August Round-up

 August was a fun month at school for the kids. Here is a round-up of some of the things they worked on.

 By Owen:

Gingerbread People

 

 

 

  

 Practicing letters

  

 

Owen has been working with an occupational therapist the last few months for strength exercises in his hands and body. At first I was skeptical but it's made a huge difference. He used to hate writing and anything that had to do with art, but we found out it was because it was hard for him. Now he likes to do both and seeks those activities out! He's also not as clumsy as he used to be, which is good.  He's all done now and here is his graduation certificate:

By Maddi: 

 

Maddi's class enjoying a walk (she's in the middle buggy, front right)

 Both kids received reader certificates this summer from our new Mayor (yippee.)

 

And here are their recent classroom newsletters:

 

 

 

  

The kids have been doing great. Maddi is learning to say more words, walk backwards and even trying to jump. It's so funny to watch her learn things that we take for granted. 

I can't believe summer has come to a close but it's been a great one!

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend was full of weddings. Brett went to Maryland to see our friends Cindy and Mike get married in Maryland.

There were lucky enough to have a Friday wedding so they could enjoy their day before Hurricane Irene made landfall. One day later and they would have had to reschedule!!! From what I hear it was a beautiful night and a great time.

The kids and I went to Pennsylvania (Johnstown) for my third cousin's wedding. I think Phillip is my third cousin anyway. He's the son of my second cousin. It all gets confusing after that...

Anyway, it was a great weekend and the kids behaved pretty well thankfully. We made it to the airport and on the plane all by ourselves. Then, my mom picked us up in Pittsburgh and we drove (a long way) to Johnstown. But first we stopped to see the TRex at the Pittsburgh airport of course!


 

The wedding was on Saturday afternoon and the reception was that night. The kids came with us to the ceremony.

Phillip waiting for the bride

 Pronounced Husband and Wife

The kids did stay back at the hotel on Saturday evening with my Aunt Lu and Ed. EVERYONE was so excited!!!






Meanwhile, my Mom and I had fun at the reception visiting with all of our relatives that we haven't seen in awhile:)



 It was lots of fun!!!!

And, Brett and I were both fortunate to make it home as planned with all the weather craziness. Sadly, the lake did flood pretty bad along with the town:( Our house was spared there but we did lose a tree that was holding up the hammock, mailbox and special tree sign that lists the family names. The community property sustained some damage but hopefully nothing too major. I'm sure it's going to take a long time for the downtown area to recover so please say a prayer for everyone there.

First Day of Pre-K

Owen started Pre-K today!!! I can't believe he has made it to the oldest room at daycare. The time has flown by.
I wanted to make something special for his pre-school teachers. I saw this phrase somewhere and really liked it so I decided to print, paint a frame and voila. (sorry, picture isn't great)
Owen wanted to make them something too so he painted a dinosaur for each of them. I was just so happy he wanted to do a craft!
Thanks to Ms. Tasha and Ms. Teresa for being such wonderful teachers!

Thomas and Friends

This weekend we took Owen to Thomas' Big Day Out. There is a Thomas train to ride and all kinds of other fun stuff. We've been wanting to go the past few years but couldn't make it due to other obligations. So, even though it was raining like crazy, we packed up and drove to Union, IL for the big day.

Waiting to see Thomas

Thomas

Getting ready to ride Thomas

Meeting Sir Topham Hat

The railway museum where the event was at is one of the largest in the country or world (can't remember which) and they have all kinds of old trains that used to be in Chicago and Illinois, it was really neat.

Being silly

Old CTA Train

They even had old electric streetcars to ride.

There was a bounce house...
And tattoos and trains to play with.

One of Owen's favorite things was an old hand pedal car.

Picture by Owen

Despite the rain, mud and soggy conditions we all had a great time!!!!And here is Owen's certificate of participation:)