Life is Crazy, I'll try to be less

So here's what's been going on.  Summer.  Yes, that's it.  We have been busy enjoying our summer.  I would post pictures, but well, I don't have enough time to catch you up that much.  Just understand, we've had a summer.  It went way too fast.  We enjoyed our ice cream trips (paid for by the kids piggy bank coin rolls), trips to the zoo, a vacation to Muskegon, trips to MI and PA, playing out side, watching tv, dancing, and their favorite - going to the pool.  We babysat friends of ours on Fridays, which made for some very loud but entertaining days.  And then....  We started school again!

Ryan started 3rd grade and Emma started Kindergarten in August.  Nick followed a few weeks later by starting 3 year old preschool.  They are all enjoying their time so far.  Ryan is, as usual, struggling with the workload and getting the motivation to do his homework.  And Emma, as usual, is excelling.  We already had her going to a 1st grade class for reading, but after her MAP scores, they decided to keep her there for math too.  Not sure what's going to happen with that, but she is enjoying it.  And I'm glad for one kid that is motivated to do her homework.  Nick is really enjoying himself also!

Other news, Ryan got a new bike for his birthday and passed his bike down to Emma.  Our neighbors got their son a new bike and passed his old one down to Nick.  So now, we have 3 bike riders.

We went to Kings Island a few weeks ago.  I will post pictures, but they had fun.

Other pics below - on the couch - what my kids would prefer to do, every minute of the day.
The last picture is from Shade Gap Picnic.  I believe it includes all the little ones that are able to walk (so minus Trinity and Addison).  And we were happy to find out that Kris's sister Kelli is expecting another baby in March.

That's the update.  I'll try to update again soon, with some more detailed info!