The Tooth Fairy Cometh!

This tiny little tooth that had been loose for weeks finally made its debut the day before Ashlee's 6th birthday. She was pretty darned excited. So excited that early the next morning she woke me up to tell me that the Tooth Fairy had come in the night and left a whole dollar under her pillow! I said,"Wow! That's SO exciting! And today is your birthday, too!" She paused to think about that for a second and said,"I get to open presents today AND the Tooth Fairly left me a dollar!"

The Tables Have Turned!

The other day, Ashlee and I went to Michael's to track down some pipe cleaners for Nick's Halloween party craft. While waiting in line to check out, there was a display with little tiny plastic characters that I think were to use to decorate scrapbook pages. Ashlee pointed to one and said,'Aww, Mom. Look! There's a little Frankie dog." I said, "Oh, that looks just like Frankie. How cute." Then she points to another one and says in all seriousness,"And look! There's you and Daddy!" I expected to see a girl and a boy or something like that. Instead, I found that she was pointing to one that had 2 monkeys on it! I protested,"But those are monkeys, Ashlee!" She started to giggle and said,"I know, you and Daddy are monkeys!" I said,"I can't believe you said that, you monkey!!" Then we both started laughing really hard. We laughed all through check out and all the way to the car.
She was using my own joke against me. Sometimes, when we're watching Animal Planet and a chimpanzee comes on the screen, I say, "Ashlee (or Nick), how did you get on TV?" I never thought that such a sweet, innocent-looking girl would actually use the same joke on me! What have I done?

Autumn in Michigan

This fall, I've been reminded of my two favorite things about Michigan--good friends and an autumn trip to the apple orchards . . .

Nicole visited from Utah for a weekend and we had lunch at Casey's Tavern. So great to see her!


Ashlee at Wasem's Fruit Farms later that afternoon. They sell the yummiest pumpkin-batter donuts and crisp, juicy apples. Mmmm . . .


Janie and Andrea. It was pretty chilly, but this is as warm as they were going to dress. I had my winter coat on!


Halt! Thief! Abby was trying to lift Ashlee up so that they could see into the window where they were making donuts. It looked like they were up to no good!


Jake, Freya and Ashlee. Such cute little kiddies!

My Baby's a Cub Scout!

Yep, it's true. Nicky is a Cub Scout. More specifically he's a Wolf and is in Troop 100. So I've now entered the realm of weekly den meetings and monthly pack meetings, cute little uniforms, sew-on patches, flag ceremonies, and pinewood derbies. Scouting is a whole new world for me, but Nick loves it and is looking forward to his pack meeting this week where he will be presented with his Bobcat badge. Yay for Nick!

Walk to Cure Diabetes

I have so much catching up to do! Last month, we participated in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk to Cure Diabetes. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who contributed to such a worthy cause. Team Freeman was able to raise almost $500! I was overwhelmed at the generosity so many of you showed. Also, a big thanks to Abbi, Ryan and Freya for joining Team Freeman and doing the walk with us. We had a lot of fun!

Trippin' Utah Style

These cute little kiddies are "the cousins." They are so adorable! I had to make sure I got a photo of them all so I could go brag about them on my blog. First is Tyler (Sarah's little boy), then Jack and Abby (Ben's kiddies), and then Braden (Nat's little boy who is almost hidden by Simba the dog--I would have gotten a better shot of him except that he wouldn't sit still for more than half a second.) Abby is 4 years old, Tyler just turned 2, and Jack and Braden will both be 2 in just a couple of months. I'm jealous we live so far away from them all!


This was just after our tubing adventure down the Provo River. It was all great fun until I slammed into a concrete bridge support (also aptly known as "the Bridge of Doom") When I surfaced, I made the mistake of attempting to swim towards my runaway tube only to have been swept into shallow water where I kicked the rocks on the bottom a few times in a panic. No broken bones, but my bruises are still very sore. Sarah and Ben didn't even know I'd fallen off. Thanks, guys! Remind me not to hire you as river guides anytime soon! Don't you think Ben should use this shot to book some modeling jobs? :)


This was taken at Oktoberfest at Snowbird Ski Resort. Blonde is definitely Sarah's color! Ja! I would add something witty in German here, but no sprechen zie Deutsch.


Celebrating a late birthday with Tyler (look at his cute little face) and an early birthday for Sarah. We also made it up to Centerville for Chinese takeout with Dennis who was all alone because Anne was out of town. He introduced me to Neilsen's Frozen Custard. Why have I never been to this place before??? I feel like a traitor but I have to admit, it was the best ice-cream (or custard, I guess) I have ever had in my life. Twenty times better than Cold Stone hands down. It was so good I should have taken a photo of it!
Thanks so much to Sarah for requesting me as her birthday present. It was so fabulous to hang out without kids in tow for once and take a breather before heading back for a new school year.

Sunday Night Football

No matter how much I try to ignore it, football season is here. Though I can't stand to sit and watch college or professional ball on TV, there's something highly entertaining about my kids playing with their dad. It's adorable, it's funny, it's touching, but it's also extremely competitive! (I didn't teach the kids that, it's just a genetic thing I think . . . no one likes to lose, right?) It's a sign that fall is on its way and that's one of my favorite seasons to spend in Michigan. I can already smell the pumpkin doughnuts and apple cider. Let the games begin!