First Days of School

As promised, a couple of posts back I am going to post pictures of the boys from their first day of school so that you can see how much they've grown over the summer! Which has been a lot!

Ben is in 3rd grade this year. He absolutely loves his teacher and his excited to go back every day. He's had 2 days of school. Each day he has come home excited and eager to tell me about all of the fun things they did.

Joe is starting kindergarten this year. Kindergarten starts a little bit differently than the other grades. I went to school with him yesterday. I took him to his classroom, spent a little bit of time with him, and then I went to parent meetings. Afterwards, I came to his classroom to pick him up, we toured a school bus, and went home. He won't go to school on Monday, but will go on Tuesday with his whole class (only part of his class was there yesterday) and he will ride the bus! So look for pictures/videos of that to come! He seemed to like it OK. He was disappointed that his best friend from preschool was not in his class and that he did not see him. I think that once he makes new friends, he will be more excited! It's a big change. New school, new teacher, new friends, and riding the bus.

Well, here's the pics I promised:

Ben at the beginning of summer/last day of school 2009-2010



Ben at the end of summer/first day of school 2010-2011



Joe at the beginning of summer/last day of school 2009-2010



Joe at the end of summer/first day of school 2010-2011

The End of Summer 2010: Part I

It's hard to believe it, but summer is officially over. This morning, for the first time in forever, I woke up by alarm at a grotesquely early hour and HAD to get up. Not longer after that, Ben got on the bus for his first day of third grade. Tomorrow, Joe is headed to Kindergarten (with mommy) for his first day to meet some of his classmates.

It seems like not that long ago, I thought to myself that "we have the whole summer ahead of us." Not so anymore. It seems like just as I learned to relax and let go of my school year schedule/routine, it was over.

Last week, to celebrate the last week of summer we went on an outing every single day...No matter what. Monday we went to Cocoa Key. The kids had a blast on the water slides (even if they would only go on the same one over and over). Tuesday we headed to Union Terminal to once again visit the Children's Museum. I swear, that pass was a great buy and got TONS of use! Wednesday we went to Sharon Woods to the Harbor playground. My kids really enjoy that place! Thursday we headed to Kids First gym to slide and jump. On Friday, we went to Boonshoft Museum in Dayton. It ws 100% free with our Union Terminal pass and TOTALLY worth the drive! If you've never been, you should check it out!

Here's a few pics of the kids enjoying their last days of summer (in no particular order). School days are once again here...and not long after that, my favorite season: fall.

Butler County Fair

As a child, I had never gone to a county fair. Every year, I would read about the Butler County fair and toy with the idea of taking the kids. However, every year something would happen to keep us from going: my sprained ankle, 5 month old twins, illnesses...you get the picture.

This year I was determined that we would get there and we did!!! I couldn't believe how big it was, how many rides there were, booths, the animals...I was blown away. The kids were super excited, as well. At first, I bought wristbands for only the boys. I didn't figure that there would be many rides for Jake and Em to ride or that they (especially Jacob) would even want to. They can be timid about things like that. So I bought only a few tickets for them in case they wanted to ride something....the tickets were gone in about 15 minutes and we were in line to buy wristbands. They loved riding the rides. Jake especially loved anything resembling a vehicle and the "dinosaur coaster" which he thought was just like a real "dinosaur train" (he loves that show!) I was very surprised and excited to watch them try new things and to see their huge smiles.

We stayed there for about 8 or 9 hours. We were able to visit some of the animals. We played some games. Of course, what fair would be complete without eating cotton candy??? The fair will definitely be on next summer's schedule. I can't believe what we've been missing all these years!!!

Butler County Fair Video 2

Yes, that's my son screaming....

Touch a Truck 2010

Last year a fellow twin mom told me about Touch a Truck. We went, checked it out, and the older 2 boys loved it. Jake, however, wouldn't dare...touch a truck. This year, we again went to Touch a Truck in Sharonville AND in Fairfield! Sharonville had a lot more vehicles: army trucks, coast guard, etc. However, we got there a little late and the kids wanted to spend SO much time exploring each truck that we didn't get to all of them. So a week later, despite the extreme heat and my sleep deprivation, we went to Touch a Truck in Fairfield. While, they did not have as many vehicles as Sharonville, they did have some different ones. Thankfully, we went in the morning and made it home before the really bad heat hit. While all of my kids were exploring one of the vehicles (Yes, Jake WILL touch a truck this year! He loved them!), a photographer from the Enquirer came over and asked to take their picture. So, my children will be in next Thursday's Hometown edition of the Enquirer! I can't wait to see them!!! Until then, here's some pics from both of the Touch a Truck's....and if you've never been you should totally check it out next year!! It's tons of fun...and FREE!!!

Butler County Fair Video 1

Blast From the Past: Preschool Days

Last year Joe attened 1/2 day preschool 5 days a week. He loved it! He went from the little boy who wanted to only stay home with mommy to the little boy who couldn't wait to go back to school the next day. I hope that he will feel the same way this year at his new school! Since I was such a bad blogger and did not post all last fall/winter/spring (I PROMISE I will do a better job this year!) Here are some old pics from last year.

These are pics from Joe's Valentine's party. I was privelaged with being able to help plan and participate in all of Joe's class parties...except for Halloween when he was so stinking sick. Jacob and Emma attended the party as well. They had a great time. We had heart shaped sandwiches, fresh veggies & dip, and valentine cookies/cupcakes! We played a conversation heart relay and exchanged valentines. I think that all of the kids had a great time.

The first pic is of Joe and his best friend, Brayden. We're hoping that Brayden and Joe will be in the same class this year.







The next few pics are from Joe's star student luncheon at school. All of the kids took turns being the star student. They got their picture taken and hung on the wall for the month. They also participated in a luncheon with their parents and teachers. There was another big milestone at this event: the twins going out with NO DIAPERS!!!







The next set of pics are from his Open House. Now his preschool doesn't do a traditional open house. It's at the end of the year, instead of at the beginning. Every year there is a theme and each classroom has a portion of that theme. The classrooms are all decorated, their are games/crafts in the gym, and delicious snacks in the courtyard.







A few weeks later, we had Muffins with Mom. I was able to join Joe at school for a program, muffins, and to receive the sweet crafts he made me. I loved it!






The next set of pics is from his preschool picnic and graduation which happened all on the same day! Everyone packed a picnic lunch and met at Joyce Park. We played, ate, and had fun. Later that evening, we attended his preschool graduation!