Hi everybody! Just wanted to post some new pictures and stories of the kiddos. I have lots of pictures from this summer so will keep my writing as short as possible. The first several here were taken in our back yard. I really wanted to get some nice shots of the kids that I could blow up and hang in our house and we got lucky...we got some great pictures! It's nice that Holtz is old enough now to smile on command and sit still. Made my job lots easier! Not sure why he always cocks his head to the side but is still so cute!
Holtz has really become such an awesome little guy. He is so sweet and is absolutely hilarious! He doesn't like load noises (covers his ears). He says cuter for computer, asks "why" a ton, calls Grace "Grashe" and sometimes says, "aweshome (for awesome)!" That's my boy! He also asks, "where are me" while covering his eyes instead of hiding for hide and seek. He likes to say things just like Grace too. For example he'll say, "You never ever evvvvvvver let me do anything," and "I neeeeeed something to do," and "I'm staaaaaaarving." Talking about wanting to be like Grace, they often have dance parties together. It's cute but consists of Grace dressing Holtz up in one of her dresses, bracelets, sticker earrings, you name it, he's wearing it (and loves it)! And...I swear, this boy talks non-stop. Most of the time about nothing- just talk talk talk talk...
Sharon has really been making some adorable outfits for Grace. The tank above and this one piece below are several of them. Also, further down in the blog the outfit she wore on her first day of school (one of my favorites!) Adorable! She made Holtz a cape to wear for the kids' dance parties to be a little more boy. Unfortunately, instead of keeping it tied around his neck, he'll pull it down under his armpits and say it's a dress. He is brainwashed! Ha ha ha. Oh well, he'll get it one of these days!
We did lots of playing out back with our neighbor friend Savannah. Below was taken after the kids swam and now were having a picnic with bug cakes- yummy! I'd say we spent most of our summer in the backyard- it was fun!
Holtz thought they were delicious!
We again attended the 2nd Sunday event held here in Lexington. This time it was at the Lexington Airport. It was really neat to actually be out on the runways! 2nd Sunday is an event that is held twice a year to encourage physical activity (I think the next one is next month). Grace is very happy that Savannah met us there!
Grace showing off her mad hula hoop skills!
Grace is shaking a robot's hand. Holtz wasn't having any part of that!
Just a couple of pictures from our annual luau. This year we had about 150 people attend (including my brother Dave and his wife Jen from California)! Dave and Jen welcomed their first little one on September 14th. Her name is Clairelynne Marie Brunsman! Congrats guys!
The planners and hosts!
One of the cooks!
Uncle Mike and Holtz!
The aftermath!
No Holtz No...don't drink that moonshine!
Can you believe how big Yogi has gotten? He is a little taller than Ralph was and probably weighs about 30 lbs. He looks so good and sweet here but he is a stinker! He's still a puppy (6 months old today) and has very much puppy in him. He loves to jump up and bite on Holtz (bad dog), be the kid's leader (not good dog), chew up their toys, etc. We are looking forward to him being several months older. People swear that goldendoodles are the best family dogs so we are waiting...not so patiently (ha ha ha). He has all of this energy but dislikes going on walks- weird dog. He likes the idea of throwing a ball in the back yard but usually after one or two fetches, he starts jumping and biting on me so the game is over.
Yogi and I went through Puppy Training at PetSmart and this is graduation day. He is perfect when I have treats in my hand. Evan is taking him now to the next class- intermediate! So far so good.
And now for the crazy photos. Here is Yogi running at full speed through the sandbox and going under the swing set.
He loves to dig in the sand. We tried to stop him but it was an impossible task. He goes nuts in the sand box- actually pretty funny to watch. Luckily he has hair (instead of fur) so once he shakes, it's mostly all out.
This was taken when he was quite a bit younger.
I didn't want to use those paper towels that were on the countertop anyways (ON THE COUNTERTOP)! This little sh*t pulls everything off of the table, counter top, etc. Nothing is safe when the Yoge man is around. Thank goodness he's as cute as can be. We still send him to puppy daycare to socialize him. I LOVE the days that he goes, it's peaceful. He likes it too- gets to play and swim in the pool.
We went to our first July 4th parade downtown. It was 108 degrees and we made it about 40 mins. Over the summer, Grace was in several camps. She was in a camp called Camp Invention- this was about the neatest camp! They got to take things (electronics) apart to see the inside and to see how they worked and then invent things using the stuff around them. She made a water balloon popper out of an alarm clock and made a functional city out of cardboard, magnets, lots of tape, etc. She also took several camps through the YMCA. They were soccer camp (she disliked a lot- too much running- he he), tennis camp (she liked this well enough), and a camp called Back to School Confidence Camp.
My grandparents came in town to join everybody in celebrating Dave and Jen's baby at their baby shower. It was perfect timing because my Grandad's 96th birthday was the same weekend so we drove up to IN to have dinner with him. What a special treat!
Mike flew in town to hang out with his girlfriend Ashley and all of us went to Thursday Night Live (live music every Thursday downtown) and then took the kids bowling for the first time! It was so so much fun! They had a lane to themselves and had bumpers and a ramp. They just had to put the ball on top of the ramp, aim it and give it a push!
The kids also ran in their very first Fastest Kid in Town race here in town (a series of sprints for kids ages 1-12). This was during the annual Midsummer Night's Run. They have a one mile family fun run (hopefully we'll be able to take part in this in several years), The fastest kid in town race (separated by age and by sex) and then there is a 5k at 8:30pm. They had a blast!
We did the race with our friend's the Wedekings. Here is Lauren and Holtz (they truly are bff's)!
They both got matching butterflies painted on their cheeks.
Getting their certificate...
Here we have the runners. On the left is Megan, Grace, Holtz and Lauren!
And to celebrate...a frosty at Wendy's-
Holtz moved to his big boy bed on August 11. He has done so great with the transition. He hardly ever gets out of bed. He really is an amazing little guy. He completely potty trained himself. I'll tell you (parent's out there with non potty trained kids), just let them do it when they want to. I struggled so much with Grace and Holtz just did it by himself. He even, a lot of times, sleeps in underpants and wakes up with dry pants! AMAZING! Note to self for all of you parents with little boys...when he starts potty training, make sure to invest in the toilet seats that go down slowly. If not, slam! Yeeooowww!
Grace making sure he was feeling all snug in his bed.
We took a quick trip to Charlevoix, MI to visit with Mimi and Poppy before school started. We took lots of boat rides (even had a picnic on the boat), went swimming at a sandbar (way too cold for me), ate lots of ice-cream, and just had a blast! Yogi came along and did great in the boat...even went swimming in the lake. I wish I had a picture of him in his lifejacket!
We took a boat ride into town to have ice cream several times!
Savannah had a Tinkerbell/ Peter Pan dress up birthday party this year. I have a pirate and a fairy! Guess who staged this? Not me...definitely Grace. She's a hoot!
Grace just raced down the waterslide.
It got a little chilly so out came the warm clothes. Check out Holtz's double black eyes. He fell and hit the bridge of his nose on the chair- yow!
Grace is officially in the first grade- first day of school was August 15th. She is doing so great this year. Do you remember how tough it was on her last year? She did not want to be away from home! This year she has Mrs. Dieffenbach and Sra. Guimarais and loves them both! Her school has adopted the 21st Century Learners Program this year (it's an organization that will help the kids learn the skills they will need to meet the demands of the 21st century) which has been really great for Grace. The kids earn beads (for a bracelet) when they are seen doing the things in the program. It focuses on creativity, global awareness, innovation, risk-taking, empathy, self-directed, adaptability, initiative, problem solving and collaboration.
Grace has taken her first round of state testing and again blew us all away. She tested in the 98th percentile for Math and the 99th for Reading in the district. Because she is doing so well in reading, she is being pulled out of class (with only one other student) to start reading in Spanish! She's being pulled out for math too so they are really finding ways to challenge her- it's great! Her grade participated in the Festival Latino that is held every year downtown. They sang songs in spanish and danced- very cute! I asked Grace several weeks ago about her day at school and she said that she didn't remember because her memory card was full- are you kidding me!
Enough about school...Grace has lost both of her bottom teeth and the adult teeth have grown in nicely. I'll tell you, parents who think that kid's losing teeth is cute are crazy. The tooth gets so loose and just kind-of hangs there. You want to rip it out but know you can't because then you'll scar them forever! Then when the new teeth grow in, (at least for Grace), they come in crooked! We thought, oh crap, she's going to need braces at 6! Luckily as they continued to grow in, they straightened out- whew! In this picture they decided they had to play in the rain.
Grace currently is taking several classes/ camps through the YMCA. She's taking t-ball, swimming and a cooking class. Here are some pictures of t-ball. She's the only girl!
Holtz had to go potty, thank goodness he's a boy because there were no potties.
Now for an update on Evan and I. Evan and I went to South Bend with Mike an Ashley to tailgate with our best buddies (Craig and Katie VanTornhout) before the ND/ Purdue football game Sept. 8th. It was great to be back on campus and even better to catch up and hang out with their daughter Chesney. Evan is also taking the CERT class that I took earlier this year and I am now taking the CFA (Citizen's Fire Academy). I know it sounds silly but it is so much fun...it's like being a kid again! We get to play with harnesses, spray fire hoses (way heavy and really tough), climb the ladder trucks, crawl through mazes blindfolded with all of the fireman gear on, etc. All of the stuff that the real firefighters have to do to become certified. It is so much fun to get out of the house. Evan and I also, of course went to see Jimmy Buffett with our neighbors. It's our yearly outing!
I wanted to thank everybody who contributed to my March of Dimes team. I was able to raise $425! Hope everyone is doing great!
1 comment:
Love to see the updates! Wish we were closer to y'all, some day!!
Cheers,
Paul
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