Ingenious moment of the day

Every day their are countless moments where my children's intelligence and creativity amuse me. For example, this was Elijah's way of keeping his younger brother Micah from playing with barbies. Because of course, boys don't play with barbies. Even though in Micah's defense it is a Ken doll. I thought it was pretty funny.

Hallelujah

After spending a month in chaos downstairs due to the "flood" (our frost free pipe break) we are on our way to having carpet again. Words cannot express the thankfulness for modern amenities like carpet. It means our lives and living space will soon return to some order!

I'm officially a "Soccer Mom"

Yesterday marked the first official soccer game for both Grace and Elijah. And I have to say that it was pretty entertaining. Elijah's game was first at 12:00. We were expecting that he would have no idea what he was doing. The greatest moment of the game had to be the start. The games are played 3 on 3 and Elijah was out their with two of his teammates to start it off. The whistle blew and the other team took off with the ball and scored a goal while his team stood their watching them. Fortunately, Elijah started to figure it out and managed to score two goals. He was elated.....and so were we. Then we had Grace's game at 3:40. She was a little bit of a different story. Let's just say she started out playing with her pigtails and wasn't quite as aggressive as Elijah was. But at her age it's a little more difficult because her fields are bigger. And you could tell she wasn't as conditioned as her other teammates who have played for 2 years. But it didn't matter she still enjoyed herself and we are excited to see her grow as she continues to play. I have to say our lives are getting busier as the time goes by. I keep asking myself what I am going to do when all 4 kids of mine are in activities. Taxi driver here I come!

THAT WAY!!!!!!!

I' M GONNA GET IT

VICTORY DANCE

AT LEAST I LOOK THE PART

PEP TALK

WATCH OUT I'M GONNA KICK IT

Thumbs Up

The big day arrived. Elijah had his first day of pre-school. He was so excited to go and I was excited for him. We had parents night last Thursday evening....where the kids stayed with their teacher while the parents heard from the principal. This gave us a chance to meet his teacher and tell her a little bit about Elijah. I had mentioned to her that I was a little nervous about him going to school because he is an active boy with a strong will. After the meeting I asked her how it went and she had told me that she understood what I meant but she was completely enthusiastic about Elijah and promised that he was going to do just fine. So it was pretty exciting to hear that today he did great....and the teacher gave me a literal thumbs up. Elijah was really excited to get a "terrific" stamped on his hand. He can't wait to go back tomorrow and get another stamp. He is completely aware of the behavior chart on the wall and is very proud that he has been such a good boy. I hope this excitement never wears off.

Mixed Emotions

So it's back to school again. I know I say this all the time....but it really is so hard to believe how grown up my kids are getting to be. Gracie was up and at em early. She already had her outfit picked out the night before (the dress and leggings Grandma Jane got her). It's always exciting as a kid to go back to school. And I guess I am looking forward to having some structure back in our lives. But now that Grace is gone all day I can say that I truly do miss having her home. Gracie loves her new 1st grade teacher. She happened to be her read-well teacher from last year.....who she always talked about. And I think it's going to be a good year. She came home and said that she had a great day and received two blue tickets for good behavior (gold in Gracie's world). Elijah keeps asking when it's his turn to go to school. He starts pre-school next week. I am really excited for him to go.....but a little bit petrified at the same time. It should be a very interesting year. I am sure their will be plenty of funny stories to blog about!

It's all about Star Wars

It's hard to believe how fast my babies are growing up. Yesterday we celebrated Elijah's 5th Birthday! And in his little world it's literally all about Star Wars. We didn't end up having a huge kidfest....but opted for a "quiet" little family celebration. We let him pick the dinner option....pizza of course. After checking out a local pizza restaurant we came home to have some "Star Wars" cake. After two bites Elijah was ready to tear into his presents. After all was said and done Elijah seemed pretty happy with his family party. Mainly because he received more Star Wars stuff. Nothing like simple pleasures.

The Highlights

Summer has practically come and gone for us. While it was challenging to be away from daddy for 5 weeks it was precious time spent home in Minnesota. We had so much fun visiting both sets of Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and friends. And the fun still hasn't stopped. After coming home we immediately headed up to Glacier with our amazing German friends that we met in Ohio. We spent four beautiful days with them at a cabin just outside the west side of Glacier. The kids loved cooking out, the campfires with smores, and hiking everyday....(with only a little whining about the 4 mile hikes). Two days after we got back from that trip Uncle John, Aunt Lacey, Cousin Ahna and Uncle Dan and Aunt Tina arrived. So many fun memories were made this week including going to the State Fair, late night game playing, mountain biking, picnics, and another trip to Glacier for a full day of hiking. The kids did even more amazing hiking 7 MILES with literally no complaining. We were so sad to see everyone go home on Sunday. But plenty of fun planned for this week with Vacation Bible School. We know that it's going to be a continued sprint to the beginning of school with so much to do around our house...i.e. the front porch railing and scary looking overgrown bushes....as well as trying to soak up the last little bit of Summer.