Category Archives: Kids
It’s already chilly enough in the mornings for long pants and a hoodie!
Katie’s first kindergarten work!
Friends waiting for Owen and Nate
The twins from down the street (who ride home with their teacher mom) waiting at the bus stop for Owen and Nate. 🙂
Sassy school outfit for day two.Â
Bubbles before bedtime
The besties are home again!
Just as with Owen I have to physically get Katie off the bus. The bus driver called their names over the radio/intercom and then they have to tell her their name and I have to give her my name and she checks the list. I’m assuming this will get slightly less involved as time goes on and the bus driver learns who we are.
As soon as they got off the bus they crossed the street together (holding hands).
I didn’t get much info out of her about her first day before she was asking if she could go play at Sophia’s house (yes, after she got play clothes on) so I sent over this craft project:
She did say it was fun. I told her she would have to tell us more about it later.
I’M FREE!!!
Both kids are officially at school full time!! No tears…just excitement!
Katie’s first day of Kindergarten!
This is an idea I saw somewhere and decided to do for Katie…she will wear this shirt on the first day of school until she’s a senior in high school!
BESTIES!
There are only three kids at the bus stop!
Katie is in the seat right above SCHOOL.
Owen finished his summer slide worksheet!
We had a few ups and downs but tonight Owen earned his huge Nerf gun! Yay Owen!
Our 3rd grader is home!
He and Nate zoomed off the bus and pretty much immediately asked to go ride bikes!
Doing homeworkÂ
Katie’s kindergarten open house
Mrs. Valentine
The huge playground (one of three!).
Getting to check out a bus!
She went straight to the very back seat!
That’s a “bike path” on the right. The raised circular structure on the left is for a specific game (Owen’s school has a smaller one).
Back inside to check out the cafeteria (no pics) and the gym! She made a beeline to the rock wall!
Owen’s first day of 3rd grade!
I had to go in and wake him up at 7:30!! This year he gets on the bus at 8:25—that’s a half hour earlier than what we were used to in Virginia!
Katie holding Owen’s hand as he was waking up.
Owen and his bestie, Nate (2nd grade):
They are the only two at their bus stop!
Waiting for her friend…
Katie had gone to see if Sophia could come out and play but she was having quiet time but could come out in a bit. Katie decided to just sit and wait.
A school haircut and errands.Â
And a little closer view.
Last campfire before school
We wanted to have a fire with Papa and Grannie but needed some firewood so we actually found some free on NextDoor… Yay!
The kids caught a few lightning bugs (it’s in there, trust me).
After we made s’mores we got the fire going a bit crazy.
The kids finally settled down and were cuddling of their own free will.
Then they were trying to read by bug light.
Blue Man Group in Chicago!
I’ve always wanted to see Blue Man Group and when I mentioned it to Grannie she said they’d like to go, too…so it was off to Chicago!
Photos weren’t allowed during the show so this is all I got beforehand.
The kids absolutely loved it and they immediately asked if they could see it again. 🙂
Edited to add some googled pics of what we saw:
Crazy woman driver!
She loves her new power wheels! She was chasing Papa around and then driving crazy circles around the yard.
Happy 16th Anniversary!
Waiting for Tom to get home and enjoying the weather on the front porch.
Of course we had to start with a traditional anniversary selfie. 🙂
Our dinner of choice this year was…sushi! This was called the Willis Tower and had layers of crab salad, sushi rice, avocado, spicy tuna, and a few sauces. You ate it with a spoon!
We couldn’t decide between three rolls so let the waiter choose for us. Why yes, that IS gold leaf on there (right).
We wanted dessert and were trying to decide where to go. Our waiter, knowing it was our anniversary, said he’d give us a mochi on the house. We’d never had it, but were game to try it—all we knew is that it would be strawberry flavor. This is what came out: it was strawberry ice cream on the inside. It was tasty but not quite what we had in mind. (I Googled later and learned that mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain japonica glutinous rice. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape.)
So we headed toward home and somehow ended up at The Chocolate Sanctuary where we both indulged in our own desserts! (We rarely get dessert and when we do it’s shared between all for of us.)
Tom had Pecan Bourbon Crème Brulé (Jim Beam infused crème brulée with toasted pecans, topped with toasted meringue and Sanctuary caramel) and I had S’mores Dark Chocolate (Dark chocolate flourless cake with toasted meringue, cocoa graham cracker sable, cocoa graham crumble, Sanctuary spiced caramel, and cocoa-candied bacon).
We may also have let it known it was our anniversary (the couple across from us was celebrating their 38th!) so we may have also indulged in free champagne and raspberry chocolates. 💕
And then this was waiting for us when we got home. (Well, they actually weren’t quite finished when we walked in so we were forcefully instructed to go wait upstairs!)
The kids helped Grannie make rice krispie treats (decorated with our cake topper!) and they drew and colored a sign. They were so excited to surprise us.
It’s kind of hard to see, but they drew and colored lots of wedding-related things (my ring and flowers, the train, the cake, the horse and carriage) as well as some of our favorite things (Petoskey stone, a saw, dolphins). We loved it! And then of course we had to have a bite of still-warm rice krispie bars!!
It was a good day. 🙂
Aquatic Center Fundraiser
Papa and Grannie took the kids to the local aquatic center for a school fundraiser while Tom and I went out for our anniversary. I sent them with our waterproof camera!
Sibling play time
She was trying to brush his hair and he was having none of it. So she just sat on him.
After which this ensued.
Third grade open house!
Papa went with us while Grannie stayed home with Katie. Owen’s classroom is on the second floor. They have a multitude of desk areas—they have standing desks, bean bags, lap desk, etc…so the kids can figure out where they work the best. They also sit in a different seat each day.
Mrs. Gradner—I love her already!
Wiley, the school mascot.
And a few random pics of his classroom.
Making gym shirts
The kids needed gym shirts this year with their name on them so I got a tiny bit crafty.
A trial without training wheels
Katie really wanted to try riding her bike without the training wheels so Tom took them off and ran with her for a bit. She has a habit of leaning WAY to one side so it’s a lot of work to keep her upright (I tried for a little bit). I think this is going to be a daddy-only thing.
Facebook, friends, and scallops—oh my!
I had a major kitchen crisis (nothing fits anywhere and I was losing my mind) and jokingly asked on Facebook if anyone wanted to come help me figure it out…
And Jami volunteered! And then was serious! (She lives about 1:30 away so it wasn’t completely insane.)
She’s an amaaaaazing cook and has bragged about her perfect scallops so, since I LOVE SCALLOPS, she brought them to teach me how to do it! So I learned how to make perfect scallops with a saffron wine sauce on fresh spinach Fettuccini. It was divine!! Of course, she also brought snacks and wine…and a cast iron pan and avocado cooking oil and cream because my kitchen isn’t up to par yet.
They were so beautiful they really deserve a full-size shot:
She had brought cookies to Owen and Katie. When she handed them out, age called them by name. Katie asked how she knew her name and I said she knew her from the day she was born. (I had told the kids previously that Jami was from the same group of friends as Uncle Eddy, Aunt Sheryl, Miss Nancy, and the whole group of people that came to our house a few times).
Owen waited on his cookie, but Katie was all in.
Owen being silly after tasting other desserts.
Then we played with makeup a bit, did an unplanned Facebook Live video, she bought two new lip colors and a blush, and we drank wine.
I had to get creative since we forgot to keep it chilled. Yes, that plastic ice cube is from a boo-boo bunny.
Oh yes, we did also get some kitchen stuff figured out (also with Linda’s help).
Eagerly waiting for Grannie and Papa.Â
A quick visit to the splash pad
Friends invited us to the pool but then as can quickly happen with kids, behavior went downhill and they cancelled. We were already dressed for water so I took them to the splash pad. It worked out better, though, since we were awaiting the arrival of Grannie and Papa!
Dinner, wine, and s’mores with the neighbors.Â
Our two next door neighbors could not be more welcoming. Aside from letting our kids play together all the time, this happened tonight…
Stacey came to collect her kids and I happened to mention that Tom was gone so I was ready to pop the wine and she said her husband was going to be really late so we should do a patio dinner. Yes, please! She would do hot dogs and pizza sticks and I’d bring wine and fruit. She even had frozen peaches for the wine! The middle neighbor, Ines, joined us and felt guilty for not bringing anything, so she offered s’mores at their house after! Yes, please!!
These two.Â
