Crafted With Care

I have re-opened my hand-crocheted name doily business!

New Shoes

Sylvia and Annah got new shoes! Sylvia's are her first very own "blinks" (by her request), and they have princess castles on them! And, Annah's have blinky lights and a special "magic" wand that makes her right shoe make a magical sound when she waves it over it!! They are super cool and very pretty and girly!

Cutes all over them!

Missing our Ohio friends

Now that it's September, Jeremy and I are really missing our friends in Ohio. Jeremy is [more than] excited about football season's start-up, and some of that stems from his fantasy football "addiction," which started when we lived in Ohio. At this moment, he is watching the Bucks' first game of the season with more intensity than most games he watches. He has had the girls saying, "GO BUCKS!" all day long. I think he is a bigger O.S.U. football fan now than when we lived in Columbus! ;)

For me, September makes me think of the beginning of the school year in college, which I always loved. It also makes me remember the time I spent traveling to high schools all over Ohio in the fall when I was an admission counselor for Cap. It was nerve-wracking for me to not know where I was going when I was traveling all alone, but it was such a challenging and growing experience for me, and I will always be grateful for that!

But, the thing I think we're both missing the most is all of our great friends in Ohio that we rarely get to see anymore. Fall is such a great time to just hang out, and we miss doing that with our Ohio pals!! So any of you Buckeye friends of ours who may be stopping in, know that we are thinking of you today and missing you!

Not Napping

Caeden was supposed to be napping...

...instead...standing up in the pack and play looking out the front room window... 

Back to School

Today was Annah's first day of school! She was excited to get back into the swing of it, and liked that there are even some new kids in her class this year. It was nice that she knew the routine and her teachers and classmates and we didn't have any anxiety about it to deal with. When I picked her up, Annah told me, "It was the same class!" when I asked her how her first day in the 4's class was. She told me all about having circle time 3 different times, and playtime, and singing, and snack, and the story, and that she played on the monkey bars this time! She was most excited that she got to be the first to tell about her family pictures on her homework project!


Annah has her homework project ready,

and she is all set for her first day of preschool in the 4's class!

Mrs. M brings Annah to the car after her first day of school.

Goings On

I guess we have been busy lately since I haven't written much here. Or, maybe we haven't been doing anything and I just had nothing to write about! It must be the first, because there is always a lot going on with 3 little kids around!

We spent Labor Day weekend in Indiana.

Annah and Sylvia got to have a sleepover with T. & E. on Friday night. They had an absolute blast eating popsicles and popcorn, watching Finding Nemo, and sleeping in

the yellow room!

We got to see some extended family members for a little bit, which is always a fun and special time.

Jeremy was able to help his dad and brother work on the smokehouse his dad is installing for his butcher shop, W & W Locker.

What are the kids up to? ...

Caeden: is into everything! He is definitely a boy and is always on the go! He never sits still, unless he is asleep! He loves to bounce, rock, or bang his head in his highchair, carseat, and crib. Anytime he hears music, he bops along in time!

He is quite a jabberer, and makes lots of sounds, but not really any words. He says, "Haaa" and waves hi and bye. He says, "Ba" for ball. And, he loves to say, "Da" and "Doo" but we can't tell if they have a specific definition. ;)

We are kind of starting to struggle with whether he still needs two naps or only one per day. Caeden is definitely a sweetheart with such a happy disposition.

Sylvia: says such huge sentences these days! She will just tell us what is on her mind, and we are sometimes blown away by what her little 2-year-old mind is able to come up with!

She is also in the whiny stage where the tiniest thing can just start a huge stream of tears. For example, a few weeks ago on a Sunday morning, Jeremy was getting breakfast for the kids and Annah splashed a drop of milk on Sylvia's finger and she was suddenly sobbing!

Sylvie is also thinking about learning how to use the potty. She has done it a couple times, and will in an emergency situation. We are trying not to stress out about it as much as we might have with Annah. She'll get there!

Annah: is getting ready to start preschool again.

We have started reminding her frequently not to suck her thumb. She now says she doesn't want to go to school since we told her she can't suck her thumb there in the 4-year-old class. And, she says she doesn't want to turn 5 because she said she would stop sucking her thumb when she turns 5.

Annah says she likes to do her workbook, but she gets frustrated easily because she feels like she should already know how to read and write without learning to. It is definitely a reaffirmation of why I could never be a teacher.

I am continually praying for patience and reminders that these moments while our children are little are ones I will never get back.

Wading in Round Lake

The girls and Daddy had a little wade in the lake.

We didn't take swimsuits, but the girls begged and begged to get in until Grandma found them something to wear into the water.

First Haircuts

We got haircuts!!!!!

Sylvia's First Haircut!!

She was such a good girl in the chair, though she kept her most serious face on the whole time.

Maybe she was afraid Miss Nancy was going to cut her hair so short she wouldn't be able to twirl it?

She already had such nice layers; she only needed a bit more than a trim.

Caeden's First Haircut!!

He is such a wiggly boy, he had to sit on Mommy's lap for his haircut.

He hated the noise the clippers made and tried to escape! (He doesn't like motor-like noises at all!!)

He did better though, when he was given a sucker and Miss Nancy switched to scissors!

What a huge difference in how he looks!!!! He went from baby to boy in just a few minutes with his first haircut!!!!!!

Annah is an ol' pro at getting her hair cut, and she enjoyed getting her trim.

Picking berries with Krampa