How is September Already??

We're pretty overdue on the blog entries. Now that Claire's back in school and Liam goes to preschool three mornings a week, I should have time to add some of the great photos & memories from our awesome summer! Well, right after I clean the house, fold some laundry, rescue Reagan from whatever trouble she is getting into at the moment, organize the kids' closets, pick the garden, plan the next Girl Scout meeting, check my email & the latest on facebook, make dinner, well...you get the idea.....

But I will add a quick crew update here:

Claire loves 1st grade. Loves homework, loves to read chapter books, loves listening to her iPod ("21st Century Girl" being her latest obsession), even loves to practice piano. And she just started gymnastics and girl scouts. She is very excited about her 7th birthday...Justin Bieber theme, of course. Mornings are still painful getting her out the door & to the bus by 7:05...in fact, she cried all the way to the bus stop this morning b/c I was soooo cruel and made her wear sneakers w/ her hoodie & fleece "comfy pants." Ugh, it's always the shoes. Yesterday, she came down the stairs wearing really cute capris w/ orange/brown embroidery around the bottom edge.....but added hot pink/black checkered miss-matched knee socks & her keens....and I painfully let her out the door that way (yay mom!). She came home and told me that Ms. Anderson told her that her socks were cute. She replied to Ms. Anderson, "My mom said they looked RIDICULOUS!"

Liam is loving preschool three mornings a week. He is also playing soccer - which is going much better than we expected. He basically just runs around following the other kids, gets a hold of the ball every once in awhile (he's a great kicker), but doesn't have a fit when the other kids have the ball. This might be his sport if he can learn to focus on the ball & not the other kids! He's still Mr. Social, saying hi to every stranger he sees. The other morning on the way home from preschool, I caught him saying The Pledge of Allegiance in the back of the car. I just had to videotape it when we got home (watch video at the bottom of this post below). It just amazes me the things that kids pick up. Last week in church, I realized he was saying the complete Lord's Prayer with us. Melts my heart!! He might make me a bit crazy sometimes, but I sure love this little guy......

How is Reagan going to be ONE already next month??!!! It just cannot be possible! She is practially a toddler now...not taking steps yet, but crawling everywhere, opening cupboards, climbing up on our fireplace ledge & the stairs, and she even dumped a bottle of mouthwash on our bathroom floor the other day (ahem, Greg...close the child safety lid for crying out loud!). At least the bathroom smelled minty fresh! She is still a great-natured smiley baby (showing off her 6 teeth), and knows how to go with the flow. Poor thing gets dragged out of her bed daily & thrown into the car to take her siblings to their activities...but she rolls w/ the punches...that's a third kid for ya! And she LOVES to eat! She eats absolutely everything. Salmon, broccoli & raspberries are probably her favorites, but she can also put away an entire piece of pizza. Most of all, she LOVES her sister & brother. Liam still cracks her up more than anyone else...and he just embraces that fact.:-)

Greg is still loving his work, plays keyboard in a big band & for one church service/month, & trains for his triathlons (he did three this summer, including a half-ironman in Benton Harbor). He just signed up for the 2012 Wisconsin Ironman w/ his brother Tim - UGH!!! I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of praying for his health in the coming year....and praying for my sanity as well, as he will be very busy training...and traveling for work. I'm thinking about hiring a stand-in for him...seriously.

Well, that wasn't the quickest of updates! It almost seems like a xeroxed Christmas letter...sorry! Ah, well, at least I posted!!! Hope all is well out there :-)



turn up the volume!