Chores

Like many kids, Drew and Kayley have to do certain chores around the house.  One of their chores is to make their beds in the morning.  Sounds easy enough.  You'd be surprised.  But, looks like they both found a way around it.  Well played, kids.

Happy Birthday to...Matt??

My birthday was last weekend and Ryan sang happy birthday to me...kind of.  He sang, "Happy birthday to Matt.  Happy birthday to Matt.  Happy birthday to Matt."  We started laughing and told him to sing Happy birthday to Mom.  He started laughing and then sang, "Happy birthday to Matt" some more.  Stinker.  Matt's birthday was a few weeks ago and apparently Ryan hasn't moved past singing happy birthday to him!

We had a busy weekend last week.  Drew had a flag football game last Saturday morning and then I took Drew and Kayley to a fall festival with some friends in the afternoon.  It was crazy busy, but the kids had fun.  It is good the kids had fun because the rides cost a small fortune.

I took all three kids to Tanner's Orchard on Sunday afternoon.  The weather was beautiful and we had a great time.  By the time we left, the line into the store was short (it is usually ridiculous) so we went in and bought apples, a mini pumpkin pie, apple cider donuts and some caramel popcorn.

The kids are busy with school.  Drew is reading chapter books and is reading a new series he really likes so it isn't hard to get him to do his reading, which makes it easy on us!  Kayley is working really hard on reading and math.  She has come a long way with her reading in just the first month of school.  She is also working on writing her letters and numbers.  Her handwriting isn't exactly where her teacher wants it so we need to spend some more time on that.  She has had a pretty good attitude about all the extra time we spend on things, but she has her moments!  I am really proud of how hard she is working though.  Ryan is having fun at daycare and even though he can be handful, his teacher loves him.  He is a little naughtier than the other two ever were at daycare.  One of his notes last week that said he forgot his listening ears and he had ants in his pants.  I am not surprised.

Pour Some Water on Me

Ryan loves water.  And he really loves dumping cold water on himself.  A couple of months ago, Andy started filling up the cup in the bathtub with cold water and pouring a little on him at a time.  He absolutely loves it and screeches with delight and giggles each time.  After awhile, he started grabbing the cup and filling it up with cold water and pouring the entire cup on himself.  Then he started watching videos of people we know doing the ice bucket challenge and that prompted him to start pouring water on himself and letting Drew and Kayley dump water on him every time he was at his water table outside.

Ryan has a lot of fun playing with Drew in the sprinklers too.

It hasn't been all water at our house though.  Drew had his first flag football game last weekend.  I am certainly biased and all, but I would say Drew's team looked great in their first game!  Must be thanks to their coach!  I didn't get many pictures because I had a two year old on my lap asking me to read him books the ENTIRE game!  I will never again forget to bring a few monster trucks and trains to entertain Ryan!

Drew is the second from the left next to Andy

Hide and Seek

How are we nearing the end of August already?!  This month is flying by.  We had another busy week with football, haircuts, back to school night for the kids and a playdate.  We had something every night.  I guess that is how the weeks fly by!

I didn't take any pictures this week so I am posting a video Andy took a few months ago of Ryan and Drew playing Hide and Seek that I thought was pretty cute.

Growing up so Fast!

It was back to school this week for Drew and Kayley.  First and second grade already.  How did that happen?!  I feel like I was just changing both of their diapers!  I am so glad I still have my baby, Ryan, to keep me feeling young!  Of course, he is in the Twos room this year so he is not so much a baby anymore.

While Drew was really excited to go back, Kayley wasn't quite done with summer yet!  Both kids really enjoyed meeting their teachers during the open house the night before school started so that was a relief.

Kayley's desk

They were excited when we got them up and got right out of bed.  If only that would continue!  Kayley even insisted on helping to make her lunch after reading the book, "The Night Before First Grade" where the main character made lunch for her first day of first grade.  I need to find more of those books!

Kindergarten and first graders have to wear name tags on the first day.  Kayley was NOT happy about that.  She clearly felt she was too old to need a name tag and told me repeatedly she knew where she was going and wouldn't get lost.  We went back and forth all morning and all I can say is it was on when she got on the bus!  

They both had a great first day and are excited to go back tomorrow.  Let's hope they jump out of bed as enthusiastically as they did on the first day...

We also had another milestone this weekend.  Kayley learned to ride her bike without training wheels!  We asked her at the beginning of the summer and she was not interested and we didn't want to push it.  We got busy with t-ball and baseball and she was perfectly happy riding her bike with the training wheels.  Andy mentioned it yesterday and she surprised us by saying yes.  I am not sure if she was just bored or if being a first grader made her decide now was the time, but off they went.

It wasn't all easy.  She was pretty scared so she was pedaling as fast as she could.  Andy got a workout!  I think she felt too wobbly if she was going slower.  I took her out this afternoon and she did great.  We aren't quite ready to go down the sidewalk yet, but she is catching on quickly.  Now it is time to buy her a bigger bike!

Quiet Week

Drew and Kayley spent last week in Iowa at my parents' farm so Andy, Ryan and I had a quiet week.  We enjoyed the quiet for awhile and started to miss the noise.  Luckily, Ryan kept us entertained with his singing:

It appears we missed the kids more than they missed us!  Grandma and Grandpa spoiled them with slumber parties in the living room,

 a day at Perfect Games when it was raining,

a bonfire with s'mores,

and a trip to Adventureland!

They had a fun week!  Kayley even played with some of my old toys.  When she was playing with my old barbies, she asked if all boys had hair like this mom was little!  I did grow up in the 80s...

Iowa Visit

Even though baseball and t-ball are over and football hasn't started yet, things haven't slowed down much for us.  Andy spent the last week of July in Australia for work.  The kids and I passed the time with a slumber party with friends and a night out for dinner.

Yes, McDonalds.  Hey, it was their choice and it is quick.  When we came home, Ryan sent Daddy a video:

I got a babysitter for Ryan on Sunday evening and took Drew and Kayley to a concert in the park with some co-workers.

While I readily admit a municipal band concert is not our usual entertainment choice, the kids really enjoyed it.  Well, they enjoyed $1 snow cones and $1 popcorn if nothing else!  

Grandma came to visit on Tuesday.  The kids were excited to spend time with her as always.  We got up early on Friday and left for Iowa.  We went to the farm first and dropped Sox off for the weekend.  The kids and I then drove to Andy's hometown of LeMars to see his family.  Andy flew into Omaha so his brother picked him up after work.  We were all very excited to see him after a week away!  

Everyone went golfing on Saturday morning except for me and Ryan.  I didn't think it would be very much fun to have him riding around in a golf cart all morning so he and I spent some time at the park.  He loved it!

He got pretty hot so I had to make him leave and he wasn't happy about it, but don't feel bad for him.  You can't go to the Ice Cream Capital of the World and not have ice cream.  So, after the park, we went to the Wells' Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor where Ryan had a dish of ice cream and ate every last drop.

We celebrated Macie's 7th birthday Saturday night.  I can't believe how fast these kids are growing up!!  Everyone enjoyed the ice cream cake, of course!  And Ryan enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to Macie.  He has been singing it ever since!

After cake, we had a bags tournament under the lights.  Before it started, Mitch gave Ryan a few lessons.

We waited a little too long to get the annual cousin picture.  The lighting isn't great and the kids were tired, but they are still cute!

On Sunday, we stopped to see Andy's uncle and then headed back to the farm to exchange Drew and Kayley for Sox.  :-)  Drew and Kayley are spending the week at the farm with my parents.  They were very excited to see Pirate's Bay when we pulled into the driveway.  

And Ryan was exited about the tractor.  This is the same tractor Matt and I had as little kids.  It has had a LOT of use!

It has been weird around here the last two days without Drew and Kayley.  Kind of quiet!  I definitely miss them, but they aren't missing us too much.  They are having a lot of fun at the farm it looks like from the pictures Mom has been sending!