Fish, gecko, ice cream and summer salts

WoW, what an amazing first week of school! I'm sure this has been the best first week for me. Why? First, I painted a wall in my room turquoise which just brightened up the whole room and got me excited about the upcoming year. Second, I spent a lot of time planning this year before school started to assure a great start. I realize I have to do that because having three kids to take care of after school is quite time consuming also. Preston loves his new class and his teacher and Austin well he's always liked school! I am going to miss him terribly next year, I mean my baby will be leaving me for the first time. Litereally, he only had to go to daycare one full year and other than that, he had been with me mostly.

Well, it is now week two and Preston is not enjoying getting up so early everyday for school. Actually had tears this morning and told me he didn't want to go to school. I think he just needs more sleep. We need to work on getting to bed just a little earlier. Preston did tell us at dinner that he has a girlfriend; however, I don't think she is aware of it..gotta love Kindergarten dating. Austin is so funny, after spending time with his best bud Parker over the weekend, he told me that he doesn't want a room full of toys anymore, he wants a room full of plants and animals. I told him he could go visit Parker. Hehe! I did take them to check out Travelers Gazebo and of course they both want fish and geckos and I don't know what else. After our visit there we headed down to the river to enjoy a yummy ice cream come from Port Cape and watch a few barges go by, it was a beautiful summer evening minus Jeff, he was helping a friend for the evening. My Chloe girl is 21 months today, crazy I know. Guess I need to start planning her 2nd birthday! She is a little gymnast already, doing summer salts last night, the boys thought this was hilarious! She would bend over almost putting her head between her legs and just flop over, it was quite funny!
School work awaits and a bed is calling my name before 11 I hope!

Wow, time has really gone by so fast this summer, especially July. It seems as though I blinked my eyes and it was gone. I guess that means we have been having lots of fun! Michigan vacation was nice as always. Even better since we got to stay right on black lake with Julie and Mike, love their place. The boys had a blast playing with their cousins, fishing, canoeing, jet skis, and a boat rides. They could not get enough. On the way home we stopped to visit my older brother, Paul. The kids played hard again and I got to visit with my nana who i had not seen in years either. It was very nice. We ended the visit by going to my fathers grave, I know he was smiling down on us this weekend, to have us all together, I'm sure it made him happy. We've gone camping and boating, had sleepovers and play dates, baseball playoffs (Ausin's team won 2nd place, very proud of his wonderful season), spent one week completely organizing, cleaning, and decorating (such a good feeling to mark off some of these things from the to-do list), and well now it's already time to start thinking about work again. Jeff and the kids came up to classroom tonight to move some things around. I will start working this week for a little while each day, leaving plenty of time to play with the kids. We were so thankful to have Jeff home today... he had to work from 6:30-6:00 this week plus all day Saturday so needless to say we didn't get much quality time with him. I asked Austin if he had missed daddy this week since he was working so much, he answered as if what kind of question is that, "YES A LOT" he said. So, he made him a cute card that he missed him and wished he could have been home with us but he understands he has to make money. He drew a nice picture of them playing ball. Which I'm so proud of Jeff for being able to come up with the energy to play ball with the kids every night. Preston wants to play all day~ every day. I guess watching Austin has him excited to play now. Now it's time to try to get back to an early schedule... we are totally on our summer schedule..stay up late, sleep in late. Love my job! I am so blessed to be able to stay home so much with my family and have a job that I look forward to.

Another great weekend at the lake

Oh how I just love summer and going to the lake and now camping in a camper is icing on the cake! For us, it doesn't get much sweeter. We have so much fun being out on the lake just tubing and swimming all day. This weekend I even got to get up on skis again. My sister and Adam came out and had a wonderful time, as well, I do believe. We also met up with the Fisher's and well.. we all just had a great time. The boys are getting so big. Austin informed me not to stick up for him anymore when older kids pick on him, he'll take care of it himself. Otherwise, I'm just embarrassing him. Too funny. Austin loves the tube this year after two years of slow, relaxing rides, he likes it wild now and doesn't even care if he fall off the tube. We tube together and somehow I always fall off and he is able to stay on, the score 4 to 0 according to Austin. He gets a point every time I fall off and he doesn't. Today we spent a few hours at the lake just us and had great quality family time. I'm so sore from all the activities at the lake and should be tired right now. Luckily, I can sleep in in the morning. We celebrated Austin's birthday this past Thursday! Austin wanted to go swimming at moms so we did, then he had his two best friends over for a sleepover. He loves his new pogo stick we got him. I can even still pogo. Your'e only as old as you feel right! The boys were up until almost one, then bright in early in the morning. Parker got to stay the day and they created a slip-n-slide with three slip-n-slides hooked together. Looked like lots of fun. We continue to enjoy summer and are looking forward to our Michigan vacation.

misc.

Wow! I can't believe school has been out for almost a month already! Time really does fly when your having fun! I LOVE the summer! The best part, just being a mom to my wonderful children! Chloe is so much fun and so busy this summer. She is repeating everything we say and just runs everywhere (tries to keep up her brothers)! Austin is doing great in baseball. So far he has hit three triples and few doubles and I've lost count of the RBI's. We're proud parents, of course! Preston is always working on his soccer tricks and counting down the months until soccer begins again. We've ventured out to the lake a few times and have tried out the new camper twice. Memorial weekend was tons of fun with good friends, lots of kids, days spent at the lake, nights spent at the campground; all in all, fun was had by all I do believe! This year for the boys birthday they each had their own party but on the same day. We rented to jump house and they each invited their whole class. They both had a good turn out and enjoyed having a last party with their classmates! For the next two months its all about fun with the fam! I love it and feel so blessed to have a job that I not only love but a job that also allows me to spend so much time with my family! Well, I haven't escaped school completely, I've been staying up researching new techniques and ideas for next school year! I'm really excited to get try different aspects of whole brain learning in my classroom next year.

Soccer 2010! Preston loves it! It is his first season and he...well he rocks! He scored about seven goals last game (granted they don't have a goalie yet but who need to know that)! Austin is doing great, as well! He enjoys playing full back the best!

Preston lost his first tooth last week! A few days later he tells me he knows how people who don't have very much money can get money..."they can pull their teeth out and leave them under their pillow and the tooth fairy will bring them money." Too funny. Preston is always making us laugh. The other day Jeff asked him why he was brushing his teeth in our bathroom and not his and he said because that is where my toothbrush was. Jeff asked well, if it was in your bedroom would you brush in there and he replied, well..if there was a sink in there.
Austin is growing up right before my eyes, I can't believe he will be nine this summer! He is such a great helper. I am so proud of him. A few weeks ago he went with Jeff and I to pack meals for feed my starving children organization and he was so eager to help and give his time. He has a big heart and I know the Lord has great plans for him.
Chloe ~ well were do i start... she is so much fun right now and requires so much energy right now. She is too cute and funny for her own good! She is a little sassy and has a little attitude sometimes. OK I guess throwing yourself on the floor and screaming isn't little its BIG and then before you know she's up and laughing again. She says: momma, daddy, bubby, and bro, paw paw, puppy, baby, and last night she said hi daddy just plain as day! SO cute. The cutest is when she pretends to be leaving, she'll have her purse on her shoulder and tell me bye, bye...then pucker up her lips and come back to give me a kiss. I love it!

What an amazing, blessed day! The day started early with the kids waking up to find eggs throughout the house, they tore through their baskets and started snacking on chocolate before breakfast! We quickly got ready for church and what an amazing service it was! We are so blessed! We came home to find more eggs outside that were magically left by the Easter bunny while we were gone. We had a fabulous meal with family and now I'm trying to unwind after cleaning the floors and straightening up the house.

Fun at Meier farm for an egg hunt and more after a couple of rounds at miniature golf.

How time flies, it looks like it's been awhile since I updated. I would much rather be outside enjoying the beautiful spring like weather but Chloe is getting over RSV and actually I tried to take her to get some fresh air, not a good choice, she began coughing like crazy so we came back in within five minutes. She was not very happy about that, she was loving the outside time! So, RSV, this is a first for our family. The boys never had it when they were little, I guess because they didn't have to be in childcare this young. So, I felt really guilty for awhile because she has to go to daycare. I wish I could be home with her like I was with the boys. However, I do love my job and as a teacher, you only work 175 days a year; therefore, I am off as much as I work. OK, I have to tell myself that so I don't feel so bad about leaving my little girl.
What is Chloe up to these days??? EVERYTHING--Chloe is into and on top of everything lately. She is a climber, climbing on the chairs, on the table, the end tables, just about anything. She is a little dancer. When we hear Black Eyed Peas song, It's Gonna Be a Good Night, its inevitable the whole family breaks out in dance, even Chloe. One morning when I woke Chloe up, this song was on and she woke up just a dancing and smiling! Preston stayed home with us Friday since chloe was sick, he was so cute helping me with chloe so I could take a shower. I put Chloe in her bed and brought the monitor with me. Preston got in the crib with her and sang her songs the whole time. It was so adorable to hear him singing If Your Happy and You Know It, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, the Hokey Pokey, and the alphabet song to name a few. The boys will both be starting soccer soon, this will be an adjustment for us, we've had a pretty relaxing winter with Austin only in boys scouts, we haven't been too busy outside of the normal everyday busy-ness that is! I suppose that will soon change.
So valentine's day was spent in St.Louis with Danielle and Adam, it was neat to be able to go stay with my sister for the weekend, kinda crazy, makes me feel old to see her all married and living in St.Louis. Very proud of you sis! Wish you were still here working around the corner from me! Jeff completely surprised me with roses on friday at work. I wasn't expecting anything two days early. Saturday we headed to St.Louis, we met up the danielle and adam and went to the mall, then to the incredible pizza place. Valentines we went to the magic house again. The kids still love it and the addition is nice. It was not very busy so that was nice. So, not everyone dream valentines date but for us we enjoyed the day with our three amazing children. Perhaps we will get a date night soon. Hard to do these days.

OK, I got the pictures to upload!

snow day 2010

I was ready to upload some winter snow fun pictures; however, for some reason, I can't upload pictures to my computer. It's time for a new computer; hopefully, a laptop. So, let just say the boys had a blast in the two inches of snow despite the frigid temperatures. Preston was hopping in bed with us at 7:15 and by 8:15 we were bundled up and outside sledding in the mere 18 degree weather. I think we lasted a little over an hour. When we came in Jeff and Chloe had hot chocolate ready for us. We met Jeff's parents for lunch at Cici's (the boys love that place). We headed back out for round two only this time the wind had picked up and when we came in around 5:00 the wind chill was -5! Were we crazy or what??? Chloe only got to touch some snow we brought in. Jeff insisted she didn't need to go out because it was so cold. I only wanted a few cute pictures. Hopefully, next time it snows it won't be so cold.

One of the fort creations by Preston and Austin. Also, Chloe was so happy to see Preston when he woke up, she wouldn't quit giving him a hug- precious!

happy New Year

Well, it has been two months since i last signed on. I guess this hasn't been a priority lately. Just too busy with everyday life I suppose. So much has happened in two months! Big event....Chloe turned one the day before Thanksgiving. We celebrated her birthday after our Thanksgiving dinner at our house. She loved her cake. I took her on her birthday to Sears for pictures with the baby cake and boy was she loving that and i got some really great pictures. After that the next three weeks were super busy, at work especially. There is so much I like to do with the my class before Christmas, it was hard to squeeze in all the fun but we managed to do so and had a great Christmas party to end the year. I have enjoyed every minute of the break and feel refreshed (definitely got to catch up on some much needed sleep) and ready to get back in to routine next week. Since school got out Chloe learned how to walk. She had been taking a few steps here and there but still preferred to crawl up until just before Christmas, now she is walking everywhere and into even more. She is so funny with the faces she makes. She has her "OHH" face with her mouth opened real big in the shape of an 'o' and she makes this other face where she squints her eyes and nose at you. The boys have enjoyed playing with their Christmas presents and making forts. They made one under the top bunk and both slept in Preston's bed in the fort the other night! They have their brotherly moments but for the most part they always have fun playing with each other.