Pics

Here are pictures of the kids from last week. They never cease to crack me up!

Cole rigged this microphone all by himself. He wanted to sing into the microphone while he played the piano! He has a clamper toy that he attached to the microphone and then used a rope to tie it to the stroller that was laying on the ground. Super smart!

Jayda did this to her shirt by herself. Then, she got mad because she couldn't get it back over her head by herself.

Self-portrait

Jayda running around

The girls

Christmas Book List

As promised, here is the Christmas Book List that I compiled using the suggestions from lots of family and friends, as well as titles from my growing pile downstairs. I have not read all of these books, so I can't absolutely recommend every single one, but I can guarantee there are some fabulous books listed below!! Enjoy and Merry Christmas (even if it is only September)!!!

CHRISTMAS BOOK LIST

The Christmas Bears by Chris Conover
Sharing Christmas, Stories of the Season put out by Deseret Book
A Snowman Named Just Bob, by Mark Kimball Moulton
The Magic of Christmas , A Treasury of Holiday Stories, put out by Sandy Creek
Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner
Maisy’s Christmas Day by Lucy Cousins
Memorable Christmas Stories, compiled by Leon R. Hartshorn
Frosty the Snowmen by Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson
The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle
The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shriley Neitzel
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
Santa Mouse by Michael Brown
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindee, by Robert May
The Christmas Oranges by Linda Bethers
The Little Clockmaker
Why the Chimes Rang by Raymond MacDonald Alden
The Cobbler and His Guest
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
The Fourth Wiseman by Mary Joslin and Richard Johnson
Christmas Mice by Richard Scarry
A Christmas Dress for Ellen by Thomas S. Monson
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
Magical Hands by Marjorie Barker and Yoshi
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo
Holly Claus: The Christmas Princess by Brittney Ryan
Eloise at Christmastime by Kay Thompson
Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
Snow Much Fun by Ursula Michael
Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
A Christmas Bell for Anya by Chris Stewart
The Miracle of the Wooden Shoes by Deborah Pace Rowley
The Light of Christmas,by Richard Paul Evans
A Wish to be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe
The Christmas Gurest by Andy Griffith
Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck
Tale of the Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt
The Legend of the Christmas Stocking
Auntie Claus

Great Moment

Last night we went to dinner at our neighbor's home. Tam is from Vietnam and is Buddhist. She was dishing out food onto everyone's plates and Cole and Sadie were ready to dig in. Then, Cole and Sadie both asked "When are we saying the prayer?" Is it ok to be proud in a moment like that? So, we asked Tam if it was ok if we offered a prayer before eating and she said yes. Bart asked Sadie to offer it, but she passed the responsibility back to Bart. I think she was a little shy. Anyway, it was a good prayer and Tam said "amen" at the end. It was a touching moment for us as parents and hopefully Tam felt the Spirit a little while we were in her home.

Warm Like A Chicken

This morning, very bright and early, the kids and I were downstairs. Cole and I were on the Love Sac (did I mention we got a Love Sac Labor Day weekend? We LOVE it!). I was under a blanket and he was laying on top of it. He mentioned he was cold, so he got under the blanket too. His feet were freezing and he pushed them against my leg. He said "Wow, Mom. You are warm like a chicken!" I said "I don't know if chickens are really that warm." Cole said "They are if they are roasted!"

Who can argue with that?

Pictures

Pictures of the kids this week..

Jayda has been waking up before 6am for a couple weeks. It eventually caught up with her during lunch Monday.

Jayda got dressed in all of these gorgeous "jewels" by herself....then she said "pretty". :)

Enjoying ice cream cones for FHE

Jayda getting the hang of licking

Jayda trying to make fish face

Sadie making a fish face

Sunny Day

Today started out drizzly. We got wet while waiting for the bus to come for Cole. It was the first time for him to ride it and he was super excited to hop up the steps. By the time we picked him up this afternoon, the sun was shining. When the bus doors opened, he didn't get out. The driver ended up having to call his name on the speaker...he was talking to a new friend and wasn't paying attention. He came bounding off the bus, all smiles. Another good day of kindergarten!

Since the sun was making us all happy, we took a detour on the walk home and walked over to these rocks along the bike path. The kids enjoyed climbing on them and running around.

Cole getting off the bus

Cole climbing the rocks

Sadie with all the leaves she collected

Jayda

Christmas Books

Just wanted to let you know I'm still gathering books for the 24 day wrap, unwrap-n-read in December. I'm planning on posting my final list of suggestions sometime in October. Now that it's starting to cool down a tad outside, I'm getting super excited for the holiday season. I think part of that excitement stems from celebrating the holidays in our own home this year! I would love to hear about some of your favorite traditions, as we will be initiating some new ones this year.

First Day of Kindergarten!

Today was the day! The day Cole has been looking forward to for over a year. He was SO excited to head to school. He looked like such a big boy when I took this picture, but I kept a handle on the tears. :)

We had some friends over for dinner on Sunday. Kasey was telling us that his sister had taken her oldest child to school for the first time. She got extremely emotional after dropping him off and as she left the building, she looked for somewhere to cry in private. She ran behind a bus and broke out in tears. She looked up and there was another mom doing the same thing. They cried together behind that bus.

I had Sadie and Jayda with me as we dropped Cole off in his classroom. He immediately started playing and coloring. I gathered the girls and was holding things together until I gave him a hug good-bye and he said "I love you, Mom." Whoa! I needed to get out of there quick! Jayda blew him a kiss and we were out of there. We got outside and there was no bus! :) So, we walked to the car as I cried in front of everyone.

It was a good thing I had some things to do today so that I was busy. Time went by pretty quickly for me. I saw Sadie heading up the stairs later this morning and asked her what she was doing. She said "I'm going to find Cole so we can play." I had to gently remind her that we had taken him to school and he wasn't home.

Cole had a great first day! He got to do art and have "gym". He sang me a song that taught them the days of the week. It was pretty cute. His one complaint was that he had to bring a lunch instead of buying one there. :)

Death By Garbage Can

Yesterday, Cole went outside to head to the car for church. He comes running back inside to inform us that there is raccoon hanging out of the garbage can. He was talking so quickly and we weren't sure what he was talking about. So, Bart went outside with him and, sure enough, there is the raccoon. Poor little guy. We have had trouble in the past with these critters, so we started placing cinder blocks on top of the cans, so they can't get in. But, this raccoon somehow managed to get inside, but didn't quite make it all the way back out. Sad way to go.

Final Ballet/Tap Class

This is a little late coming, but here are some pictures from Sadie's final class. She did a fabulous job! They had learned a little number to perform for their families. Parents and siblings alike were invited to do lots of ballet and tap moves with the students. Jayda especially loved dancing next to Sadie. Sadie progressed alot over the course of the class. She was completely darling and even up to the last class, I couldn't stop smiling during the whole hour. She was just to cute in her leotard, tights and skirt. We love you, Sadie!

Reston Zoo

Yesterday we went to the zoo with the Ferrels. It isn't as glamorous as the DC Zoo, but it is very hands on and close up, which the kids totally loved. We went on a wagon ride to see some bigger animals and they all come right up to the wagon, looking for food. The kids could pet them and I think almost all of them got licked by one animal or another. We bought a couple of bottles of formula to feed the lambs and a couple containers of pellet food to feed animals around the zoo. When I asked the kids their favorite animals, Cole said the porcupine, the turtle and the camel. Sadie loved the monkeys. It was the perfect with sun and a cool breeze. Thanks for a fun day!

Summer: Coming To A Close

We went to the pool for probably one of our last visits. The kids had their final swimming lesson. Cole has LOVED swimming lessons. He can now swim, which we are all proud of. He does fabulously! Sadie has come a long way... at the start she wouldn't even put her face in the water. Now she can float on her front and back by herself and put her face in the water for several seconds. We are proud of her too! All three kids have loved going to the pool, which has a fabulous kiddie pool, a great medium sized pool and some super fun fountains/slide/play area.

Crazy Hair

Darling Jayda. That girl will not keep anything in her hair. Bow, elastic, headband...you name it, she pulls it out. Here is her awesome hair after pulling out her elastic. Pretty sweet!!