My Own Shopping

Sunday morning I was helping Sara pick out what to wear for church. I suggested a dress. She said, "No thank you mommy. I prefer to do my own shopping." She then picked out her own outfit and got dressed on her own. She did a good job too :)

Play mates

Sara and Jonas have started playing together more and more. This morning, Sara kept coming up with things for them to do. She would say, "Come on Jonas." He would follow her wherever she went and gladly participate. He loves it when she includes him. He wants to be everywhere she is and do everything she is doing. They ended with a picnic of Cheerios in her bedroom.

Botanical Garden

The Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor just opened a Children's Garden. It is amazing! Our kids loved it! They have all sorts of things for the kids to do and explore. They have a teepee, a natural ampetheatre, a log home, lots of plants, natural musical instruments, all sorts of great things. The kids didn't want to leave. We had a lot of fun. We'll be going back!

Tot Soccer

Three weeks ago, Sara started tot soccer through Milan. The first day was rough. She didn't want us to put her down. Then, she started warming up to the idea. They already have the kids dribbling, doing toe touches, and playing games. The coaches do great games with the kids, like red light, green light, hit the mosquito by kicking the ball, and lots of other fun stuff. Now, she is really enjoying it. She has even made a goal. It's a fun thing to be a part of.

Handwriting w/out Tears

We got this program that is supposed to help Sara with writing. I'm attempting to do some home school pre-schooling. As soon as the program arrived, we opened the boxes. She was excited to start building letters out of the wood pieces. So far, so good. She is definitely learning her letters and writing, and for the most part seems to be enjoying it. Thank God there are creative people in this world!!

Swing Set

Some friends blessed us with a great swing set. The kids have loved having it right here. Sara loves, loves, loves to swing. Jonas doesn't really like swinging, but loves the slide. We are so excited for the many fun times to come.

More NYC Pics

Elmo in Times Square, Toys R Us Ferris Wheel, and M & M World

NJ/NYC

In August, we went with the Smiths, my mom and Haylie to NJ. We stayed with Dirsa's family - they are great! We had a wonderful time enjoying their home and pool. We took the kids to the amusement park one day. Sara and Anna Grace loved it!! Sarah and Haylie were great with the girls - they rode the rides with the 2 little ones. Looks like we have some fearless ones on our hands :) We went into NYC for a day too. It was fun to see Times Square. We had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, went to M&M World, rode the ferris wheel at Toys R Us. It was a great trip. On the way back, we stopped in Pennsylvania to pick Jon's brother Mike up from the hospital. He had been in a bus accident on his way to white water rafting. He had some pretty bad injuries, but is recovering well. We were glad we could help out by bringing him back to MI.