First full day of KINDERGARTEN!!!

Tada! My big girl, Hannah on her first full day of kindergarten. She is wearing the special shirt MawMaw bought her on her shopping trip.

The other two are about through with all the special stuff and pictures and shopping for just Hannah. They couldn't bare not being in the pictures!

Emily wanted her special picture :)

Waiting for the school bus! Oh, I was getting so nervous. She was so excited that she knew Owen the little boy next to her in the striped shirt.

Here it comes! My kids were cheering :)

Here she is getting on the school bus for the very first time! I have been so panicky about the bus. We had to walk her a block and a half away to the stop. Plus I had to get all three up and dressed by 7am. Well, the bus driver said he would make a stop on our street! In fact, he said he would stop right in front of our driveway!!!!!! What a blessing and answer to prayer! We can sit in the garage when it is raining or snowing. I have been praying a lot about the bus....God is so good to me!

Here she is getting off the bus! She had a wonderful first day at school. Her only concern was that the bus driver wouldn't let her sit by Owen on the bus because boys and girls aren't allowed to sit together. Ha, if that is the only complaint....what a super start to school ;)

This morning Hannah was so excited that is was rainy! She flew into the closet and got out her lady bug raincoat and matching umbrella with her rain boots. It was warm so she quickly shed the coat, but she got to wear cool boots to school :)

First 1/2 Day of Kindergarten

Well, today was the fateful day: Hannah's first day of kindergarten. MawMaw and Papa came over to watch the younger two while Allen and I took Hannah to school. Hannah wore her new special sailor dress that Nanny bought for her on their shopping trip. It was special also because Hannah's great grandpa was a sailor :) Thank you MawMaw for ironing it!

Here is my big school girl! She was so excited.

We got our picture with our little kindergarten girl!

MawMaw, Papa and my three kids

Ohhh....I just love my kids! Can you tell who is my smiley-est most photogenic kid?

Our wonderful daddy took off a half day to take Hannah to her first day to kindergarten. I will say sometimes I am guilty of taking this gem of a man and dad for granted!

Hannah at her seat! The big box was her supplies. I got to pay $25 and they delivered her supplies for me. I LOVED it, plus it was a fund raiser for the school. Boy, you just can't go wrong with that.
Hannah in the hallway by her hook and backpack. She really was enjoying herself much more than the pictures indicate :)

This is Hannah's teacher, Mrs Yearian. she goes to our church. How lucky are we? That has also been a huge relief to me! Hannah likes her already.

They have a cool kitchen center in the classroom. She didn't want to leave!

Allen and Hannah enjoying the science center in the classroom. It was so cute. They were using microscopes, goggles and all kinds of things.

My sweet Hannah in front of her school sign. She did a fantastic job today. It really eased my nerves to see her enjoying her classroom as well getting to know some of the kids in her class. I worry about the social aspect of school more than the academic.

It was funny to see the kids with their parents. We have already pinpointed the class diva, the class clown and the class doom and gloomer. The funniest part was that their parents fit the part as well. I wonder what Hannah will be.

Last Day of Summer

Yesterday was our unofficial end to the summer. Hannah started school today, so we wanted to make our last day special. We played a lot outside. Then it got a bit hot so we came in and did art. They did such a good job for an art project above their skill level.

Later in the day we had a super dee duper tea party with cocoa coffee, cereal and soup! Yum...I obstained. Too weird of a combo for me :)

This one made me laugh....love the creepy forced smiles! No, really....we had a good time

Later we baked a good-bye summer cake. Ugh, didn't turn out very well. We got the cake in the oven, and then I noticed that we had yet to put in the last 1/2 c of water. Oh well. I think they like the process even better than eating a perfect cake :)

We went outside for some more fresh air. Allen decided to try taking the training wheels off Hannah's bigger bike. She can barely touch the ground when she doesn't have shoes....but off she went! Here she is speeding down the road. Below she is doing one of her tricks. One leg! Above, waving and only steering with one hand..too funny. That girl has great balance!

Weekend at Home

Joseph helping Papa earlier in the week. It cracked me up that Joseph went and got

his "power drill"

This weekend we were actually HOME and stayed home. I was thrilled to get some landscaping done. I had such a wonderful day. The day was so beautiful day. It was in the low 80's and had a super breeze. Karen came over for a while and Allen's ever-helpful parents came over all day to help!

Here is the street view of our new flower bed in the middle.

We also put in the landscape edging around my pie shaped bed. I love the purple leafy things in there....although they have taken over everything :)

We also got to get the area around the transformers done. It was so ugly in between our yard and our neighbor Miss Ellen. She came out and we all did it together. It was a great time getting to know her better!

I am going to be getting a small pine tree to go in the back of this flower bed. Perhaps something that gets 10-15 ft max. Alan any advice?

Later in the fall we are going to build a retaining wall/flower bed in front of the house. Isn't my fountain awesome? Clearance sale :)

Tuesday

Papa has been wanting to take the kids fishing all summer. Well, as it goes...time has just flown. So, MawMaw and Papa took the kids fishing at the lakes across the street from us. It was such a neat, special time. I love this picture!

Isn't this precious! I love that my kids are so very loved by all their grandparents! They are so blessed, really blessed

Hannah was the fisherman! She caught about 7 fish. Emily caught one but didn't want anything to do with it. She is such a diva. She wouldn't even sit on the grass. She said that she needed a chair. Joseph enjoyed playing in the rocks a little more than holding his pole but he enjoyed just being there.

After dinner Hannah asked to try that bike again. Well, before I could even help her, she was off like a shot down the street! She can ride a two-wheeler without training wheels with NO HELP! Here is the kicker.....she is so athletic that she even was pulling her legs up, skidding to a stop and other tricks!!!! I just keep laughing when I think about it. She is amazing!

Back Home

A mullet is bad, but a homemade mullet is even worse! Emily cut both sides of her hair. She sneaked down into the basement and did the deed. She said it was in her face and she couldn't take it. Ugh.....it looks horrible. So, we will be wearing it up in pigtails a lot!

Monday MawMaw took us shopping for school clothes for Hannah. We found some awesome deals! She is all set. My mom also bought her two outfits and some tennis shoes. Thank you generous grandparents. What a blessing!

Hannah and I had a date on Monday. Papa watched the kids in the morning so we could shop for clothes. Then MawMaw helped watch the little ones. After clothes shopping we had lunch at CiCi's and played games. Then we went and got her bangs cut for school. Ugh, I think the lady cut them more crooked than I do. Oh well.

After we were done with our date, MawMaw and Papa asked if the kids could have a sleep over. So, I dropped Hannah off as well. I bought a small boy bike for Joseph at the thrift store. It didn't have training wheels but Hannah was trying it out. She almost got it going by herself! I held the seat for her until she got going and let go....she was off! I couldn't believe it. She crashed and then was too tired to try more

WI Trip: Friday

Friday mom and I took the kids to the park for a while. They ran and ran.

Friday afternoon i got to go and see Jenny. It is always such a breath of fresh air to see my best friend. I just wish we could do it more often. She gave me a whole garbage bag of clothes for Hannah. As always, she is a huge blessing. Then we got the great idea to go to the fair. So poor Steve who had already begun grilling his chicken had to drop us off at the fair gate. We had such a good time. We were only able to spend a little more than an hour, but it was awesome!

Friday night we had Chris and fam over. We celebrated Chris' birthday. You gotta love homemade cards!

Instead of birthday cake I figured nothing would be finer than a fair cream puff! He wasn't able to go to the fair so it was a real treat

WI State Fair

Last Thursday I got to go to the WI State Fair for the first time in 5 years. I love going to the fair. Mom and I took all 6 kids. They were so amazingly good. I had the flu Monday, Tuesday, and Wed. I thought I was better. But I was revisited by montezuma at the fair. The worst part was the waiting in line for the bathroom praying not to go in my pants!!!!

We got to get a cream puff. The kids thought they were the best things. I did too :) Yum!!! I love that tradition

Allison, Gavin and Dakota. This may have been their first cream puffs. As you can tell from their faces, loved it!

Another tradition of ours....well, mine and my mom's....is the sweet corn. Oh it was so good! A little steep at $3 an ear now, but worth it
My cousin, Stephanie, shows cows. This is her cow. We arrived just in time to see her show!

My Aunt Tammy even let the kids walk to the cow back to the barn. They were so excited!

The kids just loved petting all of the cows!

Here is Steph showing her cow. She is the one in the blue shirt!