1st grade

Another school year flew by. Ethan is already done with 1st grade! Summer break was not met with much enthusiasm from him. He keeps telling us he would rather be in school. No matter what fun activity we talk about, he still says he'd rather be in school! We are thankful he loves to learn!

Just to give you (and myself) a glimpse of how much he's grown since September, here's his first day of first grade picture:


He looks old enough to me in that picture. Then, I look at his last day of school picture:


He has really grown up! He was making me laugh when we took his picture because he kept trying different poses. Such a funny kid.

Hopefully we'll be able to keep him busy until second grade starts in the fall!

Sleepy Norah

One of my favorite things to do is watch Norah sleep. She sleeps pretty well for a little baby and I love to take her picture while she's sleeping. While she has a number of positions that she sleeps in, her favorite way is to sleep with both arms above her head. We know that she is in a really deep sleep when she is like that--she won't wake up to eat and she'll sleep through a lot of noise. I thought I would post pictures of how cute she is in her sleep.

An arms up deep sleep position--with an open hands variation.

Another arms up, this time with tight little fists.


A unique on the side "because my parents have been bothering me and and I'm trying to get them to leave me alone" position.


Deep "who needs a pacifier" sleep.


Slumped in the bouncy seat position.


Finally, the "I don't want any blankets" position,

Norah generally sleeps the best when she's cuddled with someone (and I have a hard time resisting that!). However, when we want her to sleep on her own we swaddle her with a blanket. She sleeps great that way and usually doesn't kick out of the blankets until she wakes up hungry. Such a cute baby girl!

Dirt

You may think that the birth of Miss Norah made things all "sugar and spice and everything nice" around here. Trust me, that's not happening. There's still plenty of dirt and mischief! The boys have been enjoying plenty of time in the sandbox. However, they don't just dig holes and drive trucks in it. They lay in it, roll in it, scoop it with their hands (and clothes), and generally just wholeheartedly enjoy it. Since they were remarkably filthy one day, Jason took a couple of pictures. Evidence of the dirt!


Shovels are old school around here. These guys prefer the use of the shovels God gave them. I'd also like to note that they generally scoop dirt into their shirts and pockets and then jump around laughing. While I can understand what a riot that is to a 4 and 7 year old, trying to wash it out of clothes is enough to drive this mom crazy! We'll see if my "don't put dirt in your shirt anymore" declaration will actually hold.


Thankfully they prefer not to wear shoes in the sandbox. These toes need some good scrubbing in the shower when they come in! No baths are allowed, showers only, when the toes are this dirty.


Seriously. Don't those faces cry "mischief"? I told you they roll in the dirt. I think that little boy spit plus rolling in the dirt equals one muddy face. I think Ethan already ate his fair share of dirt so he keeps his face farther away from the sand!

Despite the extra laundry, soap, and showers that they require after playing in the sandbox, it's one of the best toys we have and we love it!