Back to School

Today was the first day of school.  Luke is now in kindergarten, and Madison is in second grade.  They were officially off to school at 7:55 when their bus pulled away.

 

Read to go and sporting their new backpacks.

 Madison really wanted a messenger bag this year, which makes her seem so much older!

 Alex, the preschooler, starts next week.

 Luke was delighted for kindergarten.  He started walking around with his backpack on at 7:15.

 It was awesome to have Edward home this morning. Last year, he had to talk to the kids on Skype.

 Alex didnt' want anymore pictures.

 Showing off the new bag.  He has a matching lunchbox.

 Madison with her bag

There it is...the big yellow bus. Luke was THRILLED to ride the bus this morning.  Between that, buying his first school lunch (he really wanted to try it), and just everything else today, I can't wait to see what he liked the most.

Girls' Soccer

I forgot to post this last week.  Madison has started soccer for the season!

This year, Madison moved up a league, which also means that she is in an all-girls' league.  Coming from a home with two little brothers, she was so excited to play with all girls this year.  I think it will be really good for her too.  She doesn't have many friends; it's been hard to make them here.  Anyways, she had to get one of her American Girl dolls all ready for soccer too, so here they are posing together. 

 

So far, Madison has done very well at practice.  She seems to be a natural in a defense position.  She LOVES getting in the mix and kicking the ball out of the mess of girls. Madison also loves to play goalie, so I see defense/goalie in her future.  Who knows?  I really like her coach; she knows a lot about soccer and seems to have a very positive attitude for the girls to emulate.

Open House

Madison and Luke had Open House at their school tonight, a chance to meet their teachers before the first day of school.  Both seem to have really nice teachers and are excited about the year.

 

Luke found his desk in his kindergarten class.  His teacher seems very sweet, yet stern, which is perfect for Luke.  She even said her husband is in the Army-added bonus.  I hope he'll have a great year.  When I was tucking him in tonight, he asked if he could start school tomorrow.  He was sad he has to wait until Monday.  He's ready.  He knows his bus number, rules on the bus, and where his classroom is.

 

Madison seems like she will have a really nice teacher too.  The kids' school has an international theme, so each grade level studies a different part of the world in addition to the regular curriculum and Mandarin.  Luke will be studying North America-perfect for our traveling family who spent three years on the West Coast (Jennifer, his teacher was excited to hear he spent time in Alaska!).  Madison studied Australia/New Zealand last year, and this year, she'll be studying Asia.  Well, as her teacher greeted Madison, she asked her (in a small effort to gauge any amount of geography the kids might have) what country she wanted to know about in Asia.  Madison immediately replied (without hesitation), "Afghanistan!!!"  I think her teacher was surprised that 1-Madison knew where it was, and 2-She really wants to study it!  I did tell her teacher some of that enthusiasm came from Edward being deployed there.  Plus, Madison does really love geography, so I think she'll have a great year.  Madison was VERY excited that her beloved teacher from last year was moved to just two doors down from her new teacher. So, she'll be able to see her everyday (she already filled her in tonight on her travels to Alaska, haha!).

 

The kids said the only bummer of the evening was their favorite bus driver from last year was switched to a different route.  However, it looks like the teacher's aid who was in Madison's class last year is their new driver.  Here's to a great school year!

Masked Crusaders and the Princess

The Guitar

I participate in a couple of consignment sales here, both in the Fall and in the Spring.  I do very well with the stuff I sell.  I don't always get much, but I usually look for brand new with tags, pristine condition, etc. I took the kids with me to the sale the other day, and the kids spotted this guitar.  They were SO excited to find this, and it's in perfect shape. I don't know if it has ever been used.  Anyways, the price was great, and the color was just right for a little girl.  It's a Hannah Montana guitar, and I felt like it was a good sign that Madison asked me who that was.  Thank goodness she isn't interested in pop stars  :)

Playmates

One of Alex's favorite friends is our neighbor, Becca.  Becca's mom has had cancer this past year, and we often watch Becca when her mom has a doctor's appointment.  She and Alex LOVE to play together, and they are so sweet with each other.  It's really nice to have her over because they do play together so well that I hardly notice they are around!  We had Becca over recently, and I thought the two were so sweet as they sat on Alex's bed.  The acted like they were having a long conversation, and Alex enjoyed showing Jonah to Becca.  These two are so cute at the bus stop evey morning during the school year, and in another week, they'll go back to seeing each other every school day at the bus stop as they both put their older siblings on the bus.

Happily, they are reading preschooler Bible stories  :)

Jonah

This is our new kitten, Jonah.  He's eight weeks old, and he's been great at our house so far. The kids LOVE him.  The kids' favorite Bible story is Jonah and the Whale, so that's how he got his name.

I wanted to give an accurate idea of his size.  That's my lens cap, and that's my shoe.  Now, my shoe is a boat at a size 10, but you still get the idea that he's really small.  He fits into the palm of your hand.

Blueberries

This morning, the kids and I ventured to a local farm to pick blueberries.  We all really enjoyed it, and the blueberries taste great. The kids enjoyed it very much and look forward to blueberry pancakes and the like.

 Flash was there to help.

Luke is my biggest blueberry eater, and he was determined to pick a lot of berries.  We ended up with just over three pounds.  At 0.96 cents a pound, the berries were a great deal and FRESH! 

We met up with our friends and neighbors from AZ, who now live here too.  Stephen and Alex are just a few months apart.

Here's our load of berries.  We may go back again before the season ends in a couple of weeks.  Everyone was getting hot, and we'd been picking for about 45 minutes.  It is well worth it for the crazy amount of blueberries we picked.

Canning

Edward's mom came to visit this week, and we kept her very busy in the kitchen.  I have been wanting to learn how to can some veggies, and she and Edward's stepdad do a lot of canning.  So, she brought her canner, and away we went. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to find any half runner green beans, but the local produce stand finally came through for us.  We had a great time in the kitchen, and even the kids enjoyed helping some.

 Now, the Northerner I am, I am not a fan of okra, but Edward is.  So, I froze some of it.  Madison really wanted to help, so I taught her how to cut the okra. She was delighted with this task and did a GREAT job with it.  She cut a ton of okra and asked for more after she had finished.

 With Jean Ann's help, we canned 21 jars (a full bushel) of beans.  I will probably never forget sitting, watching the Olympics, and breaking beans.

 Here's she's showing me how easy it is to do dill pickles.  We made five jars of them.

Thanks so much for coming, Jean Ann.  We had a great time seeing you this week!