Elementary, Dear Watson

Or should I say "Kindergarten"?! Holy cow. I have a kindergartener. Crazy. Time may change me, but I can't change time. So true, Mr. David Bowe, so true.

This morning I sent my first baby off to her first day of school at Tara Heights Elementary. Cubby took the morning off so he could take her to school and then pick her up (the first day is a 1/2 day here). There was an open house last night and Emily got to meet her teacher (Ms. Wauters) and see her classroom. She was quite excited and said she liked her teacher b/c she had glasses and was very nice.

This morning she got up, got dressed and even ate her breakfast in a timely manner--truly amazing, but I doubt that'll last. Emily picked out her own clothes (a butterfly skirt, a blue shirt w/a butterfly on it and purple Silvermist socks) and was just itching to get going. She, Daddy and Christian all donned umbrellas (as it rained for the first time this month) and walked up the hill to school. And, even though last night she was worried that she'd miss me too much, this morning, she didn't look back (sniff, sniff!).

When Emily got home, she had plently to tell us about all of the new friends (there are 16 kids in her class) and how she even has a "job"--she gets to go around the room and make sure all of the chairs are pushed in. SO perfect for her. There are three other children in her class that she knew so I know it was a relief to have a couple of familiar faces on the first day.

Tonight, as she was getting ready for bed, she told Cubby and I "I just love Tara Heights. It's a dream come true." Welcome to school, Emily! I hope they're ready for you!

(BTW: I posted both pictures b/c I wanted to get both Emily and her backpack (which she picked out herself) but it was a bit rainy and dark and the first picture of her turned out better, even though both are cute.)

One Last Hurrah!

Is summer really over?? Crazy. I can't believe that school starts tomorrow!

This morning I took the kiddos to an old favorite spot that, because it's been so hot and sticky, we have only visited ONCE this summer...the ZOO! Yeah, I can't believe we've only been there once too--it's usually more like once a week! Well, maybe now that we're heading into fall, we may make it there more often.

In anycase, I'll narrate our morning with pictures, since that's what everyone likes to see anyways!

The kids started out by giving me a great pose amidst nature.

We then headed down past the giraffes and toward the seals--where we got to see them get fed! Very fun.

A new feature to the zoo this summer has been these two new playground sets! Why had no one thought of this years ago?? SO great for little kids! Emily and Christian even made a couple of little friends and played had fun playing pirates. There were also lots of big, shady trees and so it was a great place for me to take Kari out of her carseat and let her look around a bit.

After the seals and the playground, we headed over through the new Madagascar exhibit and then onto the bears. Now, usually, the bears are all just sleeping and very boring. Today though, ALL of them were up and active! The brown bear was using his paw to get a drink and the polar bear was swimming laps :-).

After all that, it was getting close to lunchtime and Kari was "done" so we headed home. We did take one last stop at a popular site--the giant granite globe that spins on water. As you can see it's a kid magnet.

I'm so glad that we had such a beautiful morning to finish off our summer vacation! It has been a wonderful summer and even though we'll still be doing summer-ish things for a few more weeks yet, it won't be the same since Emily will be gone all.day.long now! (I have very mixed emotions on this still!) Anyhow, more on school tomorrow after kindergarten's big debut!

Before the Heat Wave...

We hit the pool! Yes, it sounds strange--why not hit the pool during the heat wave?? Well, rest assured, it was still close to 90 degrees when we went last week. Yes, that was a "cool" day here in Nebraska. Today, the heat index is 115 (95 degrees + humidity=we're staying indoors this week!) When it gets this hot, it's not safe for babies, kids and well, anyone to be outside. So, we went to the pool as much as we could last week before it got too hot to venture out.


We have seriously loved having a pool pass this summer--it's certainly saved my sanity many-a-afternoons! All three of the children really enjoy the water and, when Kari gets too tuckered out, she has her car seat to catnap in!



One afternoon, Christian's swim instructor, Caitlyn, offered to take he and Emily swimming. She had them going, going, going, for 4 hours! They had a blast, and this picture below, proves it. (He still has his swimsuit on underneath the blanket--I managed to get his p.j. top on so he wouldn't get chilly.)


I think our favorite times at the pool are the evenings that we go with Daddy. We take turns taking Emily and Christian down the water slides or, Emily's latest request, into the deep end! She's totally become a water bug this summer and threw quite the tantrum when it was time to go home Friday night! ("I'm NOT tiiiirrrreddddd!!!!") Ah, little grasshopper, I beg to differ :-)!


So, as we appreciate the wonderful invention of air conditioning this week, we will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of some "cooler" temps so that we can get back in the water!

Grand-Ol' Times

Last week, Emily and Grandma Karen went to camp! The Fontenelle Forest offers a two-day camp for a grandparent and their grandchild. Emily, of course, LOVED it. (She got Grandma all.to.herself.) It was a busy time too. They took nature walks, inspected bugs, did crafts and, Emily's favorite, caught butterflies. Her least favorite part, though, was trying to eat lunch outside with daddy-longlegs spiders! The weather was HOT, but luckily, on the second, and hottest, day, they got to be inside more.

This week, it was Christian's turn for a little one-on-one time w/Grandma Karen. After swim lessons, their big plans included the Children's Museum....oh boy!

Christian liked the ball area and seeing the Clifford exibit as well. He liked having the one-on-one time with "Gra-Kerri" the most though!

We're just so happy that Grandma has her summers off and that she's able to take the kiddos out for such fun little playdates! Thanks so much--We love you, Grandma Karen!

Emily at the Bat

Emily has had a fantastic baseball season! She is playing Kindergarten coach pitch (and it is OVER hand pitching!). The kids get three pitches before the Tee is brought out.

One of the assistant coaches brought up the point that when Emily gets up to bat, you underestimate her b/c she looks like this little girl who nonchalantly steps up to the plate--right before she powers one over the in-field's head. One time the ball even made the "ping!" noise right after she hit it. That was Emily's favorite hit of the season. Of the three innings they play, she usually hits it off of the pitch at least once, most of the times twice.

Here she is on first base. As you may have noticed, her jersey is a bit big. We tried to exchange it for one smaller, but they said no since she'd already worn and washed it. She IS, however, wearing shorts underneath!

It's a hit!

Emily has had a wonderful coach, "Coach Larry." He really knows what he's doing and has really helped the kids learn and improve their skills.

The other girl on the team is named Ellie. She and Emily became fast friends and always cheer each other on. They also field together so they can talk about the latest and greatest. Ellie is also quite the slugger. Her dad plays basketball with Cubby on Tuesday nights at the church and so our families have gotten to know each other a bit more as well.

Here they are giving each other a "good job" low-

five as they trade places in the field.

Emily is always excited to play and to have fun. Great job, Slugger!

Christian

Christian has been doing many note-worthy things as of late. The biggest, of course, is that he is POTTY-TRAINED!!!! Yes, it finally "clicked" and most days, we're accident-free. He's even gone so far as to tell me during swimming lessons that he has to go to the bathroom--(Pool Rule #1: No peeing in the pool!). He's so excited because now he not only gets to go to preschool this fall, but once his hair grows out a bit more, he'll get his mohawk! "So proud of me, Mommy?" Yes, Christian, we are sooooo proud of you!!!

Secondly, Christian has just been plain funny these days. As you can see from the picture, he's anti-shirt. As soon as we get home, the shirt comes off. Not sure where he came up with that--Cubby and I both keep our shirts on.

His other quirk is being held in his hand--yup, a tied-up Barbie doll. Apparently, she's "trapped" and he saves her... She also is his latest lovie and goes to bed and everything. Again, he's a funny little guy.

Finally, Christian has one volume: LOUD. I'm constantly asking him not to shout out every little thing he wants to say. Maybe he just wants to be heard above a certain talkative older sister...

I'll depart from my post for a minute: Somedays, okay, most days, I feel like I'm raising two first-born children. Emily, a total type-A who commands attention and is used to people seeing things her "way" and Christian, my boy, who is so stubborn and opinionated, also insisting upon doing things his "way". It'll totally come in handy later in life--their strong wills and all. But, for now, I'm doing my best to keep a soft voice when really, inside, I'm screaming for them to listen, obey, and just. get. along! Yeah, can you tell what we're working on at our home???

Back to Christian though. I really love my little guy. He seems to have grown so much over the summer--from a toddler to a little boy. He is always up for a hug, although if you're Emily or Daddy, chances are he'd rather wrestle you down. I am excited for this up and coming year and all it has to offer him.

She Sits!

As if on cue, the day after she turned 6 mos, Kari decided to wow us w/her new trick--sitting! She knows she's hot stuff too!