Kindergarten!!!

Can't believe I have a kindergartner let alone a 5 almost 6 year old! Jonah started school a week ago and he seems to be adapting just fine. Mommy likes getting things done around the house but it seems quiet with him gone for much of the day. I didn't cry the first day, although that first week was pretty crazy as far as work schedule and everything going on. I didn't really have time to think much about it. Mainly we are trying to adjust to getting up early and doing things independently. He asked Dad to take his training wheels off his bike but is still trying to master that one. He is learning to tie his shoes and just this morning was thrilled with himself when he actually completed tying one with very little help from Mom. His teacher encourages us to let them come into school by themselves and sends home weekly newsletter on what they are doing. They have been learning to spell their colors this week. We finished our library summer reading program last week and we have been reading books every night. He especially enjoys books that make him laugh. :) Over the summer he started taking gymnastic lessons and seems to really enjoy them. (Go figure since he's a little monkey most of the time) We decided to go ahead and try lessons once a week till Halloween and see if he (and Mom) can juggle it and school. On the home front, I have been trying different cookie recipes, finishing multiple knitting projects, catching up on cleaning and filing, and just this morning I harvested about 10 acorn squash, green onion and some red bell peppers from the garden. I may try to grow green beans next year... we'll see. Loving the early fall weather we've been having the last two days... wish it would last. Anyway... here are pics from first day of school :)

Goodbye DayCare, Hello PreSchool

Jonah is now officially in preschool. He is enjoying his new school and had no trouble adapting at all. He already has made friends and enjoyed a few field trips. The school has set up Pre K - 4 year olds for school the beginning of the week and then they mix with the Pre K - 3 year olds in the middle of the week. He constantly comes home singing new songs and continues to amaze us with his increasing comprehension of language and math. As always it is not all roses. He has had his first encounters with what it is like to get in trouble and get "his card pulled". They have a system of green, yellow, and red cards for discipline. He has landed on yellow twice this year... once for getting in his locker and closing the door and once for leaving the group on a field trip to the library (and scaring his teacher half to death). I couldn't ask for a better teacher. Mrs. L* is great! Daddy has since had a few talks with him about safety issues and Mommy will hopefully attend the next field trip just to keep an eye on how he does. The picture of him with another little boy is his friend R* from his Daycare. I had hoped to get R* Mom's phone # to schedule a playdate but it hasnt' happened yet. However, his teacher from Daycare has been in touch and hopes to babysit for us sometime soon. Maybe Mommy and Daddy can get a romantic dinner in yet...

St. Louis Zoo

The before mentioned family vacation to St. Louis was a 2 day excursion. We went to the zoo the day after the city museum. In hind sight we pushed a little too much into a short time for a 4 year old (even if he is high energy). By the time we got into the zoo and had walked into the areas of interest he was already getting cranky. About half way into it we gave in and rented a stroller to give everyone a break. Even though we were tired we all still enjoyed it and it will always be a great memory. Maybe we will have to make this vacation a yearly repeat with more time for recovery in it. Mommy sure would have liked a day for lounging at the pool! By the way the tigers were awesome. I wish I would've taken video of them. We got lucky on one of the train stops and while we sat and waited for the passengers to get on the tigers decided to get playful. It was a perfect view. They acted just like very large kittens! It made me wonder how many barrels they go through. (they were batting at a barrel on a chain)

St. Louis City Museum

As some of you may know... Shawn and I had to cancel our East coast vacation for our anniversary due to some family illnesses. Instead of moping about it we decided to take Jonah with us on our first family vacation to St. Louis! It was a non stop, fun filled, exhausting, but well worth it vacation! For those who have not visited the St. Louis City Museum I highly recommend it. However, I will warn you it is not for the parent who is faint of heart. The place is 3-4 stories of the ultimate child's playground! In order to keep your child in site you may have to become a child yourself and climb, crawl, and squeeze through the different areas. It is an awesome architectural exhibit which almost overwhelms the senses. I wish I would have stopped to take more pictures but keeping up with Jonah was my first priority. There was an aquarium inside the actual museum which the majority of the pictures are of since it was at a slower pace :)

Scovill Zoo Summer 2009

Every summer we try to make a trip to Scovill Zoo in Decatur. Jonah always enjoys it and he loves the carousel. This year we went with Great Gram "Nena". After we went to McD's for a well deserved lunch and treat. We hope to get a chance to visit again in the fall before the zoo closes for winter. Hope you enjoy...

Bloomington Children's Museum Visit

Early this summer we went to the Bloomington Children's Museum and had a wonderful visit with a bunch of cousins! Jonah had lots of fun with all his cousins, seeing the Amtrak train, the climbing wall, pretending in the pizza place, and probably his favorite was the PVC music tubes. He imitated his favorite music group and DVD "The Blue Man Group". He didn't want to leave. Then we had lunch and celebrated Aunt Cece's birthday at Avanti's. The boys all seemed to have tons of fun together. Definitely something we will have to repeat. Enjoy the pics!

Where did the time go?

So I've not been very good about posting things this summer...but we've been having fun and staying busy! I thought I'd post a quick note to tell all of you that I'll be posting pics soon from all the things we've been doing over summer. On another note, please pray for my neice K*... she will be having major surgery on Sept. 22. We pray that everything goes smoothly and that her recovery will be quick. Hope all of you are doing well. Love ya!

Jonah's New Swing at Mia's & Papa's House

Random Pics

K* is Growing Up

Big Bad Storm

I recently had to drive to work in a bad storm. While I was driving I tried taking pics out the window of what I was seeing. I think I may have seen a few funnel clouds. It certainly was awesome and a little scary.

My Ham

Bath Time

I was giving Jonah a bath the other nite and reading while he played. When I looked up this is what I saw...














Then I told him Mommy wanted to take pictures of him. He started to make silly faces...





He cracks me up! And just wait till his future girlfriend sees these pics!

Easter...Like a Rabbit

Anybody else feel like Easter was here and gone in a flash! Between working 16 hours on the Friday nite before Easter and trying to fit it all in I was exhausted. Jonah was feeling pretty good fortunately. It was one of the days he wasn't running a fever in the past week. The "Easter Bunny" (Uncle Paul) had a ball hiding eggs Saturday nite for Jonah's egg hunt in the morning. I got a kick out of watching him. Sunday morning Jonah came running into our room exclaiming he found an Easter egg in the hall. Thus began the hunt for the eggs and his basket. I only wish the pictures I'd taken were not with the window behind him. It was hard to get the light right and I was just too tired to do anything about it. I made blueberry muffins for breakfast and then we got dressed up to go to church. Unfortunately we didn't make it in time so we went to chapel instead and prayed. It seemed like it just kept getting colder as the day wore on ... so the cute outfit I had for Jonah was too cool for him. Oh well. He had lots of fun. We then went to Neenaw's for dinner and a visit with all the family including his new baby cousin! Before I knew it, it was time to go home. Now that we're recovered I'm trying to post. The funny thing is... in looking at the pictures from Easter I discovered Jonah wore the exact same pajamas last Easter. What are the odds?!

Going to the Children's Museum

I finally got around to taking Jonah to the Children's Museum again with Neenaw. We took Jonah to McDonalds for lunch then to the Museum. He always enjoys going there and is forever asking when can we go back. This year they had a new exhibit...working on cars. It was soo cute. There was an upright tool chest, little black work shirts, an area for checking in, and a waiting area with plastic coffee pot and cups. Of course he still likes the train tables. He also still enjoys the grocery store set up. By the end of the day we'd worn out Neenaw and it was time to go home. Jonah started asking when we could go back within hours of getting home. It is definitely a place we'll visit again.

Samurai Jonah!

He's growing up so fast! He was playing and I was cleaning and suddenly I was face to face with Jonah "Warrior". I told him I wanted to take some pictures and he started posing for me. He's such a ham! I think this will definitely be one for the scrapbook!

She's Here!

Visiting

Laura and E* came over for lunch the other day and I snapped a few photos. Laura is only a couple weeks from her due date and we are all excited to meet the newest little girl in the fam. Jonah was happy to play "big brother" to E* and they played "tag" around the house. E* is getting so big and impressed us all with her manners by saying pease and signing thank you.

Playing in the Park

Here are more pictures from our day outside earlier this month. Jonah and I (mommy) tried flying the kite we bought with birthday money from Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Kenzia. The wind was not very cooperative so we (Jonah) decided it was more fun to play on the playground. Maybe there will be a better day in March to fly our kite. Anyways it was still fun to get out.

Cabin Fever Relief

So we had a day that was really wonderful weather outside and Jonah and I played outside all day. We went to the duck pond with our friend D* who is not quite 2. We had lots of fun walking around the pond and watching the ducks slide on the ice that was still left. Then we walked up the hill to Cannon Hill and posed for a couple of shots as well as investigated the huge old cannons. This was the same day we also went to Jonah's second dentist appointment to have his first "cavity" taken care of and then we went to another park later that day. After we got home it was still so nice I couldn't bear to go inside. So we took a walk around the neighborhood and ran into our neighbor who has 2 little girls. Jonah loves to play with E* and S*. Since there is a gate between our yards the mommies had chat time while the kiddies ran back and forth between the yards playing on each others swingsets. This went on till it was getting dark and chilly. Let me tell ya Jonah and I ate and slept well that night. It was a nice break from being trapped inside this winter.