Stopping at the farm stand

One of the best part of summer and fall is stopping at local farm stands!

 

The kids favorite is definitely the one that has baby calves and chickens to visit!

So after soccer when Connor and I had to stop we couldn't help spending some time visiting the animals!

Seriously, look at that sweet face!

 

 

And Connor, the finder of all things nature, found a jaw bone of some type of animal!  Yuck!  Well, at least I thought so!

Oh, we love these babies!

Although Connor had to be reminded not to chase the chickens a few times!  What is it with kids and chasing chickens???

 

A very sweet little man brought me a flower and I loved it! Sweet little D! It was such a beautiful flower and lasted over a week looking perfect!


Love it! And I loved it even more when I found out it was my childhood best friends flower! She passed away from breast cancer a few years ago. We had lost touch a long time before but I still miss her! Actually I had just found her a short time before she died. Well, I found her sister on face book. She was waiting for a "good day" to call and chat and to tell me about her cancer but sadly her "good day" never came.

So thank you D! This flower means more then you knew! And when I get the picture put on a canvas it will be forever here!

 

 

Kate's in a cast! Again! She fell last Saturday in her soccer game. The EXACT SPOT she injured last fall got hurt. The injury that put her in a cast for two months and was followed by weeks of physical therapy. Chris and I hoped it was just a bruise or something so waited a couple days before making an appointment. She wore her brace most of the time when she was playing or writing but then would take it off and ice it many times a day. But by Tuesday we couldn't deny the swelling getting worse and the fact she was definitely in pain. So off to the ortho doc she saw last year. He X-rayed it and determined it's a fractured growth plate. (He used bigger words but that the gist of it). However; that was what she was originally diagnosed with last year until an MRI proved that wrong.
She had a torn ligament, bruised bone, and soft tissue damage! All of which happened from simply picking up her 2 1/2 year old brother to see fish! Which honestly worried me a great deal! Who gets hurt that bad from just that? So here we are 9 months later and she is back in a cast! Oh and I should mention she has also broken her other wrist twice. All of these injuries in just over three years. This concerns me.
So.... If it is in fact a "simple" growth plate fracture it should be healed in three weeks. But.... If it's not it's time to go see a pediatric ortho doc. Lets hope it's just a coincidence and nothing to do with her previous injury like the doctor hopes!
Another bummer for Kate is this ends her soccer season, again! And it keeps her out of the pool away from swim team while she has a cast. Kate is an active girl who very much enjoys sports so this is not good! But she still smiles so that's good!

icees

Days of sitting

 

Under a tree in the cool shade

 

On a hot summer day

 

 Eating homemade icees

Are quickly running out

Camp fire

This past weekend my aunt Maggie and Uncle Mike, along with their granddaughter took a road trip to pick up some farm equipment from my aunt Jeanie who lives a couple towns away from us. 

We had an impromptu visit for a campfire with them and my uncle Pat.

We got there before the sun went down and the kids taught Renee the wonderful activity of frog hunting!  She loved it as much as they do and cried when she had to let the frog go.  Yep, I've dealt with that before!

 

It seems Connor finds frogs wherever he goes!

 

The campfire was started!

 

We walked around the very old farm house and a million memories of my childhood popped up.  I loved, I mean LOVED spending time here as a little girl!

 

 

The sunset was absolutely gorgeous that night!

My pictures do it no service, they could not even begin to capture the beauty.  The orange full moon up above the old farmhouse..

We went walking though the old cow barn with a flashlight leading the way.  The moon through the barn door also offered us some light.  I can not tell you sufficiently how absolutely stunning this sight was in real life.  I desperately tried to capture it on camera with no success.  I guess it will just have to stay a picture in my mind.

We had a wonderful time around the campfire roasting marshmallows.

Making smores!

 

And just enjoying a couple hours with family we don't see nearly enough!

 

 

A couple weeks ago the girls and I attended the end of summer swim team banquet.  It was a lot of fun!

We couldn't have been more surprised, and I couldn't have been more proud, when Katelyn was awarded the very coveted award of "Most Improved Swimmer" on her team!

And she totally deserved it!  I know I'm slightly biased but her three coaches picked her so it's true!  She worked so hard and her swimming has improved so much! 

I am so proud of you Katelyn!!!  And even more then that, I LOVE that you are so proud of yourself!!!

 

Maggie had a good year of swimming too.  She has such a beautiful stroke but hasn't figured out that speed is important.  Or, maybe she just wants to be a laid back swimmer! 

That bumper sticker is right, I Love my swimmers!

Great summer girls!!!!  I love watching you swim and can't wait till the season picks back up!!!

A new school year

A new school year has begun.

And Maggie, looking so grown up walking down the walkway with Nana, started first grade!

(Hold on while I wipe my tears!)

She was very excited and only a tiny bit nervous!

Her cousin, Isaac, is also in first grade this year, although they are in different classes.

 

 

I will be honest, I cried when I dropped her off.  You would think that since I have done first grade drop off twice already I would be used to it.  But nope, makes me cry every time!

 

I am gonna miss having my Maggie home most of the day with me!  Ben's gonna miss it too!

Oh, and speaking of missing Maggie, on the way from one school to the next for drop off the song "You're gonna miss this" played and made me cry all over again!  So much of the kids growing up has already passed and I miss it!  And, they are still young, what am I ever going to do when they move out???  Let's not go there!

 

After dropping Maggie off we headed up to the other school to drop Connor off for his first day of third grade and Katelyn for her first day of fifth grade!

The school was a ZOO and drop off was CRAZY!

Connor was doing great, until we hit the big crowd and he had to get in line with a class full of kids he didn't know.  Plus we had been planning on a certain teacher being there but found out she is out on maternity and he has a long term substitute. It's funny, little things like this throw him for a loop.  However, although he was quite nervous he went over and got in line without much fuss! But posing for a picture of a smiling boy wasn't happening!

 

Katelyn is in fifth grade so this was her last first day of elementary school!  WHAT?!  Where has the time gone? 

I couldn't help but remember dropping her off for her first day of first grade.  I hadn't ever done it before so I had pictured and just assumed, that I would walk her down to her class, get her settled in, give kisses and hugs, and leave when she was ready.  Well, I was WRONG!  I held her little hand and as we were walking in the building someone blocked me and said that I couldn't go any further, took Katelyn's other hand and walked away.  With MY BABY!  Katelyn turned around and looked at me with a little quiver in her chin and her eyes were saying, "Wait, mom, I thought you were coming???"  I wanted to run in, scoop her up, and take her home!  But I didn't, I just waved and signed "I love you", and blew her some kisses.  She did just fine,  Loved her teacher and had a great year of first grade.

Well, this year, my baby said bye with a quick hug and kiss before walking (running) away without even looking back!  It's funny how this can make me happy, proud and yet sad all at the same time.

It's just me and the babe all day now!

It's gonna take some getting used to.  The quiet is, well, quiet.

Next week though, we are hosting our first monthly "Craft, snack, and play at Miss Melissa and Ben's house" and we can't wait!  We are also joining library story time and getting back to being more involved with the local mom's club so we will be busy having fun!

 

The first day of school seemed to last FOREVER and the bus was 25 minutes late!  We were sitting out on the grass waiting and cheered when the bus finally came around the corner!

Very happy kids climbed off and were ready to play!  I wanted to hear all about their day but they just wanted to run and play outside.  That's ok though, I just watched and loved having them home!

 

 

 

 

 

A new school year has begun.