Happy 4th Birthday

I cannot believe that my little peanut, Hope is 4 years old today. You have grown so much in these 4 years...you went from a tiny little peanut to a rambunctious, silly, intellegent preschooler. Mom and dad love you so much Hope.

Happy Birthday

6 year old

Yesterday was Kiyah's 6th birthday. She woke up and the first thing she said was, "Yup, I'm definatley taller"! She was lucky and didn't have school on her birthday so she got to lounge around today. She wanted a special breakfast of toast with nutella (yummy!), scrambled egg, and apple with cinnamon sugar. A little after breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Delivery for Kiyah!. Her dad had sent her three mylar balloons, a vase of flowers, and a plush bunny. The cool thing is one of the balloons actually sings "Happy Birthday".

She helped me frost her cupcakes for dinner and also helped make homemade pizza. Then papa and meme came over because papa will be gone for her birthday party on Sunday.

It was a great day to turn 6!

This was Kiyah on Thursday morning, Sept. 8, 2011. This was her first FULL day of kindergarten. She was so excited to start the day. She was clearly ready to start.

This picture was of Kiyah on her "Day One" class. Day One in our district means that each child is assigned a special classroom time to meet with the teacher and other students in the class. The child/parent learns a little about the kindergarten program and get to explore the room a bit. The session lasted about an hour. We also had a general session in which we got more of the "school" information. This was on Tuesday.

Our district starts the school year with all day, every OTHER day for kindergarten students. Therefore each classroom is broken into two groups, a red and a white group. Then, sometime in October it switches and goes all day, EVERY day. It allows for more transition time and more academic time for the kids.

Kiyah had a great first day...she loves the food, her teacher, and PE. She also likes math. Her father's daughter on that one.

School Supplies

We recieved the list of school supplies in the kingergarten packet last week. Holy Cow! Who would have thought a kindergartener would need so many things:

1. Large backpack


2. Paint Shirt


3. Rest towel


4. Tennis shoes for PE


5. 8 pack of CRAYOLA crayons (large size)


6. 16 pack of CRAYOLA crayons (regular size)


7. 8 or 10 pack of CRAYOLA markers (basic colors)


8. 1 bottle ELMERS school glue


9. Pencil Box


10. 5 glue sticks


11. Large box of KLEENEX

For Kiyahs specifc class, she also needed:

1. 5 #2 Pencils


2. 1 pkg of EXPO low odor "skinny" dry erase markers


3. FISKARS scissors


4. 20 count pack of colored pencils

Did you get that? That's a total of 15 items that were needed for school...not to mention we also have to have many of those items at home to use (thankfully, we already had them).

We were pretty lucky, we were able to buy everything including the backpack AND the shoes for less than $60. It was all worth it though, Kiyah is SO ready to start school and learn!

Firetrucks/Parade

This past weekend was Ellendale Days. The girls have been so excited for this weekend because they were going to be able to ride in a firetruck with daddy! I guess I kinda cut Terry's head off in the picture. It's our cousin, Logan, who is driving.

They had so much fun! I think they ate about half the candy they were supposed to be throwing though!

Bedrom pictures

The above picture is Hope's room. Off to the right is another dresser and her closet.

This one is Kiyah's room. Behind the door is her closet. We will be adding an oversize blue chair for her to use as "quiet time" reading. That will go right under her name plaque on the wall.

Rearranging

This week we've been helping my brother, his girlfriend and three kids move into OUR OLD Apartment. How weird is that? Seriously though, it's a great thing for them. However, in moving and rearranging, it put me in the mood to do some of my own rearrainging. Ok, I can't spell today. Anyway...I totally re-did Kiyah's room. It looks like a big girl room now with tons of space in the middle to do her ballet. (No, she isn't taking lessons but REALLY wants to).

I have Hope's room done too, just need to clean the closets and move out some old/unused toys. It's a good thing.

I'd love to redo the living room, but space is limited with a patio door and a fireplace and a weird staircase. What I'd love though, is a new living room set (sofa, chair, loveseat with end or coffee table.) Feel free to pass this on to any little birdies :)

Catch Up

I promise I really do have good intentions on blogging more often. Life gets in the way...especially when I am trying to limit my computer time. No excuses. I will blog at least once a week. If not, shoot me an email to remind me :)

What we've been up to:

Kiyah is involved in tee-ball again this summer. Her first game is scheduled for tonight, however, so are some severe thunderstorms. We'll see what happens. She loves her team...it has a bunch of kids from her preschool class.

Hope is in the throws of potty training. She is my stubborn child. She CAN do it no problem...it's a matter of her WANTING too. Not the same timeframe as mommy wants. But she's getting there. Her big goal is she needs to be potty trained totally if she wants to go to preschool this fall. She is so smart and she knows it.

Terry is fully engaged in getting his 1970 Dodge Dart put back together on road worthy. It's getting there. It runs...now to fix some minor issues. I think we are both ready for this project to be done.

Me...I'm dreaming of all the projects I want to get done...get the french doors stained and the trim put back on. Replace the missing trim in our living/dining room. Fix the broken steps to the deck and laundry room door...a new kitchen...bust through my current weight loss platau.

Such is life with a list of projects...but ultimatley, I want to be a light the shines to the rest of the world of Christ's love.

Hope's chosen career?

So I just had to make a note of this: The last few days, Hope has been loving playing dentist. She loves to brush her teeth and even floss them! (How many 3 yr olds do you know that like to floss?) This morning as I was trying to send an email, she comes over and says "open wide". I say ok....and she proceeded to try and floss my teeth. I quickly closed my mouth...to which she responded..."no, open wider!"

Silly Hope

a "Perfect 10"

On this journey called weight loss, I'm finding I'm not at the point where I need to start changing my own image of what I percieve myself. This rang true when I spent the day out with my mom. We'd stopped at a store to try some on some clothes...I went for the size I "percieved" myself to be. I didn't find anything worth trying. No big deal. It wasn't until my mom asked me to try something on she'd just had...I was like, no..it's not going to fit me. With some coaxing, I tried it on and the skirt fit me perfectly. The funny part...it was a true size 10. I have never worn a size 10 as an adult.

I knew that I was toning my body and had lost weight, but I'd not realized just how many inches I was continuing to lose without seeing the weightloss. It's the encouragement booster to continue on in my self improvement!

Easter 2011

The loot that Kiyah and Hope collected at my parents house on Easter Sunday.

Hope finding eggs in grandma's bird feeder and on/under her front steps chair.

The prized lady bug and bee umbrella's. We found them at Lark toy store in Kellogg, MN.

What Kiyah, Hope and Peyton found at the Easter Egg Hunt in Ellendale.

Dad is holding Hope's basket from the Ellendale Egg Hunt.

River Nest B&B

Terry's "I'm too cool" pose! What a dork!

Me overlooking the Mississippi River in Alma, WI. Yes, it was cold and windy that day. It's hard to tell where the river ended and the floodwaters began.

Need I say more?

This was Wa'Shaka, a rescued Bald Eagle at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN. For our anniversary, Terry and I stayed at a B&B in Reads Landing, MN called the River Nest. It was right on the Mississippi. It was a more modern B&B with wonderfullydelicious, filling breakfasts. We had a great time exploring Lark Toy store and the surrounding MN/WI area.

Disney On Ice-Winter 2011

These are pictures (we took a zillion) at Disney on Ice-Princess Wishes at the Target Center. The look of amazement and wonder on the girls faces was priceless! Hope had such a good time she didn't want to leave, hence the temper tantrum captured in the last picture.