the mandel 5

There is another new post below this one. Brady, Jennifer, and Dad went up to Berkley to see MSU's first game of the season. Relatives flew or drove out from MI to join them. I promised Jen that I not only watch football, but I love it, and would be there in front of the TV rooting the boys on tonight. Here is proof. I swear on a Sparty statue that these were taken by Rob and were not photoshopped. Here they are scoring their last touchdown which made the last 3 minutes even more exciting.

I can't believe she's 5. Her birthday party was at Scooter's Jungle today and as always, the kids had a blast there! Nathan was doing some seriously scary jumps on the big slide today. I finally told him to knock it off before he broke is neck. Little Matt was cracking me up playing air hockey with Nathan. He had to stand on his tippie toes on a stool to reach. You know you're cute when you aren't even my kid and your video clip makes the blog!

That's what Logan calls it when he gets to skip school and stay home with me. First, we dropped off the big kids at school. Then we went to my school, even though it was one of my days off, to get a couple of things done. We met Papa Jerry for breakfast to show him our new ride. Then we hit Scooter's Jungle for the toddler play time. Logan wanted to play ping pong for an hour. Here is a little video of that (notice his trademark tongue-out when concentrating) and one of the slide. Then it was off to deliver some photo orders and then to meet Corey for lunch and a demo on a new Star Wars video game. I am beat. I am enjoying both jobs so much but I am still not used to being this stinking tired all the time. I used to wonder how on earth Rob could sleep so much during the day. Tonight, for example, he tried to read but fell asleep at 7:30. Now I understand why he is so tired. But if we both fell asleep, the kids would probably burn down the house! The car. We got a Do...

I can already tell this will be a more stressful school year. Gone are the days when homework is given for the week on Monday and due on Friday. No more leisurely Thursday nights at the coffee shop finishing it all up. She now has nightly homework. And you can see how she feels about that.

Yesterday was the boys' first soccer game of the season. They are on the same team with the ugliest uniforms in the league! :) I missed the game because I had sessions but Rob took a bunch of photos for me so I felt like I was there. We played Logan up a division so we'd only have one practice and one game per week. I don't know what I was thinking. I thought since he's four, the other kids would be five or six. No. Most are seven, in 2nd grade. And Logan is in preschool. I have to remember, he is old for SCHOOL and young for parks and rec SPORTS. He isn't the smallest kid on the team and Rob said he did great so hopefully, it will be okay. In other news, yes, we bought a new car over the weekend. I'll take pictures and post them this week. So glad that is over with. I've been sick since Wednesday. I used to get sick at the beginning of every school year but I thought that since I've been around toddler and baby germs so much, I'd avoid...

Hey, look who we had dinner with! Our old pal Alex! Yummy Panera Bread! Then we walked across the street for some scooter riding and wild animal watching! Careful - this tree is watching you!

I've spent two days looking at and test-driving cars. I want a van. I loved having a van. An SUV is out of the question. The little ones are too small inside and there is no way I can drive a big one. It won't fit in the driveway anyhow. And lets not talk about my kids opening car doors in parking lots and denting the car next to us. So, a van. I have had my heart set on a Town and Country for years. You've seen the commercial. Seats that swivel around to face each other with a table in the middle. TWO tv's (one for the boys, one for Meg - they can watch different things at the same time) with Sirius satellite tv (Disney Channel and Nick), push a button and the seats fold down flat. Etc. These are features that aren't even available on any other minivan. The problem? Consumer Reports. The Honda and the Toyota are the ones they recommend. The Town and Country got a 60 (out of 100!). The Nissan was about the same. The others didn't even make the ...

My virtual friend Brittany is having her twins right now (earlier than expected because she was in a car accident today that sent her into labor). Read her story - she is totally amazing - a mommy to four boys with identical twins coming (boys or girls? she doesn't know!). Brittany made Megan and Nathan's awesome overalls for their fishing party when they turned one and three. Had to throw in an old photo because I started thinking about how adorable those overalls were......

Man, I had one of THOSE DAYS today. Rob was fishing so the kids and I spent a nice relaxing morning playing board games and waiting for clients to pick up orders. Then we headed out to meet Dawn and Kylie for lunch. We ALMOST got there when the car just quit working. I pushed the accelerator and nothing. I turned on my hazards, everyone else slowed down and got out of my way, and I cruised into a parking lot safely. We were quite the sight, me and the three kids (each holding their own booster seat), crossing a busy intersection to get to Dawn. We had lunch and then Dawn took us to Casey and Kris' and we borrowed their van that they are selling. My van got towed to the mechanic but everything is closed on the weekend so it's just sitting there. I don't even know what's wrong with it and I am already car shopping online. It's given me a lot of trouble lately and today could have been so much worse. We thought about going to look at cars but Logan really ca...

Megan is in third grade and Nathan is in first! I crammed everyone onto this teeny bench for the annual "first day of school" photos. They are both thrilled with their teachers and classmates and so am I! Below is Nathan's new "half smile" that you've probably noticed lately. Today was my first day off but I spent it at school working in my classroom anyway. Sigh. Tomorrow is my first day with students. I will try not to stay up too late filling out all the papers that Megan and Nathan brought home and catching up on my neglected photo ordering!