SERIOUSLY, KINDERGARTEN

While, I won't lie, I have been super excited for the kids to be in Kindergarten to relieve a little of the financial burden of daycare, I never expected it to come so quickly. How is it possible that I have been a mom for the past 6 years? I am very lucky, the kids are going to my school, which means I get to teach them daily in PE. Our school is very fortunate that we support daily PE for our students, however, this year it is an added bonus because I get to have my kids every day! It is very interesting to see them in this social setting, and I am very surprised by Claire. She always seems so shy, but not with her friends at school. I have seen a different side of her these past few months!

More Summer Entertainment!

We of course had to make a trip to Marcie's so Claire could get her baby fix, since she will not be getting it at our house!The kids loved to get dressed up in "rock clothes" and put on shows for me!

We traveled around to pools in towns all over the area...Cedar Falls, Waverly, Grundy, and of course, our pass was to the Parkersburg pool, which we got our money's worth with the Henriksen's!


Some how this summer, my kids went from being completely content playing in 2 feet of water, to be fish in the deep end and jumping off the board all by themselves. I guess it could be the fact that we go swimming at least 3 times a week, but even though I was a swimmer, I never really imagined my kids as swimmers. After this summer, it could be a possibility?



I can't remember who this face was for, but he enjoys to use facial expressions to get his point across.

Random Summer Events

We had a great summer full of FUN! You can't beat a ride on the lawn mower!
And we got a new golden retriever puppy, Macy. The kids love her more than I ever thought!

Claire loved being able to choose her own outfits, how does she look?

Lots of Bike rides.....

And of course our trip to Adventureland. This year Cane got to come enjoy all the fun, all day long, because Grandma and Grandpa came too!

Claire riding the rides that no one else wanted to go on....including the silly silo, but somehow she talked Grandpa into that one!

Cane LOVED the semi's, especially when Grandpa rode it too!

During crop dusting time, the kids always would watch. This nice pilot landed right in our front yard to talk to Nick and the kids. Nick was just as excited as the boys!

4th of July in Missouri!

We headed to Missouri for the 4th of July this year! We got to spend some quality time with both of the grandma's and the rest of the family. The kids had a great time lighting fireworks (minus Cane who cried at the sound of them), going to the parade, the pedal pull, and playing with cousins!

We got to see Sister who we have not seen for a very long time!

They were so proud of these ribbons! It was a long wait for the pedal pull, but well worth it when they handed them these!



Of course, a trip to Chris an Greg's always is a blast. With so much to do, the never want to leave. But we got to ride all the toys, fish for a while, and enjoy the party!








So this sounded like a really great idea, Grandma with her Great Grandchildren, but it didn't go quite as smooth. Oh well, that is life with kids, right?

May Graduation Leading into Summer!

So sorry it has been so long! I probably shouldn't admit it, especially since I know a few teachers read this blog, but this is the hardest year in my teaching career! In years past I can find a few spare minutes at school to upload my pics and blog about our lives. However, this year, I can't seem to find a few minutes do anything other than work at work! I know, life is so unfair.

Anyway, while I should have had lots of time to blog this summer, our internet living in the country is not quite up to speed, so simple blogging becomes a very long process! But I am going to plan to do a quick update here before I leave school today!

So here goes!

May-we GRADUATED from PreK to Kindergarten! The kids loved being at my school, and I loved having them here.






We got our garden planted, with a little help from the kids. Claire LOVES the garden, to plant, water, harvest, dig for worms, collect bugs, all of it!

Once it got warm enough, out came the pool and the slip and slide!

In June, another teacher and I were able to travel to Little Rock, Arkansas for the Healthy Schools Forum funded by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. After A LOT of work, our school was awarded the Bronze Healthy Schools National Award! Our school was the first school in Iowa to win the award. Nikki and I met a group of great girls also at the conference, we spent the next two days having a blast with our new friends!

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is funded by the William J. Clinton Foundation, so Bill Clinton was the speaker at the awards banquet! Very cool, he was actually a very passionate speaker.

Michelle Kwan, olympic figure skater, also spoke so we couldn't pass up this photo opp! Nikki, the other PE teacher at my school is on my left, the other two girls were from the other school in Iowa to win the award.