Homework!!

We have entered the world of homework!! Olivia had her reading last year but besides that there wasn't a whole lot of required work outside of school. This year we have added math on top of 20 minutes of reading a day. We are busy but she loves homework and first grade. Last year she never really complained about school but this year she loves her class and comes to my room SUPER happy at the end of the day.  She really likes Mrs. Croal (and misses Mrs. Wiechmann from Kindergarten) She is in a really good class, with lots of great kids.  She also feels pretty cool if she gets to stay up a few minutes later than her brother to do her homework.  Hmmm...I wonder how long this will last :) 

He Cracks Me Up!!

 Charlie and I were going over animal sounds. He knows them all but when I asked him what a pig says and he looked at me, chuckled, and said "excuse me"...haha.

Movie Night

I love when our kids get along ;). Movie night in Olivia's bed with the iPad!!

First day of first grade!

Olivia is soooo excited for first grade!! She was asleep by 7:30 last night and was up bright and early to get ready for school (haha, we know this won't last).

Jesse is staying home for awhile this morning to get her on the bus. She loves riding the bus but only gets to ride it when Jesse is home. She is usually goes to work with me.

When Charlie went to bed last night he kept talking about riding the bus. He is going to be very sad today when his big sister gets in the bus.

Horse Ride!

This past weekend Olivia went camping with my dad and Gayle.  She had lots of fun.  Here is a picture of her with my dad.  The horse Olivia is riding is Aero.  She LOVES Aero!!

Olivia even rode by herself this weekend.  My dad typically leads her horse with a lead rope, but he let her go about a mile without the lead rope and she did great :)

A night at the pool

Tonight Jesse an the kids went swimming with Troy, Pam and Talia. I sat on the side and watched since I am still pretty sore from the weekend. It was a great night and great place to swim.

Back To School

Ahhh....today was my first day back to work.  A shocker to us all, but we are so ready for a routine.  Olivia is SO excited to start First Grade with her teacher Mrs. Croal and to see all of her friends.  I cannot believe our little girl is a first grader, time goes by way too fast.  I am also ready to meet all of my new students and get the year started.

I cannot believe how fast our summer went.  We have had the busiest summer we have ever had, but had a great time enjoying it. 

So here is to...

 Celebrating with cousins...

Great-Grandparents and Out of Town Vistitors...

Picnics in the Park...

 

Charlie turning 2...

Brothers of the Sun Concert (the best surprise from Jesse)... 

4th of July Picnic (this is my cousin Kelly)...

Swimming in the Lake...

Olivia turning 6...

County Fair...

 

Hanging out....

Spending time with family...

Fires in the backyard...

Walking 60 miles in 3 days...

Chillaxin'...

Splash Parks...

Home Improvements (new flooring)...

Swimming Lessons....

Erberts and Gerberts (the kids' and my favorite place to eat)...

Strawberry Picking...

Mom and Olivia day at Target Field...

And last but certainly not least, Family Vacation...

It was such an awesome summer.  I cannot begin to say how thankful I am to be so fortunate to have my job.  We have had such an awesome summer.  I am so thankful to be able to take part in all of these great things and to have a job that allows me to be home with my kids for an extended period of time each year.  This is always a bittersweet moment.  I really dislike going back to work and having to drop Charlie off at day care, but I also enjoy getting to know my students and having a routine. I think the most difficult part about going back to work is dropping Charlie off.  He loves his daycare, but is not too happy that his big sister gets to go to school.  The other day he came with me to help at school and he was so mad that he couldn't take the bus to school and he had to ride with me.  I am pretty sure he won't have a problem when he goes to preschool next year.  He wants to go to school NOW!!

I hope your summer was as good as ours :)