First of the Season

We were here today for the first time this spring...

and we loved every minute of it! I picked the kids up from school and offered the idea of a picnic dinner if they finished their homework first. They were all for it. We were on our way 30 minutes later, picnic packed, ready to go.

We walked a bit at first to get to our usual spot. We forgot a blanket so we had to settle for a table. But it wasn't too bad, with a view of the lake and all. We watched the ducks, all of the dogs and puppies going for walks, and I watched as A & C scarfed down their dinner with the promise of ice cream to come.

The ice cream did come soon after-

and we had our first casualty of the summer. C licked his ice cream right off his cone and onto the ground. Boo-hoo. Really, he was very teary-eyed and almost started bawling right there. It can be hard for a little boy to lose his ice cream. Clearly we are out of practice.

After many licks later, the cones were gone and we were off to the playground. Not too bad for a school night!

They love the climbing net they have. I can't even begin to count how many times they went up and down. C even turned down the opportunity to play capture the flag with another little boy. That's how much he loves to climb!

On our way back to the car we were prepared to buckle up, start driving, and be on our way. That is until we saw a fox! A and I saw it first, walking across the road to the lake. She said, "C! Did you see that?! It's a fox!" Nope. He didn't see it. He was already in the car. So she climbed in, told him to get out, and he and I ran to see where the fox went. People were gathering by where it should have been. We kept a bit of distance (never encountered a fox in the open before) and waited. Pretty soon it comes trotting up the little hill, onto the walking path, then the bike path, with dinner in the mouth. We think it was a duck or a fish or something. We're not quite sure, because it was trotting in our direction. Needless to say, I turned around quickly and walked back to the car, looked back to see if it was still following, as it crossed the street. Quite the adventure as we were leaving!

The kids watched it in the woods as we drove slowly along the side, watching the crows begin to circle, hoping for the fox to drop said dinner. Then it disappeared.

All in all it was a great first visit to the Lake! We can't wait for many more to come...visits to the fairy house, bike rides, concerts to see, more playground time...the list is endless!

Rough and Tumble

Those could be the nicknames for our kids today!

A & C had a birthday party for an old neighbor who turned 7 today. The party was a Twins party (fitting), so all of the kids wore their Twins gear, brought their glove, and they played a little baseball. They also brought their scooters to ride around the driveway and cul-de-sac. Fun party!

We dropped the kids off, talked to the parents, said our goodbyes and were just about out the door when I see C on the grass, off of a bike he has borrowed. I dash outside..."Are you ok, Buddy?" "Yup. I fell of the bike! Thank goodness it was in the grass." I look down. "And you tore your shirt! Must have been a good fall!" He's ok-I go back in to finish the goodbye, and A comes in...

"I fell off my scooter! I'm all bloody!" Yes, she was. Both knees had blood dripping down them and hands were scuffed up a bit too. This is our first skid of the season, seeing how we had snow covering the ground on Tuesday. It's Saturday. She was one brave girl as we cleaned out her wounds, put on some ointment, and bandaged her up. She was off and riding her scooter (slowly) again in the driveway before we left.

So there you have it...Rough and Tumble. I suppose it would be the other way around, being the way I wrote it...C was Tumble and A was Rough. But you get the idea.

I'm sure this won't be the last time this year! Being that they're basically not afraid of much anymore. Let the season begin!

Sleeping

I love watching the kids sleep. It's always been something I've loved to do. Especially when they were babies and they were actually sleeping (yes!).

Now that they're older, I look at them sleeping and see their baby faces. I see their cheeks. I see their noses. I see their lips.

The other thing I think is crazy about sleeping is how 2 kids can be so completely different. Take tonight for example.

A: tucked in tight; sheet, blanket and quilt snuggled right up under her chin; all of her friends tucked in just so next to her; even her friends are wrapped in their blankies; she's holding onto her favorite blankie, like it's a stuffed animal

C: sprawled; legs hanging off of the bed; hotter than hot; less "friends" because, "otherwise I'll be too hot, Mommy;" no covers; such a hot body

Now mind you today was the first day we hit the 70 degree mark. C still claimed, as he climbed into bed, that he was still so sweaty from playing outside. He already proclaimed that he wants the snow back. Clearly his body had to adjust.

I just find sleeping kids so cute, funny and interesting. Cute because they're my kids. Funny because of how they sleep. And interesting because they are 2 totally different kids when they sleep! Love them, little snuggle bugs!

Small Town

Just when I think we live in the Big City, something changes and it feels like we live in a really small town.

The kids came home with a permission slip to go to cheer on the girls high school basketball team at the  state quarterfinals game. My first reaction was no. Why would our 6 year olds need to go on a bus to cheer on a team they haven't seen before (sorry...we went to the boys games instead)? So no. Then the texting began. "Are your kids going?" "I don't know. Let me check with..." "Their kids are going, so maybe." "Ok, mine are going." In the end, both A & C decided they wanted to go (A-once she realized there would be cheerleaders there), and we decided it was ok.

We also found out that both of their teachers were going. That's right, the school staff was chaperoning the "field trip." I don't know exactly how many kids went from their school, but I do know that 1,800 tickets were sold to STUDENTS in the district and that they had 38 buses from elementary schools, the middle school and the high school that went to the game today. You read that right...1,800 students were bused to the game. Crazy!! That's when it felt like a small town to me.

I think it's fantastic that the school district coordinated the event to get all of the students to the game. I commend the staff that went with to chaperone the kids-they probably didn't watch too much of the game, as they were probably worried about the kids (at least that's how I would have been). I've heard of out of town teams bussing fans in, but I've never heard of local teams doing it.

Small town...that's what it felt like today as I knew my kids were cheering loud at 10:00 sharp, knowing they were there with their classmates as the girls basketball team came away with a WIN!

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from these two babies,

 and these two toddlers,

and these two preschoolers,

 and these two goofballs!

We hope this Valentine's Day brings you all sorts of love. From those you love, to those who love you; from those you love from afar to those who you love close. It doesn't matter where you are or who you are, just as long as you are loved, can love and feel loved. We love you!

Fall is...

Fall is...

 jumping in big piles of leaves.

 Fall is...

 raking over and over.

 Fall is...

 leaves in my hair.

 Fall is...

 "Did you see that jump?!"

 Fall is...

 saying goodbye to shade.

 Fall is...

 getting ready for the next big pile.

 Fall is...

 fun, because we have each other!

Pool Time

We had a lot of pool time around these parts this summer. Boy did we ever! J and I weren't quite sure about getting a pool pass at the beginning of the season, but I can tell you that we will be back and do it summer after summer after summer. See, our kids turned into fish. Fish with goggles. 

There was going down the slide. There was swimming in the shallow end. There was swimming in the "baby" pool-which secretly I'm sure the kids still love because of the water spraying everywhere. There were snacks eaten. Sunscreen was applied...and applied...and applied again (with no burns, might I add!). Friends swam with us too!

And swam they did! By the end of the summer the kids and their friends had all passed the swim test, no doubt due to the fact that we were at the pool 2-4 times a week. Passing the swim test means they all got to jump off the diving boards by about the middle of the summer. Hooray! That was their new favorite for the second half of the summer.

The deep end is where you found our fish kids. No more going where we can touch. They were all about the diving boards, doing flips under the water, jumping off the sides...all things to be done in the deep end.

Yes, our summer was spent at the pool. That is when the kids weren't at camp, church or the cabin. The pool was definitely a highlight for everyone. When asked what their favorite part of summer was, the pool is usually their answer. And that is the best answer to give with so many good memories made together!

First grade, here we come!

We're 2 weeks into first grade. So far so good. Smiles abound. Giggles to be heard. Tears shed...only because we're so very tired...otherwise our house is embracing the start of school.

J & I are having a good start to the year too. Good classes. Minor technology snafus. Days that sometimes seem to go quickly, but of course, can also seem extremely long.

It's hard to believe we have first graders. Weren't we just bringing them to preschool not long ago?

I love seeing all of the back to school photos from everyone. That's the bonus to Facebook, I suppose. It makes you realize there are so, so many people doing the same thing as we are. Funny thing is, when they're your kids, it seems like they're it. They're the only ones.

We're full swing into homework every night-reading, spelling, math, sometimes writing. The kids are really diligent about it every day, too. Makes us happy, seeing the kids loving to learn.

A Letter to the Editor

I am published! Well, I suppose I was technically published a year ago with the Minnesota Writing Project. But now I'm really published. Some of my friends have probably read my letter. That makes it a little more real. 

I took the time to write to the Sun-Current (our local newspaper) in support of my kids' elementary school. There had been positive press about other elementary schools in the area and I wanted others in the community to know about how great our school is too! So I wrote. I've never written to the editor. And then to have it published. Pretty neat if you ask me! I only hope the staff at the school really knows that it comes from the heart and I meant every word I said. Read on!

To the Editor:

I am a parent of two children who attend S.H. Elementary School. I have just returned from attending their Open House and we are all smiles around our house. There was certainly a lot of positive energy in the building tonight!

S.H. has done amazing things for children and will continue to do so this upcoming school year. My kids have a love for learning all things. This is, in large part, due to their kindergarten experience at S.H. It was remarkable. And here we are again, at the beginning of another school year, with great things about to happen. I am thrilled to be at S.H. for another year filled with success of not only my children, but also all of the children at the school.

State test scores were released today and our decision to send our children to S.H. was confirmed, once again, by the success of the school and the teachers. The growth in scores is simply amazing. Kudos to the teachers and administration at S.H. for putting the needs of students first, and empowering them with the tools to succeed. Thank you to all of the faculty, as you really have a positive influence on all students you teach.

A visit to the dentist

Kids leave dentist with smiling teeth!

It was a good visit...and I'm SO thankful for that!

Fun for all!

Summer day filled with fun for all!

Today was another great summer day! Albeit the weather turned out to be WAY different than the meteorologists had predicted (do they know anything??), we made the most of it anyway. See, summer is supposed to be filled with lots of outside play with friends, filled with laughter, trying new things, swimming, playing games...you get it, right? That's exactly what today was and our kids loved every minute of it.

The day began with a playdate for C with one of his favorite friends from kindergarten. It was a Wii playing, TV watching, playhouse playing, Lucky Charm eating filled morning. Then we move to the afternoon where we swam, jumped off diving boards, slid down slides, sat on fountains, swam with Barbies, dove for rings, and tired ourselves out...that being the kids because it was raining during some of this time, which didn't phase the kids at all! See for yourself...

Then on to more play and dinner with good company.

Kids on one side of the table, which worked out well because we could wedge them in-no escaping here!

Then on to a movie night with a dessert stop half way through-ice cream, of course.

See, these are the days I want to remember when we are full-board into school and activities; when we don't have a moment to spare to even think about what we could be doing or were doing in the summer. You know those days, when they seem so scheduled we're not even sure of what's next.

Yup.

I want to remember these summer days with swimming, playing, jumping, laughing, sharing, eating and being together. Thank goodness for friends and family that make days like this possible.

Library Ride

First bike ride to library today!

We rode our bikes to the library today! I'm not sure exactly how far it is, but I bet it's about a mile there. We're trying to build our stamina to be able to ride around Lake Harriet. That's still a goal for the summer. The kids have been asking since the beginning of the summer (already 2 months ago!). This was good practice today. There were hills and a few breaks, but the kids still did great!

After picking out books, they got them in their backpacks and proceeded to ask us to wear them home. The limit was 6 books, but the bags were still pretty heavy!

I love trying new things like this with the kids. Today's bike ride was C's idea. He was so proud of it and so surprised to hear me say, "Yes!" to riding bikes. It was the best of both worlds, really, because A wanted to go to the library and C wanted to ride bikes. That's how he came to bringing both together. Love those kids. Love that they love books and love that they love bikes! Doesn't get much better!

And so continues my days of writing 6 word stories...have you read them all yet?

Celebration Week

Well, we are almost through our celebration week. What is that you ask? Well, in our family we have tried to fit everything in during a single week in July. Are you ready? Here it goes:

July 10: Mom's birthday; July 11th: kids' birthday; July 12: Mom & Dad's anniversary; July 14th: Our anniversary; July 17th: Dad's birthday...AND, that doesn't even include extended family and friends for which that adds 3 more birthdays! Crazy!

Until I get a bit more organized...here are some of my favorite moments from the last few days: