Welcome Home Daddy

The children got to stay up late Tuesday night, as we picked up Michael at the airport.

He'd been in Detroit for five nights. Somehow we survived without him at home but we sure missed him.

He brought the children back surprises, a box of eight Disney-related puzzles for Anna and a package of three cars from the Cars movie for Alexander.

Alexander absorbed the packaging for about 10 seconds then started jumping up and down with excitement over his new cars.

Anna's the expert puzzle maker. These are not easy puzzles, anywhere from 100-500 small pieces. So far she's only done the 100-piece puzzles, and she'll stick with them for two hours from start to finish.

Anna made Michael some "Welcome Home" signs that she intended to hold up as he came through the doors, but we forgot them in the car. She gave to Michael in the car, which was almost as good.

P.S. Isn't Alexander so cute helping his father pull the suitcase?

She Ties Her Shoes

Anna is a quick learner. I taught her how to tie her shoes in about 10 minutes at the shoe store last month (we were trying to decide between Velcro and laces, but at the time she hadn't been taught how to tie).

I was all proud of her (and still am, of course), and then my mom burst my bubble by telling me that the twins, my nephews Brock and Baylor, already knew how to tie their shoes when we all met at the camp in Mississippi last spring. And they weren't even 4 at the time! Way to go, guys!

I guess I should try to teach Alexander.

Gymnastics

What I love about Fall is the flurry of newness it brings.

Not just school, but a new football season and lots of year-long activities.

Anna is now back in gymnastics and will soon try her hand at a K-1 girls basketball season at the local Y.

Poor Alexander. We keep waiting for something for boys his age but there's nothing (except gymnastics) yet.

Here are photos from Anna's Saturday morning class.

Now that she's 5 she gets to move down with the big girls and learn the skills the full gym floor. She has been very excited about that.

Ice Cream Social

Alexander's school hosted an ice cream social for its families on Thursday evening.

Problem is I have a Thursday night class and Michael was in Detroit. Obviously the children had a sitter for a few hours that evening, and I promised them that we'd have our own little ice cream party the next day.

So on Friday afternoon I took them to Culver's, where they got to pick out two toppings each for their frozen custard treat.

A couple of adults around us were greatly amused watching the little ones trying to decide which toppings they would have.

Afterward I turned around at a red light and snapped a couple photos of the sun streaming in on Anna as she talked to her daddy on the cell phone.

Great Day For A Kite

Michael recently broke out the kite we've had stored in our garage.

Another first for the children! They loved it.

We've got some crazy wind in these parts so we gotta fly carefully.

Anna and Shreve

I loved this set of photos of Anna and Shreve.

Look at how he's gazing up at her in the first photo.

I included the other two because they managed to have the same expression in each photo. One's kind of serious while the other is kind of happy.

The Fair

Two weeks ago we took the children to the fair.

We did the usual — viewed some farm animals, cheered on our favorite racing pig and rode carnival rides.

We went on a day offering a lot of kiddie-related activities, such as digging in the sandbox for buried coins (I think the children found about $2 or so), decorating your own ice cream sundae, painting your hair or face and jumping in the jumpy castle thing.

For the rides, Alexander chose to stick with strictly kiddie stuff. When I sat in this teacup-style ride with them (see photo) he would not let me turn the wheel to spin us around.

Anna, not surprisingly, picked a few more adventurous type of ride, including three times going through those fun house-type of "rides".

In the kiddie area, Alexander opted for a game with prizes while Anna also opted to have her hair spray painted.

I decided the hair paint would be OK to try out since we were at the fair, after all. And now I know not to bother with it for even a Halloween outfit. The quality just wasn't there and I can't see it adding anything good to any sort of dress-up time or Halloween costume.

I kept asking her if she was sure she wanted to do this. I was hoping she'd change her mind because I didn't know how well it would wash out. But that concern turned out to be nothing, as the color seem to fade away even before we got home.

Anna didn't change her mind but was kind of quite for a little bit after. I thought she'd regretted her decision but maybe she was just digesting it all.

Anna's First Day Of Kindergarten

Anna's first day of kindergarten at the "Big Kids' School" was Thursday. So exciting!

Everything was new for both Anna and her parents.

Even getting to the school was a bit of a shock with the looooooooong line of cars waiting to turn onto the school property.

Maybe the traffic will let up a bit since more children will start taking the bus after the first week of school (and also fewer parents will be parking and walking their child into the school).

I was very emotional while waiting in the line. The principal walked around with a box of tissues for parents outside the kindergarten door where children were going in for the first time.

As it turned out I was over the tears by then. And it ended up being sort of uneventful, anyway, with Anna so eager to get inside that she didn't even turn around for a wave or extra hug. Other moms lamented the same.

If they have time, students get to play on the playground, which is right outside their classroom door, before the bell rings. When the bell rings they line up outside their door. When all students are in line the teacher lets them in. This door is where they exit, also. So they never really enter or exit through the school's main doors.

Apparently, if it is 0 degrees or less outside, students will not gather outside the door but will instead gather in the gymnasium before school. I'm sure it's the same if it's totally stormy outside. There is supposed to be some sort of indication with a flag outside the school.

Though it was her first day, she was only in class with about five other classmates. Students were broken into small groups to help ease them through the transition of going to the big school, making new friends and learning all the new rules (such as when in the hallway walking in a single file line with your hands clasped behind your back).

They'll all be together for the first time on Tuesday.

They have computer lab once a week, library once a week and PE twice a week. A reading support specialist will come into their room every day to work individually with the children on their reading. I'm sure there are tons of other things I don't know about just yet.

Alexander's First Day Of School

Alexander's first day of school was Tuesday.

As a second-year preschooler, he's now one of the "older" and more experienced kids at the school.

Here are a few photos to document his first day.

Among them are a good-bye hug from Anna (who was still in her PJs since she didn't have school that day) and him running to greet me after school.

Also, with all the excitement, I forgot to take his photo in front of the school sign on the first day. So here's that picture taken on his second day.