Labor Day Visit

Over Labor Day weekend, we enjoyed a visit from Ben's parents. They flew down on Friday night and went back home on Monday morning. It was a nice relaxing weekend hanging out at home (and playing lots of cards, which we like!). 

Ben got a new bike. He has been wanting one for awhile and researched them well. He used it in a triathlon for the first time on Labor Day. His dad was kind enough to lend Ben his (yellow) bike for the past year. The new bike weighs a lot less than the old bike, but that old bike has held up nicely over the years!

Lila got out the dress up clothes. I couldn't help but take a picture of this ensemble...perhaps it will make another appearance at her wedding someday?? :)

Nana made Piper a bug out of the blocks.

Then I had the thought I should get out my camera (not my phone) and take a picture! For some reason, I am really good about this when I go places but not so great at remembering when company comes here. This was the last night before they left, but hey, at least I remembered!

Sometimes with kids, I will have them make faces to get their attention... scary faces, ok silly faces, ok happy faces! Doing this I sometimes get natural smiles. But there's no guarantee of course! Here I said make a silly face (and I think I puckered up too). I love Piper's ability to mimic what I do... ha ha, she wasn't the only one!

See that little pink bag Piper is holding? That was free in a Happy Meal. She LOVES to carry that around and put things in it. I find all kinds of random things in there... Wyatt's blocks, Barbie shoes, hair bows... anything that will fit. 

She is my little bag lady :)

After dinner, Nana took the kids outside. This was an act of love because it was HOT. You will notice that all of the children have red, sweaty faces. In fact, I went outside to take some pictures and I think I only lasted about five minutes. But she was out there with them for at least 20.

Piper still loves to drive her car!

Here she is showing me the car key.

Woo, that is one sweaty kiddo! 

(Notice our nice green grass? It's actually rained here enough it turned green!)

This one is always posing with a "flower" of some kind.

She decided at the beginning of the summer that she wanted to grow out her bangs. We are still in the clipping-them-back phase. I think we may be in this phase for awhile!

I have no idea why she walked right up to the camera and showed me her teeth. But when your active toddler holds still for more than 2 seconds, you take the picture! :)

She is getting so big.

She is getting so big too. 

I tried to tell her that once she turned six she couldn't grow anymore, but I don't think she believes me :)

First Day(s)

We started back to school last week... well, Lila did. Wyatt started preschool today.

Here's a picture of my new first grader on HER first day.

And one without the sign. I got the little paper speech bubbles for $1 (I think there are 20); I thought they'd be fun in pictures.

Lila's long-term aspirations right now.

Sitting at her desk (1st graders get their own desk, not a shared table!)

We were the first to arrive that morning... I think the only reason we were able to be that early was that Ben took a work call from home (which meant I didn't have to bring the other kids along).

I took one last picture as I walked out the door. She has the same teacher (in the red shirt) she had last year in Kindergarten. There was supposed to be one other student from her Kindergarten class in this class, but then we found out that she withdrew from the school. So Lila doesn't have any of her former classmates with her. There were 23 students in her class last year, and five 1st grade classes this year. The fact that she is the only one to repeat with Mrs. A seems remarkable to me. Fortunately she likes her teacher! (Lila does know some of the other kids a little from PE, field trips, etc.)

I took this picture today before taking Lila to school.

They weren't very thrilled about taking pictures.

Here is Wyatt on HIS first day

Lila starts school at 8, but Wyatt doesn't start until 9. Then his day ends at 2, and hers ends at 3. It is nice I don't have to have them at 2 different places at the same time, although if they were a little closer together I could utilize my time better.

If you haven't noticed yet, Wyatt has three picture faces: (1) no smile, (2) yelling "cheese!" (which results in squinty eyes and open mouth), or (3) looking away. Oh well, I take what I can get.

I asked him what he wanted to be.

He loves his daddy :)

When we got to school, we met up with his best buddy.

They are in classrooms right across the hall from each other.

Evan said, "Let's hold hands, Wyatt" as they were walking in to school. How sweet is that?!

Standing next to his cubby in the hall where he hangs up his backpack.

Finding his desk.

The classroom is shared with a MWF class, so don't worry - his name was hidden by his paper - nobody called him Alivia :)

I helped him find a crayon - he chose black which seems to always be his first choice of crayon color - and then I gave him a little kiss and said goodbye.

One last look before I left (his teacher is kneeling beside him).

I was very surprised there weren't any tears or pleading for me to stay. Even this past Sunday, he didn't want to go to Sunday School at first! But today, he was fine! I felt a little emotional... not sad to leave, just sad at how fast he is growing up. He came home saying he had fun. I asked if he wanted to go back, and he said yes! Oh, and the raccoon picture made it home too... filled in completely with black! :)

End of Summer

This is the last week of our summer break. It seems to have gone by so fast... I don't think the rest of the year moves that quickly. Recently the weather has cooled down some, so on Monday morning I took the kids to a fun park. I have been trying to do some "summer" things with the kids this last week. Tuesday Lila and Wyatt spent the day doing fun things with Aunt Janina, then Lila spent the night at her house. Wednesday we went for ice cream after dinner. Today we went to the library (not necessarily a summer thing, but we had books due!). Anyway, back to the park.

It has a fun space theme.

A rocket with three levels! Shortly after we arrived, some other kids showed up. It was fun to listen to all of them play together and talk about "aliens" and having "permission to board" the spaceship :)

Someone else was determined to board the space craft!

Then we found a space shuttle more her size.

There was also a smaller playground next to the larger rocket that was also more her size (or at least Mommy thought so).

My little astronaut... he seemed to prefer hanging out on the second level, although he did go down the big slide a few times.

Speaking of slides, the little playground had a few too. They were electrifying to Piper :)

As soon as she got down the slide, she would run around to the steps...

and go down again!

There is a little bridge that spans a creek near this park. When we first arrived, I told the kids I wanted to try to take a picture of them before they played on the playground. They were fascinated with looking down at the creek.

I finally got them to sit down together.

But Piper immediately wanted to get up and wander off. Lila tried the "give her a hug" technique, but she wasn't thrilled.

This was the best I could get of them. At least they're all looking at the camera.

I thought maybe if they stood up, they'd be more content to hold still. Ha!

Ok, back to playing on the bridge.

And climbing on it.

Lila, 6 years old

Can you tell from this picture that this girl is full of personality? I love the little sparkle that comes into her eyes when she figures out a joke or that I'm teasing. She loves to create stories, making up an animal and then telling me all about its characteristics. Recently she has discovered Lego Friends (her first smaller sized Legos), and I have been amazed at the time and imagination she puts into building with them. She still likes catching bugs and critters (we recently had two little gecko lizards spend a couple nights in her bug hotel). She has also developed a good friendship with two neighbor girls, and the three of them will spend hours playing together in our back yard.

Due to low enrollment in Kindergarten this year and high numbers in First Grade, Lila's K teacher got moved to 1st. Lila was THRILLED to learn that she is going to have the same teacher again. Needless to say, I think her first day of school will go smoothly :)

Wyatt, 3 1/2 years old

My sweet little guy is going to start preschool this year. He's asked me several times if I'm going to go with him to school. I don't expect the first day to be easy on him (or me). He is a contradiction of personality: loud, rough and tumble yet shy, sensitive and snuggly. He still likes building with blocks and recently has discovered super heroes. His favorite is Batman. He also likes robots. This year he will go to school two days a week. His good buddy from church will also go to the same school on those days (but in a different class). I am glad that they have the same schedule, so they can still play together during the week.

Piper, 20 months old

This picture sums up the independence and determination that oozes out of this little girl. She still likes to snuggle up, but only on her terms. And if we are outside, she wants DOWN. When she's down, she's off and running. In the highchair, she wants to be the one holding the spoon. Same with her toothbrush. She is getting better and better at communicating and can say so many words now. She says several of her words backwards, putting the end consonant first. She loves to go "dise" (outside). "Nay" is again. She started by saying "nofe" for phone, but now she says "fofe". "Wawoo" is water. She is great at saying no (of course) but doesn't say yes all that much. Instead she says uh-huh or nods her head. I call her a little mimic because she loves to copy whatever we do. My favorite might be when I whistle for the dogs, and then she says "woooooo" in a high pitch :) Today at the grocery store she was winking (blinking slowly) back at the cashier. She really is a delight (and usually very happy); I love this age!