A Few More Bits Of September

Friends At The Lake
The Hughes joined us for some lake time and the kids played about three hours while we moms got to catch up!

Dates
Dad and Makin - Panera breakfast (Makin's request)

Mom and Lorelei - The mall, to spend birthday money and have our date. This was one of my favorites for a mother/daughter date. She loved having her own money to pick out something. She chose a stuffed animal from the Disney Store (which we need like a hole in the head), a carousel ride, and a book. It was so fun seeing her face light up with excitement when the carousel started going. Precious memories for this mom! Then we headed to Starbucks and did some school work and colored. (Makin was in preschool, because of parent teacher conf. she did not have school.)

School
Makin had a surprising change of attitude about preschool. After the first week, he said he didn't want to go back and woke up sad/crying every school morning. We trudged through a few more weeks with me deliberating what to do with this turn of events. After emailing the preschool director, I finally found out there WOULD be organized class outings for him to get to know his classmates better. They are just behind getting those organized and getting me a class directory.

Thursday of week 4 he finally told me that morning, "I'm excited to go to preschool." Phew! Now I just need to remember this month-long thing could be a norm for him!

I was able to go read a book to his classroom one day. (They asked Moms to read books and help with art, we signed up at meet-the-teacher.) It was nice to get a little glimpse into his day and his classmates. He definitely has a couple of boys who are his buddies already.

My Personal Trainer - hoping to go most Thursday mornings!

Journaling Is One of Her Favs

Lorelei has continued to love school. We had a few rocky first at-home weeks, especially with reading, but we seem to have a great rhythm going now and we are loving it (most days) just like I had hoped. I had a parent teacher conference mid-month and got a glowing report from her teacher. Just loved hearing so many positive things and getting to see what she has written so far in her "writer's workshop". Cannot wait to see what the rest of the year brings.

Lost Tooth #5 At School. A dream come true for her. :)

She got to read to the Hughes' dog, Angel, as a reward for working well on her reading/math at home.

The kids had a lemonade stand to help with Lorelei's school fund raiser.

Fall
We go a little nuts about the start of fall around here. Leaf cookies were awesome this year, I feel like they can finally help without me going totally crazy. We also got out our pile of fall books and the kids delved in. (They are put away and brought out seasonally because I'm weird like that and because I feel they are loved more when they aren't out all the time.)









To celebrate the start of fall, we headed over to Mary's house for the kids to have a little fall party. (I anticipate this happening throughout the year since they won't get as many seasonal parties at school, particularly the Hughes kids who are home-schooled full time. Seasonal parties are just what this Mom loves too right!?)

We moms got our first pumpkin spice lattes of the season, we all enjoyed snacks and the kids made a couple of crafts. First they painted a fall picture and then did fall mosaics. I had to chuckle when I told the kids to paint "any fall picture" and Makin was painting along and said, "guess what I'm painting...a football field!" Proud daddy moment for sure. :) Of course, intermixed was just a fun time playing with friends. :)

Husker Football Season Begins!

Birthday Party Fun
We celebrated Macie's birthday at a special painting party. This was the kid's first time at this type of store and they spent lots of time working carefully on their creations.

Makin At 5

Makin, you are our sweet, affectionate, energetic little boy. You are friendly and very considerate of how others are feeling. You are a fast learner.

You are still quick to give hugs and cuddles.

You have gotten more argumentative.  I'm not really enjoying that so much. :) You are very confident in your opinions. "I'm 100% or 1000% sure" is a common phrase.

You are also now mostly done with naps, making you grumpier, also not something I enjoy so much.

For many months you woke up "meowing" and acting like a kitty instead of a child for the first 5 minutes or so of the morning.

You love to listen to music in the car and will often request for me to "blare it."

You are great at leading prayer for special things, like someone having surgery etc. I love watching you take that chance to practice being a spiritual leader. :)

You are a natural at pretty much everything you attempt.

You still love playing all "things that go" (including but not limited to remote cars, Hot Wheels track, planes...), magnets, sport-type games and Legos.

Quotable Moments:

"Do you know the day that it rained...fill in the blank...grapes, stingrays, coffee, dinosaurs?" (followed by laughter like its the most hilarious thing in the world)

"I need another X-mo (Eskimo) Kiss."

"Forever and Ever Praymen?"

"Crunches." (Crutches)

"I love you more than presents."

I asked if he could hold the honey and the sun-butter (pouring) while I grabbed the spatula...his answer was, "I can't multitask."

"We're not laughing at you, we're laughing at your funniness!"

(In a nicely sing-song chastising tone...) "Remember what the Bible says...you have to play with someone, even if you don't want to."

"This is the good thing about ducks, they are kinda like sea planes because they fly in and land on the water."

"You can tell how old a carrot is. It has rings like a tree."

M: Lor, watch.
Lor: Wow.
M: No, incredible.

Me: Is that going to drive you nuts?
Makin: No, is it going to drive you nuts?

Nana: I wonder what your person will be wearing?
M: The people I draw are usually naked.

M: (getting on the scale) What do I weigh, Nana?
Me: Forty Two.
M: Must be that banana.


M: Speaking of gondolas...what is a gondola?
Nana: You should look it up on your phone.
Me: We don't have phones at supper.
M: Only for special questions.

(After climbing a rock wall.) "That was terrifying."

L: Makin, there you go, I turned the light on for you.
M: Thanks.
L: Will you grab my golf club for me?
M: No.
L: Ugh, Makin, why not?
M: You have two legs.

(Helping with laundry) "We need a button that says 'explode the clothes' and then there's little springers that explode the clothes out in the basket."

"I love you to the stars and back. Did you know the stars are further than the moon?"

Makin's Five Year Interview
Favorites -
Food: Mac N Cheese and Pizza
Place: The Park
Movie/TV Show: Wild Kratts (And Star Wars...he insists I put that, but he has only seen some of it at the Volkers last summer!) 
Color: Green
Thing To Do: This is a tough one... I used to play darts with Evan, I like to do everything thats boyie.
Animal: Cat
Books: Mike Mulligan
Song: Away In A Manger
Treat: A Donut
Holiday: Christmas

What do you like to do with Daddy? Go get pizza with him

What do you like to do with Mommy? Cuddle

What do you like to do with Lorelei? Play Kitties and Puppies

What makes you happy? This is a tough one...Playing

What do you think about before you fall asleep? I think of how a great day we had.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Construction Builder or a Paleontologist


Planning to add a video later...

Lorelei At 7

Lorelei

You are our sweet but spirited young lady. You have continued many of your same loves - animals, art work and building with your hands. You have plenty of both sweet and sour moments that keep us guessing. You love having friends and being a friend. You never want to throw anything away. You love to laugh.

You still have crazy taste buds. You have a lot of tastes you like that I am surprised by and tend to be more like your dad in that area.You like lots of flavor, including spicy foods and loads of pepper. You also love pickles.

You are a wonderfully positive person. You are always seeing the bright side of any situation.

Master Tent Builder

You like to play lots of "what if..." scenarios. Often tornadoes or bears are involved.

You are a huge Jewel fan. You heard her from our "Lullaby Radio" station and told us how much you loved her songs there. You even got her lullaby CD for your birthday and are adamant that she has, "the most beautiful voice in the whole world." You also love the name Jewel.

Quotable Moments:

Me: We are going to Bradshaw park.
L:You mean Daddyshaw park? (big grin)

(I spilled an entire bowl of peas across the kitchen floor.)
"How did you manage to do that?"

"I wish Daddy wasn't married to you and he was my age so I could marry him."




L: Mommy look!!!
Me: Glasses.
L: Not just glasses.
Me: Sunglasses.
L: Which are very cool.

(Recently after getting her hair cut..) "This is my new hair's first trip to the river!"

Me: Lorelei Mae!
L: Mommy Stahl!

L: How old was I!?!
Me: Two.
L: I was tall for my age.


(Guessing Brad's animal, after he gave hints that they live in the arctic.) "A Polar Tiger!"

"Don't I look fabulous?"

"There are two reasons I would like to be a boy. One, Ben would have another boy to have a friend in class. Two, I wouldn't have to fix my hair."

Lorelei's Seven Year Interview

Favorites -
Food: Basketti
Place: The Zoo
Movie: Frozen
Color: Pink and Purple
Thing To Do: Play Kitties and Puppies
Animal: Dog
Books: The Frozen Book (the big one that Amanda gave me)
Song: Let It Go
Treat: Monster Cookies! (and at the end of that do an exclamation mark)
Holiday: Halloween because we can dress up like the characters we love and we get so much candy! (exclamation mark at the end)

What do you like to do with Daddy? Our Dates

What do you like to do with Mommy? Paint Toenails

What do you like to do with Makin? Go to Gobs of Fun and play in the ball pit

What makes you happy? my friends

What do you think about before you fall asleep? the next day

What do you want to be when you grow up? I don't know, I want to be a doctor and an animal shelter person and a teacher. Maybe I could do all of those, like a doctor at night, a preschool teacher in the afternoon and an animal shelter person in the morning.

Makin's 5th Birthday

We had a fun day celebrating our 5 year old!

Makin requested cinnamon rolls in bed for his breakfast.
He loved the scavenger hunt for his new bike.

After we took Lorelei to school, we headed out for a ride on a path near our house. We didn't last long when it started to heat up, but it was great for him to get a chance to ride. Then we got grape kbobs ready for his class treat and he built his new lego set while I cooked his lunch of choice.

After preschool and school pick up, we headed to the lake.

He requested McDonalds for supper, so they got a chance to play in the play area.

We then headed home to enjoy cake. (Made the day before.) He asked for a dinosaur scene cake and we even found chocolate rocks. He was in charge of the rocks and the dinosaur placement. I loved how excited he was for his cake. :)

Loved his day full of special requests and making sure he felt loved! :)

Wild Kratts Party

I have managed to avoid character parties for 6 years. If I had to break my streak, I'm glad to break it with the Kratt brothers. This is a wonderfully educational show. The kids learn so much about animals when they watch these episodes, and it is something they both love, so that became the perfect party for them this year.

Labor Day weekend fell right in between both birthdays. It made it an easy decision to have a joint party and we were excited my parents and sister could come because of the three day weekend. Heather was an extra amazing sister and even cut a watermelon shark for us! (She also took most of these pictures!) It was probably the most stress free morning of a party I have ever had. She was in charge of the watermelon and we ordered the cake. After looking on pinterest at the Wild Kratt cake ideas, I realized they were beyond my ability. We found a mom in town who bakes them and I really enjoyed not worrying about the cake for the party!

I also loved how many free printables there were for this party. It just took a lot of cutting, laminating and cutting, but it made it very inexpensive and easy to decorate! Their friends loved having creature power suits for their take-home gifts. :) (For those of you who have never seen the show - the Kratt brothers have special vests and then they put a creature power disc, made specifically for each animal, in the vest, touch the animal and become a version of that animal...with their faces still normal. Yes, I know it sounds weird, but its great!!!)

The popcorn bar may become a tradition!
It was such a hit last year we decided to do it again, and scrap paper made it so cute!

As each child came in, they got their power suit on. Then they could build a beaver dam using pretzels and peanut butter as well as play the peregrine falcon game and catch pray.

Then we headed to the back yard for a couple more animal games. They played cheetah tag (they had to pull the tail off, no pics but included the one you can see Morgan's crepe paper tail) and then jumped like a kangaroo.  I would have loved to have done a few more, but it was too hot!

Great Group Of Kids From Great Friends
From Back Left: Morgan, Lorelei, Macie, Peyton, Aubrey
Front: Kyle, Makin, Kaitlyn and Haley

(No Makin did not knock out Kaitlyn, not sure how based on that picture!)

Then came opening gifts and cake.

Look at Makin in the top left picture...he is eating the elephant head and didn't even want cake after eating about half of it!
Blue frosting tongues. ;)
Loved Lorelei's reactions to gifts, always full of enthusiasm (as she should be!) but loved this one especially.

Loved having friends and family there who all love our kiddos. It was a wonderful time!

A few more weekend outtakes from my family visiting... :)

Fun With Aunt Heather

I planned the party at the same time as the first Husker game...
so they watched it on ESPN through the internet after the party was over. :)

Coloring Time With Nana

Showing Off Their Swim Skills and Trying Out Their New Snorkles

Loved having you Mom, Dad and Heather!!!

Lorelei's 7th Birthday

We had a great time celebrating our girl turning 7!

Breakfast was different from previous years. Because of our Mother's Day tradition, the kids requested cinnamon rolls in bed for their birthdays this year. I missed the Mickey pancakes, but loved seeing how special they felt. This year was also the year of new bikes. Both kids outgrew their bikes, and then the bikes also didn't fit into the moving truck. (Who wants to ride bikes in 102 degree temps anyway!?) So, they just got a couple of small gifts and then had a scavenger hunt for their bike.

Brad had to travel the week of Lorelei's birthday. He had been practicing "Happy Birthday" on his guitar, so he recorded it for her to watch that morning. He also got to face time during her scavenger hunt.

We had to get our home-school work done. Then it was time to frost the cake. Lorelei drew a picture several months ago of how she wanted her cake to look. She had a lot of fun making her picture into a real cake. She even got to do the grass herself! I loved having a stress-free cake because it was just us enjoying it! (Side note: I tried to talk her into getting dressed for her big day. "No, I want to have a pajama day and then change right into swimsuits.")

We enjoyed our cake for afternoon snack.

And then headed for the lake...and I forgot my camera. 

The kids had lots of fun in the sand and water!

Loved celebrating our girl in all the ways she wanted to make her day extra-special!

First Day Of Preschool

This mom was not particularly attached the idea of her little boy going to preschool. After all, he is a well adjusted, personable, quick-learning kid who knows his abc's. It didn't feel like it was worth the time and effort.

Makin, on the other hand, was adamant that he wanted to go to preschool. We don't leave the big decisions up to a four year old, but because he was so sure, we felt we needed to respect his desire to go. I knew would be nice for him to make his own friends, and preschool is a very fun and rewarding experience. I do not mean to down-play preschool by any means, I just felt he would be fine going to Kindergarten without it.

So, preschool it was. :) When we went to sign him up, he almost didn't get in as there was a waiting list. This helped me to see how excited he was, and then worry he wouldn't get to go. Good little glitch to give me some perspective!

Because of the late sign-up, he is in the afternoon class from 11:50-2:30. If you had asked me two years ago if I would have a child in the afternoon class I would have said no way. But I have already come to see the advantages. I really enjoy still having the mornings for our mother/son time together. :)

Now, finally, to Makin's first day! :) He was nervous all morning, but excited too. He just didn't know what to expect. He did bring his little felt heart I made last year to keep in his pocket, but there were no tears and he had no trouble with the drop off. When he got in the car, he just casually reported, "I like preschool." Like, its pretty good, I think I will go back, but no big deal, I'm cool. :) The other reports were, "You know the kid who's allergic to peanuts? He smashed my train with a dinosaur and said it was a train-eating dinosaur. I just told him to stop and then it was time for my craft." :) He also reported that he played by himself at recess and didn't really make any friends, but had fun. The next day he finally remembered to tell me he got to be the fish feeder this week! :) His teacher has commented how well he is doing, so that is great to hear. Hoping he makes friends soon and continues to enjoy his T/Th afternoons. :)

Celebrating With Braums - he got a shake. It was Kyle's first day of Preschool Too!