The First Day of Reception

Rooke started school last week.  

Whoa.  

I'm still kinda freaked out about the whole thing. 

In England, school starts at age four.  The first year is called Reception.  It will be like a pre-school/kindergarten hybrid, with lots of playing and a strong emphasis on social and emotional development while they increasingly introduce more structured learning times for reading, math, and writing.  What to do about school for Rooke this year weighed heavy on me for a long time.  But I'm thankful that Ryan and I have settled on a decision that (we pray) will be good for Rooke and suit our family well.  

His official uniform shirts were late in arriving, so the "first day pictures" may need to be re-taken for the history books, but he looks so handsome and grown-up no matter what!   

The first day went well.  My brave boy encouraged me to keep myself together by fighting back his own tears as he gave me one last hug around my legs before I stepped out the door.  

I love this little guy so very much.    

Totally four.

He chose meat pie from our local butcher with mashed potatoes for his special dinner.  Goofy guys!  

This was taken on a different day . . . . we were walking home from school and he was collecting a bouquet.  We passed a little girl walking with her mom.  Rooke stopped and asked the little girl if she wanted one of his flowers.  Melt my heart!  I may or may not have teared up seeing that interaction.  I'm just so proud of him!  

Old Macdonald's Farm

Who knew that Old Macdonald had a farm here in London!  We spent the day enjoying the sunshine with KayeK and Big Daddy at this family-friendly farm.   

This might have been the highlight of the day for Rooke!

We made a good team.  My feet were long enough to reach the pedals and she could hold onto the steering wheel.  Driving a tractor can be hard work.  

Super Star Baby who barely made a peep all afternoon.  She gets the award for being the child with the best attitude all day!

Gretchen wasn't tall enough to ride the mini roller-coaster, but Rooke had a ball!

Surprise!

August Phone Dump - lots of firsts

As I looked back on these pictures captured on my phone in August, I realized there were several "first" moments for us . . 

first time to shop for school clothes - lookin' good!

first time to lay outside in a diaper (yay for warm weather!)

first backyard camping dinner

first tastes of rice cereal . . . 

He was very interested in the process of Bridgette getting to eat something other than milk and wanted to finish off the few bites she didn't eat.  Funny guy!

first roller coaster ride together

first hair cut from someone other than Mom or Dad (he didn't want me to take his picture after the haircut, but was willing to smile for a photo in the store if he could pose with a car!)

first tastes of banana

Some other fun moments from the month (not necessarily firsts) . . .

a walk to the park to feed the ducks with our friend, Patsy

summer spaghetti dinner outside, finished off with a family trampoline session

the clips are just as much function as they are fashion

a morning walk through the "wood" with friends

Story time for Puppy Dog and Blue Dog before naps 

The coordinated nap is a beautiful thing.

 

She makes me smile all day long.

 

I really like being a mom.

Lately

We've been enjoying our last days of summer (even on those days when the weather already feels like Fall has set in!).  

Some monkey business during a church picnic

Gretchen had fun with these cute girls at the picnic

I often have little craft things planned to do with the kids.  Sometimes they work.  Sometimes they don't.  Rooke was really into this particular craft and requested to do it again the next day.  Fun!

I know I'm not the only one who feels like things often look perfect through the "blog lens".  Some of these photos are just to make sure you know that we have those "off" days like everyone else.  We planned a fun family outing on Saturday.  The weather was perfect and we headed North to a huge manor with a sculpture garden and kid-friendly water garden.  Ryan and I were really looking forward to it!  We got there, changed into swimsuits and were ready to giggle as the kids splashed and played on one of the hottest days all summer (I think it actually broke 90!).  

See that face?  No, not Ryan's.  The other one.  That pretty much sums up his attitude about playing in the splash garden and getting wet.

She got in the water for a minute, but the slouchy body language in this photo and the strap falling off her shoulder communicate how she was really feeling.  

 Baby Bridgette played while her siblings whined about wanting to go home.

And so we left the splash garden and moved on to the sculpture garden where we had lunch and attitudes slowly improved.  Thankfully, the day ended better than it began.

Ice cream always makes things better!

Backyard Camping

Some of my fondest childhood memories are from our family camping trips.  I want to pass that on to my kids.  So we went camping with Rooke when he was seven months old.  And then with Gretchen when she was five months.  Without our camping buddies, the McTaggarts, close by, and remembering clearly what it's like camping with an infant, I suggested that our family camping trip this year go no further than our backyard.  It was the perfect way to "camp" with our kids at their ages right now, and so much fun!  I think we'll make backyard camping just as much a tradition as real camping for years to come.  

When Daddy came home, we lit the fire and the camping really started!  Hot dogs and s'mores for dinner! 

Everyone had their own spot to enjoy the fire

I am richly blessed by my family.  Especially that handsome man in the middle.

More s'mores, please!

Good morning!