First Day

The day came.  School started Wednesday, August 18th.  It seems so early to me.  I love having the kids home.  We have lazy mornings and relaxed afternoons.  We have fun at the park and the pool.  We go to the library more times than I can count.

But before I knew it, the day was here to send them back to school.  They love school and are both good students.  But there are some apprehensions at the beginning of the new year.  Will they like their teacher?  Will the school work be hard?  Will they have lots of homework?  But I know they will figure it out, and learn and grow in so many ways over the next nine months.

But I look at these pictures and see girls that look so grown up.  I feel a little sad to think that they will look young here when I see them on their last day of first and third grades!

Horseback Riding

Last spring, Judy Meyer was called as Activity Days leader (she plans midweek activities for the 8-11 year old girls).  I knew she had mules and horses, so I mentioned to her that Rebecca would love it if they had an activity where the girls could go ride their horses.  She told me that it was hard to do with a lot of people, but that they would love for us to come out so the kids could ride one evening.

                              

Then Judy proceeded to break her foot, making riding impossible for most of the summer. (She was pretty disappointed.  But in August, she finally felt well enough to have us out for a fun evening of riding her horse, Sundance.  Rebecca had a fabulous time.  She really enjoyed riding this huge horse and feeling like she could really make this animal go where she wanted it to go.

Miriam also had a great time.  She wasn't quite strong enough to make the horse move where she wanted him to go, but she loved being up on the horse and being led around.  Miriam also enjoyed petting the mules.  They really liked her, too, and when we left them to go home, one of the mules started banging on the gate to get her to come back.

Joseph didn't get to ride this time, but he had fun petting the mules and coloring the fancy coloring packet Judy put together for the kids.  He also enjoyed just running around in the open space!

Roller Skating

A few weeks ago the girls were invited to a roller skating birthday party.  They had never been before, and they had a great time.  I found out once we got there that the wheels on the skates can be tightened, making it easier for the kids to roller skate.  Wow, that was a great suggestion!  The girls were able to pick up skating much quicker with that little help.

This picture was pretty much what I saw of Miriam.  She was on the go, wanting to get out there and make it around the rink.  She had so much fun!  When I went to get her to go home, she was standing in the middle of the rink under the disco ball dancing.  What a ham!

Rebecca had a fabulous time.  She really picked up on skating quickly, and was whizzing around with her friends.  Rebecca also loved listening to all the popular music that I don't let her have on.  She enjoyed skating so much that she has been asking if we can go buy some skates to practice with.  So pretty soon, we should have an expert skater!

Joseph didn't skate, but he came with us.  I brought some toys for him, but he was not at all interested in playing with them.  He wanted to play the arcade games.  He would go up to the ski ball game and try to take the kids' balls from them.  He enjoyed the cake and ice cream as well, of course!

Fun TImes with Ali

This summer, my niece Ali came and stayed with us for a few weeks.  We were mutually helping each other-- her dad was having surgery (again) out of state and they didn't want to leave any of the kids home alone, and I am getting to the point in my pregnancy where I really need to take it easy.  

                                              

On the drive to Pueblo to pick her up, we were able to stop by and visit my Grandma who had knee surgery about a week before.  She was moving and walking around, but she was having a lot of swelling in her leg and was still at the rehab facility.  Grandma made it home soon after we saw her, though.  

We were also able to be there for my other niece, Samantha's surprise 15th birthday party.  How fun.  It is amazing that those kids are getting that old!!!  It was good to see them all and spend a little time together.

I had Ali help out a lot while she was here, but we had some fun times, too.  She and Rebecca went and saw the Ramona and Beezus movie.

She got to go rollerskating for the first time in many years.  It wasn't so easy to pick it up again...

She went swimming with the kids multiple times.  They played outside in the water as well.  The kids wanted to get out the water balloons, but they hardly let Ali fill the balloons before breaking them on her!

We all went horseback riding at a family from church's farm one evening.  Ali was thrilled about that because she loves horses.

We had a fun time with Ali and enjoyed getting to know her better.

Lazy Days

Those lazy days of summer are over.  School starts tomorrow!

Swimming Lessons

Every summer I have the kids take swimming lessons.  I feel it is one of those important 'life skills' that kids need to have.  I think it is also a fun activity for the kids to do for the summer.

This was the first year Joseph took swimming lessons.  He had a fabulous time.  He was so excited to be in the water and playing that I was always vigilant about watching him to make sure he didn't go too far into the water while he was waiting his turn.  I know, you think that is what lifeguards are for.  After having to go in after him one time, I decided that the lifeguard that looks about 12 isn't quite competent to watch a group of little ones!  

Miriam had another good year.  She is my cautious child, and swimming lessons are definitely out of her comfort zone.  But she was really trying to do the things the instructor asked her to do, and on the last day, she even jumped off the side of the pool into the deep end!  She enjoyed being in the water and showing off doing bobs and blowing bubbles in the water to me while she waited her turn to go with the teacher.

Rebecca is becoming a good little swimmer.  She really enjoyed her developing skills.  Her confidence exceeded her abilities after the lesson, which made me really nervous.  It was neat to see her feel more comfortable in the water and figuring out how her body moves in the water.  Rebecca even jumped off the diving board a few times this summer.

School Sweaters

School shopping is one of the tasks I got crossed off my list in the past few weeks.  I took the girls (individually) shopping for some fall clothes so they would be all set for school, no matter what my pregnancy situation becomes.  They were so excited.  They always get excited to go clothes shopping, which is why I have a much easier time of it if I take them one at a time.           

                                          

When I took Rebecca shopping, she found this cute sweater for those cold mornings.  Miriam liked it so much that we had to go get her one like it.  Luckily, they didn't get the same color so we will be able to tell them apart.  

                                        

The girls love their new sweaters and wear them around the house all the time.  Since they were excited about it, Joseph wanted to get in on the action.  So Rebecca helped him put on her sweater and zip it up.

Butterfly Pavilion

When the movie, "Ramona and Beezus" came out, Rebecca was very excited to see it.  She has read the Ramona books and enjoyed them, and really wanted to see the movie.  I knew that since Joseph had struggled to sit through "Toy Story 3" in the theater, there was no way that he would make it through a non-animated big-girl movie like Ramona.  Since Jack was out of town, I sent my niece Ali with Rebecca (how grown up!) and took Miriam and Joseph to the Butterfly Pavilion while we waited for them.

Joseph and Miriam love going to the Butterfly Pavilion.  They had lots of fun looking at all the bugs in the displays.  I think some of them are a little on the creepy side, but the kids were fascinated by them.  Neither of them held Rosie, the tarantula, but I can't say I blame them.  There was a display about bed bugs, and Miriam has still been asking me for facts about them.  Sorry, I didn't read the sign that closely as I was chasing after your brother!

While they wouldn't touch the tarantula, they loved touching the starfish.  I was worried that Joseph would poke it and hurt it, but he did great!  

They really enjoyed going out to see the butterflies.  There are several paths to follow around the vegetation, and there were tons of butterflies all around.  We were even there at the right time to see them release the new butterflies.  

I was impressed by a new area at the Butterfly Pavilion.  It was a room with interactive displays for the kids to play and interact with 'bug stuff'.  Miriam had a lot of fun climbing through the spider web, and Joseph enjoyed the insect puzzles.

We had a fun time together while Rebecca got to experience some 'big kid' time.