School Year 2012/13

Well, summer vacation has come to an end! It flew by, but I was expecting that!! We had a great hiatus from school, but it's time for us all to get back into a routine. The kids went to Meet and Greet yesterday morning to meet their teachers, see their rooms and drop off their school supplies. They were both pumped up about school after that! :) Yay! This morning however, they weren't too excited to get up early.....I admit I did enjoy them staying up late and sleeping in (until 8:30 or 9 a lot of times!!). 

Mike bought Stella flowers and Porter balloons for a "have a fabulous 1st day of school" send off. They were both thrilled!

I didn't get them any gifts, but I did clean their clothes, help them get ready, teeth brushed, beds made, breakfast served, lunch packed, drive them to school and shower them with hugs and kisses! LOL (They still liked Mike's gifts better!)

Stella my 2nd grader! I know she'll have a great year. I LOVED 2nd grade, (well, other than being hospitalized for like 3 weeks, and missing a month of school)! My 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Hickman was probably one of my top favorites. I think Stella will love her teacher just as much.

Stella, age 7: wants to be a baby-sitter, work at the Y, or work at an Animal Shelter when she grows up. Her favorite color is "rainbow. Mom, is that a color, rainbow?" Sure it is Stella, makes perfect sense to me. :) Her favorite food is Gushers (probably b/c she never gets them!). Her 3 best friends are, Berlin, Julia S. and Annie C.

Porter was more than ready for Kindergarten! He thrives in school and has LOVED being in preschool. I think he will also have a fabulous year! :) My Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Nelson was probably my 2nd favorite next to Mrs. Hickman. I think there is just something special about a Kindergarten teacher, ya know?

Very proud of his new backpack! Porter, age 5 wants to be a Paleontologist when he grows up or work at an Animal Shelter. His favorite color is turquoise (this changes almost daily, yesterday it was yellow, maybe he should of said "rainbow", too!!). His favorite food is ice cream and his 3 best friends are Sam, Brant and Mitchell (all from preschool).

Stella  next to her locker, she shares one with Ally.

Stella and her teacher, Mrs. Berrie.

At her table spot (please stop with the pictures, mom!).

1. Porter in front of his locker. I held it together while dropping Porter off and saying good-bye. It's so very bittersweet sending your kids to school (everyone can relate), I'm so proud of them (as all parents are!). I was fine until we were out in the parking lot and our friend Jeff was in his vehicle waiting for Lucy to get there and we were chit-chatting and then Lucy walks up and she and I immediately start crying! It was so silly. We hugged for a moment and then left, each knowing exactly what the other was feeling. LOL I was good after that. I'm excited for Porter to experience Kindergarten and have a great year! :)

Porter and his teacher, Mrs. Howard.

At his table spot.

Iowa State Fair

We had a great time at the Iowa State Fair on Friday. It was actually chilly that morning! It felt fabulous after the heat wave we've had this summer. It was fun digging out jeans for the kids to wear.  But it warmed right up as the day wore on.

This year there were decorated ice cream cones scattered around the fair, last year I believe it was decorated pigs. The kids really had fun pointing out the different ice cream cones they found.

Stella at Little Hand On The Farm.

Porter at LHOTF

Porter milking a fake cow at LHOTF

Watching the baby chicks at the Knapp Building.

Stella future turkey farmer.

 Porter future turkey farmer at the Knapp Building.

I even found veggie corn dog! Woot! Something on a stick!

Stella and Clifford. Porter didn't want to be in the photo.

With Cy

 With some ISU cheerleaders.

Stella and Mike going down the Giant Slide, Porter didn't want to go on it this year.

Petting a baby calf

Another ice cream cone.

Pretending to be eating the fruit off of this cone.

 With the winning pumpkin!

We meet up with our good friend John Wulff after lunch along with his daughter Natasha an his parents. It was so much fun seeing him again! Natasha will be starting Kindergarten this year also.

Making some clay creations at Art Attack.

Natasha and Stella with the State Fair Ribbons.

In the butterfly tent.

Photo Dump

Big photo dump ahead! :) Keep putting off updating my Blog, so there are lots of pics. We've been busy these last couple of weeks. We did travel to Mt. Ayr last weekend for the funeral of my Aunt Ann. It was a sad weekend, but also one full of laughter, just how Aunt Ann would of wanted it. I didn't think to take any cousin photos or pics of people gathering/visiting, but I wish I would of. There were a lot of great people who gathered together to say good-bye to a wonderful lady.

Stella diving off the diving board. She's become a little fish this summer!

It finally cooled down this past week so we are able to go outside and do normal summer activities outside of the water! We enjoyed a fun morning at a local park.

 Different day, different park playing in the sand.

Monkey girl

Porter found a cool bug and thought I needed a photo of it!

Ready to bike home it was beginning to sprinkle.

So glad we left the park when we did!! We weren't home 10 seconds before the skies opened up and let loose!! We had quite the severe thunderstorm. All of our deck chairs were blown off the decks, quite a few big limbs down in the yard. Even had hail. The did enjoy a few moments of playing in the rain before I made them come in and dry off.

Next day different park. Decided to play around with the tennis rackets/ball with the kids. It was pretty fun!

I also brought their roller blades, skate boards and scooter for them to play on at the courts.

Same park, but different area.

Love this pic of my boy! :)

Stella and Porter love to take pics with my phone now, so I got in on some of the shots.

Came home and had a lemonade stand. They didn't have much luck, living on a dead end street and all. But they still had fun and each earned $1.50! :)

Yesterday we headed to Fogel Lake for our annual camping trip with my parents, The Little's and Mark and Ken. We had gorgeous weather!! We packed in a lot of fun in our 24 hours, but I hardly took any photos. I will be sure to get more next year. We kayaked, canoed, went horse back riding at John and Karleens, had a fantastic cook out, fished. The kids played so much. They were beat last night. And filthy! :)
Ken posing for me! :)

Stella and Haydn on the bridge.

Papa and Porter fishing.

Haydn was the only one to catch a fish!

Porter caught the worlds smallest frog, but he was very excited and proud! :)

Stella took this today of the cats! There is a baby bunny that lives under our deck and he plays right outside this window. The cats love to watch it and I'm sure would LOVE to pounce on it!!