Fire Station Open House

Right outside of our neighborhood is the most beautiful fire station that I have ever seen.  It's so close that we can walk there rather quickly.  In November or maybe it was October, they had an open house.  It was a rainy day so we ended up driving over but it was still a great time!

They had a cute fishing for prize station for the kids 5 & under.

Eliot was very curious about the fishing!

Elese was actually pretty knowledgeable about fire safety because the firefighters had just visited her school.  Also, this is the 1st time she climbed up into the truck.

Eliot was a little scared of the truck but went along as along as big brother and sister were with him!

Out of all 4 kids Elese & Eliot were the only ones that would wear the fire hats.  Made me a little sad that Em & Eli were getting too big for that :(

Our neighbor down the street Bob is a firefighter!  We got to see his uniform and check out his locker. 

This is Jeanne our next door neighbor.  She & Elese are great friends.  Jeanne was spending the weekend with her Dad and we just happened to run into them at the open house.  Sorry about the pictures...my camera was not cooperating inside the fire station!

Elese & Eliot spent a good amount of time in the bouce house.  This was Eliot's first time to actually go inside & jump!  He always says yes but never goes inside.  We practically had to pull them out to leave :)

The slide on the side was another favorite!

As soon as Em & Eli saw the snack station they were headed right there.  Thankfully they were serving Coke!

Check out Eliot's eyes...he was super afraid of a character that was coming around.  He's at the age where those things scare the day lights out of him!

Our next stop was to check out the CPR room. 

I swear Em looks just like me here.  She was acting so silly about performing CPR...we all had a good laugh just watching her.

Eliot sat there but wouldn't touch the dummy.  He was a little weary.

One of the demonstrations was to put out a grill fire.  I was glad to learn about this because this could so happen at any time!

This was some serious business...Eliot was all.over.it!

The most fun part of the day was operating the actual hose.  All of our kids would have stayed here the entire time.

Such concentration from Eli...tongue even hanging out!

Go Emery!

I'm Back!

Well some of you have probably noticed that I haven't been blogging in awhile.  My computer has been broken for way.too.long!  Thanks to my Mom and some little computer elves, I am now back up and running!  Thank you so much Mom :)  More updates to come...

Reader's Theater

We were invited to Emery's class for a Reader's theater last week.  Her student teacher got the kids all ready with a fairy tale unit and the last project was the reader's theater.  When the parents arrived they were handed a program.  That's Emery's design on the front!  I was so proud that her design was chosen!

I had such a hard time getting a good picture of Emery.  She was so excited and nervous at the same time!  She couldn't sit still!

Olivia has become a good friend of Emery's.  She is actually a twin but her sister is in another class.

Scott met us at school to catch the performance!  I brought along a snack for Elese & Eliot...hoping to keep them quiet and occupied!

Eliot couldn't resist getting over there with big sister.  He kept looking around the room asking for Eli.  He didn't understand that Eli has a different teacher.  Emery was so nervous about him walking over to her desk...such rule follower!

Emery was a part of the 3 Little Pigs fairy tale.

She did really well.  You can totally tell she's loving it by the look in her eyes.

And he finally made it up into her lap! 

Fall Festival

The fall festival was our 1st chance to get involved at Emery & Eli's school!  Life in Minnesota has been going really well.  We are keeping busy & that's why I haven't updated the blog...there never seems to be enough time!  Moving forward I am making a much better effort to blog at least once a week.

Cute sign to welcome us to the festival. 

They had this adorable fall picture back drop all set up for pictures.  Believe it or not Elese was the only one willing to pose!  Emery & Eli were too busy trying to scope out friends ;(  On a side note...as soon as Emery saw Elese sitting on the straw she ran over and told her to get up!  "That probably has gluten in it Elese!"  Wow, I didn't even think about that!

1st stop was for popcorn!

Eliot was all.about.the.lemonade!!!  Look how intently he's focusing on the drinking.  He loved the popcorn too.

Emery & Eli enjoyed a few rounds of Bingo.

Bingo winner!  Elese was the first to win a game in our family.

The fall festival was a fun event.  It was great time with family and the kids had fun seeing friends and teachers.

Elese Goes to School

Back in Septempber Elese had her 1st day of school.  We've enrolled her into a local Luthern Church for school.  She goes Monday, Wednesday & Friday afternoons.  She also goes to Lunch Bunch once a month as an extra.  She enjoyed school when we lived in Milford but only went 2 days a week.

Here she is all set to go!  She's in a "I don't want my picture taken!" stage and it's driving me crazy!

In all honesty she was very nervous about going to school.  I look back at these pictures and her face is just so sad.

On the bright side, Daddy came home from work and got to take her for the 1st day.  Scott's office is 3 miles from our home and he often comes by at lunch.  She was all smiles when she saw him pull up!

So I sent Scott with the camera and the "look"...you know,the you better take some pictures for me look!  How adorable is this picture?  Scott said that when they got there she was unsure and very clingy.

How precious is this?  My favorite picture of the year!

She finally got off his lap and joined her classmates.  Ms. Theresa & Ms. Julie are her teachers.  We are now more than a month and a half into school and Elese LOVES it!  She goes into class without a backward glance and comes bouncing out at the end of the day.  This has been a perfect fit for her and we'll see what her teachers say come conference time!  I know, a confernce for a preschooler????

1st Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for Emery & Eli.  We had a good amount of time here in Minnesota to get settled and for the kids to make friends this summer.  I think it made starting a new school a little easier. 

All the kids were up and ready to go about an hour before we had to be at the bus stop!  We have a later start so the bus doesn't come until 8:54.  Big time 3rd & 1st graders this year!

Here's the early bunch down at the stop.  Everyone was all smiles & ready to go.

All the parents were there too.

I think Elese was a little sad that she wasn't going to school.  Birk & Jeanne are her friends on our street and they both went to kindergarten today.  She'll start preschool on Friday and she's super excited!

As it got closer to pick up time the crowd got bigger.  Today was super hot and humid so we were all sweating by the time the bus came!

Oh the picture all the Mommies have been waiting to see...kids getting on the bus!  There were a few happy dances, a few tears and for me a good feeling of seeing my kids grow in their independence.  Having 2 at home today felt different and  very quiet.  The blessing is that Elese & Eliot became best friends and had a great time playing together.

Eli was a little nervous but excited too.  He came home and told me that he met a new friend at his table named Lucas.  Now I can start praying that he and Lucas make good choices and are good influences for each other.  I'm a little nervous because the 1st grade is large and the class size is bigger than I expected.

Emery was up and on that bus before I even knew it!  I didn't even get a hug from her...such independence :)  She had a great day too.  She claims that 12:05 was way too late for lunch and she was starving!  She also told me about a little girl in her class who is blind.  Emery must have taken it all in because she was very aware of this little girl.  What a great experience for her class this year.  I'm excited to hear all about the journey.

Bus Stop Breakfast!

Today is officially our last day of summer!  We got the day off to a great start with the 1st annual bus stop breakfast.  We used to do this every year in Milford and the kids love it.

Scott & Debbie chatting it up before everyone arrived.  Debbie's daughter Gabby and Emery have become good buddies.

Everyone comes dressed in their pj's at the usual bus stop time.  It's kind of a trial run of getting up and getting ready to go for the school year.  This year our bus doesn't come until 8:53 so we'll have no problem getting up & out the door!

We had such a great turn out!  I am so excited that all the kids got to mingle and that the adults got to talk too.  It was nice that most of the parents could participate because it's a holiday.  Our neighborhood has grown so much this past couple of months that a 2nd bus stop was just added.  I love that all the families are willing to participate and have a great time.  We have a great plan for Halloween & we're also adopting the water balloon brigade on the last day of school.