Sunday, October 7, 2012

It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile since I've posted....but life's been carrying on busy as usual.  Here's a photo recap of what we've been up to.

Sunday School
The girls love Sunday School.  Here are M&M and the other Sunday School kids acting out the creation stories from Genesis.


Ice Skating
In addition to soccer, the girls have been taking ice skating lessons for the past 6 weeks.  Maysen wants to continue for the next session, Myah is undecided, but she had originally chosen dance and changed her mind so I don't really know what she'll decide. 


Soccer ends this week and basketball doesn't start until the end of November so we are excited about having some weeks that are not quite so busy for the next month.


Cousin Carson
During a trip to Lake Mills a few weeks ago, the girls got to meet their newest cousin, Carson!  Finally a boy on the Christianson side.  Myah and Maysen were pretty excited about him.  He's so tiny!!!  Mylie could take him or leave him....unless I was holding him, then she'd get a little jealous.
We get to see him again next weekend.....can't wait to see how much he's changed!!




Pumpkin Patch
October is here so we made our annual trip to DeMoss Pumpkin Farm.  We haven't decorated our pumpkins yet, but the girls had great fun picking them out.  Mylie, the pack mule, wanted to buy several, she kept carrying pumpkins two-at-a-time to the wagon.....crazy girl!



Saturday, September 8, 2012

Fun at Jester Park

We couldn't let this beautiful summer/fall day get away from us.  Even though the Big Bucket is closed for the season, we managed to find some water to play in and a new place to have some fun.  Dellisa and I took our 6(!) kids to the Natural Playscapes at Jester Park.  The Geisler's camp there occasionally, but I'd never heard of it.  It was so much fun.  There are about 5-6 little areas for kids to play in.  They are very close together so the kids could move between them and we could still have an eye on them.  There is a sand area (which none of our kids actually found, which was good because they were soaking wet), a wooden block building area, an area with a metal caterpillar and butterfly bench, a live bison roaming area (a little further away from the others), and of course, the pond with water feature (our obvious favorite!).  Here are some pictures of the kids having a blast.










Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Soccer Mom

We've had quite a few 'firsts' around here again.  Last week was our first day of Kindergarten, and today was our first day of soccer.  The girls had been looking forward to this for quite some time now, and I have to say that we all had a blast.  It was a beautiful (87 degree) evening--soccer is from 5:30 to 6:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays so it's going to take up a lot of our time for the next 6 weeks.  I chased Mylie most of the time so I didn't pick up on much this week, BUT Brandon (who will tell you he's definitely not the biggest fan of soccer) said he had a blast watching them and was so proud of how aggressive the girls played and how hard they worked.  I had to giggle when he likened the experience to 'herding cats' :)  We were pretty pumped to find out that they have another set of twin girls on their team.  When there are only 8 kids on a team it's not very likely for that to happen.  I've been driving a minivan for 5 1/2 years, but today, I officially became a soccer mom!

Getting ready to go.

BFFs

Purple team--the FLAME


Soccer Dad

Monday, August 27, 2012

First Day of Kindergarten

Well, folks, the day has come (and gone, actually)......Myah and Maysen officially started school today.  I've been taking them to an organized, academic center for the last three years, but this is different.  This is the big leagues, and I for one (because I get to be on the inside track) know how quickly these years fly by.

The night before, we read the book The Kissing Hand before they went to bed.  If you aren't familiar with the book, check it out!  It's a must read before you send your littles off to school.  Of course my girls are the sweetest things ever (I might be a little biased) but before they went to school the next day they reminded me that if I missed them I could just press my palm to my cheek (read the book to find out why), and Delissa (my backyard neighbor who will put the girls on the bus each morning) witnessed them doing it again as they waited for the bus in the morning....melt my heart!

The girls woke up before their alarm sounded.  I think this was mostly due to the fact that Brandon was leaving for work and I think he woke them a little more than usual because he wanted to actually see them on the morning of their first day of school.....I don't blame him.  I also think this was because they were so darned excited to start school.

When I got home that evening, I couldn't wait to hear all about their day.  I had told them that they had to remember every last thing about their day so they could tell me about it.  That didn't work out so well, but I did find out that they got to have two (!!!) recesses.  They also had Media Center as their 'special' so they got to check out books from the school library, and the lunch choices were Hot Dog (hot choice) or a Bagel/yogurt/string cheese (cold choice).  Myah had the hotdog and Maysen had the bagel (with peanut butter).  They sounded excited about making some new friends and for starting this fun chapter in their lives.  I pray that their excitement lasts through the entire year and beyond.







Thursday, August 23, 2012

Meeting Mrs. Kenyon

Classes started today at Ames Middle School, and across the district, actually, except for the Kindergarten.  Kindergarteners go back on Monday so that will be a big day for Myah and Maysen, and boy are they excited!  We did however go in a meet their teacher this week.  Tomorrow (Friday) was supposed to be their 'Kindergarten Glimpse,' where you go in and meet the teacher and drop off the school supplies.  Since I will have students on Friday, I asked Mrs. Kenyon if we could come in early to do those things.  It was something I really wanted to do, obviously, since I won't be able to drop them off for their first day.  It's going to be a wonderful year and I know they are going to LOVE their teacher!  They thought she was really pretty and seemed very nice.  I'm going to try to not shed too many tears, but my little girls aren't so little anymore.


Saturday, August 18, 2012

Summer Vacation Recap--Week 12

It's my last week before going back to work.  We've had a really great summer and I feel we have made the most of it.  There are a lot of new things in store for this fall that we sure are excited for!


Sunday, August 12-- Despite dancing and being up past bedtime, the girls did not sleep in this morning.  We laid around the hotel room before going to Perkins for lunch.  All three girls napped on the drive home and played around the house once we got back.  It was pretty cool outside so I did laundry and unpacked.  Our granite countertops are going to get done this week so we had to clear the counters and get ready for that.  Though it was chilly out, it was a great afternoon for playing with bubbles and the water table.....all of the kids needed baths anyway!
  After getting the kids bathed and to bed early, I got to enjoy a night evening walk with Dellisa.

Monday, August 13-- I finished up the laundry from being gone and did the grocery shopping before heading to the park for a playdate with Myah and Maysen's friend, Hayden, from Formative Years.


We were hoping to go to the pool and/or to a family fun night up in the Northern Lights area of Ames, but we didn't get to do either because of having to wait for the granite guy.  We are getting a new countertop in our kitchen (I think I mentioned this a week or so ago), and we're really excited about it.   Here's what our old countertops look like:

However, the time of the guy's arrival kept changing and when he did eventually call me, he said he'd be here at 5:30 but still didn't show up until 6:10.  Needless to say, the girls were frustrated that we didn't get to do either of those things, but it's exciting that we will have a new countertop by the end of the week.  All of the girls needed another bath after having gone to the park, and Brandon and I went to bed early.....man we're getting old!

Tuesday, August 14--I got up and went for a 3 mile run.....it was a beautiful morning!  Around 10:15, we headed to Des Moines to the Blank Park Zoo!
Sea Lion Demonstration
In the Prairie Dog crawl space
sleeping Black Swan
MMM with the wallabys up by the tree

Free roaming peacock









Camel Ride


The girls had gotten free passes at the magician at the library last week and Mylie was already free so we couldn't pass that up!  It was a great day, though hotter and  much busier on a Tuesday than we had anticipated.  The girls got to go on a Camel ride, which they thought was really fun.  Brandon worked out once we got home and the girls and I made chicken salad--it's one of our favorite things to make and eat in the summer!  Our after-school care gal (Kaci) watched the girls for about an hour and a half while I went to the chiropractor and Brandon made a quick run to Marshalltown with a load of basketball cards that he sold.  It was a good time to have her with the girls for a short time and for them to get to know her before the first time she has to get them at the bus stop.  Another fun day, but Brandon heads back for teacher work days tomorrow.  We've really made the most of our summer.  It's emotional for it to come to an end, but we do know how very lucky we are to have this amount of time at home with our kids so we try not to complain about it ;)

Wednesday, August 15-- Daddy went back to work today so of course the girls slept in until 8!!  It was sweet (Brandon didn't think so).  Mylie went to Sue's house so the other girls and I could get our hair done.  Our appointment was at 11:30 and we didn't leave until 2!!  Three haircuts, my highlights and eyebrow waxing later (me, of course), we look fresh and ready to start the school year.  Afterwards, we headed to the pool for a little bit since it's supposed to be cool the next few days.  After supper, I had a meeting at the church for Sunday School.  I'm going to be a shepherd for the 4th grade class.  It's a lot of the same kids I worked with for VBS so it should go pretty good.  A shepherd basically leads the kids around to their stations.  I won't be teaching the lessons.....more on the discipline end :)

Thursday, August 16--So much for the sleeping-in thing, Mylie was up at 5:15 but did fall back asleep when I laid down with her.  Around 9, we headed up to Sawyer Elementary because today was the day we'd been waiting for for a while now.  The class lists were posted.  I had written a letter to the principal back in January requesting that the girls be put in the same class and all requesting a specific teacher.  Since then, both the former principal and the requested teacher have left Sawyer.  However, both requests were still granted.  They are in the same class and they have Mrs. Kenyon. 

Mrs. Kenyon was Mrs. Isebrand's (the first teacher I requested) student teacher and will be a great fit for my girls.  We spent 2 hours at the middle school finishing up getting my room ready for me to have students starting next week.  After supper, M&M and I went back to Sawyer for New Parent Orientation.  We got to tour the building, but didn't get to meet the teacher yet.  We will get to do that next week, though.  The girls are excited that Tiffany, a girl from Formative Years, will be in their class so they will have that familiar face as well as each other.  This mom is finding out quickly that it's going to be an emotional couple of weeks as this "school" stuff gets underway.

Friday, August 17--Mylie went to Sue's again today and will start there full time on Monday.  She's been a little (sometimes a lot) fussy in the evenings.  I don't know if that bottom tooth is finally going to be all the way through, or if she's trying to adjust to our new schedule.  She's used to being with me pretty much 24 hours a day this summer so now in the evenings she's really clingy to me.  I'm going to have to get back to having supper ready right at 5 because that usually helps the evening go better.  Myah and Maysen and I went to the chiropractor and ran a few errands before I had to go to a meeting at 11:30.  I'm a mentor for one of the new 8th grade math teachers.  It's always an honor being asked to be a mentor.  It's a paid position, though it does required some time outside of the school day.  At 4:30, I came home to new countertops!





  I LOVE them.  The process is only half done because my dad is going to hook up the plumbing on Sunday and we are also going to get a new tile back splash so that will complete the project, but the countertops are so wonderful and make the kitchen look so much nicer than the ones we had.  I made stirfry for supper.....it was a bit difficult to not have water in the kitchen, but we made the bathroom sink do!

Saturday, August 18--Mylie woke up early (5:11) today, which has been going along with her fussy evenings.  It's been cooler in our house in the mornings lately, too, so hopefully we get all of this figured out soon!  I got out and ran 5 miles on this beautiful morning and quickly showered so we could go to Staples for their Teacher Appreciation Day.  The first 100 teachers through the door got a 'goodie bag.'  Needless to say, we were early enough.  One of the items in the bag was $10 off of a $50 purchase.  We had already done most of our school shopping, but we did pick up a few things including a small fire-proof safe.  This was something we'd been thinking about getting for a while now so with the coupon it was a good time to get it.  Brandon's mom had given him some money for us to use on back-to-school items.  In addition, we went to Target and also got Myah and Maysen each two pairs of jeans for school, Brandon a small coffee maker to have at school, and some shinguards for the girls since they will need them for soccer this fall.  My cell phone had been on the fritz for some time now....most of the summer actually.  I had taken it in about 6 weeks ago and they told me that the speaker in my phone was going out.  It was to the point that I couldn't really understand people when they called me on it, and I was nervous to give out the number because I feared that they might actually call me on it and I wouldn't be able to hear them.  That can't be the case when I go back to work in case Sue or M&M's school needs to reach me so we also went to US Cellular to get me a new phone.  It took FOREVER, but it got done.  We went to Noodles and Co. for lunch and them home for a nap.  Nap time wasn't even nearly as long as I had anticipated it to be, which was a bummer.  Brandon went to Humboldt to watch his brother race and the girls and I hung out at home.  After baths, everyone went to bed a little early.....it's time to start getting on a school routine anyway, which requires M&M to get to bed about 1/2 an hour earlier than they have been for the last 3 years!

This is the final summer vacation recap.  I go back to work on Monday and Kindergarten starts the following Monday.  However, stay tuned for meeting the teacher, kitchen remodel continuation, our first soccer and ice skating lessons, etc.