pictures from the zoo

Emily & Michael at the zoo!


Noah as a frog


Let's smile - Noah, Michael, Emily & Andrew
(Noah was asleep when we took the one on the rhino)


Let's all go trick-or-treating

Fall Fun

Michael and Emily by the camp fire. Michael is "belly dancing" while Emily is just dancing cool!



We climbed up this tower. Michael was freaking out the whole time - as he is scared of heights. He made it - but did not want to look down.


The view!


Saturday Gene, Holly, Andrew & Noah came down. We played Mexican Train, watched Andrew and Michael play trains (Andrew loved Michael's choo's choo's), played canasta, watched Happy Feet on a large screen in the back yard & went trick or treating at the zoo. Wow! It was a filled Day. They left after Church and lunch on Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon we headed up to Brown County and camped for the night. We enjoyed the park - and the leaves. The kids took their bikes and they rode them all over the camp site area, we hiked, and we enjoyed a nature talk about turles & snakes and hybernation (we really learned a lot about snakes and turtles).

Hello Fall!

Well, it seems fall has officially hit us - we are not having 90 degree weather anymore. We also got 3 days straight of rain :) We did need it. In those 3 days we just about caught up on what we were behind upon for the last 3 months. Kind of crazy that after 3 days of rain they can say a 3 month drought is over.

I just finished 2 days of Parent/Teacher conferences. They all went well. I am glad they are over though. It is something that I really do not enjoy, as you write comments to parents all quarter - send a written progress report every 3 weeks - and talk to them - and it still seems they are surprised about some things. Oh well - one tries.

Two weekends ago on Sunday we went to a Pumpkin Patch with our friends Chris, Sue & their two boys. It was a great time. The kids loved jumping on the hay mountain as well as swimming in the hay pool. They also brought home incrediblly large pumpkins - 27 lb. and 21 lb. They wrote on them with washable marker and we will probably carve them on Monday (as we don't have school on Monday :)

On Saturday of that weekend was our fall festival at school. The kids had a great time and got all kinds of goodies (A.K.A. junk) to bring home. Luckily not too much candy as they will not be able to eat a lot of it this year due to their mouth expanders. After the Fall Festival we went to Chris & Sue's house for Ben's 4th birthday. Since Michael had just gotten a bike - we took his old one to Ben for a birthday present. He seemed to enjoy it - the only problem was we left it in the van and when we got it out it was too dark for him to ride it. That was a little dissapointing for him.

Last weekend I worked on report cards & Doug went up to fix a garage door opener for Gene & Holly. The kids stayed in there with Gene & Holly over night - and had the chance to go to an orchard & pumpkin patch. Talk about lucky kids - two pumpkin patches in a week. I did tell them to make sure they got small pumpkins - as they already had their big pumpkins. They did listen :)

This weekend Holly, Gene and the boys are coming down to go trick-or-treating at the zoo. It should be a great time. This is Andrew's 3rd visit - and he will be mobil this year. Should be fun to watch him see all the characters. Hope to get some good pictures. My "good" camera has been on the fritz - so I am using our old one (which the screen magically works now) and I can't find the cord to connect it to the computer. After I buy a new one I will get some pictures posted. Until then just imagine all the events I have written about.

Enjoy the fall leaves and great fall weather!
Have a great day everyone - God bless you all!

growing up

Last night we got Michael a new bike. A red & blue 20 inch two wheel bike. Tonight we took Emily's and Michael's bikes to school - for them to ride before handbells. Michael took right off and only wobbled over a few times onto the grass. He grinned from ear to ear and loved it. He felt like a big kid (which he is quickly becoming).

Last week he lost a tooth on his own (the other two he lost we had to have pulled by the dentist) at Steak & Shake last Friday. That also made him feel like a big kid.

My little boy is growing up quickly right before my eyes. I get to see him grow up 24/7 since I have him in my class this year. It is hard to see since I know he is my baby boy - and I won't have another one to see grow up like this.

American Girl Fashion Show

This afternoon I went to an American Girl Fashion show with Emily & two friends from school. One of the mothers went also. It was fun to see all the outfits and dolls as well as hear the stories of the dolls. A student from school (and whom I taught) was in the fashion show so that was neat to see. It was a fundraiser for the children's hospital in Louisville & it was at Churchill Downs in Millionaires Row. Wow! What a wonderful setting for a mother/daughter activity. They had fine china out and the waiters all served the food using coreography. What a memory. It was fun to see all the girls & their dolls. Although at first I really hated the idea of spending so much on a doll - the memories it has created and the fun Emily has had have been worth it. She takes her dolls on all kids of adventures - both real and imaginative.

games

Well, here it is a Tuesday evening. Doug is out of town so it is just the kids and I at home. Tonight the kids actually sat down and played a game on their own. Wow! They instigated it, set it up, and played it (almost to completion). They played a game of checkers. Of course, the checker board is in storage so they used the othello board instead - it works except is difficult to king. Then they played a game of othello. Kind of odd as I really did not need to help them. That is one of the first times that has happened with a "real game" and not a early learning game (like candyland, hi-ho cheerio...). Emily ended up winning othello - but Michael put up a good fight. Of course, they did not understand all the nuances - like getting sides and trying not to give up the corner. Oh well - that will come in time. They did think it was cool that I played the game when I was a kid with my grandpa in Minnesota. Hopefully this is just the first of much more game playing by the two of them(real games that is - not just on the computer/video games).

Tiger Cub Michael

Tonight I sewed on the patches for Michael's Tiger Cub scout uniform. Hard to believe that my baby boy is a cub scout. He and Doug are going camping this weekend with the cub scouts - should have a good time.

Boo update

Just got back from our evening walk with Boo. While Emily and I walked - Michael stopped off at a neighbor boy's house to play football. He had a good time while Emily and I got the chance to talk.

We are working on Boo not going bezerk when a dog is in it's front yard or on a leash. He does not seem to mind a dog behind a fence or in a house - but if there are no barriers between him and the other dog - watch out. He jumps and barks like crazy. We are working on saying shus and giving him a treat when he shusses. He barked like mad at a dog on the first leg of our trip - but the dog was closer to the house and on a leash on the return leg of our walk - and Boo only whined at him. That is progress. Hopefully it will continue. If you have any advice or tips please pass them on.

Boo really likes stuffed toys that squeek. He is not into the laytex rubber toys that squeek - except for balls. We have gotten him all kids of toys - but he seems to love the stuffed squeeky one. The hard part is keeping it inside - and not letting him take it outside.

Yeah Michael!!!

Tonight we went to our friend Greg and Juanita's house. They have 3 boys - two of which are close to Emily's age and one in 8th grade. Our two kids took their bikes. Michael was riding his and we suggested he just try Austin's bike (one Emily's bike size - and it did not have training wheels on it). He took off and rode across their yard and back without even hesitating (after getting started with a little balance help). With a little assistance getting balanced to start he rode all over the yard. Of course the camera was at home - so we have no pictures of this monumental occasion. Now that he discovered he could do it - I guess we will take his training wheels off. The only problem is his bike is too small for him - so it looks like we will need to go bike shopping. Walmart did have some for around $50. Hard to wait for Christmas for something that he can use right now.

Friday Night - Movie Night

Tonight we went to Tumbleweed for dinner. After that we went to see Evan Almighty at the cheap theatre. Although we are probably the last to see this movie - it was great! The kids enjoyed it and Doug and I also really had a good time. The theology in it is off, but if it gets people looking up Genesis 6:13 and other verses it is a good thing. Making disciples of all nations needs to be done in creative ways at times.

Hello from Michael

I met my A.R. goal. I earned 12 points. I almost have 13 Accelerated Reader points. I like to play basketball at school. I like to read. I like mystery books best. I can read whatever I want now that I met my A.R. goal. I want to read some science books from the library that are not A.R.

hello from Emily

Hi! We went for a walk tonight with Boo. He was barking a lot. I am doing good in school. I just finished a good book - Room 1 by Andrew Clements. I am now reading These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder & Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes. My teacher Mr. F. is reading a good book to us called Number the Stars. We are almost done with it. Tomorrow we are having genre day. We dress in a color that represents our favorite kind of books. I am going to dress in red for mysteries. I need 4 more points to meet my A.R. goal - I am almost done!

Last night Michael put on pajama bottoms and came into our room just laughing. They were about 3 inches too short - but had fit him last year. Emily decides to say pull them down - so he does which left about 3 - 4 inches of his underwear sticking out (he was sagging - what a comfortable way to go to bed). All the while Michael is just laughing and laughing.

We just passed Andrew a bunch of clothes - and I guess he grew more than I thought. We will likely be ready to pass some more things on to Andrew. The fun part comes now - checking his clothes each day or trying on every pair of pants he owns at one time.

100th post

This past weekend mom and dad came down. They arrived around 10:15 on Friday evening, due to dad having to work until 8:00 with one of his clients. Saturday we had planned to go to HolidayWorld, but due to the kids and myself not feeling on top of things all week, as well as being tired, we opted to stay in town. We went to the Gaslight festival - a small town festival with crafts, booths, freebies, bounce arounds... for the morning. Then we ate a CiCi's (after watching them race remote control cars in the parking lot of CiCi's) adn went home to rest & play games. After dinner we went mini golfing.

Sunday we went to Church had lunch and then loaded up mom and dad's van. They were delivering lots of hand-me-down items for Andrew. Michael handed down books, stuffed animals, his electric car, his pooh playhouse & pooh animals, his pooh stuffed animals (which were Emily's when she was little) and lots of clothes. This was hard for me - as it showed me even more that my little boy is growing up. In addition to the hand-me-downs to Andrew, he donated most of his stuffed animals to my prize box at school. He did keep his build-a-bear animals, his talking polar bear, his Webkinz, and some baseball/Cardinal stuffed animals.

After mom and dad left Doug ran to borrow a saw from a friend, and then he and Michael hit the backyard and started trimming trees. You should have seen Michael carrying limbs across the back yard. boy was he a big help! We have a stack of limbs as big as the swing set to get rid of now. This is in preparation of us taking out our "bamboo forest". We need more sunlight - in order to have grass grow in that area - so we had to trim the tree back. Once it gets cooler we will start taking out the ivy & bamboo in the back of the yard. We will transplant the hostas, but get rid of the rest. Will take pictures as we begin so you can watch our progress.

99th post

I guess I have been teaching first grade too long. The number 99 and 100 feel like such big accomplishments. At school we celebrate both the 99th and 100th day in various ways (mainly the 100th, but we do note the 99th day also). Wow! If you have been a reader for the last year and a half, you have read 99 posts. Wow.

Anyway, just got home from the grocery store. Kind of weird - here it is September (apple season) and oranges and grapes are on sale cheaper than apples. Very odd. I guess it may be due to the drought we had this summer.

weepuls and all that stuff

Well, magazine sales have kicked off again at our school. The kids would like to go on a limo ride which requires them each to sell 12 magazines. So far each has done 4 so we have 16 total to go for our family. For each magazine they sell they get a little fuzzy weepul. There is also lots of other prizes that come along with it - the highlight being a limo ride.

On Tuesday Michael happened to be the daily prize winner. He got to bring home an "annoying singing thing" It is a blue creature which makes a whining anoying sound when its belly is squeezed. Oh boy, I am sure glad I had him turn in magazine sales on that day.

On the bright side, because they each turned in 4 by today they will get to see a BMX bike show. It should be a fun time. Michael is especially excited to be able to see this.

I sure feel old ...

Today Michael sure made me feel old and out of it. He has this thing about leaving his dark church socks on after church and putting on shorts. Boy does he need a fashion consultant. Anyway... today he had on velcro shoes, dark socks (pulled up to almost his knees), jean shorts and a t-shirt. He was getting ready to go to the store with Doug and I asked him if he really wanted to wear those socks & shoes. He said, "why mom?" to which I replied, "So you don't look like a Geek!". He then said, "what is a geek mom - that sure is a funny word."

I guess that is how mom and dad felt at times when I did not get their lingo from their childhood. I guess there must be a new word for geek in today's lingo. If you know it - please fill me in so I can communicate effictively with my son next Sunday when he tries to wear dark socks with velcro shoes. :)

trip to St. Louis

All 4 of us in the Cardinal dugout

Emily and Michael with the World Series Trophy

Michael eating Ted Drews - YUM, YUM!

Emily eating Ted Drews - Good to the last drop!

The kids at the Magic House playing Ring Around the Rosey

Well, for this past weekend we were off to St. Louis. We camped at our favorite KOA just on the Illinois side of St. Louis. We have been there 3 times now. After getting in late Friday night we set up and ended up with two tent sites as our reservation was lost in computer land (was on one screen, but not the other) and we really did not have a camper/RV spot assigned to us. Oh well, it was nice as we were right next to the covered patio so we used that as our private patio. We were also the first site next to the horseshoe pits, basetball court, pool, and bathrooms. :)

Saturday morning we went to wait in line for the Cardinal's Kids Crew party at the stadium. Michael played ball with some kids while we waited for a few hours and then we went to wait in more lines. Lines for autographs, lines for dugout tours, lines for games, lines for bathrooms, and even lines to leave. Then it was back to the van to wait for a while before we could go back into the stadium for the game. We ate in the stadium and found our seats - section 265 - not too bad. The cardinals won 11 to 3. The kids got to see 2 of the 3 players they got autographs for play.

Sunday we took it easy, ate breakfast and then headed to the Magic House for an afternoon of hands-on fun. After the kids had their full of fun (and going down the slide about a dozen times) we headed to Ted Drews & then back to the campground for swimming & dinner.

This morning we packed up, let the kids swim for a while & then took off. On our way out we ate lunch at Chevy's as the kids had cupons for free lunches from the Kids Crew Party. We arrived home about 5:30, got unpacked, did laundry, set out stuff for our "dump week" (as this is our free week to have bulk stuff hauled away), got he kids to bed, made lunches and now am sitting down.

Day # 4

Today was the 4th day of school. Wow! Today a miracle happened. All the kids were more settled, less talkative, and really were productive. Wow! I plan on praying for more days like today. Please do the same ... of course I know they are just 6 & 7 year olds so the likelyhood of a repeat this early in the school year is very slim.

michael's birthday party

Since Michael's birthday fell both over vacation & summer vacation, we finally made it around to having a birthday party with his friends. He wanted to go to Putt-Putt for his party - which we were first apprehensive about due to all the heat we have been having. But, after checking prices around town, decided to go for it. Putt-Putt was only $8 per child, where other places were $15 - $20 per child. Parties are getting so expensive. Anyway - we had 8 first grade boys and 3 4th grade girls (two boys have sisters in Emily's class so we invited them along so she would have someone to hang out with). It was great! They played 1 round of putt-putt and it was actually comfortable outside - it was only about 90 :) instead of the 100 which it has been lately. Then we went inside for cake, ice cream, & drinks. After ooling off and eating up Michael opened his presents. They we let them loose in the arcade they had connected to the putt-putt place. They had a blast - and 120 tokens actually lasted quite a while.

A new boy walked into the party and took one look at me and said, "Mrs. N_ what are you doing here?" I then said, "You did not know I was Michael's mom did you." He just looked at me and said, "Wow".


Michael got 3 new webkinz which made him very happy as well as some legos, a t.v. plug-in video game, $15, a remote control car, and a gift card to blockbuster. He enjoyed all the stuff and has played with everything this evening.