Avery's first day of kindergarten

Avery's first day of kindergarten was "GREAT" according to her report at the end of the day. It did not start so wonderful! She was all happy and excited at home and even once we arrived at her school (as you can see from the pictures). Neil met us at school to wish her a good day. Class was started and she was getting settled into her desk. We told her we were leaving and to have a GREAT day. This is the point when the tears started, she was so pitiful. We were strong and told her it would be fine!! I took off early today to pick her up from school. As she got in the car the first words out of her mouth were "I love Kindergarten". All in all she had a good day. Her one frustration was that she could not get her straw into her juice box. She was determined to not ask for help and her straw ended up on the floor. So she went almost all day without a drink. We tried to explain to her being a big kid, or even a grown up, is asking for help when you need it. She loves her "boy" teacher, even though she wanted a girl! All in all it was a good start to a new start at a new school:)

My little man

This is my Colin and these pictures just show how much he is changing! He is getting taller of course, but I think I have discussed that part before. He is turning into a little man, he will be three soon. His personality and views on life are coming out more and more. He is a man's man! He loves anything with wheels and being outside. He can find dirt any where, so it is a job to keep him clean. I am amazed when he can make it from the front door to the car without getting dirty!!!! He loves the "playground" and is always looking for friends to play with when ever we go there. It is amazing how people are drawn to him. Colin is always asking Neil, Avery or I to come play with him. He will usually have a train or truck in hand when he comes to get you and says "come on". The words are really coming out these days which is wonderful! We love to hear him sing his ABCs and count (he has made it to ten once). He loves books, especially "I Spy". He is such an amazing person, it is hard to put into words.

Cousin fun

The kids have been enjoying their summer...as you can tell from the pics and blogs I have posted. I think one of the best parts is being able to spend some much time with their cousins! Colin now asks almost daily if we are going to see either Emma, Michael, and/or Blaine.
Avery and Emma love playing babies together, which usually means Avery is the mommy and Emma is the baby. They are the only girls in the bunch (for a few more months at least) and love to stick together:) Michael and Colin have become the best of friends this summer. They enjoy all the same things, trucks, dirt, tractors, and trains. Even though they are young they both try really hard to share and be nice to one another:) Colin loves to watch Blaine and copy how he plays with cars, trucks, and trains. And Avery and Blaine have been the best of friends from the beginning. After two years of going to school together and even being in the same class, they will be going to different schools. We are going to have to plan lots of cousin play dates once school starts to continue to fun....

Gymnastics for MIss Independence

Avery went to her first gymnastics class yesterday. She was so excited and then when we got there she told me she did not want to talk to her teacher. I told her it was okay. Well when we walked in Avery was completely comfortable. She chatted with her teacher and told her all kinds of fun things, like Colin will be three soon! She ended up being the only kid out of 5 that showed up for the class, so she got complete one on one time. She loved it:) I was so impressed with the progress she made in her hour session. She can do a front roll, which she has been trying to do forever! The teacher was very impressed with her upper body strength when she was on the bars. I must say I got a little nervous when she got on the rings that one of her elbows would come out of the joint (even though it has not happened in years), but she did GREAT!!!! She continues to be Miss Independence, going right in for her class without even looking at me. Of course she did look over at me a few times, like she was making sure I was watching her progress.