School Pictures :-)

Kyle's Pre-Kindergarten (often known as Young Fives) pictures. What a handsome dude!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Happy birthday, Kyle!!

My sweet boy turned five today -- a whole hand old! It's hard to believe the time has gone by so fast. At this time five years ago we were sitting in the hospital holding our wide awake newborn. Kyle entered the world at 4:28 pm, and then quietly spent the next six or seven hours awake, just looking around and taking it all in. We just gazed at our new bundle of joy, amazed at his temperment and beauty. (Okay, I admit it, we also watched the new episode of Lost.)

There hasn't been a day that I haven't felt so blessed to have Kyle. I cannot imagine any other boy in our lives. While he can try my patience like no other, he quickly has my smile back. He tests me, pushes his boundaries, and steps over the line into being independent, like any other five year old, and we love him for it. He is so smart, so thoughtful, and has such a good heart.

Kyle... like I did five years ago (actually five years and nine months ago!), and every day since, I love you to the moon and back. Heck, through the entire galaxy and back. LOVE YOU, BUB!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday... for Jay :-)

Wordless Wednesday

We interrupt this blog...

... with a busy life! Ahh, we have been busy. Here's a peek at a typical day, and why I didn't even manage a Wordless Wednesday yesterday!

7am
Up and at 'em! Getting myself, Kyle and Erin fed, showered for me, dressed and ready to get in the car.

8:40am
Out the door to take Kyle to school. Meet up with Kristine so I can hand Erin off to her and we switch cars because of car seats. Back into school to volunteer in Kyle's classroom.

11am
Done at Kyle's school. Meet up with Kristine again to get Erin and switch cars back. Then home.

12pm
Lunch and first attempt at putting Erin down for a nap. No go.

12:40pm
Second attempt to get Erin down, and I lay down for a few minutes to try to get a break from the raging cold I have. No go for either of us, since it's a nap refusal day for Erin.

1pm
Try to work on some things for W.I.L.D. Wednesday at church, check my email, straighten up the house, etc. while also entertaining my non-sleeper.

3:30pm
Go pick up Kyle from school. Erin falls asleep on the way home.

4pm
Try to finish up the W.I.L.D. stuff and get stuff ready for work, while entertaining kids and getting them snacks.

5:20pm
Out the door to W.I.L.D Wednesday, where I am one of the leaders.

7:35pm
Drop Kyle back at home (Mike already had picked Erin up from church) and I leave to do American Greetings at both Dollar Tree and WalMart. After I finish the cards at WalMart I pick up a few things we need.

10pm
Back home. Try to go through some pictures to get a print order in before my scrapbooking weekend

11:10pm
Picture order uploaded, ready for bed, climb in.

11:45pm
Still laying awake. Realize I never posted a Wordless Wednesday. Decide to do this post. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Soccer Star

I think Kyle is going to excel at soccer. He loves to run and he is FAST. He is coordinated and kicks the ball well. Probably the top two skills for soccer! The other day we were at the football field kicking the soccer ball around and twice Kyle stopped to "play track meet," and ran 1/4 mile around the track without stopping each time. He's good!

Today was Kyle's first day of soccer. He is with a group of 15 other boys who are almost five. They practice for half an hour and then they scrimmage for half an hour. It was cold. It rained the whole time. Kyle was already exhausted from his first week of school. Soooo, not such a good start to soccer, but there is always next week!

Here are some pictures before Kyle had his meltdown. :)

Kyle's First Day of School

Kyle had take two on his first day of school today! It was supposed to be yesterday, but he coughed all night and wasn't feeling well. He slept great last night, though, and had a great start to his day today!

We got to school and Kyle was so excited and raring to go! He hugged his teacher, Mrs. Flower, and went right to his spot to start some activities. I could barely get him to kiss me goodbye, which is great for him! I'm so glad he settled right in without a worry at all.

When I picked him up today he said he'd had a great day. He was mostly concerned that he did not get to feed the guinia pig today. I asked him what he learned and he said, "Not a lot. I don't remember." :)

He is attending pre-Kindergarten at Maple Grove Elemetary here in South Haven. He's got some friends in his class, which is really nice, and only 15 students. He starts at 9 and doesn't finish until 3:50, which is a long day!! I think he's going to be sleeping really good at night!

Wordless Wednesday

Summer busy-ness

Our summer has been busy. Three posts in August was not because there was nothing to post, just no time! We have lots every week, and some lazy days in there, too.

A couple things that kept Kyle busy this summer were two vacation Bible schools and nature classes. The VBSs that he went to were at our own church (Galactic Blast!) and at another local church (Baobab Blast!). He loved them both and we still listen to the music regularly. One day in the car he told me, "Mom, I talk to you more than God just because I can see you." I love that he talks to God, though!

His nature classes were at Sarett Nature Center. Long story short, I accidentally signed him up for more classes than I intented to. However, he LOVED them so much that I didn't drop any of them. He went to about one a week. I stayed for a couple and took some pictures, but mostly he was on his own and did great. Here's what I captured of his time there.

Sitting right on the guide's lap for a story. :)Petting a turtle.Erin had fun on the walk, too!Learning about animals inside.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Oh so techy update...

So my new Kindle is returned already! Thanks to the announcement of a newer, better Kindle at a lower price, I am getting that!! The downside is I need to wait until the end of the month to get it, but it will force me to read a couple more actual books that are sitting here. ;-)

Oh so techy!

Mike gave me an Amazon Kindle for my birthday, and I have been so excited about it! I'm loving it!

When it was first introduced a couple of years ago I was obssessed with it. I kept reading all the reviews, checking the Amazon page, etc. It was on my brain all the time. But, with the $400+ price tag I couldn't see ever getting one. Plus the reviews seemed to point to a few kinks, so I told myself there was no point in getting a first generation product anyway. Better to wait to get those little bugs worked out. So I told myself. ;-)

So here we are. A greatly reduced priced. Second generation. And a birthday gift! YAY!

My first Kindle book is True Believer, by Nicholas Sparks. I chose it because several years ago I received At First Sight, also by Sparks, as a gift. It was a book that followed the same characters as True Believer, so I wanted to read that first. Lately I had been checking the library for True Believer and it was always out, so I made it my first Kindle book. On deck, and already loaded, is Firefly Lane.

There are a lot of free books available, I am assuming from new-to-the-scene authors hoping to get some recognition, so it will be interesting to try some of those.

I am enjoying holding the small device. I like laying on my stomach in bed and not having to hold the book -- it just lays in front of me. I am a person that always liked literally seeing my bookmark progress through the book, so I am making do with the little bar that shows me the percentage I have read.

And the other night I was reading and Mike came up. I said, "I'm just finishing this chapter. Although I have no idea where the end is." LOL I could page forward to it, but then I would just have to page back.

Overall I am loving it!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Beach times

Here are a few pictures from a couple beach trips this month. We have loved, loved, loved the little hideaway beach we found here in South Haven. It is not one of the popular, big, crowded beaches. It is a small one away from the main drag. It has a little creek that empties into the lake there, so the kids can play in the creek of the lake. Did I say we LOVE it?

Well... South Haven has had some e. Coli issues this summer. Again, I was glad "our" beach was not the one closed. We continued to hit our favorite spot. Right up until the headline read, "Deerlick Creek probably source of e. Coli." Yep. Our creek. Our beach. We haven't been back yet. Sigh.

This first group of pictures is from a quick trip Kyle and I took to meet the Ayotte's while Mike stayed home with sleeping Erin. It was Brett's first trip to the beach, and I LOVE this picture of him. I also love the one of Kyle and Jack.These pictures are from an evening trip. I took Kyle and Erin down with a picnic when Mike had golf. We ran into our friends, the Asiala's, there. Thomas and Kyle are buddies. Jill and I are buddies. ;-)

Weekend of Festivities, Day 3 -- finally!!

Here it is July 18 and I am just now getting around to posting the final day of our fabulous Fourth of July weekend! This coming week is a little slower, so watch for some catching up!

Our day began with South Haven's Fourth of July parade. Here is Kyle with one of his best buddies, Laine. I love this happy picture of them!

This is the "candy parade." The kids know that it gets thrown from every parade participant and the scramble begins! Kyle and Erin came home with a bunch of it!

Our day continued on at the Lucius household. We have fun there every time we go, and this was no exception. After the fireworks display Ralph put on Kyle said, "I want to have my birthday party here so Ralph can do fireworks!" lol

Here is Uncle Troy catching Kyle in a splash, and then Mike catching him. He and his cousin Jack were leaping fools! ;-)

Erin is loving the water this summer! She was doing her fair share of leaping, as well.

Kyle called these "practice fireworks." They were little cars and trucks that would spin around with fire and smoke.

Erin playing with Max at the water table. Sparkler and firework time!

Happy birthday, America!!