What's Going On...

Tommy:

Working hard and traveling lots! He hasn't spent too many nights in his own bed these last few months.

NYC and San Diego were highlights. The girls loved the loot he brought home from the M&M store in Time's Square.

Coaching Reagan's soccer

Teaching two-year-olds at church.

Kim:

Waiting for the orthopedic surgeons scheduler to call to book my upcoming knee surgery. Mama's be careful on the playground. I tore my meniscus cartilage while pushing the girls on the swing and have been hobbling around for 2 weeks since then.

Keeping up with the girls' busy schedules. Making lunches, visiting classrooms, driving to dance, etc

Teaching 4-year-olds at church

Missing my gym time like crazy!!! Ready to be back on schedule with that after surgery.

Addison:

Just tried out for the Nutcracker at her dance studio. We have a little mouse in the house and can't wait for her performance.

Loving 2nd grade, making new friends and learning lots.

Teaching 4-year-olds with Mama at church. She has a gift with little ones!

BFF's with Chloe and Brooke.

Reagan:

Playing soccer, dancing in ballet and about to start Girl Scouts.

Loves kindergarten and comes home reading more everyday.

BFF's with Olivia L. and Olivia B.

Helping Daddy teach 2-year-olds at church.

Gracyn:

Loving her time in the mornings with just Mama and Reagan and in the afternoons alone.

Dancing ballet, but not loving the "structure", heading back to gymnastics soon.

Loves school, especially playing on the playground with her friends everyday when I pick her up.

BFF's with Elle and Baby Sophie

Detour

So, I couldn't get you closer, but if I could have you would see that giant orange sign down the hill says, "Road Closed Beginning June 18th, Re-opening in October". That is the entrance to my neighborhood and we are on the backside of a very long closure! Who does that? They just shut the whole road down for a quarter of the year. The only other entrance in to our out of our neighborhood requires a 5 mile detour to the backside of the neighborhood and then down some 2-lane, back country roads winding back to the main streets. When I say country roads, think horse properties, corn fields and a llama farm. Its been tough convincing my children that we can't have a horse at our house when everyday we drive through that. The detour is long and frustrating on a good day, get behind the mailman or a bicyclist and you aren't going anywhere!  The girls school is usually 5 minutes from our house, but not this year! Until the road opens, my babies are gone an extra 40 minutes a day, because their bus ride takes over 20 minutes. My final complaint with the whole process is that my big, giant SUV is good for a lot of things, but gas mileage isn't one of them. She gets 14 miles to the gallon, do the math on the extra 10 miles I drive every time I go back and forth from home to anywhere and it adds up to more than a gallon of gas extra each day. I'll be glad to have that $100 a month back in my pocket when October rolls around.

The good news is my big hurry to get out of my neighborhood, just leads to this. The next road is open, but during a major construction process. This photo was taken as I drove 5 miles an hour behind this tractor for 15 minutes. The whole process is making me crazy! Thanks for letting me rant....the end is in sight! I am not even sure what they are doing out there, but I hope it is something spectacular.

Summer Giving

My Addison is a saver! This girl doesn't part with a dime, EVER. She opened her first savings account this summer and I am sure she will be buying her first car or house with that money someday, because I don't think she will touch it before then. So, when she began saying that she wanted to save money for animals, I was surprised and impressed. Throughout the summer, she put aside a small portion of any money she received in a separate box, "for the animals". She loves to visit PetSmart or the grocery store when they have animal adoptions, she has read every "Puppy Place" book written, and she had expressed an interest in volunteering at a shelter. I checked around with the local shelters and unfortunately she is too young to volunteer. However, the SPCA volunteer coordinator was kind enough to offer the girls a tour of the facility if they wanted to bake some homemade doggie treats and bring in their donation. Minus the home baked treats (not much home baking goes on in my kitchen), we put it on our list of summer activities. By the end of summer, with a little help from her sisters and some small contributions from family in Texas, Addison had a decent donation saved up. We went shopping and purchased a few bags of items from the SPCA wishlist to take with her cash offering. The tour was great, the favorite part being a live surgery we viewed through a window. The girls loved on some animals and were happy to give their donations. We showed great restraint  and didn't come home with any new additions to the family, though it was tempting. I am sure we will go back many times for visits.

Also this summer, during their VBS, the girls had the opportunity to donate money to an orphanage in Burma. A missionary from the village visited with the children each day and told them stories of the families there. My girls were touched by the stories and were eager to help. The goal, as a group, was to raise $21000 in a week and they did it! My girls took it very seriously and gave generously with their own money.  They gave from money they already had and did chores for me to earn extra money. Addison donated a large portion of her savings and sweet Reagan actually gave all that she had. They were cheerful givers and were compassionate to others in need. My prayer is that they will always be this way. They sure make me proud!

It's Her Turn

Miss Gracyn had her long-awaited first day of school on Tuesday. She will be with Miss Megan on Tuesday and Thursdays for two and half hours. Miss Meagan was the first teacher we met when we arrived here from Colorado 1 and 1/2 years ago. She was Reagan's 3's teacher and she welcomed our whole family with warmth and love at a time when we really needed it. She is a passionate, faithful, gracious woman, who speaks 3-year-old better than anyone I know and who does this job because she truly loves it. It is a privilege to send another one of my children to her.

Gracyn was up at 7am, dragging a chair to her closet and searching for her "beautiful dress" for school. She asked me to braid and curl her hair, and then she added a few additional accessories when I finished. She didn't have school until 12:30, but she told us several times during the morning that she thought we should go to school now.

The first day was a BIG hit! Her best friend, Elle, is in class with her. And, thanks to the smallish town we live in, we know 10 of the 14 kids in the group. Several are good friends and many of the children are younger siblings of the class Reagan went through preschool with. When we arrived after school to pick them up, Miss Megan said this group was ready! She said it was like they had been there for years, which actually, along for the ride with their siblings, they have. Gracyn's only complaint was that she doesn't get to go everyday! I think we have a great year ahead.