First day of St. John preschool

After a lot of thought and consideration, we decided to hold Lincoln back for another year of preschool.  He is enrolled at St. John's Lutheran Preschool for five afternoons per week .  This is where he attended for a semester when he was 3 years old. 

Today was his first day, and he was so excited!  He insisted on riding bikes.  The church is only four blocks away, but it requires crossing a very busy 4th Street SW.  He arrived in style with his snazzy Agent P backpack.  He hardly gave a second glance before running into the classroom.

He had a great day and can't wait to go back!

P.S. I also had a fabulous free afternoon and can't wait for many more! ;)

August 2014 videos

7 years + 10 months

 

Emily has also done a lot of growing up this month.  From swimming to riding a bike to attempting to braid her own hair, she is no longer a little girl.  She has also decided she is totally over Hello Kitty.  She was so excited to pick out a new backpack that was "more like my style".  It turns out her "style" is anything besides an animated character. :)  We ended up ordering one online that came just in time for the first day of school.  She likes panda bears and has recently changed her favorite color from green to blue.  

Emily prefers a "sporty" look and recently started wearing full elastic headbands.  She was super excited to pick out some new soccer gear.  She's going to try recreational soccer this fall.

Emily also lost two more teeth this month and is now sporting a "holey" smile.  She pulled both of them out by herself late at night and surprised us in the morning.

 

Emily's favorite books right now are the Dear America series and anything Encyclopedia Brown.  While Lincoln likes listening to the radio at night, Emily's current music of choice is Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CD's.

Shining selfie

This is what happens when someone is bored in the van and starts messing around with photo settings on the iPad.

Cousin fun

We spent the Saturday of Labor Day weekend in Waukee with Austin's family.  The cousins had fun playing with each other, going to the park and swimming with Grandpa & Grandma.

First day of 2nd grade

The school year really sneaked up on us this year, but after attending the open house, Emily was super excited to go.  She set her alarm for 7:00am and was dressed to the shoes by 7:05am.  She was disappointed we couldn't ride bikes to school for the first day because it was raining, but excited about her new lunch bag and panda backpack.  Her assessment of the day after school: "It was awesome!"

Slide

We spent Emily's last official day of summer enjoying some time at the park.

5 years + 3 months

Lincoln has grown up in a lot of ways this month.  He usually picks out his outfit and dresses himself, although there's a very good chance it will be a mismatch or something will be on backwards.  He has decided it's cool not to wear a shirt sometimes like Daddy.  He doesn't want to wear a rash guard with his swim trunks (which means his tummy and back are being exposed to the sun for the first time in his life).  He also likes sleeping shirtless.

Lincoln also insists on getting food out for himself.  He especially likes to make toast and run the microwave.

He has started listening to the radio (Life 101.9) at night instead of CD's.  You can always ask him what the weather will be!

Lincoln is also pretty much past Thomas the Train.  He doesn't play with his trains much anymore.  He doesn't care for his Thomas clothing or some of his other Thomas gear.  Of course, when the Thomas catalog came in the mail this month, he spent days circling and wanting to buy all sorts of things (Emily calculated that his wish list items totaled over $2,000!).  However, as soon as the catalog disappeared, so did his interest in Thomas again.

De Zoete Winkel

The kids got to spend a few days at Grandpa & Grandma Boote's while Austin & I attended and volunteered at the Global Leadership Summit at our church.  They had tons of fun going to the library and park, riding bikes, playing with cousins, helping on the farm and swimming.  They also got to take a trip to De Zoete Winkel "Frozen Sweets" frozen yogurt shop in Orange City.

Goodbye, cows

While back in my hometown for the funeral, we said another goodbye.  After milking cows for most of their lives and managing a very successful and well-respected dairy business, my dad and uncle have decided to sell the cows and transition into semi-retirement. 








Although we didn't live on the "home farm" growing up, I have many fond memories.  The most distinct is the summer I turned 16.  My job for those months was to do the morning milking of approximately 125 cows, bottle-feed approximately 20 calves and power-wash the parlor six mornings per week from 6:00-9:00am.  I gained so much respect for my dad and his vocation that summer.  My favorite part was helping pull calves.

Here are some other highlights of our goodbye tour:

The "shop" in the machine shed

No green tractors here!

Great Uncle Kevin's go-kart (they've never seen it actually run)

Riding the Kubota around the muddy yard

Feeding cows with Grandpa

Goodbye, cows.  Donsons Farm won't be the same without you!