Science Fair

Tomorrow is the science fair at school and after the kickoff presentation where Jack had a chance to ride on a hovercraft, he decided he wanted to build his own. Yikes! I found a great website that had different levels of projects designed around building a hovercraft and finding out how they work. We successfully built a mini hovercraft out of a CD, a valve, and a balloon and it worked as intended by creating an air cushion to reduce the friction, allowing it to freely glide. It was a fun, easy project and I think he learned a lot. He has aspirations of building a "real" hovercraft that he can ride on. I think we may need Papa to help with that one!

Little artists

Elizabeth has been taking weekly art classes at a local studio all year and she absolutely LOVES it. It is fun watching her explore her creativity and her love for art has blossomed. Jack joined her for a class on Monday where they made robots out of recyclable materials. My favorite part of Jack's robot is how he made glasses using Q-tips and the cardboard from tape rolls. I just love watching how his brain works!

A second grader

I can't believe he is now a second grader! I like to compare the first to the last day of school pictures each year. The school year went so fast. He learned so much and is now a confident reader and a rocket math pro.  His favorite subject in school was math and he loved playing soccer at recess with his buddies. He kept his teacher, Mrs. Gray, on her toes with all his questions!

First day of First Grade

Now a second grader!

First 5K

Jack joined the running club after school this year to train for the Cellcom 5K in May. We ran the race together, the first 5K for each of us. I let him choose the pace we ran as I hoped to take it a little slower since I was running the half marathon the next day. It was a very warm day and he did a great job considering the heat. I think if I pushed him he could have ran even faster than his 28:33 time. He wasn't even winded when we finished. I'm so proud of him and hope to run many more races with him.

Early in the morning-ready to race!

Stretching!

He did it!

Playing Catch Up

Phew, this summer has been busy and is flying by. I type this while listening to one of my neighbor's fireworks shows (I both LOVE that WI is a legal state to buy fireworks and HATE that WI is a legal state to buy fireworks!). Anyway, I will try to play catch up for my lack of updates the last few  months. I would be a really bad mommy if I didn't include Elizabeth's 4 year old birthday pictures from last November (yikes, I am bad!).
We had a wonderful time celebrating our very loveable, yet sassy, princess Elizabeth!

Four! Dressed in her favorite color, pink!

She wanted all her favorites for her birthday dinner including, mac 'n cheese, blueberries, sweet pickles and fruit snacks!

Yummy cupcakes!

She's ready to open!

She was so excited to finally get a pillow pet

A princess dress for princess Elizabeth

 

Dance Recital

Elizabeth had her first dance recital in May. She did a great job remembering her routine, and wasn't afraid to be on stage in front of a large crowd in a huge theater. She loved her year of dance and asked me almost every day "if today is a dance class day?".

Science Fair

Jack participated in the school science fair last week by entering an interest project about how islands (both volcanic and coral) are formed. He learned a lot and he did a wonderful job presenting the material and mastering a very difficult topic. I was so proud to watch him! He is truly interested in the "how" and "why" of how things work so this project suited him perfectly. A couple of pictures of my little scientist (makes his retired scientist mama proud!).

Enjoying spring

I took this picture earlier this week while Elizabeth and I were on a walk enjoying the warm weather! I love how she is riding her tricycle in her frilly dress. Yes, that is the same tricycle I also rode as a little girl.  Please excuse the poor photo quality-I guess it is time to upgrade to the newest iphone.

Surgery

Elizabeth's eye surgery was on February 21st and it went well. She had some intense eye pain for about 4 days and then was pretty much healed by 7 days with just some blood remaining in the corners which has now been reabsorbed. Her eyes now look great and seem to be aligned fairly well (from my untrained point of view!). She has to wear a patch on each eye for 2 hours a day, alternating each eye each day. She is doing a great job helping me remember which eye her patch goes on. We go back next Thursday for a follow up with her surgeon.
Here is a picture of the little patient waiting for surgery. We were delayed several hours because the back up generator was not working so all surgeries were halted. She did a great job despite the delay. She crawled on the gurney by herself and they wheeled her off with no tears (thanks to the
"goofy" drugs they gave her prior to surgery, of course!). She came out of anesthesia fairly calmly and then fell back asleep for another hour. We were released mid-afternoon and then did a follow up with the surgeon the following morning before heading back home. I'm glad we did the surgery but I am glad that is now behind us as well!

Waiting patiently with "hop hop"

Field Trip

I chaperoned Jack's field trip on Thursday to the bowling alley. It was a fun morning! I had a great time with my teammates Dylan, Robert, Charlie and Jack.

 I took Jack on a lunch date after the field trip. He chose to go to a local Mexican restaurant and get his favorite meal, nachos. I enjoyed our mini date and the chance for just the two of us to catch up. I might have to surprise him for more lunch dates in the future.

Christmas jammies

Every year I buy them matching Christmas pajamas that they get to open on the first day of December. It only took me until January 5th to get a picture of both of them in their pj's by our tree (and yes, our tree is still up, perhaps this weekend I will get a chance to get everything put away!).

Two random pics

Jack is becoming a great reader, and although I know that he would rather be doing math instead of reading a book, it warms my heart when I see this...

 And Elizabeth decided her locker is her new favorite spot to sit and play on my ipad

my life these days....

My life lately has been spent working on the silent auction and other planning for the Family Fun Night at Jack's school on February 10th. The basket above is the donation from Green Bay Oncology. Yes, no one wants a donation of cancer treatment but maybe something to Pamper Their Pooch will work instead!?

Also, we have tried to enjoy some of the unseasonably warm weather. I am getting a lot of runs in outside although my kids wish they were sledding instead of doing this

August

Well, we are approaching the end of September and I have yet to post August pictures! Some day I will get organized enough to get back to the day-to-day updates. For now, I guess August and September will be a mass of pictures!

August went by too fast due in part to our vacation to Door County, a weekend in Chicago with friends, hosting my nieces for a week, and preparing for back-to-school. Here are a few pictures I captured over the month.

My little mama sporting her swim goggles

So proud that he finally captured a Monarch butterfly

Fun at Lego Land in Chicago

Jack built a truck out of his blocks...even equipped with a jump rope seat belt!

Space for Elizabeth to ride in the back!

So much fun with a gift bag. I am not crazy about the guns they made out of blocks but they were being my protectors and finding bad guys.

He was teaching her how to play checkers. Might be my favorite picture of the month!

Birthday love for Misha on her 9th birthday

A special bone for the best doggie ever on her 9th birthday

Jack and his friend Alex at Lego Land

A perfect rainbow from end to end-so big I couldn't capture it all in one picture. What a beautiful sight!

July

She wanted Misha to read to her!

First tooth fairy visit!

Spent most Monday and Wednesday night at the soccer field. He made more goals than I could count over the season. So proud of his determination!

Kayaking in Door County

They could have spent all day every day at the beach!

I think I chose the hottest day in July for us to go strawberry picking. How can you resist a little girl with strawberry juice dripping down her chin and arms? And yes, I did dress them both in red since I had a scrapbook page already done for these pictures! I made my first batch of jam with the berries we picked. 19 jars total!

 Playing in their little pool...some day they will have a real one to spend all day in!

 Happy 4th! It was so nice to be at home this year!

 Keeping mommy cool by washing my feet!

 Misha the water dog! We can't keep her out of the water.

Making pesto with daddy!

I made cornstarch paint for Elizabeth. It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be but definitely easier to clean up than normal paint!

 

 

We love our new patio and fire pit!

The best thing about having a fire--Smores!

She definitely takes after her mama---a true animal lover!