First Day!

 We made it. Through the summer that was absolutely incredible. We did a million-zillion things and now we are done. DONE-SKIS. We got to the first day of school and the kids are thrilled. Seriously. They love their teachers, their school, their friends. They have a zest for life that I really need to take ahold of. They love everything-except for maybe the things that I ask them to do. (story for another day) But here we are! School year 2013-14! 180 days until next summer. Let's do this!

Asher: 8 years old. 

Third Grade. 

Mrs. Gillespie and Mrs. Holly. 

He is in a new system of being team-taught. He is so excited about having two teachers this year and not just one. He has also applied to be a "library helper."  Fingers crossed! 

Lucy: 6 years old

1st Grade

Mrs. Barnwell.

Loves wearing earrings and bracelets. 

We had to get her a desk because she has so many on-going craft projects that they have been taking over our house. She also gets her own trash can for said craft projects. Sometimes called "crap projects" when they don't turn out so good. 

This was her heading into her classroom. One last look back at mom! Gah I love her. 

Asher right after he got off the bus. He had a great day. So did Mom. We all missed each other just the right amount!

The neighborhood clan that rides the bus! Love these kids! 

YAY for school! Love our teachers. Love our neighborhood. All is right in the world right now. :)

Welcome Back

Asher started the 2nd grade today.

He was so excited. He got the teacher he wanted. He has an awesome lunch box. All his school supplies. He was fired up.

Then as we approached his classroom he started yammering, "You know what? Summer was awesome. Let's do the summer over again. Let's leave. Let's get out of here and just keep on doing summer. Seriously mom. No to school. Let's just have more summer." 

Sorry bud. 

2nd grade is here to stay. 

Can't wait to see you at the end of the day!

Lucy starts school tomorrow. 

Stay tuned for this nut case: 

5 Years TODAY

We've been blessed to have Lucy in our lives for five years and I can't believe how the time has gone. She is so much fun and is so beautiful. It is tremendous to be her mother. She challenges me daily in so many ways but lately in ways that she doesn't intend. She is curious so she has asked me to define words for her and they have given me much food for thought. Words like; yield, compensate, panic, healthy, ecstatic. Try for a minute to boil down the essence of these words and you will see what I mean. She is challenging and lovely. A personality treat in a small body. This transition from the fourth to the fifth year has been a blessing to me and I can't wait to see all the ways that she changes as she leaves preschool and goes to kindergarten (EEK!) this next year.
If you get a chance, you should spend some time around my daughter. She is the cherry on top of life.

Changes Can Be Good!

Lucy and I started reading the American Girls Collection books this past week and started with the book "Meet Kit" about a little girl growing up in 1934 in the middle of the Great Depression.

Sounds fantastic for a nearly five year old right? 

It actually is because a lot of the character traits that I am trying to instill in Lucy are what are being developed in the lead character Kit.

Kit loves to read books, write her own newspaper, play sports and wants to build her own treehouse. 

She has a great sense of humor but more importantly has a strong sense of character and resolve within herself-especially when it has been revealed to her that she has acted rashly or her actions are selfishly motivated. 

With the setting of the book being in the Great Depression, the family is obviously going to go through hard times and that includes Kit. 

I often wonder what my own children would be like if we were living in another country or time and they were asked to do things like, I don't know-actual chores (like on a farm or village), and it has been fun to explore these topics with both Lucy and Asher through reading. 

It is one of the reasons that I love to read to is explore my own fantasies through someone else's "reality" and to see my own children do that is like a dream come true. 

In the last chapter of the book, Kit's mother says in order to overcome the Depression, "People will have to work hard. Use what they have. Face challenges. Stay hopeful...They'll have to make changes and realize that changes can be good."

This is particularly timely for us in our country as everyone needs to figure out finances, resourcefulness and figure out what is really important to them. 

Now, who wants to help me with Kickstarter account to buy Lucy an American Girl doll?

Have you seen how expensive those suckers are? 

Sheesh. 

A Months Worth of Pictures

With my camera lens having broken while we were in France, I haven't been very motivated to take any pictures. But that changed when I replaced it with an upgraded 50mm lens. 

This glass is SOOO much better its unreal. 

Example 1.

This is inside with no flash.

 Example 2.

I have not been able to get pictures of Ranger because his coat is such a weird color it doesn't show up well in pictures. NOT ANY MORE!

Look at my beautiful dog. 

 This is a ridiculous picture of Lucy just to show you how much she's grown this summer. 

This was a suit that fit her in June. 

She insisted on wearing it. 

I laughed the entire day. 

 Our prizes at the state fair. 

 Asher is now playing flag football. 

I have always used the line "don't smile" to get him to smile. 

So now that I am trying to get a picture of him being "tough" he can't help it, he has to produce the biggest grin you've ever seen.

 Gah, I love this handsome boy. 

 Lucy is as silly as ever. 

We were hiking and she got herself next to a rock and said "Mommy, this will be a good one."

 Then struck this pose. No lie. 

 A boy and his dog. 

I am so glad I captured Asher's expression here. 

Priceless. 

Lucy hilarity

Lucy loves to take pictures and being that she is home a good deal more than Asher (since she is in preschool) I have more material to work with. Enjoy the glory that is a 4 year old girl.

She hit a "little" growth spurt this summer. I think this was the last hurrah for this suit. 

Heading off to preschool. 

Our favorite part of the day is lunch (which we get to eat together) 

and on Friday's we make a special treat for Asher coming home from school. 

Lemonade Cake

 Lemon Puppy Show

And the little man who we have raised to love all things lemon related. 

He is quite happy to be the recipient of these good gifts. 

Yes. If you click on the names of those treats, there are recipe links. You are welcome. They are delicious. For serious. 

Lucy Video Monday

I have a series of videos that I have taken of Lucy lately that really make me laugh. There are several reasons for this.
1) she is really funny.
2) she is in preschool, so she is around the house more than anyone else in my world.
3) she is just like me.
4) Thus, she is really funny.


This was after her fourth soccer goal (be still my heart) and yes, that referee is wearing no shoes. Welcome to Asheville everyone.


Asher was trying to mess up Lucy singing the song, she when she got tripped up she had to get through the whole song really quickly to make up for the mistake. This gift is from her father, not from me.


This is at 8am. But you can hear this training going on at 6:30am as well. It is much cuter at a reasonable hour.


well, what can you say about this? Sometimes you just have to be insane.

Braids

When I was little, my mom braided my hair on a daily basis. 

She would braid my hair so tightly, that it would curl on the ends like Pippi Longstocking. 

One day, my kindergarten teacher asked me how she got my hair to do that. 

I told her, "My mommy wakes me up at 5am, braids my hair and hangs me in the closet by my hair until it is time to go to school."

She called my mom that afternoon to ask her if it was true. 

I was THAT CONVINCING.

Or my teacher was a complete idiot. 

I have bred a child cut from the same cloth.

See the resemblance? 

Check out my awesome kindergarten eyebrows. 

It's no wonder I have a bi-weekly waxing appointment.