Vacation Stat Addition

We forgot a very important stat for our 2011 summer trip:

Pizza Ranch dinners enjoyed: 5

Oh, Pizza Ranch, we miss you!  Come to CA!!!  More summer vacation pix to come. Paul is working on another video.

Purple People Eaters v. SD Super Chargers

We missed the NFL season opener game due to the power outage, but football is definitely playing at our house today!  The Chargers season opener is against the Vikings.  This is one game where I will be happy with however the game ends...oh, the joy of having my two favorite NFL teams facing off!

Facing off before kick-off

Caleb has been talking about this game for days now. We got home from church with enough time to eat lunch and be ready for the kick-off.  The boys each put on a jersey--Caleb in a Tomlinson Charger jersey and Isaac in a Favre Vikings jersey--to signify the team each one was planning to cheer for.  We were all watching the opening kick, and within one minute Caleb was pouting when the Vikings returned it for a touchdown.  And Isaac is talking some serious smack since the Vikings are up by ten points.

Watching the opening play

The boys also had their football ready and started playing with each other as the game began--full contact and tackle.  That lasted for about two minutes before Paul sent them out of the room since they were blocking the view of the game on TV. 

Life is just a little sweeter now that it is football season again.

Snow Day...

Oops, I mean Power Outage Day.  Paul and I remember the joy that came with a big snowstorm and the anticipation of whether or not school would either start late or be completely cancelled when we were growing up. As follow-up to the last couple posts about Isaac's starting school, we get to post just one more school story.  Thanks to some power worker who made a mistake during a routine power check on Thursday, over one million people experienced a power outage.

He has been in school for less than a week (2 1/2 days to be exact) and has already had school cancelled. Unfortunately, he was not too thrilled to find out that school was cancelled.  All he could think about was that it was his share day and that he knew his memory verse.  And besides, in his words, "But, Dad, the power is back on!"  He ended up getting to go to a pool party at a friend's house so the day was not a total wash for him.

Although the radio was warning people that power might be out for a full day or longer, we ended up being without power at our house for about 11 hours. The funny thing is that a few of us girls were getting together to say goodbye to a friend, and our plans for the evening centered around having dinner at a local restaurant.  Needless to say, we had to go to plan B since everything was closed.  We spent the evening at one girl's house (whose husband was out delivering generators) and grilled up the random things we thought would spoil during the power outage.  Girls' night consisted of sitting in our friend's driveway with flashlights and one headlamp, a grill and a meat-filled dinner:  two steaks, five hot dogs, one cheddar wurst link, ramen noodles, sparkling lemonade, pita chips and hummus (about the only thing on the list that might be "normal" fare for a girls' night out).  Despite the change in our plans, it really was a great time though we were sad to have to say goodbye to Tami.

All ready!

Before this school year started, we were all geared up for all the school supplies Isaac would need. When we got the supply list, we were pleasantly surprised. He only needed to get a backpack and folder since he already had the lunchbox, beach towel and paint shirt that were needed. (Since the kindergarten teachers want the students to be using similar supplies, the school provides most of the typical things needed in the classroom.)

Isaac had fun picking out his backpack. We splurged and got him a good one that will hopefully last him a few years in elementary. He thoroughly enjoyed choosing his Mario Bros. folder and packing all his supplies in his backpack before school started.

Packed and ready for day 1

The day before school began, "Aunt Pat" sent a frosted apple-shaped cookie home for Isaac with this note on the box. Since she is the first grade teacher, Isaac will now be referring to her as Miss M.  We had to practice proper names for many of the elementary teachers before school started since the boys have known many of them as "aunties."  (Notice the card on his backpack above--that was the thank-you note he wrote to give to Miss M.  Caleb got so excited that he had to write a note, too, and made one for Aunt Pat & Aunt Nita telling them to have a good year.)

So excited!!!

Kindergarten!

Isaac started kindergarten last week, and he absolutely loves it!  He will be going to school full days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week.  However, because school started on a Tuesday, he went for the half day on Tuesday and did not have school again until Friday.  Then we had the holiday weekend so the routine of school has not completely started for him yet.  We'll just say that he was itching to get back to the classroom today, and we are ready for the a regular week.  

Posing at home before heading to school

Paul took him to school the first day. Now, I have had a lot of people who have been surprised that I did not take my firstborn son to school for his first day of kindergarten.  Please do not judge me. Isaac decided that he wanted to ride with Paul so the deal I made with him was that he had to let me take a pix of him at home before he left. When he refused at first to take that picture last week, all I had to say was, "Okay, then I am taking you instead of Dad," for him to pose nicely for the picture.  (I realize that it is a big deal to send your baby to school. Yes, I get that, but I also know that Isaac had been dreaming about the day when he finally got to hang out at school with Paul so I was okay with letting him have his independence a little early. Besides, that way I was not one of those moms who had to be told to leave school so class could start that first day.  Tee-hee!)  

In front of his classroom

With Mrs. Petro

Our school has convocation at the end of the first school day.  The entire school attends, and parents are invited to come as well so Caleb and I attended (whether or not Isaac wanted us there ;-).  I missed Isaac as he walked in, and I was not paying attention when Mr. Kok asked the new parents to stand so I missed that as well. I guess I need to work on this being a parent at school a little bit more.  However, I did get a chance to take a pix of him while he was sitting with his class in their "Class of 2024" shirts. The shirts are so cute, and the kindergartners were even cuter when Mr. Kok presented (for the first time) the Class of 2024.  They stood up and turned around to look at the crowd sitting behind them; I was just waiting for them to start the Miss America wave and head nod at people.

One day closer to graduation!

When I asked him if he thought he would like to go back after his first full day on Friday, he got a big smile on his face and said (in that excited whisper kind of voice), "Oh, yeah!" He loves his desk, his basket of school supplies, his backpack, the new kinder playground at school, his lunchbox and packing it, his teacher, his homework, and pretty much anything that has to do with school.  We are so thankful for that.  I am also very thankful that he has a wonderful teacher and a great school filled with people that will care for him and help him grow each day to learn more about God's world around him. I was blessed to be a teacher at CCS and am so glad it is now his turn to get to learn from all of my wonderful former colleagues!

Shootin' with Uncle Brian and Grandpa

One of the MN summer vacation highlights that we will never forget was the first shooting excursion for the boys.  Uncle Brian (Danae's brother) and Grandpa (Danae's dad) took us out to the farm where we got to shoot clay pigeons with the shotgun and even try out Brian's handgun.  Having never shot clay pigeons, I had a blast trying to figure it out.  

Isaac was taught how to sight in his target with Uncle Brian's help and shot his first rifle.  Who knew he would be a dead-eye! We thought he had missed the Coke cans at first since they did not fall off the ledge but found out that the bullet had gone directly through the can without even shaking it.  Danae and I then took turns shooting at clay pigeons, and I even managed to hit a few in a row.   We were greatly outdone by an awesome display from Brian shooting two or three pigeons at a time.

Besides getting to shoot the guns, the boys loved being able to run around in and outside the hunting shack.  They also got to ride in Brian's Samurai and got to experience one of his thrill rides--straight up a mound of dirt and ditch and almost into the pond (at least that is what the boys thought).  

It was a great day and so fun to let our boys get a taste of what it was like for us growing up in the country.  I am guessing our boys will never forget these memories.  In fact, Isaac said that the shooting was one of his favorite things--even more than playing in the water. If you stop by the hunting shack some day, you may even get to see one of Isaac's clay pigeons with the bullet hole in it and possibly a pix of him hanging on the wall.

Here is a picture highlights video of our afternoon (be sure to notice how Isaac sights in the target with the  "wrong" eye closed--one of our favorite pix!):

Playing on our new Mac!

Just having a little fun with the iSplash app on our MacbookPro.

I can see where this could get addicting!