Digging in the dirt

While Laine and Mead are at school together three mornings a week, Cole and I get to hang out.  Sometimes that means running errands, sometimes going for a walk or bike ride, and sometimes it means just hanging out without any plans.

This is where Cole decided to play the other morning... digging in the dirt right next to our house.  He was perfectly content for a long time - until I had to dust him off to go pick up the girls from school!  I look forward to many more mornings together with this little guy.

Mead's Class

All these pictures are compliments of Mead's teacher - just a snapshot into her daily activities... 

She has a small class - 3 girls and 3 boys - all of whom are clearly excited to be there!

Playtime and coloring,

Hanging out with her best friend, Mary,

Snack time,

Recess,

and some time to ponder :-)

Who wouldn't want to go to preschool with days like this?!?

Mead's First Day of School

Mead also started school this week, one day after Laine started.  Mead is a "Little Pelican," joining other 3-year-olds on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings for school.

Uniforms are not required until kindergarten, but Mead wanted to match her sister and so wore a uniform shirt just the same.

She has been so excited to start school!  She entered the classroom, cool as a cucumber, and sat right down in her teacher's lap to read a book.  Didn't even want to stand up to give me a hug goodbye!

Mrs. Kugler told me later that about 5 minutes after I dropped Mead off she started crying and asking for me.  Maybe she wasn't so confident after all!  Oh well, it's nice to know she missed me a little bit :-)  Today she came home saying, "Mommy, I didn't cry at all today!"  She's getting so big.

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Laine's first day of kindergarten.  She was so excited - she got up on her own this morning, took a shower, and got on her uniform, all before 7:00.

Her good friend, Ellie, is in first grade this year, but they'll get to hang out at recess regularly.

Mrs. Smith is her teacher this year - already winning a spot in Laine's heart.

Here's the whole class.  Looking forward to a fun year together!

Laumeier Sculpture Park

It's been over a year since we visited Laumeier Sculpture Park, and Laine requested a visit, so I obliged and invited a few friends to join us.

The park is enormous, and it was a hot day, so we only made it to the sculptures near the front.

The kids enjoyed the giant colorful maze...

And the hanging tree tent.

We still had a few smiles at the end of our sunny visit.  Perhaps next time we'll come when it's cooler so we can explore a little longer.

Obsessed

I posted this on Facebook already, but it's worth repeating here (especially since I use the blog as a picture journal.)

Apparently I changed my mind from this post and decided it would be okay to let Cole sleep with these - he just won't put them down!

Crayon Canvases

After the tie dye shirts I wanted to do one other craft this summer.  A friend made these really cool crayon canvases earlier in the year, so I stole her idea and made one for each of the kids' rooms.  After buying the supplies, I hot glued the crayons on and Penny set to work with the hair dryer.  We each liked doing the part we did, so it worked out well!

Laine's, with shades of pink.

Mead's, with green and purple to match her room.

Cole's, with primary colors.

These were an inexpensive and fun craft, and they add a nice splash of color to the room.