Jacob's First Day of Preschool

Well, I'm a big slacker! I completely forgot to write about Jacob's first day of school! So here it is, a little late, but it's here!!

Jacob was VERY excited to return to preschool this year. He had so much fun last year, and he couldn't wait to see his friends and teachers. Hard to believe that in only one year we will be sending him to Kindergarten! So far he is really having fun, and has impressed me with how much he has retained from last year. His recoginition of numbers and letters is better than ever, and he loves to practice writing his name. I think this will be a great year for him! So, while Jacob is at school, Emily get's her Mama all to herself! I think she really enjoys her time by herself, and she plays very well on her own. I think it's nice for her to be able to do what she wants to do, when she wants to do it! No one bossing her around for those few hours! I can't even think about that fact that I will be sending her off to prechool next year!

Third time's a charm!

He emerged pretty much on schedule. He formed his chrysallis a few days after the others, and he "blossomed" a few days later too. Katie was very excited, as this was "her" caterpillar, Smally. We took him outside this afternoon and he willingly stepped onto the plant in the backyard. About 20 minutes later, he is still perched in the same spot, but we expect to see him flying around soon! What an amazing experience this has been! The pictures do not do justice to how beautiful they really are.

Beautiful Butterflies

Our fascination with butterflies really took off when Patrick & I were visting the Butterfly Farm in Grand Caymna earlier this summer. We started making plans to grow our own butterfly garden in our backyard. From then it has bee all about the butterflies!

Then, two weeks ago, Patrick took Katie & Jacob to a Monarch Butterfuly Workshop at the Putnam Museum. They learned all about the beautiful creatures, their lifecyle, etc. At the end of the day, they all got a caterpillar to take home in a jar, leaves to feed them, and care instructions. Today, 15 days later, 2 of the 3 caterpillars fully opened into these amazing creatures. The last one should open in a few days. Katie named him "Smally" since he was always quite a bit smaller than the other two, and formed his chrysallis a few days after the other two did.

This morning we released the two butterflies into the backyard, and have already seen the flitting around from plant to plant, enjoying their newfound freedom. We will do the same for "Smally" when his day comes.

It has been fascinating watching them grow and change. The speed of their growth is unbelievable. This has been a truly incredible experience for the whole family.

First Day, First Grade

Well, it's official. Katie is a 1st grader! Here she is at "Unpack Your Backpack Night" at Ed White. She got to meet her teacher, Miss Neff, and stow all of her school supplies in her new desk. She is very excited to have a "big kid" desk, vs. the cubby she had last year. I think she was a little relieved when she learned that she already knows one of the other kids at her group of desks from her Kindergarten class. Here she is all set to walk to her First Day of First Grade. She picked out her own outfit the night before so she was all set. Katie is usually not a morning person, but she was up bright and early at 6 a.m. Somewhere in her sleep, all of the nerves and fear went away. All that was left was total excitement about the first day! She was ready to go have fun, see her friends, and meet new classmates. She came home later bubbling about how much fun she had. She went on and on about all the things they did, seeing old friends, playing at recess, etc. I'm so proud of her. She is really growing up!!

All of this is getting Jacob really excited to start preschool. His first day is in two weeks. I can hardly believe that only a year from now he will be in Kindergarten all day, and I will be taking Emily to preschool. I can already tell this year is going to be a whirlwind! I'm going to try to enjoy every moment. I know it will be over before we know it!!

Busy, busy summer!

Well, once again, I realized it has been almost a month since my last post. So much for my personal goal of posting here at least once a week! Summer has been busy for us! After returning from the cruise, we jumped right into the 4th of July festivities. We went down to the riverfront in Davenport on the 3rd, and were amazed by the spectacular display. I got some great photos with my new camera, and I will try to get a couple posted. Then for the 4th we drove up to Grand Mound, where the display never disappoints! The next weekend had more fireworks Friday night to kick of Eldridge Days. Saturday was a family reuinion picnic with Patrick's Mom's family, then home quickly for the Eldridge parade. Katie got to ride on a float for Curves with my mom. She had a blast waving to everyone and throwing candy to the other kids. Patrick then headed to Atlanta for a couple days for a CPE class on something captivating like Estate Tax Planning. I know you are are jealous!! The 21st of July we celebrated Patrick's birthday. At the same time we had a Half-birthday party for Katie & Jacob. This is a family thing we started last year. Since their birthdays are so close to Christmas, this kind of spreads out the gift giving a little, not to mention making it easier on everyone with holiday spending. We were lucky to have great weather, and spent most of the party outside. A few days later, my dear friend Leslie came to pick up her God-daughter, Katie, to take her home for a visit. So, off they drove to Indiana. Katie got some good bonding time with "Aunt" Leslie, "Uncle" Matt, and sweet little Emma. She got a little homesick the second night, but we drove out to pick her up the next day. Our visit was wonderful, but MUCH too short! It made me miss them more than ever!! We left Indiana and headed into Chicago for the day since we were only 2 hours away. We spent the afternoon at Shedd Aquarium, which is always a favorite of ours. We've spent the last couple weeks at home. We spent the day at the Mississippi Valley Fair last week. All three kids LOVED the rides, and went non-stop until the end of the wristband time. We're also trying to enjoy the pool, and the last of our days before Katie heads back to school. Katie starts first grade next week on the 16th. We have already gone shopping for new clothes and all of her supplies. She's a little nervous, but also excited to see her friends again. Well, it's getting late. I want to get to bed before this thunderstorm ends. It's one of my favorite sounds!