Daniel on the other hand was not so excited to start school...He was beggign to wait another week! But once he started watching the DVD's, he was excited that each class was so much shorter than last year. First grade combines reading and phonics so it's a much longer lesson...he hasn't figured out that more lessons, however short they are, actually add up to longer school days! I'm sure it won't take long for him to figure it out! But for now I'm going to enjoy all the excitement about doing his school work!

First Day of School

Yesterday was our first day of school for the kiddos. Hannah was so excited. She's been begging since summer began to start school, and she was disappointed that she only got to do one DVD since Daniel got to do so many more! She's been playing at the desk for weeks making it her little "home." It's amazing to me how much of a nesting instinct she has at just 4 years old! She put her supply box we made in one of the little cabinets, and her special folder (she chose the one with all the fancy shoes on it!) in the filing cabinet. She is so different than Daniel was at this age....he couldn't wait to be done so he could go play, but Hannah wanted to do all of her papers and color the ones that weren't for lesson one! She was so excited to show Brent her work when he came home. He gave her special stickers for her work which was a special treat for her, too! We'll see if the newness wears off any time soon!

Getting Ready for School

Daniel says, "We made a school supply box, and Daddy helped. I put M&M paper on the lid, and I put yellow, red, green, and blue on the sides. We put M&M People on the lid and sides and a string of balloons, and a string of people. It has my name on the front, D-A-N-I-E-L. My favorite part was putting the M&M people on it."
Hannah says, "My box says Hannah on it. I put stickers and buttons on it. Mommy helped me. I smeared the glue with my fingers. It was messy. I did not like getting messy. "
So we went to Wally-world today for our annual buying of the school supplies...We decided to think "out of the box" for our school supplies holder and get crafty. We ended up with paper mache boxes to decorate. It was quite the time, but turned out pretty nice. Now we'll have to see how well they hold up during school...the boxes that is, not the kids! We're set to start on Monday...ready or not...summer is over! We're that much closer to "D-Day!" (Delivery Day)

Goofy Grins!

Well, it's finally happened! Daniel has lost his 2 front teeth! He looks like a 7 year old boy through and through now. We were at my parents' house last week getting ready for church. The first one was so loose it was barely hanging on. I made him let me pull it out so it wouldn't come out in the middle of church and cause a huge scene! Let me tell you, I was missing Brent big time at that moment since I am not one for blood or gory things! But I bucked up and pulled it out. When we got home Daniel started messing with his other front tooth. Tuesday started out with it barely loose and by that evening he brought his tooth to me in his hand asking for a napkin for the blood. Had to post a picture of him since he looks so goofy without his 2 front teeth!

They're back and things are back to normal...well. as normal as we get around here!

We drove back from my parents on Wednesday, and I have to say, "It's good to be home!" We had a great time, but there's no place like home! (I feel like I should be clicking my heels together) The kids were away from home for almost 5 weeks, so it will take some time to get used to a normal routine around here again! Brent took today off and we went bowling in Iron Mountain. We went in the afternoon and practically had the entire place to ourselves! It was great...and we had a coupon/gift certificate so it was FREE!!! Even better, heh? Next week is inservice for the faculty/staff at Northland so that "normalcy" thing will be tossed out the window again! I may just wait until we're empty nesters to try and establish any sense of normalcy in our lives!

Thanks to all our family that we were able to spend time with these past few weeks! We had a great time! We are so glad that Daniel and Hannah got to spend time with Brent's Grandma in Ohio while they were staying with Brent's parents for 2 weeks. Great Grandma, Hannah says, "we miss you and I hope you're having fun." (Thanks for the fabric, too!) They had a great time with their cousins, too! Hope grandma's hillside recovers from the slip n' slide! And Aunt Suzie, Hannah's making scrapbooks for everyone now! She had a great time making one with you, and I love it, too! Will try to post a few pics soon of what's going on!

They're coming back soon!!!

My kiddos are coming back soon! They've been visiting Grandma and Grandpa Griffin in Ohio for the past week and a half or so, and I'm going to pick them up on Friday! Don't get me wrong, it's been a really nice break to have some quiet time around the house, but it will be even better to get them back! Who could have guessed I'd miss those little boogers so much?!?

I've been working hard the past couple of days trying to get work done around the house. I cleaned the garage out yesterday...not something I'd reccommend for the faint of heart! It was a chore, but looks great now that it's clean! I spray painted the ugly 70's door going into the basement...I now understand your spray paint addiction, Carissa! I couldn't stop! I kept looking around thinking..."Okay, what else needs some sprucing up?!?" Now I have to figure out how to get rid of all the junk that was in our garage! Watch out GAD...here I come...loaded for bear! (For those of you who don't know much about living in the middle of nowhere...GAD is the garbage place where we have to take all the extra things that won't fit in the bright orange bags we have to buy to get our garbage picked up...once every 2 weeks)

Next post will probably be all about the kids again...they seem to work their way into the spotlight...and my heart :-) (How's that for sap...I'm clearly missing them, heh?!?)