school, school, and more school

Well it's a new year and I'm just getting around to posting about the beginning of school. *sigh* So this will be the first half of the year instead of just the beginning :)

Ari was not looking forward to school at all (except to see his friends). And then there's Evangeline who had been counting down the days for weeks. She is still just excited about school now (halfway through) as she was on the first day.

Our moms took the the kids to Grandparent's Night. They were spoiled with cookies and new books.

We sure love their teachers!

Evangeline's field trip in the fall was to Appleworks.

The tour guide told them all about the bees and trees. It was so interesting!

It turned out to be nice and hot that day :)

I was able to go on a a field trip with the Ari too. Fifties Day for Ari was spent at the bowling ally. It was most of the kids first time bowling (including Ari) so it was super fun watching them figure it out.

Ari's pumpkin project was pretty fun :) He stuck around for weeks and weeks and weeks (until there was snow on the ground). It was hard to part with this guy but it was definitely time!

Then Ari's class had their Christmas party with Minute to Win It Games. It's amazing what second graders really get in to!

Evangeline was so excited for the Christmas program! She had a small speaking part and did great (despite having her shoe fall off when walking back to her spot!) That night she asked "When is our next concert?!)

And then there's Ari, who also did great but was less enthused about having to perform :)

Evangeline's class party was fun to participate in. She just loves having us come to her class. And so do I! :)

October was fun! {Part 2}

Our annual tradition to Appleworks lives on! The weather was perfect and there actually were pumpkins this year! (Lots of rain last year left a pumpkin graveyard).

The kids had fun investigating all sorts of pumpkins, especially the rotten ones.

Every year we take a cousin picture on the pumpkins. There are more and more added to the bunch each year!

The animals are always a big hit too.

Except Lincoln preferred them from far away. We tried to get him close but that didn't end so well :)

October was fun! {Part 1}

We decided to go out to breakfast one morning. We normally choose Patachou, but we were pretty hungry and wanted to eat sooner than later :)

It was a big hit all around.

Then off to the zoo we went!

Lincoln gets excited about any and all animals. We've been to the pet store a few times because I get a kick out of his excitement!

We were invited by some friends to Kelsay Farms. Since their church rented it out we were able to go for free! The kids really enjoyed the corn maze.

And you can see the joy of going on a moo train ride.

Lincoln enjoyed these huge pumpkins while the Bigs played on the hay bails. What a fun time!

1.5 years {Lincoln}

I love this age for many reasons. He wants to be doing what everyone else is doing, even if it means being trapped in a toy.

He's saying some words like da-da, cheese, hi, Ari (or A-wah), momma (or MOMMA!!-it's always yelling). It's not a lot of words but he has an understanding of everything we say.

Things like "Put the cereal back in the pantry!". And funny enough he attempted to put the cereal back in the bag. This picture about sums up my life right now :)

This is his "cheese" face :)

He wants to eat all the time. (See spilled cereal picture above).  It's usually a win-win since the kids love feeding the mooch.

Everything is exciting to him. He will point and loudly exclaim "WOOOH!" at a dog, balloon, train, plane, scarecrow, pumpkin, you name it. If he hears music he will break out in dance immediately.

Besides the 5 month old who is living with us (he loves babies!), this is one of his favorite toys. 

He is a lover.

And he is a fighter :) Well, he mostly just wants to be in control so as long as you stay out of the way he is a lover.

He thinks he is SO big. Wants to be Mr. Independent all the time, and if you don't let him then lots of screaming will follow.

Most of his communication is in grunts and pointing. "Uh-uh. Uh-uh" and looks at you like "Come on, I know you understand me" :)

He's still hanging around the 30% in weight, even though at 24 lbs he feels like a big lug. I can't imagine a child in the 90 percentile! And for now he is average on height :)

He still doesn't sleep through the night (at least most nights) but at this point we are so used to it that I'm not sure we would know what to do if he slept all night. 

the fair!

We didn't make it to the fair last year, so this year seemed super special.

It was humid as always so the kids were on the lookout for the misters.

The little farmers area is always fun.

Lincoln was content playing with his basket and watching the kids at each station.

It's amazing how big the kids seemed this year. (They didn't need any help on the tractors!)

Evangeline and Selah kept asking me to take their pictures. Ahhh sweet little girls. :)

My little niece was a big helper.

I don't remember the horse station from before, possibly an addition?

After our lunch at the dairy barn we went to see the animals! We were in a rush at the end so I didn't get many pictures of all the different ones we saw.