Big L, Little l...

 This fall, I'm doing a little preschool at home with the twins.  Partly because I want to make sure there aren't any knowledge gaps when they go to the Montessori preschool next year.  Partly because I realized, over the summer, that my children do much better with structure, and this gives me a foundation around which to create that structure.  Partly because I really love theme weeks...

Last week was our first week.  I'm using the Raising Rock Star Preschoolers for my base curriculum.  She organizes it so that they learn the letters from the easiest to write to the most difficult.  I like that.  I also like that she organizes her lessons around a scripture - never to early to start hiding God's word in their heart.  From there I found a few other great websites with preschool activities, scoured pinterest for ideas that matched our theme for the week, and requested a myriad of supplies from the library.  It really took me back to my Activity Director days :)

Our letter for the week was L.  Our theme was "Light."  Our verse was, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in Heaven."  By the end of the week the twins could say the verse by heart - which completely melted mine!

Making sun catchers

 One of the things I REALLY wanted, after looking at all of the great preschool websites, was a light table.  But they are really, really expensive.  Out of our budget.  So, I found DIY version.  I was able to make it for $12.  I'd like to make some upgrades...eventually...but for now it works perfectly and was a huge hit!

 Studying our shadows (a product of light): Trying to get away from our shadows...

Jumping

 Running

 Tracing our shadows:

 Playing Red Light, Green Light

(I let them call it a few times, and took my turn running...they wanted to play so long we were ALL exhausted!)

Making the letter with our bodies:

Little l

 Big L

 Little l

 Big L

I'm not sure if I will put EVERY week on the blog, but I will probably include quite a few since the theme of the week is quickly becoming the center of all our activities!

Zoobilee!

Oh, my, I have a lot to catch up...my computer has been broken since we got back from Nebraska.  It has made updating the blog a little difficult...

This past week we managed to sneak in another fun adventure with our cousins - a trip to the zoo!  You know how much we love zoos.  Especially our local PPZ where we have a membership.  This day was especially fun though - the animals were more active than we have ever seen them!

The otters!

The big tiger - D loved getting "surprised" when it would pace by.  It was so big!

Some of the super active animals:

This tortoise walked all the way out to us and started eating - the animals were SO active!

We decided to try our hand at being animals ourselves...

Heading out.  Poor D was always trying to keep up with the big kids...

The kids really wanted to check out the playground outside the zoo.  We don't usually stop, but we were glad we did!

D was in love with another girl's baby doll - she even tried to take her for a walk!

The funniest of the kids to watch at the zoo was definitely D.  She just did adorable things.  She was obsessed with the burro - who was standing really close to the fence - and kept desperately trying to get her fingers through the fence to touch him.  She was cute and giggly.  And she did things like this:

Climbing a tree...

A day at the zoo is always fun, but sharing the best day we've ever had at this zoo with our cousins - awesome!

Hangin' with the Cousins

Our plans for the Labor Day Weekend were simple  - clean and organize.  We rarely have an open weekend, let alone a 3-day weekend with nothing to do, so we set our sights on tackling our project list.  But when the cousins called on Monday to see if we wanted to spend the holiday together, we knew time with them was worth setting the project list aside.  So they joined us at our lake for swimming and a picnic!

What's that in the water? Shark? Sea Monster? Whatever it is, Ryan is ready...

 Daddy expected a sneak attack, just not on him!

 H happily swimming with Daddy nearby.

 I didn't get many pictures of the swimming...because I wanted to be in the water with them!  But I can tell you that one of the favorite activities was swimming with a bucket and trolling it completely submerged behind them while their other arms and legs kicked furiously.  The point was to catch fish (they caught none), but what ended up happening (much to the parents' delight) was that they were completely exhausted and slept like logs all night!

After our picnic, we hit the playground.  This park has the best beach, but the worst playground equipment for little kids.  It did make for some cute pictures though...

My favorite part of this picture is little D at the bottom trying to figure out how to get up there like the "big girls."

 Get Daddy's help, of course!

 Ry-guy was determined to not just climb up, but over, and across, and up, and down the sliding pole.  Thankfully, Daddy was there to spot him on this feat.

 Just seconds after we told them not to climb up (and, yes, I took pictures of them disobeying rather than step in.  Mother/aunt-of-the-year.)

 But the pictures were just too cute!

 The dads managed to corral them all on the merry-go-round (the only age-appropriate-ish piece of equipment that could hold them all at once).  We assumed they were going to give the kids a ride.

 Instead they hopped on and let the kids give them a ride...

 ...and the kids loved it!

We spent some more time playing and hanging out at our house before the cousins had to leave and everyone had to go to bed.  So much fun to spend this time with our cousins.  Have I mentioned how much I love having cousins close?  This time together is just priceless.

It's the Hap-Happiest Season of All...

Pardon the absence.  After VBS we got hit with a bout of sickness that hit every single person in this household.  Allie has had it the longest - she came down with it first, and still has a lingering chest congestion/cough :(  But, we are finally all healthy(ish) just in time for (drumroll, please)... 

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!!

(cue cheers from the crowd)

It almost took me by surprise.  Between travel and VBS and sick kids, I didn't realize how quickly the summer had gone by.  Just the other day I was re-organizing my closet and lovingly placing my Huskers clothing on top, dreaming of football seasons, and in no way realizing that it was just days away!  Cue last night when Lucas says to me, "I just want to check the score of the Michigan State game."  Being accustomed to the deluge of pro-football pre-season games I responded, "Really?  Why?  It's not like the score matters.  It's just pre-season."  Lucas looked at me like I had 2 heads, and suddenly I realized that college football season had arrived!  It was like waking up one morning and realizing it was Christmas!

 This morning I pulled out the twins' team clothing for them to wear.  For the record, Ryan HAD to be in Huskers clothing because the only Michigan apparel he has is a heavy sweatshirt.  To keep it even, Allie is wearing a Michigan dress - even though it is too short...and pink...

Hallelujah!  It's football season!

(actually, he was yelling, "Go Big Red!" and waving to the team...)

And, of course, I had to get a million pictures to commemorate this holiday...

(to see past years, click here and here)

Then the twins played a little football with daddy...

Running.

 Kicking.

 It's good!

(he actually managed to kick it between the slats of the fence through a little hole between the weeds - it was impressive)

Running.

 Kicking.

 Psych!  She actually jumped over the ball...

Of course, it took about 10 minutes for the battle of the teams to begin.  I was disappointed that I didn't get a head start prepping the teams this year - playing the Huskers fight song, teaching them to chant Go Big Red, reading to them about my favorite mascot - Lil Red (no joke, we have his book).  Even though I don't mind if they cheer for Michigan, I was relieved when the twins told me this morning that they only cheer for Go Big Red.  Poor Daddy...

The love of my life...even though he cheers for the wrong team...

And thus begins another wonderful college football season.  I can't wait.  Even though last season was a little awkward, surely we have worked out our differences...or not.  Oh, well.  Here's hoping we can all be civilized, and if not, I'll just hope that it's because my team is winning!

Go Big Red!