Friday, August 19, 2011

First day of school!

The day has finally come! My baby is starting kindergarten. Although as I am posting this, it is the 3rd day of school, I still tear up just writing about it! I don't think either one of us slept much the night before school, Carter filled with excitement, me with sadness and worry. Carter was up at 6 am, dressed and teeth brushed on the first day, and proceeded to ask me every 5 minutes for the next 3 hours how long until the bus came! I am so happy he was so excited to go and tried my best to hold back the tears. He was so brave and didn't blink an eye when waving goodbye from the bus. This will be a moment I will never forget!



The neighborhood kindergartners plus Sophia! Carter is in the same class as 3 of these 4 girls!



Yes, I followed the bus up to the school to make sure he got there okay and found where he was suppose to go. He quickly found his group "yellow circles" and listened intently to the instructions. I got the sense he was a little nervous at this point and kept looking for me, asking for another hug (which is so NOT Carter!) I finally couldn't take it anymore and had to leave!
He made is home safely on the bus, right on time and actually had a lot to say about the first day of school! He filled me in on the room rules, what you do at lunch, the playground, rest time and even boosted, "Mom, Mrs White even told us we will learn how to read in kindergarten!" He was super excited to share his day which made me feel better. When I asked him his favorite part of the day, of course he replied recess and the worst part of the day was lying down to rest. Even though the first 2 days the kindergartens only went for half a day, he was super tired that night and nearly fell asleep at supper! I continue to pray he likes school, grows academically, meets new friends and this all gets easier for me!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The last hurrah of summer!

Oh, summer, where have you gone? Although it went way to fast we made the most of the last couple of days of freedom before school started. The end of summer is somewhat exciting for me as it means IOWA STATE FAIR!!! This is truly what living in Iowa is all about and I wouldn't miss it for anything! Although we were bummed that the Sugarland concert was cancelled, my mom, Darcie, Jill and I still went out the the fair Sunday night to consume some food and check out the sites. On Monday, the kids joined us for a FULL day of fun. This was the first year Claire got to go, so Carter made sure to show her the ropes on the Little Hands on the Farm. We now have 2 more Pioneer hats to add to our collection!



This year marked 100 years of the Butter Cow and also a tribute to Norma "Duffy" Lyon the lady best known as "The Butter Cow Lady" . She sculpted the butter cow for 45 years, retiring 5 years ago. Unfortunately she passed away earlier this summer. In her honor, they had 100 of these little painted cows all over the fair that fair go-ers decorated for her.
Gotta love spin art!

8 trips down the big slide!

Claire and her new crown!




On Tuesday, mom and I took the kids to Blank Park Zoo to check out the dinosaur display that has been visiting the zoo this summer. These were super cool with moving parts and roaring sounds.




Thanks for a great time summer!