Dinner in the canyon anyone?

we're in!

most of the motley crew.

we started off the evening with ethan

showing his mad fire skills!

kids......

and adults hung out until the fire was ready to cook

our yummy food!

dogs and tin foil dinners. yum.

tom decided to smoke his,

but i think he had the wrong idea. jk.

hilarious. you had to be there.

its not all suits and spandex people.

then time for s'mores,

which turned into a contest.

most things do when my hubby is involved.

uhhh, yup, thats chocolate in between the marshmellows.

the winning masterpiece.

ya i had to try it! we all did.

and mr. double chin....don't get too comfortable,

your days are numbered.

it was a fun night and my kids loved

being part of "date night".

until next time!

Back 2 School!

our activity days groups had a back to school fashion show,

mom/daughter brunch this morning.

it turned out really great!

the girls had so much fun showing off

their favorite outfit and being with their moms!

for those of you that said i look small

for 34 weeks, feel free to retract your statement.

i am a planet.

in my defense its sort of a bad angle,

and my skirt was pulled up too high.

emma. strutting her stuff.

down for the count!

kindergarten testing can really wear a kid out!

if a 15 minute test puts her out for 2 hours,

what's a school day going to do?

i have to believe it was the anticipation.

her teacher said she was a "real smartie",

but we already knew that, right?

5 things i learned while attending back to school night.

1. the school has no air on. i was sweating like a "you know what, in you know where". those poor kids and teachers.SLURPEES ALL AROUND!!!

2. no more "sugary treats" for birthdays. pretty much no more treats at all. we are welcome to donate a new book to the library instead. oh man...this one...ok, i'm all for cutting back on the sugar but some of my fondest memories of elementary were waiting with faded breath for my mom to enter the room with a batch of cupcakes or something else fabulous and yummy, you know you were queen for a day! but no more. booo.

3. sam and emmas teachers like homework. 'nough said.

4. spreading myself out between 3 classes for parties is going to be a little intense. this belly gets you nothin' in this neighborhood. they'd have parted the red seas for me in the old hood. i'm just say'n.

5. don't go to "back to school night" on your anniversary. its a real buzz kill. all we talked about at dinner was goals for the kids, helping the kids achieve, helping the kids not feel overwhelmed, blah blah blah. imagine the romance.

peace out. enjoy your year.

still crazy(about each other) after all these years.

happy 14th babe!

scenes from a fabulous first day of school!

my 7th(gulp)grader.

my 4th grader.

my 2nd grader.

my(gulp) Kindergardener.

i always have mixed feelings on the

first day of school.

yae! to routine. booo to routine!

homework, activities,etc...

the excitement was palpable

at the carmack house this morning.

my kids all love school and that

is such a blessing.

i can't imagine if they whined and complained about it.

i do enough of that!!!

eliza and her bff penny.

kind of weird to not have all of

my chickens under one roof anymore.

junior high optimism is so refreshing.

here's to another great year!!!!

gloria estafan was right.....

the rhythm is going to get you!