Back to School

It's amazing how fast the summer can fly by! We have been nonstop busy this summer and then our camera died on us! So the lack of photos is due to the lack of camera. Michael's parents are letting us borrow their old camera (thanks!) but due to battery issues we can only take 2-3 photos and then it needs to be recharged. BUT we do have some new photos to share.

Addie started school yesterday and these are photos from her first day of Kindergarten. She was very excited about school this year. Her first day went well. She likes her teacher and can not wait to dive into the reading and writing. Each child in her class has their own journal to draw/ write in every day. I'm sure she will love that part. Next week she will start going all day. Addie's excited about taking her lunch to school and spending the whole day like the big kids.

Addie is going to play soccer this fall. Her season starts on Saturday and goes through mid-October. She talks about it everyday and is ready to get on the field. We will have to update everyone on this topic after her first game.

Margaret is growing and changing everyday. She is eating all sorts of food and loves her sippy cup. Her main goal with her sippy is to get the little water that is in it out and all over herself! Margaret is trying hard to keep up with her big sister. She is not crawling yet but she is rolling and pushing and pulling to get where she wants. Her favorite thing to do right now is to hold onto your hands so that she can pull herself up and walk around the house. She is getting really good with walking. Michael and I both think that there is a chance she might walk before crawling. But who knows!

Addie's Bike - Without Training Wheels!

The other day, Addie's best friend, Moira, had been working on riding her bike without training wheels. I didn't even know that Moira had a bike other than her trike, because she never rides it. Anyways, I heard all about it and how Addie wanted to ride hers without training wheels, before I even got home.

The wheels came off and down the driveway she went!

Since then, The girls have really gotten fired up about this. One day, they were waiting for me when I was driving home from work. I didn't even get to the door. They were fired up and ready to ride. That evening, not only did they take turns going up and down the driveway, but they went around and around the cul-de-sac that Moira lives on. Addie did something like 13 laps in a row. It's a big loop too.

Since then, Emily has taught Addie to take off on her own, and the next day, Addie taught Moira. Other than our documented one above, I don't think sh'e hardly even wrecked. She is doing really well. So well, that we went with some friends to a bike trail in South Haven, where she rode her little bike 3 miles. Yeah. We had quite a time convincing her that she could not ride her bike to school. Across town and through traffic is a bit different.

Princess Margie

Today Addie and her friend Moira decided to include Margaret while playing. Margaret was their baby sister princess. They even put a tiara on her and named her Princess Margie. Margaret loved every minute of it. Even at 6 month's there is nothing better then getting to play with the big girls. When Michael got home and saw the girls, he commented that he did not know that Margaret was a princess. Moira informed him that Margaret was BORN a princess. I hope you enjoy the photos of Princess Margie!

What did you do this weekend?

We worked our butts off in the kitchen, but not cooking or canning.

before

before

old countertops out

color going on

our painter

yes, that is a black handle on the dishwasher

finished product

Prep work for the walls took longer than expected, but it was worth it. The electrician came back out on Monday to finish the wiring. We were 98% done on by Monday night with everything functional. Just a couple loose ends to tie up.

In an odd twist of fate, our supposedly black dishwasher turned out to be stainless steel. But once we got to installing it, we found that a black handle had shipped with it, instead of one that matches the stainless. Correctable (and I already have a lead on one), but annoying for the time being. Fortunately, the dishwasher works very very well, and is dead silent.

We love the black countertops, though it and the cabinets together make it look a bit like a chemistry lab! Unforeseen, but we still like it. After a crazy weekend of getting all of this done (we started on Friday), we're getting back to normal. We've passed a head cold around, with Michael and Margaret still suffering a bit. More pictures of the remodel are up on flickr.

Kitchen Update

We did it! We as of last night we have a functioning dishwasher in our kitchen. Last Thursday we started our large weekend kitchen remodeling project. We actually had all of it done for the most part by Sunday night but we had to wait for the electrician to come back and put in a new breaker box for our house (goodbye fuses!). It felt great to be able to wash dishes in the dishwasher last night.

Michael will be expanding on the remodeling project soon including before and after photos. What we did was move some cabinets (already posted that info), installed new countertops and sink, added a disposal, hot water dispenser, and dishwasher. We also painted the kitchen while the countertops where off. The only other things we have left is to replace the one light fixture and put new outlet/light plate covers on. It was a big project but did not take as long as most of our other projects seem to take.

We are both every happy with the finished kitchen. And of course the best part is... the dishwasher. :)

She Can Read!

The big news at our house is that Addie has started reading! For the past week she has been working on reading the first two Dick and Jane books. She is doing really well and we just keep going through a new chapter ever day or two. She has even started to read the words she has learned while we read her other stories. Michael and I are both super proud of her. The best part is that she is proud of herself.

Summer Time Fun

Before summer leaves us longing for more warm sunshine we've decided to make summer time fun a priority at our house. Don't get me wrong, the dishwasher/ kitchen project is still the number one priority (and should be done in the next week or so). But we need to enjoy our summer while we can.
On Wednesday us girls packed a picnic and went to the brownbag lunch concert at the bandshell on the bluff. We enjoyed our lunch with some friends. The kids enjoyed dancing and playing to the music. That night we eat a fast dinner so we could hurry off to the beach. It was a beautiful evening and we spent several hours relaxing on the sand. Addie dipped her toes in the water but it was really to cold that night to get in.
Thursday late afternoon us girls took our books out to the hammock and hung out there until Michael came home. Then he took my place while I cooked dinner.
Friday morning us girls meet up with a couple other moms/kids at the beach. Us mom's enjoyed visiting while the kids played. Then we all enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch at the beach.
Saturday Bill and Peggy joined us for a day at the beach. We where able to eat lunch in the shade of our beach umbrella and then spent the day jumping waves and building sand mountains.
Today we spent our day freezing corn. Okay, maybe that is not as glamorous as a day at the beach but we still had fun doing it as a family. I'm not sure what all we will be doing in the coming weeks but we are hoping to have some more fun filled summer days together.