Kindergarten Begins

We took Ian to his first day of Kindergarten this morning. Dad took part of the morning off and we walked our big guy into his class. In true Ian fashion he walked in confident and ready to go. There were no tears, although I (Mom) had a weepy period when walking out of school. It was a happy cry because our boy is right where he is supposed to be and we are thankful!

Natalie probably would have stayed at school too, if we'd made arrangements. She really misses Ian when he is not around. They have their moments of tormenting and fighting but big brother being gone all day will be a big adjustment for her too. The first three days of school are only half days. We picked Ian up after lunch and below you'll see a picture of them snuggling for a cartoon.

Our Michigan Friends

We made last weekend a three day event and traveled to visit our friends The Blasko's up in Grand Rapids Michigan. Their oldest Kole was born just 5 weeks before Ian and we've had lots of adventures together over the last several years. We had an awesome time hanging out and enjoying the weather and good company. On the way back home, we drove to St Joe Michigan and hit the beach. I have two words for you BIG LAKE. The kids love playing in the water together!

Dressed For Camp

My kids love their back packs and getting geared up to go on an adventure, most of them imaginary. One day, they were pretending to get ready for camp. Ian got his new swim goggles on, back pack all loaded...t-shirt optional I guess. Next, I heard him telling Natalie that he will get her stuff for her. Its 90 degrees out and she comes to me wearing a winter jacket with her back pack. I should have asked if they were going to the same camp! ha-ha

Grab Your Blanket, Let's GO!

Natalie and Ian play very well together despite gender difference and almost 4 years between them. Everyday, they will disappear into his room to play something while I'm just in the next room with my Mom ear finely tuned. I heard footsteps going between rooms and was vaguely aware of the blankets/stuffed animal friends from Natalie's room traveling next door to Ian's room. Imagine my chuckle when I find them all wrapped up camping out. I overheard Ian making big plans for Natalie actually sleeping in his room...including snacks they would have. They were both taking it seriously.

This was take two at the slumber party...moved up from the floor onto Ian's bottom bunk. The more pillows and stuffed animals...the better!

My Baby in Pigtails

Out of the blue, Natalie let me put in some pigtails. I have a soft spot for this little girl hairstyle going back to when my sweet niece Rachel was a wee one. Ian was under the weather and laying on his bed....Natalie and I were hanging out in the floor in his room just to stay close. I asked her if I could play with her hair and she said YES. She was ok with that for a while so I asked her if I could put in pigtails and she said yes again! Because I am a psycho, I had bought the tiny hair ties weeks ago just waiting for this moment. Ta-da!!! Ian was telling her how pretty she looked and she enjoyed the attention. She wore them the rest of the day. Sigh....

Moving Up

Ian took another belt test last weekend....this time to graduate to a blue belt at his Tae Kwon Do studio. He has done a good job this year and is proud to be a part of it. Doing anything like this for a whole year when you are 4 to 5 years old is a big deal. We will probably take the summer off and wait until he gets a little older to pick it up again and pursue that ultimate goal - black belt. Here are some action shots from the morning of the test. Go Ian!

The Wrong Stroller

So I've been catching Natalie settling into her baby doll stroller. I come into her room where she is quietly playing and there she is all squished into a stroller clearly not meant to bear her weight or size. She'll say, 'Mom, I in baby strower. Push me!'. Now if it were her actual stroller and we were on an outing, she probably wouldn't stay in it. Kids are just goofy. I talked to her about how she is too big to do that and how she needs to get out and put the baby or stuffed animals in....but not before I got plenty of pictures!

By the way - notice poor baby doll got stashed in the under carriage :o)