Fall is Here!

Three cheers for fall, changing leaves, cooler weather, and pumpkin spice lattes!  We are crazy busy, but we're also enjoying the season and some time together as a family.  We've deemed Friday evenings "Family Night" and take turns planning activities.  Morgan went first, so we played Candy Land and ran around with flashlights.  This last Friday, Justin took the boys to the school hoedown and then we sat around our warm fire place while Justin showed the boys some video on the Mars rover.  They really like space things right now.

The weeks are flying by for us.  Jacoby is doing great in Kindergarten.  He's reading and really seems to enjoy math.  We have parent-teacher conferences tomorrow, so we'll find out how he's doing from his teacher's perspective.  His class went on a field trip last week to a farm right across the street from school.  I volunteered and was pleasantly surprised by how well-organized the trip was with 29 kids.  It was a very cold morning, so they were nearly frozen by the end of it.  This farm grows peanuts, so it was an educational experience for both Jacoby and me.  I'm still adjusting to the public school routine and all of the food activities...one week at a time is my mantra right now.  Jacoby is growing like a weed.  At his last endocrinology appointment, he gained two pounds and grew nearly an inch!

Justin is busy with work and his dissertation proposal.  He's conquered several major projects and feels good about what he's able to contribute.  Despite being a DU student, he did not come by tickets to last week's debate!  Morgan is just busy being 3.5.  I think he's adjusted to being without Jacoby during the weekdays.  I'm busy with a fall board meeting, and all of Jacoby's school stuff.  Some days I feel as if I were the one in Kindergarten!  I'm also enjoying doing quite a few projects around the house.  I'll have to do a separate post with those updates.

Here are some more updates with pics:

Jacoby participated in the school Jog-a-Thon...he ran 8 times around the track and got a school water bottle

A tiger sighting.  He's tame...most of the time.

Before our weather turned cold, the boys' favorite snack was honey crisp apples out on the patio

We broke out the paints one weekend.  These master pieces have been incorporated into our fall decor (pics to come).

Playing baseball with Daddy

Learning how the Native Americans dyed cloth with amaranth and sunflower

Learning how to grind corn

Learning about peanut plants

Picking out a pumpkin (he's totally frozen in this pic)

Meet Jack and Francis...they accompanied the boys to the hoedown

Happy Retirement to Grandpa Bill!

Some Happenings

Life has been super busy the past few weeks!

Justin is very busy with his job.  He's finished up several major programming projects and is learning a lot.  He's trying to make time for the dissertation proposal, but that's been difficult with working and his childcare responsibilities.

School is in full swing for both boys.  Kindergarten responsibilities are kicking my rear end.  I feel as if I am barely keeping my head above water with homework, the mountain of paperwork that comes home each week, lunches, snacks, special food for Jacoby (if anyone had warned me about how food-intensive Kindergarten would be, I probably would have run for the hills).  However, Jacoby seems to be thriving and is doing very well, so it's all worth it in the end.  I voluteered in the class on Friday and used the time as a secret reconnaissance mission to get the low-down on the class.  It's a very happening place with 29 kids!  I really like the teacher's approach.  They're very busy with writing, reading, and math already, and they had their first assessment while I was there.  There's quite a disparity among the kids--some are working on learning their ABCs and some are already reading at quite an advanced level.  It was great to see how Jacoby interacts in the class and to meet some of his friends.

We've been busy with some home projects.  Justin took down part of our fence.  It looks really great in our backyard and has opened up the space a lot.  We might put it on Craigs List.  I'm also in the midst of a painting project.  We adopted a table that has been in Justin's family for a long time.  We're giving it a face lift and fixing hardware, since it will eventually find its way into our dining room.  Pictures to come after it's all finished.

The boys demo-ed a Karate class last week.  It was a very interesting experience.  They both broke wood boards with their little hands during a private lesson with the instructor.  Morgan, of course, broke his again by himself.  And because of this and some other skills he displayed, the instructor invited him to join the class even though he's not quite four.  I'm not sure we're going to enroll them at this point.  It would be quite a time and money commitment (twice a week for six to twelve months, and very expensive), so we might revisit it in the spring.

There was a community garage sale in the neighborhood last weekend, so the boys each got a $1 to spend.  It was fun walking with them and listening to them determine what treasures might be worth their $1.  (:  We drove up the Peak to Peak Highway on Saturday to see some of the beautiful fall colors.  They're not quite at their peak yet, but still lovely.

We hope you all are doing well and enjoying the early signs of fall!

A sneak peak at my painting project.  Table top, base, three leaves, and two chairs sanded and primed. 

 Little boy in the back seat

 I love fall in Colorado!

 Beautiful high country

 We visited the Carousel of Happiness in Nederland.  A local artist carved the entire thing out of wood.  It's quite pretty.

 Jacoby really liked the dragon

 Getting ready to remove the first fence post

 Lots of "helpers" making sure everything is just right

 Success!  Daddy's a genius!

Labor Day Weekend

Time to get caught up on my blog!  We had a great Labor Day weekend with my family.  I only got pictures of half the weekend!  Justin and I celebrated our 11th anniversary with dinner out at one of our favorite breweries.  Aunt Kenzie watched the boys for us...or they watched her...one of the two.  We took a drive up Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was a beautiful day in the high country.  Some of the aspens were already starting to turn.  We watched the elk and enjoyed a picnic.

My parents helped us with some landscaping projects, including putting in my garden, planting a couple of trees and plants, and switching out some sprinklers.  We enjoyed good food and good conversation throughout the weekend, and we wandered around Pearl Street Mall one of the days.

It was great to be with family.  Aunt Kenzie cleaned my house and did laundry on her last day with us.  It was such a blessing!  Here are a few pics from (half of) the weekend.

Some elk

A critter

Aunt Kenzie and the boys

Me & Kenz

Picnic in the car

Trying out the big slide in Estes Park.  Jacoby did a great job all by himself.  One time with Daddy was enough for Morgan.

Jacoby wanted to go again with me and Aunt Kenzie...yes, I did scream like a girl the entire time.

Books with Aunt Kenzie

A Weekend

I'm happy to report we passed our first full week of Kindergarten and Preschool with flying colors. Jacoby is doing really well. He got to visit the school library on Friday and brought home his own book. This week they start "sharing" (i.e., show and tell). Each child is assigned a day of the week and will be sharing their "Me Bag". The teacher sent home a brown paper bag and asked them to bring five or six small things from home so the class can get to know them better. Jacoby picked a dinosaur (because he loves dinos), truck (because he loves trucks and playing trucks with Morgan), space shuttle (because he really likes things that go to the moon), shark (because he likes the ocean and wants to be a diver), and a rhino (because he likes going to the zoo). We practiced sharing what these things say about him...I'm really not sure he's spoken a word to anyone at school, but he seemed to enjoy talking about why he liked each item. Jacoby is after Justin each morning to make sure he gets him to school on time. I think he gets this from his mom (smile).  Morgan is happy to be back at preschool and talks a lot about his friends.

This week is going to be busy:  dentist appointments, gymnastics, back-to-school night, and family visiting.  Aunt Kenzie arrives on Thursday, and the rest of my family comes on Saturday.  We're looking forward to seeing all of them.

Here are a few pics from the weekend:

 I made ravioli!  And I definitely learned why having a pasta machine would probably make a lot of sense if one was going to do this regularly.  It was very easy to make but my arms tuckered out trying to roll the dough to 1/16 of an inch thick!  The boys loved it, and it really did taste like store-bought pasta.

 

 Morgan dipping his ravioli

 

 Coloring time...Morgan is pouting.  I'm not sure why, but it's sort of a regular occurance these days.  He also regulary says, "Mommy, I'm mad at you.  Do you know why?"  Aahh, the joys of being three.

 A little canvas project to add some color to the brown room.  I'm still waiting for all of the brown to grow on me.

 

Some of our pictures.  They really look all askew, partly because I don't take straight pictures, but also because I do need to adjust a couple of them.  And then of course I have a herd running past these each day, so they'll probably always be askew.

I had these two pictures blown up at Costco for super cheap a long while ago.  I finally got them mounted (and retained all 10 of my fingers in the process despite having to use an exacto knife) and will be hanging them up in our rooms.  The one on the left is probably my all-time favorite picture of the boys.

Morgan's Day

Today was Morgan's first day in the Preschool 2 class.  The new school building is beautiful and approximately two minutes from my office.  Morgan was so excited to see his friends, and he was showered with hugs and kisses from his teachers when we arrived this morning. 

He's just about the sweetest thing ever...unless he's giving me a piece of his three year old mind, which is often.

 And of course, he had to have his own special sign.  (:

 I love this little boy and can't believe how fast he's growing up!

When I asked Morgan to pick his favorite supper for his special back-to-school day, he picked two: pizza and hot dogs.  I told him he had to pick one, so a while later he came back and told me he wanted a hot dog pizza.  Such a little negotiator!  So that's what we had, and it was...interesting.  He also requested chocolate milk and Oreo ice cream.  It was a royal feast!

I also wanted to post a quick update on Jacoby.  He's doing so great in Kindergarten.  Each day he comes home with a report on a new adventure he's had.  As a full-day Kindergartener, he gets to go to Music, Art, Library, PE, and Computer.  He really enjoyed Art yesterday, and it sounds like the PE teacher had them racing all over the gym today.  Jacoby comes home very tired and hungry each day, but I expect that to get better and he's eating more of his lunch each day.  We really like his teacher and I think we're on the road to having a great relationship with her. 

It's nice to have both boys back into school, although they miss each other like crazy.  We hardly see them in the evening because they're so busy catching up with each other.  I look forward to being in the full swing of our fall routine after this week.  We're reading Charlotte's Web in the evening and then it's off to bed for all of us because we're so tired at the end of our busy days!