Full Day Kindergarten

Starting on Monday the twins will be part of a new program in our school district that will allow them to go to kindergarten all day. It seems like we have just gotten into the rhythm of them being gone for a half day and now they will be gone all day. It's definately going to be weird and going to be an adjustment. However, the pros definately outweigh the cons. They will have a better foundation for when they start first grade. They will be used to staying all day and will be pros at buying lunch in the cafeteria. They are both very excited about going to school all day, eating lunch there, and having 2 teachers. Over the weekend, we bought them lunchboxes for the days that they wanted to pack their lunch. Emma chose Little Pet Shop and Jacob chose Thomas the Train. I'm excited about all of the things that I will be able to get done (and keep done with no little hands to mess it up) around the house!

Fall Baseball

Last Spring, something entered our lives that took over the hearts of Ben & Joe and took over mom's calendar. It was baseball. They loved it so much that Ben signed up to play fall baseball (Joe is not old enough this year or he would have signed up, as well). Every Sunday we head to Waterworks Park (our 2nd home!) and watch Ben play a doubleheader.

Last night's games (including warm ups and breaks) stretched for almost 5 hours. It's a good thing I love watching my boys play sports so much! Ben plays right field and right center field in the outfield

He also plays 2nd base this fall. He did not play this position in the spring and he is thrilled that his coach is giving him the opportunity to play it!

Here he is up to bat

He made it to first base

and all the way to 3rd base

before getting out :( There's always next week's game! Go FYBA Red's!

Wow! Has it really been that long????

I know that I am not the best at keeping up on the blogging thing. I have the best of intentions to post more, keep it up to date, etc, etc. Somehow when things get hectic and busy (school) the blog falls to the very bottom of the to do list and never gets checked off! Knowing that I'm not very good at keeping up, I was still surprised to see that I had not posted a single thing in the past year. Bad me! So, once again, I am pledging to try to stay more up to date on the blog. Theres tons to post about and now that the twins are in school, as well, I should have more time to post, right???

Open House

I know that I keep saying this, but it just doesn't feel possible that it is already time for open house! It seems like just yesterday I was posting about the last day of school.

We had our Open House on Friday. Joe was able to meet his teacher, Mrs. Wilmans, first. He went to his seat, put his supplies (whiche he is SO excited to have his own..in a pencil box) in his cubby, and had his picture taken. He was very excited that his teacher had given him an inflatable football and a bag full of goodies. He saw that a couple friends from kindergarten were in his class. His teacher has a Lego cup on her desk...I think that her and Joe will get a long just fine!!


Ben was able to visit his classroom next. I can't believe that he is a 4th grader this year and that this will be his last year in the elementary school! This will be the ONLY year throughout their entire school career that Ben & Joe will be in the same building!

4th grade is a little different. They switch classes a bit to prepare them for the Intermediate school next year. Ben has Mrs. Wagner for homeroom/language arts/reading. We are excited to be in her class. He will switch to Mrs. Schroeder for Math and Science and Mrs. Ventling for Social Studies. He is excited (and a bit nervous) about the switching...I'm sure that he will have it down in no time.

Here are some pictures that we took before Open House...they are such cuties, if I do say so myself!

Emma won!

This year, as in summers past, all of the kids read over the summer and entered the Lane library summer reading contest. We had never won, but it was always fun to participate in. Not to mention, a good incentive to keep the older two reading during the summer.

Imagine our surprise, when we came home on Thursday and found a message on our voicemail telling us that Emma had won the prize in the Wee Ones age group! She won a $60 gift card to Amazon. She was so excited! She hasn't figured out what she wants to buy with it yet. I'm sure that it will be fun shopping online with her!

Where did summer go?? Seriously??!!

As I'm sitting here taking advantage of my quiet house to catch up on this blog, I can't believe the date August 14, 2011....WHERE DID SUMMER GO!!??

In less than 10 days, Ben and Joe will be headed off to school. Ben will be a 4th grader and this will be his last year at East Elementary. Joe will be a 1st grader and this will be his first time being in school ALL day. He hates to be away from mommy, so I will have to let you know how the all day thing goes!

I really don't think that I've gotten around to doing half of the things that I've wanted to this summer. There is just not enough hours in the day!

We have visited the library, Sharon Woods, Winton Woods, Boonshoft museum, Cincinnati Union Terminal, the "castle" park, the "firehouse" park, the movies, touch a truck x 2, spent some time in our backyard, read a lot of books, watched a lot of movies, ate ice cream and popsicles, grilled out, attended a couple of birthday parties, and spent a week on vacation!

I suppose that when you list it out that way, we have gotten a lot accomplished this summer...it's no wonder with our busy schedule that summer has went by so quickly.

I can't help but be a little bit sad that after next week that our outings will be replaced with school and homework.

Since I'm so behind on blogging...yes, I'm a slacker...here is a slideshow of some of our fun summer activities!

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Next week, be looking for news about open house, back to school, and comparison pictures showing how much the kids have grown over the past few months!

Vacation 2011: Day 2

The morning of our second day of vacation, we were still recuperating from our long drive and lack of sleep! We decided to have a lazy morning that day and to tour Luray Caverns later in the afternoon.

The boys decided to go fishing at our stocked pond. They had only been fishing once before where they didn't catch anything. They were hoping to catch something this time, especially since they could see fish swimming in the pond.






While the kids went fishing with daddy, I stayed back at the cabin to cook breakfast. At one point, while out on the deck, I saw my little ones walking down the gravel driveway, fishing pole in hand, headed to the pond. It was the sweetest thing. Of course, by the time I got my camera, they had rounded the bend where I couldn't see them anymore. I couldn't get them to willingly create the scene for me either!

After breakfast, everyone got cleaned up and dressed. Emma was so excited to be wearing her new outfit and her new hairbows (made by mommy). I decided to take her outside for pictures. She turned into a fashion model! Her poses were all her own!







After Emma had her pictures taken, everyone wanted to have their pictures taken!


Ryan took Emma and Jacob outside to take some pictures of them together. It was really sunny and super hot out. There was a lot of squinting and a lot of grumpy faces (from Jake).






Ben and Joe wanted to have their pictures taken with the animals inside of the cabin.




After fishing and picture taking, it was time to go see Luray caverns. It was a great experience. The kids loved it and no one was scared. As part of your entrance fee to Luray caverns, you also get to see the car and carriage museum and Luray Valley museum (mostly outdoors). We were super hot after touring the cave, buying souveniers, and touring both of the museums. We decided to pack it in, head back to the cabin for dinner, and to enjoy the hot tub!

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