ethan at the bat

Another baseball season under our belts.  Or under Ethan's belt I should say.

He played in a neighboring city league this summer and loved it.  Once again we were blessed with a great team with great coaches, players and parents.  

Some of my favorite shots from the season are below.

And he even had a little fan club during one game.

Grandma and Gideon drove all the way over here just to watch him play.

What a lucky guy!

carter in the house!

While Amber and Rob took our boys to Six Flags a few weeks ago, Brian and I got to hang out with Carter.  We definitely do not get to see our nephews nearly as much as we would like, so we take full advantage of the time we do get.  Can't wait to see him again soon!

teeth....or no teeth

I'm pretty sure the Tooth Fairy would be broke by now if she still visited our house....I think Elliott has lost more teeth in the past couple of months than in his entire lifetime!

Sometimes he pulls one out everyday.  I'm not sure how he's going to eat anything soon.  He's very proud of how many he has lost so quickly though, so I guess it doesn't bother him.

go cards!

We've been fortunate to see two Cardinals games so far this summer.

We love it every time we go.

The past two times we've been given really great tickets, so we are feeling very spoiled!

St. Louis is celebrating its 250th birthday this year, and there are these cakes all over the city, so we try to hunt them down and get pictures of them.

So far we've only got two though.

It's been a very busy summer.

air show

Went to see the Blue Angels at the air show in May.

It's so incredible the control they have over those huge aircraft.

Such talent.

Seriously it seemed like if they were just to sneeze or something that disaster would ensue.

It's that precise - or it seems so from the ground

Brian took this cool picture.

It's one of my favorites of all time.

Good job, honey.

So incredible.

These guys did not disappoint.

I highly recommend seeing them in action if you ever get the chance.

and just like that...we have a middle schooler

I knew the day would come sooner than I thought it should.

I knew it would be exciting yet sad at the same time.

I knew that, for him, it would only be exciting.

He has graduated from elementary school.

He is a middle schooler now.

Grandma and Grandpa came for the graduation ceremony.

And it won't be long before he will be looking down at me.

Someone please give me my baby boy back!

Love him.

He preferred no pictures.

No such luck.

The very last day of elementary school.

(A long time coming, too, since we didn't get out until June 6th!)

Fifth Grade Clap Out.

On the last day of school, right before dismissal, the 5th graders get to parade through our school as the other students, teachers and parents line the halls and clap them out one last time.

It's possible I shed a tear or two.

It's possible that lots of the girls were crying.

It's possible that our guy was only happy about the entire situation.

Don't let him fool you.

He had a great time with great teachers and great friends the past 6 years.

He will miss it.

But he is so ready for middle school.

the real world

Elliott's 5th grade class got to spend the morning at the JA Biztown near us.

It's put on by Junior Achievement, and the kids have been working on this for months.

They applied for the jobs they wanted, learned to balance a checkbook, learned the responsibilities for the jobs they were given, etc.

Elliott spent the morning as the CFO of the news station.

Such an appropriate position for him - working with money, everything is orderly, he gets to be the boss.

Love his bow tie?

Here he is in his "office".

So fun to watch him work!

And I had my own gig. (And so did Brian - at City Hall - but I have no pictures)

I was the adult at Build-a-Bear.  The kids could use the money they earned at their jobs to buy things during their breaks.  So some of them came and stuffed a bear.  All of the bears that were stuffed went to a charity - pretty cool.

Loved this day!