Happy Holidays!

Tot School

The school year is only 5 weeks away and I've started thinking of some learning activities that Caitlyn and I can do together while the boys are at school. Here's one activity that she picked up on right away. I put a block of each color on the floor, apart from each other. I handed her a red block and asked her where it goes. She knew right away, and started in on all the other blocks. She had this finished within five minutes! And she didn't hesitate to have her picture taken with her work...

What's missing?

He was four months old when it came in. He was six years old when it came out.
Aidan lost his first tooth!

He didn't want to put it under his pillow. He doesn't want the tooth fairy to come and take it away. He's starting a collection of baby teeth. He's sentimental just like his mom.

Aidan and Soccer

Aidan is really enjoying soccer this summer, and has gotten pretty good at it. He attended a week long soccer camp for skill work, and I think it really helped. He even scored his first goal today! Most importantly, he really loves this sport.



Alex takes his seat as he watches Aidan play.

Caitlyn watches too!

Happy 4th!

This 4th, we met neighbors and friends at the Coralville parade. The kids got a TON of candy, which we don't need! We also got coupons for free kids meals at Chili's, so we went there for lunch afterwards.




Later that night, we met more neighbors at the fireworks in Iowa City. We thought they were going to be rained out, so we decided to go out to eat at a nearby restaurant. Sure enough, as soon as we were walking out of the restaurant, the fireworks began. It couldn't have been planned any better.

The next night, we went across the street for sparklers!

Aidan and Tennis

Aidan started the summer off with four weeks of tennis lessons. Two other kids from his kindergarten class just happened to be in the lessons with him! He was actually pretty good, but decided not to continue after the four weeks.



Aidan was the only left-handed kid in the class, so he was always facing the opposite direction.

Father's Day

We spent the day cleaning out the garage and putting up new shelving, but hey...at least I remembered to take a picture this year!

Summer Fun

We've been busy filling out our summer reading logs. This summer has been especially awesome, because now Aidan can read to the other two! And I can't believe all the books that Caitlyn will actually sit through. She will sit through a book of any length, as long as it has pictures. Aidan gets points for reading a book (or multiple points if it's a chapter book), and Alex gets points for listening to a book. It's perfect!



On another note, our good friends, Brad and Jen have moved back to Ohio. They lived right across the street, with their 3-year old daughter, Maren. We miss them so much already, but look forward to our trips to the Cinci area!

Happy Birthday Caitlyn!

Caitlyn's Birthday Party

Caitlyn is two! We met friends at the Children's Museum in the Quad Cities for her birthday. Our good friends live about equal distance, on the Illinois side, so the Quad Cities is a great place for us to meet up. What a great museum it was...they had this awesome outdoor water area that the kids just loved.







No birthday party is complete without a cake, so it made the trip with us.







Mmm..yummy!

Kindergarten Graduation

My little Aidan has graduated from Kindergarten. Heritage Christian School put on a wonderful graduation ceremony and reception for the kids. It started with a slideshow presentation of all the kindergarteners, complete with "then and now" pictures.



They recited a couple very long Bible verses that they had worked on memorizing during the school year. They also sang us a few songs.


Aidan was one of four kids that got to introduce a part of the ceremony. He introduced the Attributes of God. They learned an attribute of God, for each of the letters of the alphabet.



He is accepting his "diploma" from the principal, Mr. Annis.


Hugs for Mrs. Vahle.

And a new chapter begins next year. First Grade will be the first time he goes to school 5 days a week. And his little brother will be joining him for 3 of the days!