School Days!

School has started!
It's been a bit of a whirlwind around here, but hopefully soon we'll get settled into a routine. All of us (but one) went back to school this year. Jaclyn started 1st grade, Ashlyn started Pre-K, and Mom and Dad went back to teaching.

Ashlyn is doing such a great job in school. One of the advantages of me teaching this year, is that I get to have my daughter in my class! I was a bit worried about how it would go, but Ashlyn is doing really well. There's something about the structure of school that is good for my kids. So far, so good.

And Jaclyn has always thrived in school. She loves being with all of her friends and excels in her class. Hopefully this will continue! She's off to another great start!

Here's Jaclyn with her new teacher, Miss Franje. Jaclyn adores her!

More Updates

It's been a while since I've posted, so here are a few updates about our little ones...

Kendall is now 10 months! Wow! My baby is quickly turning into a toddler, and it makes me kinda sad. She had a few rough weeks there (which I now think must have been tooth related), but now she is back to being pretty happy and a great sleeper. Yeah!!! She is now pulling herself up and is just starting to cruise the furniture. I guess it won't be long now until she's walking. I think she'll walk later than the other girls, but I'm not sad about that in the least! I kinda want to slow this last one down. I'm not in a hurry to see the baby days slip away.

And Ashlyn is now riding with only two wheels! I should've know that once Jaclyn did it, Ashlyn wouldn't be far behind. Ashlyn just couldn't go fast enough with the training wheels on! She had tried it about a month ago and decided she wasn't quite ready. But then last week, she said she was done with them, and she was!

Our Vacation

Amidst the hustle and bustle of moving and getting ready for school, we took some time to go to North Carolina with all of my family. My cousin has a lake house, and we had a lot of fun being together and playing out on the lake!

It was a very long drive, but we divided it up into 2 days and spent a day in the middle going to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. That was really neat, and I would really like to go back some day when my kids are older, and we can really get the benefit of it. It explained all about creation (based on the Bible, of course), explaining things like dinosaurs, the flood, and the scattering of the nations. Very cool.

So, after 3 days of being on the road, the kids were very excited to get settled and swim, swim, swim! The also had a boat and a lot of kayaks, so the kids were pretty much in or on the water
the entire time. They LOVED it!

It was a really nice time, just being together with family without any work or church commitments.

Here's my dad with Kendall.

My grandmother and Jaclyn

Nana and the girls.

We were also surprised to learn (on the road) that my cousin, Nikki, was going to get married! She had gotten engaged that Saturday (while we were en route). So, since my whole side of the family was coming to North Carolina, they decided to get married on Thursday, right there at the lake house! So, we also managed to fit in a family wedding! My dad performed the ceremony, my sister-in-law decorated and took pictures, and my sister and I sang (not to mention tons of food preparations by my cousin, Jody. I was amazed at how everything came together in that short time. It was a beautiful wedding, and it was great that we were all able to be a part of it.

And, guess who "caught" the bouquet? Jaclyn! It actually dropped to the ground, but she was the first to grab it.

That was very exciting for her!

It was a very special time.

Finally Done!

We finally have grass! Going without definitely makes you appreciate the little things. Goodbye mud!
So, as promised, here is a better picture of our lovely new house.

(Please pardon the big, green hose on the front walkway. Anyone who's ever watered sod will understand.)

The things they'll do for us...

I would never be able to do this.
Makes me soooo thankful for my courageous and loving husband!
(He's over the stairs that lead down to our basement.)

All done. Whew!

Aren't I a great wife?! He'll only have to change out those pictures once every 6 months or so...

Updates

While the adults in this family have been preoccupied with the move, the kids have continued to grow and play.
Kendall started crawling on June 11th, the day we closed on our new house. She was 7 1/2 months. She has now started to push off on her feet as she crawls, and it's only going to be a short time until she's figuring out how to pull herself up. The baby days will soon be over. (sigh)

And, Jaclyn learned how to ride a bike without training wheels shortly after we moved in. There is a 6 yr. old girl up the street (yes, out of the 4 houses near us, there's a 6 yr old girl!!), and she was riding around without training wheels. Wouldn't you know that it only took a little bit of peer pressure to make her determined enough to do it. It didn't take long, and she's now zooming around! (The picture shows her on the little bike that we started with. She has now graduated to a bike that's more her size.)

A New House and Wild Weather!

So, I've been waiting to post a picture of our new house until we got sod in, but that just may not happen for a while. We are getting so much rain that they can't do the landscaping! So, here we sit, in the mud.
And, of course, what do we get tonight? Crazy storms and tons of rain! As we speak there is a mini flood outside, on our street. Fortunately, there's no water near our house, it all drains the way it should, but there's definitely more ponds than the one that's supposed to be there!
We got a little break in the rain, and God sent us a rainbow, so I thought this would be a good time to show a picture of our new house. There are only weeds in the front yard and we still have a big moving truck in the driveway, but oh well. Maybe sometime within the next month I'll be able to show the pretty picture of the house with all the flowers and trees. But, until then, this will have to do.

And, this is my new view out my front window.

What an amazing sunset.