven made her fall in the water. :)  We had awesome weather for being at the lake and great hosts to make our weekend fun!

Sweet, baby boy!

 We just got home today from a camping trip.  It was the first time I've used the RV this year!  We tried a new campground, Eby Pines in Bristol.  It was a nice area, but the sites are small and close together.  It was a little different for us because there were several RVs there not being used.  I guess you can get a season pass and come stay as much as you want.  It was kinda funny because we saw people watering their lawn, cutting grass, and keeping a garden. Things we don't normally see when we camp.  There was a nice sized pool with 2 water slides and of course, we forgot to pack Emmy's suit.  Luckily right before we left, I grabbed 2 for Landon, so he had to share! :)

LOVE smores!

 The kids had the best time catching fireflies.  We don't normally let them stay out that late (9:00) so it was a rare treat.  They named each bug and tried to catch as many as they could. :)

 We also rode a bike trail from Eby Pines to Bonnyville Mill.  It was about a mile, but seemed a LOT longer on the way there.  The kids thought the old mill was really cool and wanted to explore the whole thing.

 They did great on the ride and didn't complain, even though there were some tough spots.

When we got back, we jumped in the pool.  Both days were in the 90s and humid.  We were glad for the air conditioning in the RV.  We were also thankful that a storm blew through and cooled things off for our second night.
We would probably go back to the campground again, but Matt said NOT on a weekend.  I could see that pool being packed with campers.  It was really nice during the week.