Back to School Routine

We have been busy adjusting to the back to school routine. Greg has been in and out of town and various activities for the boys have been starting up again. Leah has been rolling with the punches and does fine with just anything that comes her way. She loves hanging out her brothers and is interested in whatever they are into.

Leah still loves walking to the bus stop to pick up her brothers. She usually has to bring something with her or collect various objects along the way. In the pictures above, she brought her tea pot, tea cup, and an ear of corn. She managed to walk, pour herself some tea, and hang on to her corn all at the same time.

Leah's favorite spot in the house - sitting on the hearth next to her basket of books.

Daycare adventures: 

Leaf collecting

I think Leah's tree has already lost all of its leaves.

Pumpkin week fun.

We drove to the mountains a couple of weeks ago to see the leaves. It was a cold day and Luke was not interested in enjoying the view. 

Summit of Guanella Pass.

Picture from the car. I couldn't get all 3 kids out at this point to take a picture of them.

Picnic lunch in the wind. Leah had a blast.

Ryan was still a good sport about it - his brother, not so much.

Leah and I had a couple of days together last week - we went to the Children's Museum, she loved it just as much as her brothers used to. She had the best time running around the Young Children's room and checking out all of the fun stuff to get into. 

The firetruck is always a favorite.

And here are Ryan and Luke at the Children's Museum at about the same age:

Greg's parents celebrated their 50th Anniversary this week. We had a party for them this past weekend.

All 5 grandkids - always cooperative at the same time.

Leah had a blast at the party, too. She thought she was pretty cool trying to be the center of attention.

Leah loves to get a hold of a box of kleenex and pull every tissue out one at a time and pretend to wipe her nose.

The big news for Ryan and Luke is their recent purchase of the Lego Death Star. They have been saving their money for about 2 years and finally had enough to buy the new Death Star that came out a few weeks ago. They are now spending their weekend in the basement assembling the massive set.

 Ryan has started to play the trombone this year. He was so excited to try it out for the first time.

I think he's ready for marching band practice:

Leah singing Old MacDonald:

Leah also recognizes almost all of the letters. She loves to put her letter magnets in her purse and carry them around with her. She especially loves it when we pull them out one at a time and ask her to name the letter:

Summer Wrap Up and Labor Day Fun

There might be a couple of weeks left of summer, but for me, it's over when the pool closes for the year. I had a hard time dragging the boys to the pool today. I think summer is over for them once they go back to school. They're now ready for winter. Leah still had a blast.

Friday was our first Go Purple Friday. All 3 kids wore their TCU purple and indulged me in some pictures. 

And here we are a year ago.

Leah is such a little ham.  I asked the boys to kneel down next to her, so she kneeled down, too.

Little cheese.

Leah having fun at the pool. She says "suit" when I tell her it's time to get ready to go swimming.

Luke had a good time playing with his sister today.

Before the pool, we went to The Taste of Colorado. All 3 kids loved their gelato the most.

Last year at the same event. We seem to follow the same yearly traditions. 

 Other things going on:

Leah is a master of the IPad and IPhone. Not sure if that is really a good thing, but it is funny how quickly kids figure out technology.

Kelsey sent me a picture of Leah last week - it reminded me of Holly Hobbie.

Aunt Conny sent Leah a box full of goodies from her new-ish job. She is rocking the cute owl stuff.

Now we have a growth chart - I need to transfer the marks from the border of her closet to the chart. Leah looks so teeny tiny in this picture.

Leah and her friend Davis. He is the most tolerant cat ever. 

Greg likes to make Leah scrambled eggs on the weekends. She is clearly a fan of her big breakfast.

Luke lost his book for a weekend due to poor behavior. Taking away electronics and other such things doesn't seem to bother him too much. I guess he didn't really mind losing his book, because he easily found another one to read.

Little Mischief Maker.

Kelsey's son's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. It was a superhero theme - complete with costumes for the kids. Leah looked awesome as Wonder Woman.

And here is a short video showing how Leah truly has the best big brothers.

Back to School

School is back in session and we are already in the swing of things. Ryan and Luke started the 5th grade on Thursday, Leah started her second year of daycare the week before, and I began my 16th year in education. This is the first year that the boys switch teachers for various subjects. Ryan came home from school yesterday almost overwhelmed with the thought of his new schedule. Today he came home telling me how cool it is to go to different classes. He's thrilled that he gets to dissect a cow's eye, a sheep's liver, and something else equally disgusting. 

Seems like only yesterday they were starting Kindergarten. Ryan cried when we dropped him off that very first day. And then when I picked him after school he said "My day was awful, just kidding, it was awesome." He and Luke were both so excited and nervous to start school on Thursday that they couldn't sleep the night before. We're hoping for a great year.

Little Miss Sassy-Pants went back to Kelsey's when I went back to work the 2nd week of August. She has become more anxious about strangers this summer and clings to me and Greg more often. She was a little hesitant when I dropped her off the first morning, but was soon distracted by all of the fun toys. And just like last year, she cried when I picked her up - because why would she want to leave Kelsey's fun place and come home? She has adjusted well to her new schedule. Kelsey continues to send me several pictures a day and Leah is clearly having a blast and doing things I would never think of. The first week was Pet Week and this week was Tool Week - she had fun playing hide and seek with pet pictures and hammering golf tees into styrofoam. 

Hammering cheerios and rice crispies - plus having a snack.

Playing a little soccer.

Helping to bring all of the kids' cups inside.

Other things this month:

Leah had fun with Daddy at the pool playing "Super Leah." Ryan loved helping out. The boys and I like to play pass the baby by throwing/passing her to each other in the shallow area of the pool. She really is pretty great with the water and getting wet.

We got Leah her own little playhouse. She thought it was fun to play peek-a-boo with the shutters.

We went to a concert/fireworks event at a park last week. The best part for the kids was sharing the giant bag of Kettle Corn.

Leah is so busy at daycare that she has to use her evenings to catch up on emails.

I'm not sure who likes frozen yogurt more - Greg or Leah.

Leah on the boys' red car. Her legs are just now long enough to push herself forward.

And Ryan and Luke, just a little older than Leah, putting the same cars together and going for a ride.

And lastly, a video that makes me smile :)