September 2013 videos

This playlist includes Lincoln singing some of his preschool songs with his signature "hopping" dance.

6 years + 11 months

For the most part, Emily has made the transition to school.  We're still experimenting to find some effective routines and systems.  One thing we tried this month was a Responsibilities & Privileges chart.  There is a list of responsibilities for each part of the day (morning, after school, evening) and a privilege after completing them.  It's more of a reminder checklist of things to do with some built-in leverage if she doesn't feel like complying.  I'll give an update on the iPod next month.

Emily announced her first "crush" on a boy at school.  However, I'm pretty sure she doesn't know exactly what that means.  I think she read about it in a book and is trying it out.  To her credit, he's a really cute and nice kid!

In addition to starting a ballet class, Emily also joined the Clover Explorers 4-H club this month.  It is a Clover Kids club for grades K-3.  They meet on the last Sunday night of the month for an hour with fun activities and programs.

Start 'em young!

Lincoln often likes to "help" with whatever I'm doing.  This is especially true when it comes to cleaning the kids' bathroom.  Give him a toilet brush, scrub brush or paper towel and he is in heaven.

Kitchen: Laundry hanger

This was a nifty little design addition to the new laundry area.  It's a flip-down hanger for hanging up dress shirts and other items straight from the dryer to prevent wrinkling.  It can be found cheap on Amazon.com here.

Picking out pumpkins

We didn't go to a fancy pumpkin patch, but we did have fun picking out giant Dix pumpkins from Hy-Vee. Emily picked one of the biggest ones she could find.  Lincoln picked a little guy with a dent in the back.  Emily is excited to wear fall/winter clothes.  Lincoln is in denial that summer is pretty much over.

Cheer Camp

Emily participated in the WSR cheer camp this week and got an opportunity to do a few cheers before the high school football game on Friday night.  She was so excited about cheering at "the big game" and wondered if it would be on TV so the grandparents could watch. ;)

Lining up before the game

Emily is just to the left of the two High School cheerleaders

Lincoln's highlight of the game was the kickoff and the marching band.  He has some pretty sweet moves to the music!  There is a video in the September play list of some of them, although after falling off the seat of the bleachers once, he thought it was funny to do it over and over again.  There is also a short clip of Emily cheering.

Construction Zone

The family I provide childcare for is in the process of building a new house.  Oftentimes, after I pick up the boys from preschool we drive by to check out the progress.  Today was a cold, windy day, but it was sure exciting!  We got out and watched for almost 45 min. while the giant excavator dumped rock into the hole while other workers set forms for the foundation.  When it got too cold, we watched from the van.  I love the first picture.  What caption would you put on it?

Go-Hawk Graphics

I was excited to be able to accompany Lincoln's preschool class on their first field trip of the year to Go-Hawk Graphics.  This is an annual event for Little Lambs to make T-shirts for future field trips and special events.  The T-shirts are provided free of charge by Go-Hawk Graphics.  Each kid gets to make their own shirt.  Here is the screen printing process:

 

Lincoln with his buddy, Owen

Lincoln's preschool class

4 years + 4 months

Lincoln's most-asked question this month has been "What's that smell?"  Of course, half the time we don't know what he's "smelling" so we often don't have an answer.  He also developed a love for salt and pepper--mostly just the act of sprinkling it on. ;)

In a large motor development, Lincoln learned how to skip this month (something Emily still has trouble with).  His signature move, though, is hopping on one foot.  Whenever he's excited or meets/greets someone, he hops around on one foot with a big smile on his face.  It's how he enters the room every time at preschool.

In other growth, Lincoln finally moved from size 2T/3T underwear to 4T.  He's really excited about it being Angry Birds.  It's kind of bunchy on the top, but at least he can easily pull it up now.  However, he still prefers to wear it backwards and/or inside out

Although I try to run my errands on preschool days now, Lincoln is still my little buddy at home. :o)

Kitchen: Crown moulding

We also finally got the crown moulding installed.  We had hired someone to do it through the cabinet store.  On his initial visit, the installer declared some of the cabinets weren't straight enough (which he fixed) and the original moulding wasn't tall enough.  So we had to wait for it to be re-ordered and then installed.  It was worth it.  He did an incredible job of blending the cabinet moulding with the crown moulding on the wall.

Kitchen: Table

The new dining table finally arrived!  It came via "white glove" delivery at 8:00pm on a big semi-truck (the only option on the web site I ordered it from).  Two super polite gentleman from North Carolina with sweet Southern accents assembled and set up everything.  It is beautiful!

I literally designed the rest of the kitchen around this table.  I knew I wanted a trestle base table with a butterfly leaf and bench seating.  It also had to be no more than 84" fully extended.  There aren't many options that fill that tall order!  That's why I ended up ordering online.  This one is 66" and extends to 84".  There are three separate benches of different lengths that can be reconfigured if necessary.  We couldn't do built-in benches because of the radiators.  Below is a set up of the table fully extended with a fourth chair.  It should be able to sit up to 10 people (some kids) comfortably.

Day Out With Thomas

We surprised the kids with tickets to Day Out With Thomas in Boone, IA. (Although, Emily had actually figured it out three days earlier but never said anything.)  Austin's parents met us there.  It turned out to be a pretty nice day, and the kids had a great time.  Here is our day in pictures...