October Happenings

It's been a while since I've posted!  We are staying busy and enjoying one of our favorite months of the year :-)  Here's what we've been up to!

We headed to the pumpkin patch after t-ball on the first cool Saturday morning of the month.  The kids look forward to it every year.

S'mores with neighbors around the fire pit.  Ava is quite a fan.

Lunch at Panera Bread after T-Ball

Jeff is in school Monday through Thursday night so this is what the weekends look like....

They love their Daddy time.

Dancing with the Stars...

Columbus day was windy and cold.  Ava didn't have school so we decided to take the kids bowling for the first time.  They loved it!

Dressed up for our neighborhood fall festival!

We have an Elsa and a Batman this year and they couldn't be more thrilled with their costumes.

Lunch and shopping on the square downtown. The kids have decided it's their new favorite place.  (Probably because of the candy store and star wars store)

Funny Man

Some Saturday night power wheel action with sweet cousins...

We celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary on Tuesday!  We visited the church we were married in and took a couple of pics.  

Here we are 8 years older.  And times two :-)

Our hearts are full!  We are so thankful for the past 8 years and excited about the years to come!

And lastly, Ava learned to ride her bike a couple of weeks ago!  Jeff worked with her one Sunday afternoon and by the next day she was on the go.  She's getting better with turns every day.  It's a little surreal to have a kid that rides her bike around now!  So proud of her.  Here's a video of one of her first take-offs :-)

T-Ball and a Special Award

We are pretty busy around here these days!  Keegan started his second season of T-ball a few weeks ago and he is having so much fun out there.  He is so much more confident than he was in the spring.  He runs after the ball and throws it (which is twice what he was doing last season. Ha!)  His batting is even better.  He makes contact every time and with a lot more force.  We are so proud of him and so happy to see him laughing with the team on the sidelines ;-)

Ava was recognized at her school's first spirit rally (Friday Live)  a couple of weeks ago.  The new Bennett Creed Award was given to a student in each grade that consistently exhibited the principals of the their creed - Believe in ones self, respect others, eager to learn, positive attitude and strives for success.  The principal called us a few days before and told us it was a surprise and invited us to be there.  The school's namesake Mrs. Bennett was there to give the award.  We were a little nervous about how Ava would react to a surprise like that in front of so many people but she did great.  She had big smiles and kept taking really noticeable deep breaths over and over.  

All the Creed Award winners had a their picture taken for display all year and a special lunch with the principals on Monday.

We are so proud of this girl!  She loves everything about school and we are so happy to see her work so hard and enjoy it at the same time.  We feel so blessed to be at such a great school!

September Happenings

The school year is in full swing and we've all adjusted to our new schedules.  It's always great when Friday rolls around though!  We love the weekends :-)  Here are some phone pics of the last couple of weeks...

We spent Labor Day on the lake with our sweet Daley friends.  

Ava  loved tubing but Keegan wouldn't even consider it.

Sweet Kinley turned 1 on September 5th!  She is such a precious girl.

We had a fun time celebrating her last weekend!

Keegan loves going to school.  I snapped this pic on the first day of carpool.  He feels like such a big boy walking to class by himself.  Although he told me he walked into the wrong class at first.  "That Mom told me to keep going down the hall," he said.  (He calls every woman 'that mom.'  Makes me laugh!)

He took Batman to school on Tuesday for his "Teddy Bear/Favorite Stuffed Toy Picnic."  He was pretty excited about it and told one of the 4's teachers that helped him out of the car at carpool "Look!  I brought Batman today!"  This kid couldn't be more different than his sister.  He's never met a stranger.

Ava absolutely loves jazz dance this year.  I love that it does not involve tights!  She comes straight home after school on Thursdays, picks out her leotard and shorts, and waits excitedly for 4:30.  

This is our fourth year with Mrs. Crystal and we are back in the pink room (my favorite room) where we started when Ava was 3.  Oh how they grow!

Just a snapshot of Keegan at the pond looking for fish one day last week.  I'm looking for ways to keep him entertained.  He hasn't napped since we've been back from California so I guess those days are over.  It actually works out because he goes to bed the same early time Ava does now - but wow the days feel long sometimes!