1st Day of School

In the past five days we decided to change preschools. Lauren was scheduled to go three days a week to Rainbow Preschool where she went last year and dearly loved. Then at the last minute we were notified of an opening in the Albers district because they do not have enough kids in their district to fill their 40 spots. So since we tested out of pre-K in our home district of Aviston we qualified to go to Albers. This was good news as it allows Lauren to go every day now and be with some familiar faces once again.

Monday night we went for orientation and to see her classroom and she started today. She was so excited and had so much fun! It's going to be a big adjustment as she's going in the afternoon now. She sometimes takes a nap so it's going to be interesting to see how it goes.

I had her all prepared with new clothes but found out on Monday that there are no sleeveless clothes or flip flops allowed at Albers school so we now have to start over! Goodness!

The first day was a success with no tears and a quick - bye mom as she left with her teacher! That's a healthy sign. I hope it continues the next 16 years of her life!

State Fair

On Tuesday we traveled to the State Fair. We watched the Angus open show and watched our cattle partners, The McClure Family win Grand Champion Land of Lincoln Heifer. Congrats to them! Blake enjoyed the day seeing the animals and most of all just being outside all day. He would love it if we could just live outside. Lauren enjoyed riding rides and all the normal fair stuff. It was a fun family day except for our visit with the friendly Illinois State Police on our way home. Thank goodness I wasn't driving! As Lauren says, we can't go fast anymore Mom.

Soccer

Lauren has finally gotten the opportunity to play organized sports! Soccer started this past weekend in Albers. She's on one of the 8 teams in this small town for 4 and 5 year olds! It's too early to tell if it's going to be her thing or not but she enjoyed the first practice. I'll keep you posted on how things progress.

Our friendly neighbors

We have enjoyed watching the deer that have found the timber behind our house and the soybeans in our field to be very attractive. They have also found my garden to be very attractive destroying our sweet corn crop and enjoying our tomatoes!

Swimming is so much fun!

Lauren has really gotten into swimming this summer. She has jumped at every chance she's had to hit the pool. Thank goodness for our good neighbors who let us use their pool whenever we want. She just completed a week long session of swim lessons and did really well! Her teacher Miss Lauren, was very impressed with her progress from her first swim lessons. Yeah!

The Streak....

This sight has been a common one at our house lately! Blake has mastered the art of rolling over just as I remove his diaper. He then crawls away as fast as possible until I catch him to get a new one on. It's going to be a long time road until potty training is complete............

11 Months Old

Wow - I can't believe Blake is already 11 months old. My little 7 lb baby is now a chunk weighing in at almost 25 lbs. He came down with a double ear infection after returning from the Ozarks. So he spent his special day at the doctors office. A new round of antibiotics and motrin and he's good as new.

In my normal monthly tradition I attempted to take his picture on his changing table. He now no longer fits on the table or for that matter stays put when placed there. In fact, he's so darn curious and quick, he grabbed my camera as I attempted to snap this picture breaking the lens cap! Luckily the folks at the camera store were able to fix it. Needless to say I haven't attempted to retake this picture the way it's supposed to look!

Bartlow Family Vacation

We enjoyed a few days in the Ozarks at the beginning of August with the Bartlow Family. The group was not complete as my dad and Bradley did not make the trip. Everyone had an awesome time boating, swimming, and dining. It was an adventure having 6 kids age 4 and under, three of which are babies! I was thrilled to have Lauren try out the tube for the first time and to get up on skis myself, the first time in 5 years or so since I've tried. Thank you to Andy, Julie, Aaron, and Brekin for making the week a success! Thank you to Grandma Marcia for providing all the wonderful assistance Grandma's do!

Let's Go Cards!

We gave Grandpa Floyd tickets to a Cardinal game for his Father's Day gift. Friday was the big day and Lauren and Blake were so excited, we'll maybe just Lauren, Blake had no clue. Lauren loves going to games, I think its mearly for the food and Build a Bear. We sat in the cheap seats (the bleachers) which turned out to be much better than I anticipated. They really were good seats. We were lucky enough to be by a stair case which had a glass covering which was perfect for Blake to pull up on and bang. Thank goodness our neighboring fans were understanding of us! Blake did really good and I only had to take him out of the game once. Lauren got a new Cardinals outfit for her favorite teddy bear (thanks Grandma and Grandpa) so she was thrilled. I can't wait to go back next year. The only bad part was Lauren and I decided to take a walk around the stadium in the 8th inning and of course that's when the Cards hit a home run! So we missed the fireworks! Lauren was devistated and so disappointed. Then to top it off, we left after that because it was way past the kids bedtime and then they scored in the next inning, winning the game, and you guessed it we missed more fireworks. Oh well, there is always next year I hope!

1st Word

Blake is in love with tractors. He won't go down for a nap or at bedtime without reading his John Deere ABC book. He sits at the door and cries if he hears people working outside and he can't be out there with them. He gets so excited when he sees tractors. It really is amazing to see his love for them at such a young age. So on Wednesday he did what we predicted he might and he actually said TRACTOR! Granted it's not super clear but you can totally tell that is what he's saying! It's so cute. I'm just hoping I can catch it on video one of these days. Maybe some day he'll add ma-ma to his list of words. So far it's just da-da and tractor. You can see where I rate......

Zoo Trip

I'm trying to catch up on my blogging. We've had a lot happen in the last two weeks! Last Monday my sister in law Brekin and my nieces and nephew, Addison, Brenna, and Braden came to visit. Grandma Marcia came to visit as well so we had a full house. On Tuesday morning we ventured out for a day at the zoo. We had a great day! The kids all loved seeing the animals. Lauren's highlight of the day was petting the sting rays. Blake's highlight was the train ride. Our funny of the day was watching the giant tortoises enjoying mating season! Good thing the kids are too young to understand!