1st Day of School

Mikaela asked last Friday if we could start school early even though all the other schools in the area don't start until after Labor Day. We had our books, so I really didn't see why we couldn't! So Monday morning we headed outside for our photo shoot and promptly held our first lesson afterwards. She loved it, and didn't want to stop. I hope she keeps her enthusiasm throughout the school year. She is such a little sponge! (And Aiden was very excited too.)

1st Soccer Practice

Here are a couple of shots from soccer practice. Andy decided to coach the girls this season, so that's why he's out there with them! :)

Just Swinging Around

The kids really enjoy the swing that Papa and Grandma brought out with them.

Our neighbor offered up a free baby doll bed for Mikaela to have. As you can tell from the picture, she doesn't like it very much...oh, wait a minute...she loves it.

Mommy, can you make my chair lay down? I'm tired.

Here's the garden. It's getting big!

Swim Party at the Kreigers

Both this weekend and last weekend have involved one of the kids' new found favorite things to do - swimming! Last weekend we were at Andy's boss' house for his annual pool party. That was nice because the kids were able to get their feet wet, literally and figuratively, for this weekend when we got to go swimming with our good friends the Kreigers. Their little boy was born only one day earlier than Mikaela so they are practically the exact same age which has been fun to watch them grow up together.

Here are some pictures and videos from today:

Aiden was very proud of himself when he jumped into my arms over and over. He also thought that Eshton's swim goggles were pretty cool so he wanted to wear some too.

Eshton and Mikaela

Mikaela has become braver and braver by the water. Thankfully, the Kreigers pool has a shallow 3.5 foot side so she didn't have to worry when she jumped in - she would be able to touch the bottom. However, she's still getting used to the idea of letting her head go under the water. I think with some more practice, we'll have our own little fish on our hands :)

Eshton, on the other hand, is a little fish. Elena said that they have been in their pool pretty much non-stop this summer so he is very used to jumping, diving, and even doing tricks like somersaults and everything.

And this little guy loved being there so much today that he literally cried when we had to go home. He would have loved to have stayed there all night playing cars with Eshton if he could. I promised him that we would come back again someday. He was so tuckered out that when we sat down to supper tonight he told me, "Mommy, when I'm done eating, I want to go to bed."

But before we did that, we made sure to try out Mikaela's "new" soccer shoes and shin guards that we borrowed from Eshton. In a few weeks, she'll be starting off player soccer with AYSO, and Andy has volunteered to be her coach. I'm sure we'll be posting some fun pictures of that soon. Her first game will be Sept. 11th. She is very excited. Aiden was disappointed that he didn't have special shoes and special shin guards, and he's already voiced his disappointment that he won't be playing soccer on a team either. Unfortunately, he's going to have lots of moments of jealousy because he will always be younger than her. How do you explain this to a 3 yr old? :)

Well, I'm off to bed, I think. I love the tired feeling from a fun day in the sun and water. I only wish summer could be all year long! :)

Camp Out...Well, Sort Of...Camp In?

So we're hoping to set up our real tent soon in the backyard at least, but we decided to do a "camp out" tonight with the kids sleeping in their sleeping bags and in their playtents. When Daddy suggested it earlier in the evening, he acheived "The Best Dad in the Whole World" status in the eyes of his kids! :)


We also made sandwich pies for dessert tonight with a little twist. Instead of dusting with powdered sugar, we used cinnamon sugar (Andy's idea...don't want to take the glory all for myself ). Dee-lish!


And here are the kiddos ready for bed....I'm not sure how long it will take them to fall asleep, but we'll find out...

Scavenger Hunt Day at the Library

Today we headed over to the library for a scavenger hunt! Here are the kiddos in front of the bears statue outside the library. We must visit them every time we come :)

Here they are at the last "find." We were supposed to go into the Children's Reading Garden and find three small gnomes hidden somewhere. If you look behind them, maybe you can see them...

At the end, they each received a prize filled with crayons, a drawing tool, a tattoo, watercolors, and bubbles in the shape of a guitar, and a little critter. They also received free books for visiting. All in all, a great time...

Box Day

Today was "Box Day" at our house!

If you do not know already, we have decided to embark on the adventure of homeschooling. Mikaela is starting kindergarten this fall, and we decided that we wanted to give her a big push academically and school her at home. She is already reading a little bit, and one of our concerns was that she might become bored because a lot of what she would be doing in kindergarten would be a repeat of what she already knew with a few new things thrown in. There were other factors, but we decided that we would try it this year, and we will be looking at this decision one year at a time.

So if you are not familiar with the term "box day", it just means the day that our box shows up in the mail with our curriculum enclosed. Both kids were very excited. It made me realize that Aiden is going to want to be part of the adventure, so I'm thankful to say after looking through the beginning lessons I will be able to adapt some of them to fit his age level.

It was a difficult decision, but we are ready for the adventure. School will start soon!