Aspen Family Night

Last Friday, Caroline's new school had a family night for all the kids in the elementary school and their families. There was ice cream, a band, and lots of excited kids!

Note to Caroline's best friend, Sarah

It's a little sad when you don't get to go to school with your best friend :(

Wildlife Discovery Center and Middlefork Savanna

We met some friends at the Wildlife Discovery Center in Lake Forest last week. The kids got to see little crocodiles, iguanas, snakes, and turtles.

 Afterwards, we played at a cool playground, picniced, and took a nature walk through the middlefork savanna.

Dancin' Sprouts at the Botanic Gardens

My mom and I took the children to "Dancin' Sprouts" at the Botanic Gardens. We walked around and looked at all of the beautiful flowers and plants. The kids had a blast finding all the fountains and waterfalls. Then we headed over to the Esplanade for a picnic blanket dinner and dancing to a kid-geared band. Such fun!

smile

How can you not smile from ear to ear when your five-year-old surprises you with a picture she has drawn of the two of you?
I love you Caroline Elizabeth!

Photo Memory Game & family tree

Several years ago, as a "party favor" for Clayton's birthday guests (which were basically just his relatives), I made photo memory games.  It's just like the memory games you can buy, but with the faces of loved ones which little kids LOVE.  You collect pictures of all your family members. Go to Staples or OfficeMax and color xerox them, reducing and enlarging where necessary so everyone is about the same size. Then copy each picture using the special xerox feature that produces a least 8 of the image on one sheet of paper (it's much cheaper than just xeroxing the same picture a dozen times. ) You can either xerox the images on cardstock or glue the paper onto cardstock after xeroxed. ( recommend a glue that works well with paper - like rubber cement. Some glues will make the paper all wrinkly.)Laminate the front of the pictures (you can buy laminating sheets at Staples). Then cut them out into individual cards. Each memory set will have two of each picture.  I bought little pencil cases to house all the cards.

As a variation, you can use the cards to put together a family tree. Just cut some strips of index cards or paper and then you can help your child lay out all of their family members in a family tree.  I just did this with Caroline and she loved doing it.  It also helps kids visualize how everyone is related to eachother.

First day of kindergarten

Today marked a significant landmark in our family. My first baby went off to kindergarten. On Tuesday, I got to take Caroline to her new school, take a tour, see her classroom, and meet her teacher.  I have to say - I was not ready for this. My comfort level with her going to preschool was just fine. But kindergarten - FIVE days a week (thankfully half days), and in a whole new school with all new kids, without her best friend Sarah (who I adore) - I didn't feel ready. She's only five! She's my baby. A small christian preschool seems so safe. A crowded public elementary school with much older kids and tons of different languages being spoken seemed so ... different.  (And it was nothing like the small, friendly neighborhood elementary school I attended in Winnetka.)  Loosening my apron strings has never been easy and this proved to be especially difficult.  

I didn't share these feelings with her, of course. We talked about how exciting it would be to go to kindergarten and learn all kinds of new things, meet new friends, do new things. 









The morning of her first day, we gave her a little silver heart necklace to wear. "This is to remind you how much God loves you and how much Mama and Daddy love you, even when we're not with you. If you ever feel scared or nervous, just hold onto the heart and remember how much we love you. "   She smiled and proudly put it on.  I tried my hardest not to cry, and luckily, succeeded.

The night before her first day, as providence would have it, we were reading Anne of Green Gables (a beginner version) and read about Anne's first day of school. The book explained how Anne was both nervous and excited. On the car ride over in the morning, she exclaimed "I'm just like Anne, nervous AND excited!" .  It was comforting to her to be able to identify with and be in the same situation as Anne.  We got out of the car and took our first picture against her new school sign - Aspen Elementary. I walked her to the door and she told me "Mama, if I get nervous or sad, I'll just hold onto my little heart. "  I smiled and gave her a hug. Then the teachers whisked her off to her new classroom, luckily quickly enough that she didn't see my eyes start to tear up.  It's a big moment for us. My baby is growing up...but hopefully not too fast. I want to enjoy all of her "little girl" moments for at least a little while longer!

4th Annual Ice Cream Social

We hosted our 4th annual ice cream social. 30 adults and 40 kids - record turnout! (In fact, I was too busy to really take pictures! Here are the few I managed to take.)

 After the ice cream social, our neighbors put on a firework show for us and the Sontags.  Austin absolutely LOVED it. He was grinning from ear to ear, laughing, and shouting "I wanna dude it again!"   I can't wait to take him to the 4th of July fireworks next summer!

The last few weeks...

What have we been up to in these last few weeks of summer?
Playing at the pool, riding bikes, going to different parks, and...
Rehabbing a mirror. From gold...

 to shabby chic for Caroline's bedroom.  Next project? Mmaking her curtains...hopefully this fall.

 Dinner at our favorite family's house - the Harveys! Adults and kids alike had a blast! (We forgot to get a picture so the picture is at our house.)

 Outdoor painting

 Trips to the Farmer's Market

 At Libertyville's "Out to Lunch" Friday picnic

 Exploring firetrucks

 Listening to a very loud band

 and Clayton finding cords...

 Caroline and Clayton helping out the band with a tambourine and some maracas.

 Caroline turns five and a half! Miss Pinkalicious requested pinkalicious cupcakes, of course!

 Doing some learning worksheets to get ready for school. Caroline is doing really well learning to read, and Clayton can write his name independently. Yeah!