Let the Games Begin

This is how we all dressed on Sunday to commemorate the beginning of the new football season and to show our support for the Philadelphia Eagles. I was the only one who didn't have anything with the Eagles logo (so, I picked something that was the correct color), but I fixed that yesterday when I found a McNabb jersey for $13. Jay was a little disappointed that he didn't have a jersey, so I found one on the $13 rack for him, too. So, next week, we'll all be sporting our Eagles wardrobe.

Daniel Looks Like My Dad

We noticed when Daniel was quite little that he resembled my Dad (which by the way, they both have the same middle name). I think the similarities have increased as Daniel has gotten older.

Here is a picture of my Dad at age eight (I think):

First Day, Part 2

Daniel's first day of Kindergarten was Wednesday. He was so excited that he was up way too early, dressed, ate his breakfast, brushed his teeth with his backpack on, and practically ran all the way to the bus stop.

He had a great first day. According to him, his teacher is really nice,

and the bus goes REALLY fast.
After lunch, he and Julia sat down to watch Pinocchio and he was out in minutes. I woke him up when it was time to walk to the bus stop to get Hannah and Jay, and he was mad that he hadn't gotten to watch Pinocchio, denying that he fell asleep :)

He is eager and excited to go again tomorrow...I'm so glad.

The First Day

Well, I...uh, I mean, they, made it through the first day of a new school year in a new school. Here are Jay and Hannah standing in front of our house right before we walked to the bus stop. Thankfully, they were excited.

Here's the crew waiting for the bus to come.

The girl in the center is our neighbor and good friend, Danielle.

Hannah and Danielle were disappointed that they weren't in the same class at school.

I thought this picture was cute...Daniel and Julia sitting on the curb

waiting for Hannah and Jay's bus to arrive.Hannah and Jay both had glowing reports of their day, their teacher, their new friends...

I thought it was cute, though, when I checked Jay's bag to see if there was anything in it that I needed to see/fill out, I discovered all the supplies I had sent him with. When I asked him about it, he replied, "When Mrs. Jewett said to pack everything up and get ready to go home, I put it all back in my backpack." Apparently, he didn't realize that all that stuff just stayed at school :)

Tomorrow, Daniel goes to school, too. He's in half-day kindergarten, so he'll only be gone from 8:50-11:50. When I turned out the light in his room tonight, I heard his cute voice say softly, "Don't worry, Mom. It won't be too long before I'm back." Oh, I thought I was going to lose it. I laid down next to him and hugged him, and he added, "I'm going to miss you." Tomorrow might prove to be harder than today...

Hannah's Sunflower

Hannah planted this sunflower from a seed back in the spring. Oh, how it has grown! We have enjoyed watching it's progress (once we figured out that that particular sprout was a sunflower, since they weren't labeled). Now it is huge...

I'm not sure why it is drooping...anybody have any suggestions? Also, we'd love to be able to make sunflower seeds to eat...any suggestions for that?

A Trip to Western New York

I grew up in Western New York, but since getting married/having kids/being involved in multiple ministries, I haven't gotten back there much. Last week we made the trek up there, and had such a good time. Here are some highlights of the trip...

Mandie and Tim came one day and we took all 8 cousins (well, Erika didn't ride much...haha), to Midway Park. It is a small amusement park that has all kids' rides. The 7 kids rode and rode...they had a blast!

I was so proud of Hannah. She is not the athletic one (sorry, honey, you get it from me), but she took on and conquered all three levels of difficulty on this rockwall. She was determined to get to the top of the most difficult level, and before we left for the day, she did it!

Hannah with her toes in Lake Erie

John teaching the kids how to skip rocks on Lake Erie.

The kids, amazed, in front of Niagara Falls.

My Dad and Julia relaxing on a piece of driftwood on the beach of Lake Erie (notice Julia's toes in the sand!).

Mercer Museum

We live in a highly historic area. I enjoy taking the kids to see historical things, but with 4 kids, the admission price adds up pretty quickly. SO, I'm learning how to find free events or times. Last Friday we went to the Mercer Museum which is a castle filled (literally) with tools and simple machines that people in early America used to function in every day life prior to the industrial age.

I'm pretty sure that John and I enjoyed/got more out of it than the kids did, but at least it was a fun evening as a family...