September Happenings

September has come and gone and we were always out and about, enjoying the (hopefully) last hot days of summer. A visit to the newly opened local splash pad was a must to cool off:

Amelia loves arts and crafts and made quite a few friendship bracelets.

 Elliot practiced some more tennis with Daddy. This boy is getting real good!

 Picnic lunch with our guinea pigs:

Off to work but not without our cool shades on:

When you start your morning run in the dark with safety gear and come home after 45 minutes to a beautiful sunrise. It is definitely worth getting up that early:

Chores are part of our daily routine. But afterwards we are ready to cuddle together on the couch:

Our church participated in the Taste of Hendersonville and I worked in the popcorn booth. It was very tasty:

On Saturday, we visited Derrick's former co-worker Nancy. She always spoils us with a huge lunch and the children love on her two pets:

Morning views:

Followed by a run in the park with my girl. And then we found the Eggo Waffle Mobil..all that running was worth it:

 Now we are ready for Fall and Oma to arrive:

5K Race and Party Time

Earlier this month and for the third year in a row, I participated in a local 5K race to raise money for underprivileged children. While I won the race the first time I participated, lately the competition got more intense. Nonetheless, the race is still fun especially since my family always comes to cheer me on.  

This year, I finished third in the overall female category with 23:47, 45 seconds faster than the year before. Not my top results but given the heat, humidity, and hilly route, I was happy with it. 

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Emily hosted her annual Hallelujah Back to Schoolah Party for her mommy friends. Just a fun evening with good friends, food, wine and some games (and learning how to twerk, courtesy of Paige):

Today, it was a busy day with the children attending two birthday parties. In the morning, our friend Carolyn celebrated her 3rd birthday with a Flamingo Water Party. Just the right thing in this Southern heat. 

After some rest at home, it was then Elliot's turn to celebrate his friend Hudson at an indoor trampoline park. Lots of bouncing, jumping and running...the best for these rambunctious boys. 

 Happy 6th Birthday, Hudson!

Learning is Fun

The first 9 weeks of school are over and we are heading in to fall break. After the excitement of starting school settled down then the real adjustment followed soon. Getting up early, starting school at 7:15am and learning for 7 hours took quite the toll on our little man and we have dealt with some cranky behaviors in the afternoons. But after a few weeks, it all settled down and we got in to a good groove. By the way, I heard a lot of Kindergarten parents say that about their 5 year olds. It is a very big step and 7 hours is a long day for those little minds.  But both children love their teachers and being at school and truly enjoy learning. Especially the Kindergartners doing so many fun things. Elliot's teacher posts a few times a week some pictures and videos of their class activities so the parents are in the loop.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom:

Visit from the yellow bus:

Working on centers: different activities for a limited time and then the children rotate to the next activity. Here, the teacher can also give them individual attention at their specific learning level, which is great. 

Working on some drawings and appraising each others pictures:

Apple Study: 

Living and Non-Living things: comparing and collecting things to analyze. 

A little video from the Kindergartner's daily activities:

Despite the ongoing heat here, the children went outside daily for recess:

Lunch visit with my boy and his friends. These kids eat lunch at 10am...way to early but I guess still halfway thru their school day. 

Once a week I volunteer in Amelia's class (still waiting to get to help out in Elliot's class). Usually I test the third graders on the knowledge of their sight words. But once in a while I get to listen in on their class reading and learning time: 

Fall picture day: We took some pics at home and then got the proof from their school pictures.

Since I started officially working full-time in the beginning of September, the children are attending the Y after-care at their school. They enjoy playing with their friends, doing arts and crafts and having snacks there. Every day,. the Y offers lots of STEAM activities for the kids.

Two weeks ago, we also attended the monthly family night at school. It was fitness night and the children enjoyed trying their hand at volleyball, basketball, bowling and stacking cups (favorite by far). 

These kids are loving school and enjoy learning, which makes us parents happy. I can proudly say that both are doing excellent at school and Elliot got already a Super certificate for completing the first 100 fry words, the only one in his class so far. Meanwhile, Amelia is raking in the points in her weekly social study tests and in reading.