First day of school

Brother wanted to get a photo with the "second grader"

On her way to second grade! - Way to go Sissy!!!!

Kate and her teacher, Mrs. Yokiel

Today was Kate's first day of school - officially a second grader - already!! I cannot believe it! She was so excited this morning, but I still had to wake her up at 0745. You could not even wipe off her grin this morning - she was just bursting with joy! It was such a beautiful morning that we all rode our bikes to school. I tried to keep Mr. Ben entertained all day, but we both missed having her around........only 2 more weeks and he will be back in preschool also. I am very proud of you Miss Kathryn Elyse. I hope that you have a fabulous year of learning and growing, but mostly, just loving life and being thankful for the wonderful gifts that you have been given. I love you sweetie - Mom XOXOXOXOXOXO

A day at the pottery shop

Very proudly, showing off the bowl and plate

Check out the concentration in the tongue - it was out every time he painted something!

Sis, perfecting the rainbow swirl in the center

Ben, beginning in the middle of the bowl.

We spent our last day of summer vacation with a trip to the Pottery shop in West Des Moines on Wednesday. The kids picked out a bowl and a plate and they looked pretty cute when they got done. It only took about an hour and they will be finished glazing them for us next Wednesday - we are very excited to pick them up! Papa & Grandma Cairney, and cousin Drew Jensen came up for a before school dinner last night. It was very fun to have them here.

Fair treats

Kate, Ben and I headed out to the Fair for a few hours last Friday. I maybe underestimated the temperatures and how the heat was affecting the little people....to say the least, after the baby animal barn, the little hands on the farm route, and a trip through the varied industries building, they were both asking to go home. Which I must say is the shortest amount of time that I have ever spent at the fair. BUT, they loved the free ice cream treats from the M&M stand! We can catch the giant slide, food on a stick, the biggest boar, the butter cow, and the sky glide ride next year right?

Visiting the Velarde's

Me, Becky and Josiah ( the comedian of the group)

Ben (his serious face). Where does he get this furrowed brow?? I am quite sure that it has to be Doug.

All the kiddo's at the park

Miss Olivia

Last week the kids and I were able to go up to Lonsdale, MN to visit the Velarde family. We had the greatest time!!! I am not sure who had more fun....the kids getting to all play together, or Becky and I having some quality time together to chat and reconnect. It had been TOO LONG!!! I also thoroughly enjoyed being able to help out with Miss Olivia. I cannot believe that she is almost 6 months old already - YIKES!!! And she is truly a gift from God. She is the sweetest, funniest, most charming baby that I have been around in a long time. And did I say patient? She let me feed her carrots and some cereal and I am really rusty in the talent of spoon feeding infants. It's amazing how fast you lose those skills. Don't get me wrong, all of the Velarde children are adorable, but i felt that her and I spent the most time together. When I asked Kate and Ben what their favorite moments were, they said...."holding and feeding Olivia, playing baseball with Lucas and Isaiah, riding our bikes to the park, playing the Wii, and Becky's YUMMY chocolate zuchinni cake!" It was delicious!

Thanks again for everything Becky and Anibal, I should have gone to the meat locker before we left because I think that I am going to have a hard time describing to others how delicious those wild rice & blueberry brats were. YUMMO!!!! We love you guys and are sending prayers for more sleep at your house!!!

I-Cubs game and Yankees season finale

The team photo - Ben is bottom left

One last - GO YANKEES!!!!!


Ben, Daddy, and Kate at the I-cubs

Everybody, put your hands in......I just love this view of their little bodies all together!
The Yankees season came to a close last night and Ben had such a great time. I would say that his major highlights were his phenominal hustling in the outfield for all the balls, trying to switch hit, sliding into home plate and his love of the game! We really enjoyed getting to watch him this season, and it was fun to meet some new friends. A funny story from one of the "treat" nights is that he received a twin pack of twinkies one evening. Ben has never had a twinkie that I am aware of and appears to have never seen them before either. Anyway, he comes running toward me, very excited to show me what he got..." Mommy, look at my snack!" He then pauses, looks up after examing the package for a few seconds and states, "What is this? It looks like 2 yellow hotdogs!" Too cute!!!
Mr. Ben has been really making us laugh around here lately with his crazy statements. Like this one for instance a few weeks ago. I was getting the van packed up after the Cairney golf tournament. He was waiting for me out in the van. As I opened the door, I noticed a peculiar sent in the air, looked at him, and he proceeded to say, "Mom, I do NOT, know what is going on out here in this van, but I think that it smells like someone needs to go in and go POOP!!!"
He then giggled and I could not help but chuckle myself.
Here is a Kate story for you. For those of you that know sissy well, you know that she can be a bit ditzy at times.....we love her for that. We were going to church and I said, "get your shoes on and hop in the van, time to go!"....Now, at ages almost 5 and 8, I did not think that it was still necessary to check, but when we got to church I opened Kate's door to help her out. She then screamed "Oh no, I forgot shoes!" Her face was priceless....thank goodness for piggy back rides and an awesome church that let's us worship shoeless!!! We love you Kate - bare toes and all!!!

Visiting the Fitzke's

Cool pool dudes - Ben and Reed Fitzke

Ben and Reed being crazy in the pool

Leah and Kate enjoying their after swimming snack of ice cream

We met my Mom and Dad in Fremont to pick up Kate and Ben on Sunday for brunch.
After that, we decided to go spend a few hours with our good friends the Fitzke's and they were kind enough to share their awesome pool with us for a few hours on a very hot day. The kids all have a great time and Kay (a good friend from nursing school) and I always love every minute that we get to chat and catch up. It was wonderful to see you all Fitzke family!

Pender

Nanny, Kate, Ben and Papa Suhr

Papa can make these kiddo's laugh so hard! I just love it.....

Look how tall the corn is by Papa's house!

Papa's neighbor is very kind to share her trampoline while we are there

visiting - they both love to jump. Kate and Ben had so much fun while they were

in Pender. The highlights were eating at Popo's (dinner, ice cream, and of course PANCAKES!),

going to the library, riding bikes, running around town, going to the pool, feeding the donkeys, playing at the park, & mostly, quality time with Papa and Nanny Suhr. They just love visiting them. It was a very special week for all of them with many wonderful memories made - thanks again Mom and Dad for keeping them! We love you both XOXOXOXOX -- Keri