School Daze...and yes I DO mean daze!

The first day of school is SOOOO exciting!! Especially when you are going to a new school! And boy was everyone excited! The new school was finished...and even the new playground was finished in time for the first day of school (they were working on the playground ALL DAY on labor day...talk about cutting it close!)
Here's one of George W. Gibbs Elementary's newest 3rd graders!

The big second grader! Her class was on the news the first day of school. You can check out her teacher at www.kttc.com If you search "Using Technology to teach" you will see a short clip on her class and their new school! You will also see the back of Jessi's head : )

The girls with their "practically cousins" Ramaan! They walked to school together and were excited to be able to share their first day of school with her. They only got a few funny looks when they told people they were "kinda like cousins...well we have the same Aunt and Uncle anyway...!" Talk about confusing! They are holding Apple cake pops that they helped make for their teachers! I hope they tasted yummy! The PTA gave all the kids Gibbs Elementary t-shirts the first day of school as a special surprise! Then they got the whole school out in front of the school and took their pictures! Pretty cool stuff!

The day after the girls' first day of school, we had another momentous occasion! Zach started preschool! He was soooo excited! I asked him if he was worried about going to Preschool and he said "No, I'm excited, but I am worried about making friends!". So cute! His two teachers seemed super sweet and he had a great first day of preschool!

His mommy was a little bit shell shocked..being home alone with just a sleeping baby! What did I do with all the extra time...I had big plans...but ended up doing the dishes, sweeping the kitchen floor, and playing peek-a-boo once the baby woke up!

Other Exciting Happenings at our house...

If you look closely at the jar behind Zach and Nan (click on the picture to see it better), you will see a jar with leaves and...a chrysalis...yep, we've been feeding a monarch caterpillar for a few days now and he FINALLY spun his chrysalis today! It has been really cool watching him...he ate, and ate, and ate...then he hung upside down just like a J for about 24 hours and today he spun his chrysalis. Now we just have to wait for the butterfly to emerge! It has been fun witnessing one of God's miracles!

And in other news...See those shiny things on Jessi's ears??? That's right folks...this little redhead finally bit the bullet and GOT HER EARS PIERCED!! She has been setting and resetting deadlines for herself for a couple of years now...(Only feeling pressure from her desire to do it vs her fear of getting it done!) "I will get my ears pierced when I am 16!" "I will get my ears pierced when I am 9!" I will get my ears pierced..." well, you get the idea! Today she finally decided to do it. She was SOOO brave! She didn't even cry! A few tears welled up but quickly turned to laughter and joy when she saw her pretty ears!

All day she has been going around telling everyone..."Guess what? I got my ears pierced!" You go girl!

Our Trip to Como Zoo

We got up yesterday morning and realized that NONE of us had any commitments that day! WOW! How amazing...so we decided to take advantage of the day. We loaded everyone up in the car and headed up to St. Paul to visit the Como Zoo! It is such a fun zoo! They have a wide variety of animals, plants, and rides...yes rides! We didn't make it to the butterfly tent this time, but we got to see lots of giraffes, lions, tigers, sea lions, and monkeys, and gorillas!
Here is Nathan on the giraffe statue. You can tell he is having a great time...right??

Jessi on the giraffe statue...silly girl!

Zach driving his red roadster! That was the highlight of his trip...not only did he get to drive a car...but...(drum roll please...) IT WAS RED! He got off the ride, ran over to me and jumping up and down shouted "Dat was ANSOME!" (Translation: That was awesome!).

Nan ready for her closeup! We did take a picture of Zach on the giraffe too...but it looks more like a blur...that's why we had to post the action shot of him trapped in an already moving car...he hardly slowed down for pictures...just zipped from place to place! Guess we all had fun!

Here's everyone on the turtle! Notice the shadow shapes on the ground behind them. Everyone stood on their favorite animal. Z-Gorilla; J-Lion, S-couldn't decide so just ran from shape to shape...finally picking the seal!

The Girls Piano Recital

The girls had their piano recital on Saturday, August 14th. They both were so nervous! We were nervous for them too, but they both did a great job! We are proud of how hard they worked and how much time they have spent practicing! Since their piano teacher is moving to Utah, they are starting with a new teacher next week, so it was especially fun to have Ashley (their teacher) do the duets with each of them before she leaves. So there are two videos of each of them one of their duet piece and one of their solo piece. Hope this is ALMOST as good as being here!

Nathan Giggles

We were just finishing dinner tonight, when Nathan started being silly! First, he smacked his hands on his high chair. Jessi copied him and then he started giggling. They played that game a few times, Nathan laughing harder and harder. Then Jessi started breathing funny and Nathan started giggling even more...Mommy was a little slow on getting the camera out, so we tried to re-enact...he wasn't laughing quite as hard here, but you can still hear his cute giggle! Enjoy!

Swimming Lessons

I forgot the best picture from Rochesterfest! We went to Breakfast on the Farm (of course...) but forgot our camera (of course). It was kind of a rainy morning, but we had fun anyway! The kids got these fabulous cow hats! I thought they were soooo cute!

Moving on! The girls have been taking swimming lessons at the Byron Pool! It is so fun! They are really learning a lot and becoming little fishes! Here is Jessica during her lessons...she just finished finding rings.

Here is Savannah practicing her back crawl. Isn't she doing great?? We've been going to the pool lots so they can practice their new found skills!

Rochesterfest 2009

Rochesterfest was the last week of June! As I'm sure you've heard me mention in years past...we LOVE Rochesterfest! It is one of the summer things that we ALWAYS look forward to! It is a 10 day celebration of families and summer with all sorts of fun activities around town! Savannah (actually all the kids...) got to ride on the Kaptain Kirby's Express! She chose the pink car, Zach chose the red car, and Jessi rode in the pink car too!

Here are Jessi and Nan in a sack race! I love their fashionable do's! If you look towards the white awning in the back, you will see Aunt Brantly and Uncle Jabbar cheering them on!

These are some of the cute balloon animals that Jessi and Zach got! They got different ones each day, but this day Zach has an alligator, and Jessi is holding a pink poodle!

This is the way that Nathan participated in Rochesterfest! He sat and observed most of the activities from this perch! He also let us know when it was time to go home!

Zach got to help the fireman put out the fire in the house! He was so excited because after all he is going to be a firetruck man!