Back to School

There's nothing like the smell of new textbooks and pencil shavings, unless you're a Mom who really isn't ready for school to start again. I really enjoy having the kids home over the summer and I'm always a little sad when they start back. Here is a picture of the first day of school (another one of my picture taking traditions that they'd love to skip, but I won't let them).

Alyssa is a Freshman... yeah, I know that one slipped up on us, too. She is really enjoying the year so far and all of her classes, except shop. She's going to make us a footstool, but she said it might take her the entire year to get it done. I think she'll get the hang of it before too long. We've have four extra girls at our house all weekend as they were making t-shirts for homecoming. I'd forgotten what a big deal a first homecoming is to a freshman. The girls are so excited. We really enjoy Alyssa's friends...they are a great bunch of girls. Emily and Eli especially like it when they come because the girls always play with them.

Michael is in 7th grade and it's an easy guess as to what his favorite part of the year has been so far--FOOTBALL! This is his first time playing and he has been giving 110%. He gives us detailed recaps of every practice. And he has all A's and A-'s in his classes. His coach has been preaching what Mom and Dad have always preached--school work first. Somehow he seems to be listening to coach, which is fine; we're just glad it's all coming together for him. He's plenty smart, he just didn't want to do the work, now he realizes if he wants to play football he has to do the work.

Emily is in 2nd grade and of course she loves everything--except PE. Same as every other year. As much as I hope she will eventually like sports, I just don't know. Her favorite class is art. She says looking forward to art is what "keeps me going". I laughed when she told me that. I keep forgetting to tell her art teacher, I know she would appreciate hearing that story. Emily has blossomed into quite a reader. One night she was sitting on the couch reading an article in my Reader's Digest magazine titled, "41 Things Your Doctor Knows, But Doesn't Tell You." She told me she didn't think doctors should do that, so she read the article. What happened to reading Dick and Jane?

Eli misses the kids when they are at school. He asks me repeatedly throughout the day if it is time to go pick Emily up from school. When we get there, he showers her with hugs. Ten minutes after we've been home, he fights with her. Go figure!

Lions and Tigers and Sealions! Oh My!

Our Trip to the Kansas City Zoo
We've made it a habit to go to the zoo every year. It's something we all look forward to and we always have a different experience each time we visit. We have always gone to Omaha in the past and this was our first time to go to the Kansas City Zoo. Emily loves the big cats, so she's especially proud of this photo. It was the first time we'd seen the lions right next to the glass. One of them was completely sprawled out on it's back with it's feet in the air just like a house cat would do. Eli's favorite part was the train...no surprise there! We were at the sealion show, which was right by the train depot and when the train left the station he cried because it didn't wait for him. Even though we ended up riding the train three times that day, he still talks about how it left without him. A few days after visiting the zoo we went to the pool and when we pulled up in front of it Eli said, "I want to see the sealions." He's wanted to go back to the zoo ever since we left. We all agreed that one of the neatest exhibits was the kangaroos. They are just free to roam around. They have this huge grassy area with lots of trees and it has a sidewalk that goes all around it and they just stay there. The next time you see Emily you'll have to ask her what her Dad told her to do if the lions ever escape. I'll go ahead and tell you what she'll say. She'll tell you, "Just run faster than the slowest person."

Happy 7th Birthday, Emily: Luau Style

Well, we brought a little piece of Hawaii into our backyard last weekend when we had Emily's 7th birthday party. A luau was Emily's choice for the theme of the party and I figured it would be easy to decorate and it would also be a good way for the kids to beat the heat of July. We had the kids wear their swimming suits/trunks and we had water balloon games and we put a baby pool under the slide on our swingset, which turned out to be the hit of the party. We also had a macaw pinata and we played the limbo. Emily had 11 friends come to the party; 5 girls and 6 boys. I guess I didn't realize how rowdy 6 seven year old boys could be, but really all the kids were great and they had a lot of fun.

We decorated the deck with palm tree and ocean posters, blow-up sea creatures, pictures of exotic birds and flowers, tiki torches, tiki statues, shells, coconuts (one of which exploded on it's own), and pineapples; and we played Hawaiian music during the party. We had leis for everyone (adults included) and the girls got grass skirts and the boys got beachcomber hats. Emily's cake was a picture of two macaws and the sides were decorated with flowers and palm trees. Aloha!