Biking the Trails

It was a beautiful fall day, so we went on our very first family bike ride on the Lake Rebecca trails.  Emmy sang and ate snacks in the bike trailer.  Watching Reese pedal her little legs so fast (about 4x for every 1 of ours) was one of the cutest things I have ever seen.  She did a great job and made it about half way (almost 2 miles) before going in the bike trailer too.  The only negative was trying to balance Reese's bike on our handle bars for the last 2 miles.

After our bike ride, it was time for a little sliding and rock climbing.

Box Trolls

Happy birthday party, Brayden!  Thanks for the fun day and Box Trolls movie.

Mums & Pumpkins

So much fun shopping for mums and pumpkins, then decorating at home.

The end result:

Oh Yeah, It's Dark

Every night before bed, Emmy has to double check to make sure it's dark outside... and only then is it slightly acceptable to go to sleep.  Click here for a video, although she's acting a little funny at first because I was videoing her.  My favorite part is every night she says, "Oh yeah, it's dark."

Let's Dance

The girls are both in dance class this fall,

While Emmy is only 2, she follows directions so well that she's allowed to go with the pre-schoolers (everyone else is 3-5 years old).

Emmy enjoys class, but tonight told me "I'm a little bit nervous" and cried, so I had to stay in the classroom.  I think she was tired and sad that she had to stop playing with her buddy Logan right before we had to leave for class.

Reese is in a class for 5-8 year-olds.  She does great except for the battle with her leotard, tights, and shoes.... every. time.

Picture Day

Practicing her smile for picture day.  Yes, I bribed her again this year to wear a hair bow... at least I told that it is wrong to bribe her, but I'm doing it anyway.  She picked out a new Barbie toy after school.

Performance

Reese was playing with the neighborhood girls when the doorbell rang.  Laura, Katie, Ellie, and Reese presented us with an invitation to a performance at 1:30... for the bargain price of $1 per person.  And, they were quick to point out that Emmy would need to pay too.

So we all walked down to the Ickes' house to see the show.  Libby and Leeo were sad they had to stay in their garage and not come inside.

It was a riveting performance (ok, not exactly) about a queen, big sister, baby sister, and servant.  Reese wasn't very excited that she was cast as the servant, but she spiced up her role by adding a dog to her servant duties.  Click here for a video of the first few seconds of the play.

Pump It Up

Happy birthday to Bode!  We had so much fun at your Pump It Up party!

Reese was pretty excited that her name was written on this door.  The staff person assigned to our party was also named Reese, so she heard her name a lot.

The girls had no fear on the slides and in the bouncers.  Click here for a video of Emmy, and click here for a video of Reese.

The kids worked up an appetite for snacks, pizza, and cake.  The kids each had to raise their hand for the type of pizza they wanted.  As I stood back, I wasn't sure if Emmy understood what they were asking as she sat patiently while Reese and the other kids raised their hands.  But she totally knew what was going on because she very quickly raised her hand when they offered the last type of pizza - she was just waiting for them to say pepperoni.  I'm amazed by her patience sometimes.

I have to remember this idea of having the person/people sit by the birthday boy while he opens up their present.  I LOVE that Reese and Emmy get so excited when someone opens the present they brought.  I think they sincerely enjoy giving gifts.

Lego Party

Thanks for the fun and adorable Lego birthday party, Ellie and Laura!

Emmy is so serious playing Bingo!

Little Grandma Haag

Look, it's a little Grandma Haag!  Or, maybe I should describer her as an "even littler" Grandma Haag because Grandma is already tiny.

Friday Night Homework

It's Friday night and Reese yelled, "Let's do my homework!"  I was so happy and proud that she enjoys school/homework so much.

But, 5 minutes later, she broke down crying because she can't write her letters perfectly.  Perhaps homework on a Friday night after a long week of school isn't the best idea.

Later I emailed Mrs. Schutte about Reese's concern with writing her letters.  I just wanted to make sure Reese's handwriting skills weren't behind the other kids and make sure I'm giving Reese the same feedback she is hearing during the school day.  I loved Mrs. Schutte's email back, so I'm copying and pasting it here...

Friday was the 1st day Reese cried in class over her handwriting of her numbers.  I was so surprised to see it.  She was so upset they weren't perfect!  I tried to tell her that they were all beautiful and just fine.  But, she takes every word I say in my directions as "the gospel truth" and thinks they have to be perfect and look like my examples.  She has great handwriting skills.  I want her to care about her work of course, but I do not want her to stress so much over it!!!  The poor little dear!  I will continue to talk to her in class and encourage her.  Like I said, Friday was the 1st I saw her so upset.

Thank you so much for the question.  She is doing a great job in school and I totally love teaching her!!!
Sue

Mrs. Schutte On the Mind

Reese must really like her teacher because Mrs. Schutte always seems to be on her mind.  Reese will randomly say something about her, even when we aren't talking about her or school.  Here are a couple examples...

"Mrs. Schutte wore a beautiful pink sweater the first day of school.  I guess she must not have a white one because she hasn't shown us that one yet."

At Target this week Reese told me, "Actually Mrs. Schutte is quite small.  She's about this big."

Happy Birthday Lauren

Happy birthday to Lauren!  We had fun at your dress up & drama party!

Culver's

At Culver's, the girls know the routine... you eat your healthy food first, then go to the counter to get your free ice cream.  Click here to watch a video of little Emmy ordering her ice cream all by herself.  My favorite part of this video is when she asks, "Where's my ticket?" meaning the slip of paper that gives her free ice cream as part of her kid's meal.

And Reese was pretty excited that today's flavor of the day was called "Really Reese's".  She yelled, "They really like my name!"

Expensive Cat

It's a good thing Leeo is such a sweet cat, because he is expensive.

I won't put dollar amounts (because I don't even want to know), but here is a list of vet appointments since he wandered into our garage last November...

• Overall exam and complete set of vaccinations
• Vet stay for a neutering procedure
• Emergency vet visit for a broken pelvis complete with x-rays and medication
• Vet stay and medication due to a terrible UTI
• Two vet visits and two different medications due to an ongoing eye infection, and then an allergic reaction to one of the medications

Emmy Days

I love my days with my Emmy Bear.  Emmy has been very into pretend play lately. She loves to play school where she is Reese, I am Mrs. Schutte, and Daddy is Mrs. Koosman.   Another favorite is to play "new girl" where she is a girl who lands on earth from outer space and comes to live with our family.  "New girl" is something Reese created awhile ago, but now Emmy pretends this too and puts her own twist on the story.  But beware, if you act these scenarios out in the wrong way, you will feel the wrath of Emmy.

Wheelers & Waffles

We spent the day with our cousins today.  Click here for a video of Emmy driving their 4-wheeler.  The kids enjoyed too many treats, including ice cream sundaes in waffle bowls.  It's no wonder the girls always ask when we can go to Peyton, Brayden, and Aubrey's house.

Misc

I finally had time to update the blog.  If you don't want to miss a single post, scroll all the way back to Aug 8th.

And, here are a few miscellaneous pictures off my iPhone.

Time for a bike ride.

Family massages at Daddy's softball tournament.

Emmy had a little fun with our new "plant a flower garden" sensory table.  Errrrrr...

Emmy said she wanted to drive, so I let her go into the driver's seat while I sat in her car seat.  She got the key all the way in the ignition before she told me, "I'm a little bit scared."

Cookies as big as your head! 

Click here for a video of Reese's new favorite past time - flips on the couch.