Caroline visits her Kindergarten class

What an exciting time for Caroline!

She went to her school today and saw her Kindergarten classroom for the very first time! She met her teacher Ms. Wentz and also met all her classmates. She was able to explore the room and meet new friends for an hour this morning while the parents were sitting through orientation. We are so excited for Caroline! Kindergarten is a big milestone! I cannot believe it is already here.

Caroline says, "Kindergarten is going to be fun! We are going to have yummy snacks, play with the doll house, and work on the computers! It is cool, there are big headsets to listen to books at the listening center!"

I am ready for Kindergarten!

Ready or not here I come!

Caroline and listening

Caroline had a hard time listening last night. Steve asked her why she wasn't listening to us?

This was her answer!

It is so hard to stay mad when you are laughing.

Where do they come up with this stuff!

Sunday

The weekend goes by way too fast!




Caroline and Ryan were able to get outside today and ride their bikes. Caroline is getting better and better with her bike and is having little trouble going up hill. Ryan likes to get to the top of the hill and then place his legs on his four wheeler and coast down hill. They also played with sidewalk chalk and got wet from the sprinkler.



They ended the day with smiles and ice pops.

Saturday

What a great day! We all relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. Caroline and Ryan played in the basement all day long and even had a hard time coming upstairs for dinner. As you can tell in the picture Ryan was still in his pj top around 6 this evening. After dinner and baths Caroline and Ryan played airplane. That is when Steve and I are on the ground and the kids are lifted on our feet into the air. We always ask them where they are going and they had many answers. Papa's house, Grammy's house, Gee Gee's house, Baby Rachel's house, Sam's house, and to Trinidad to see Catherine and Sophia. They traveled all over tonight to see all the people that love them so much! They are now in bed asleep and Steve and I are going to watch the Panther vs Redskin game. Saturdays are the best!

Thank you Papa!

This was a busy week for Steve and me! I started back to work on Tuesday and Steve has been working in the afternoons and evenings, so we have been seeing very little of each other. Thank goodness we had Papa to come in and help us! There were a few days Caroline got to stay by herself with Papa and she loved it! He was a big help to us all this week!

Thank you so much!

I have been busy with meetings all week and I am so tired of just sitting and listening to people talk. Hopefully next week I will have a chance to get in my room and just work! We are all looking forward to a quiet restful weekend!

!

Stealing Sugar!

I have two children that are in the business of stealing sugar these days.

Take a look!

Ryan finished a full week of school today! Yeah!!! He had a great first week and we were all very excited that he was able to go every day and have a good time! This was a big week for him, Caroline, Mommy, and Daddy!

Way to go Ryan!

I guess we will keep both sugar snatchers! HeHe!

Another picture of the cooler

As you can tell, Ryan and now Caroline are still having lots of fun with the cooler! They would take turns pulling one another in the cooler this evening! Ryan of course had to work very hard to pull Caroline around, but he did it over and over again! Wow, what a toy!

A cooler?

Yes, I took a picture of the cooler today.

Guess who is inside.

You got it! Ryan!

While getting dinner ready, Ryan played and played with this cooler. Papa came to visit today and decided that all Ryan needs for Christmas is a cooler. The cooler did many laps around the table on the deck. When dinner was over and I was putting the toys away and started to move the cooler back and it was full of all sorts of stuff. From bubble containers, to dirty socks, and even a dish rag. I never knew a cooler could be so much fun.

Packed Up and Ready to Teach!?!

We gathered all my 3rd grade boxes and packed them in the car this afternoon. Hopefully, I can drop my stuff off, tomorrow in my classroom. It is hard to believe that all this is needed to teach a class of third graders, and that all this stuff was bought by me! I hope to find some great treasures in these boxes in the coming days! I will make sure to take a picture of my new classroom all ready for the first day of school in just a few weeks! As my teacher friend Kitty Mings used to say, "I have taught for years, but never made it out of the third grade." Thank goodness!

Caroline and Ryan at the van with my boxes packed inside!

Ryan's Second Day of School

Ryan woke up this morning ready to go back to school. He went right into the school and said hello to the fish and then walked into his classroom. He again realized what was taking place and started to whine a bit, but was waving good-bye when Caroline and I were walking to the car. Caroline and I ran a few errands, did some house cleaning, and then headed back to school to pick up Ryan. He was already on his cot ready to take his nap. He looked so cute in his cot! He sat up and said, " Hi, Mommy got to stay at school and go night night." I asked him if he wanted me to go and he said, "yes." So Caroline and I left and went to eat lunch and picked up Ryan an hour later! He is doing a great job! I hope he continues to love going!

Caroline's take on Ryan's First Day of School!

Here is Caroline talking about Ryan's first day of school.

Caroline and I had a good girl's day out, after dropping Ryan off this morning! We picked up Caroline's school supplies for Kindergarten, went to the mall to buy new clothes for school, and ran by the grocery store. We talked about what we thought Ryan was doing and if we thought he was having a good time! Caroline wanted me to call the school and check on Ryan every 10 minutes. She wanted to make sure he was happy! She is a terrific big sister!

Ryan's First Day of School!

This morning Ryan went to school, Chesterbrook Academy, for the first time! He was so excited when he woke up and was dressed and ready to go in record time. He was still excited when we drove up to the school and walked into the building. He said hello to the fish Chester and Brook, and walked straight to his classroom. Then reality set in and he hung on to my leg for dear life! He cried and cried and I left him in his teacher's arms. I was almost in tears myself walking back to the car. We drove off and he was in the window crying. I thought to myself that I should go back and get him, but Caroline and I drove on and went to get a bite for breakfast. After an hour I called to check in and he was fine. Only cried a minute! When we picked him up after lunch he was so happy and had a great first day! He has talked about it all afternoon! Here is clip of him talking about school.

A DAY OUT!

We headed to DC today to go to the Natural History Museum. We have been wanting to take Caroline and Ryan to see the dinosaurs and the butterfly exhibit. We had a good time and the butterfly exhibit was really neat, but very humid. We also went to the Imax theater and watched a movie on dinosaurs. Caroline's favorite part was the Imax theater. Ryan's favorite thing was riding the metro! He loves riding the train and he also enjoyed watching the butterflies.

An owl butterfly. Do you see the owl eye?

Ryan and Caroline standing in front of a Giraffe drinking water.

When you walk into the museum, this is the first exhibit you see. The elephant is massive.

After we left the museum, we stopped in the mall to take a picture in front of the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument. Then we headed back to the metro. We stopped in Crystal City to eat lunch, and then headed home. It was a good day out!

Ryan is feeling better, but Caroline now has it!

Here is a video of Ryan today! He is feeling much much better! He asked for french fries and chocolate milk today and finally was able to eat it!

Caroline on the other hand has had a high fever and been sick tonight. She ate very little today and has wanted to sleep a lot this evening. She is asleep now and hopefully will be back to her old self very soon!

We are sick

Ryan has been sick since Sunday and now Caroline has come down with a fever and a stomach bug. Ryan had a fever Sunday and then got sick 3 different times on the way home yesterday. He would get sick, I would pull over and put him in the grass, then we would change all his clothes. This morning he was feeling sick and he asked to be put in the grass outside! I told him that at home he could go to the trash can. We all slept together last night and Caroline and Ryan are resting today. Ryan is asleep in my bed and Caroline is asleep on the couch. I hope both of them will feel better soon! I think Ryan is feeling somewhat better, because this morning around 2 he asked for french fries, and Caroline woke up wanting to eat Chicken Noodle Soup at 8 am.

They look so pitiful!

Look at us!

Here is all Grammy's grandchildren! Caroline is 5, Catherine 3, Ryan 2, Sophia 1, and Rachel is 6 months! We lined them up in order and they all sat for us to take the picture! They had a great time playing together on Sunday night! This was the first time Rachel had seen all her cousins together! It was a fun night!

What do you see?

Catherine, Caroline, Sophia, and Ryan are looking out the window at the squirrels. The squirrels run up the bird feeders and sometimes they even hang upside down to get food. They love to watch the squirrels.

In Grammy's Chair!

How sweet! Caroline, Ryan and their cousins Catherine and Sophia are reading with Grammy! They all love Grammy's attention and they all love to hear Grammy read!

The Girls!

Look at us! I am so happy to call these ladies family!

Thanks to my Mom and my sisters, Carol and Liz,for making the shower a success! We all had a good time and the food was fabulous!

Dana's Shower

Dana is getting married on September 27th! We had a shower at my Mom's house over the weekend to help her get ready for married life! It was a great time to catch up with Dana and the wedding plans!

We have been friends since we were 4 years old! She is such a great person and I am so thankful she has found Jason and Jason has found her!

I love this picture of Dana with her Mom!