Saturday Night Summer Social

For some Saturday night fun, we took the kids to a church social that was setup for the weekend.  They had a handful of carnival rides, games, and food.  The kids had a blast riding a handful of rides before we grabbed some carnival food of hot dogs and chips.

The kids got a big kick out of the ride company...Brady's Amusements. We couldn't resist taking a picture!

Back to School Bash

A friend of the boys from Montessori had a back to school bash at his house shortly after school started. Several of the kids from Montessori and summer school were invited, so we knew quite a few of the kids and the parents. They had all kinds of activities set up for the kids, with the water slide being the most popular of the day. It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and for the boys to see some of their friends from their old schools.

 

 

 

 

First Day of School

After much anticipation, the boys first day of school at the new Oak Hill Elementary arrived. To prepare the boys for what to expect, we went to the Open House the Monday prior. The boys got a chance to meet both of their teachers, see the classrooms and their assigned desk, and tour the school. There were a few mix-ups with it being a brand new school, but the boys didn't seem to notice.

The first day of school, they dressed in their Oak Hill Spirit Wear, loaded up their new backpacks, and were all set for school. Daddy walked them in to school and showed them to their classrooms. After school, they caught a van to a church daycare that they are enrolled in for after school care. It didn't take long for the boys to get comfortable with the routine and make lots of new friends.

 

 

 

Old Glory Parade

In celebration of July 4th, the Kindergarten summer school class performed an Old Glory Parade at Eastland Mall. I was in Colorado for training, but was thrilled to get pictures of Brady in the parade from Chris.

School Yard Rhymes

School yard rhymes have changed since I was in school...

Burdette Park Family Reunion

Awhile back, a group of us decided that we needed to get the family together for a summer reunion where all the kids could run around while the adults visited. This Saturday, we had a gathering at Burdette Park at one of the shelter houses. It was the typical group that gathers at Christmas time with a few additional family members. The kids had the chance to play with their 1st cousins, their 2nd cousins, and some other distant cousins.  I think there was about 15 kids all together.  The day started out with a little thunderstorms, but turned out to be a great day later on.

The kids started out the day playing some board games and after the rain stopped, headed outdoors.  They had a blast traipsing through the creek and hillside and going on hikes with their oldest cousin, Shane.  They had a squirt gun fight and played on the nearby playground. They watched the adults playing horseshoes and cornhole.   Claire, bless her heart, wanted to be right there in on the action.  This time, we had to draw the line on her independence.  Luckily, we had a lot of volunteers to help with Claire.

It turned out to be a great day and will most likely be repeated again next year!

Brady turns 5-Years-Old!

Sci-Fi Show

As soon as we heard about the Evansville Philharmonic's Sci-Fi Show, we decided if there was any show to take the boys to, it would be the Sci-Fi Show since 1/2 the show would include music from Star Wars. As parents and former "band-geeks", we want the boys to have an appreciation for music.

They have been looking forward to the show for weeks. As an extra surprise, I ordered Star Wars costumes for them to wear to the show (and hopefully they can use them in October for Halloween). Brady was Jango Fett and Connor was a clone/stonetrooper (he claimed he was part of Episode 3 when he is switching over). They had a really good time meeting some of the characters and listening to the music. I was concerned that they would only be interested in the Star Wars music, but they were genuinely interested in the entire selection of music (ET, Back to the Future, 2001 Space Odyssey, Avatar, and more).

I am glad we took the boys and they had a lot of fun!

Claire's Adventure Outdoors

What a beautiful Sunday morning! This was the first time that Claire has been let loose outside now that she is walking and we aren't in the midst of snow or flood seasons. It was fun watching her react to the grass and hang out with her brothers! Connor was the very protective big brother walking her around and redirecting her. Brady also had fun giving Claire a push in the baby swing.

Happy 1st Birthday Claire!

The Saturday after Claire's birthday, we had a birthday celebration with our family and close friends! It was an organized chaos as usual where the kids all run around playing from one end of the house to the other, the adults visit, and we all watch the guest of honor enjoy their day. At the beginning, a handful of the kids participated in an animal parade..they marched through the house showing off their animal of choice and making the animal sounds for Claire!

After the kids played for awhile, it was time for cake. Claire wasn't sure what to think about everyone surrounding her and singing Happy Birthday to her. However, she had no problems digging into her special cupcake! After devouring her cupcake, it was time for a quick bath and wardrobe change. That's normal, right!

After cake and clean up, it was time for presents! Claire received lots of help from her cousins and friends opening presents...towards the end, she was finally getting the hang of what it meant when you ripped the paper off. Yes, there is a toy behind there! Thank you everyone for sharing our special day with Claire...Happy 1st Birthday Sweetie!

School Play - Roboteacher 3000

For the third year, the boys have participated in their annual school musical/play that the entire school, all 150 children, participates in. They practiced the song and the dance moves for a couple months, had a formal dress rehearsal, and then performed to a packed house at the Centre. This year's selection was "Roboteacher 3000". Connor was a Raven singing a song about reading and Brady was a Globe singing a song about geography. This was perfect for Brady since his favorite subject is geography!

I was able to attend the dress rehearsal the night before the actual performance to get a nice little preview and some video footage (in the event they didn't perform the next night). The night of the actual performance, the boys did an awesome job and their performance was witnessed by the three of us, all three sets of grandparents, and their Aunt Julie and Uncle Marx. Connor was so cute with his Raven outfit trying to act nonchalant to overcome the nervousness (so he claims). Brady was a bouncing globe with no arms, so really put the expression in his dancing and bouncing.

am so impressed at how well all the kids do with memorizing their lines, the songs, and the actual performance! Great job boys...we are really proud of you!

Oh Yeah...Claire is walking!!!

I can't believe I forgot to say that Claire is walking in my 12 month update...I guess because she has went to an occasional walker to a full-fledged, crawling is for babies, walker!! She took a couple steps when she was 9 1/2 months old and we thought she was going to beat her brothers' records (Brady walked at 10 months and Connor at 10 1/2 months). Instead she opted for a slow progression...

• She took a few more steps at 10 months old and the occasional couple steps from one person to the next.
• At 11 months and 8 days old...she was officially walking. 
• A week later she was already squatting and standing back up. 
• A week after that she was doing a downward dog move to stand up. 
• At one year old, her transition to walking is automatic and she wants to walk as fast as she can.  She has the occasional stumble...then gets right back up to keep on going.

She has been having a great time "perfecting" her walk as she chases after her brothers and comes running around corners looking for us.  She is just so darn cute...