Megan and the monkey bars!

Emily has the best expressions! My favorite one is when she makes a super pouty face...I've yet to get it on camera though because when she sees the camera/phone she just grins!

Megan is so proud of herself! She's been working super hard every day at recess and begs to go to the park to practice.  She finally conquered them and loves it!

I'm not listening and you don't have to make me!

I think Jacob was trying to ride behind her but it sure looks like he's trying to choke her!

Fun at the park!

Another action shot of the determined Megan!

Cuties!

We have been embracing these random beautiful days! Megan can now do the monkey bars. Emily   has absolutely no fear. The kid will climb any play structure and heads for the biggest slides around....Jacob eventually will get up the nerve to follow her down :) 

Emily with her wild and crazy hair!

The kids latching onto Daddy!

Jacob has enjoyed feeding Emily lately. She gets a kick out of it too and she's a super picky eater so it's nice to have Jacob help us out!

Jacob enjoying the slide too!

Cheese!

Emily is getting so big these days! She is such a joy to be around!

We got out a slot car track and the kids are loving it! They really like to crash the cars into the wall!

Emily our little daredevil!

Long time!!

Busy busy busy! I have been swamped at work lately and it's been fun but exhausting! Our school is basically going to most likely be a pilot/model early childhood program for the National Character Education Partnership. I am so proud of the teachers and staff and all that they do everyday! We are changing lives and character is just weaved into all that we do. Details to come! I am also exploring going back to school for an Educational Specialist degree thru Mizzou for Mental Health Practices in Schools. I am loving my job and would like to further my skills in working with families, colleagues, and the kids. More details to come!

The kids are doing wonderful. Megan has been very dedicated to gymnastics lately. She's determined to do a cartwheel the right way. Tonight we researched utube videos and she improved a ton. We also added a tape line to the carpet which has helped too. I will try to video her soon so you can see her in action! She's progressed to Level I and is practicing a (easy) routine. It's exciting to see her so focused! School continues to be hit and miss. At home her reading has improved a lot and her determination as well. She continues to struggle with numbers especially 10+ which makes the 8+8= homework difficult. Again though her teacher is making a huge impact this year and we are hoping for the best.  Emily continues to change everyday! She is super sweet and fun to be around!

Uncle Jon & Aunt Laura came over and the kids loved playing with them!

Megan practicing!

Michael is continuing to train for his marathon and it's just a month away now which means his runs are nearly 20 miles on Saturdays...crazy! He runs 3 days a week 6-9 miles and Saturday runs of nearly 20 miles and each week all runs are bumped up a little. November 17th is going to be crazy! This picture is of Megan and Michael jogging at Dick's while trying to figure out what shoes would be best. We researched like crazy before and then I actually talked him into running with one of each shoes on!

We had a fun night of soccer in the living room last night! The kids absolutely loved it and it's one of the few positives for not having furniture in the living room! Who else would let their kids play soccer in the living room??

The kids love to snuggle together before bed...usually it doesn't end well but for a moment it was perfect!

OK so maybe we are a little too fun-loving because we also decided it would be a good fun idea to put up the ginormous tent in the basement! Again, the kids loved it and I think we will have a campout in the future and actually sleep in it!

Megan practicing her gymnastics flips!

Another soccer picture!

Jacob has been writing so much better this year. It's exciting to hear spell his name and hear his teachers gush about him!

Megan's Amazing Day!!!!

Megan and I spent the afternoon together. The morning was a little rocky with major attitude and lots of tears. She finally said what was really bothering her which was kids calling her stupid and crybaby and other things. I think it's been building for a while. She actually packed a suitcase and said she wanted to leave (she wasn't sure where she was going but not here!) after we worked through that it was time for gymnastics.

Gymnastics went well and she loves going. She then helped me stage our old house and we went to yo yums which is a frozen yogurt place that she loves! We came home played outside until bedtime! She was super excited about flipping through the trapeze bar on the new swing set. She can barely reach the handles and managed to pull her feet up and through the bar, then drops down about a foot!

Her next awesome thing was finally learning to tie her shoes!!!! She has been working on it for a long while!

And her final and most exciting accomplishment is learning to read!!!!!!!!!! She has struggled learning letters, letter sounds, and numbers. She was so frustrated last year in kindergarten and we felt like we could only do so much at home. This year her teacher is perfect for her and we love that. Megan's attitude has been much better about homework. She has always lived listening to complex books-the super long dr. Seuss books, Harry potter, box car children , etc. she really didn't want to read the simple books. Tonight though I brought down early science readers and it was like magic! She gained confidence and read book after book and even sneaked more books after lights out. She's excited to bring them to school to read to her teacher! I don't think I've ever seen her as excited as I did tonight (including Christmas morning!) I'm so excited myself! Thank god we found easy reader science books because she is definitely a science girl!

More Updates!!!

Stories to come!

Our week!

This week we had so much fun playing outside with the kids! This weekend I took Emily with me to St.Louis to a wedding shower so I got a few cute pics! She loved all the attention on her!

The picture of Jacob was the kids playing on the deck coloring...well Megan colored while Jacob made a train with the crayons!

Cousin Steve's Wedding!!!

My cousin Steve got married this weekend! It was a unique wedding incorporating their love of Cardinal's baseball.  The weather was absolutely perfect too!

Awesome cake!

Emily enjoyed a little cake!

Here they are at home plate!

The wedding party!

Their first dance!

The park also has a train and of course Jacob had to go check it out!

More of their first dance!

Our cousin Kendra was a bridesmaid and her son was the ring bearer! The rings were carried in a ball glove and the preacher carried the bible out in a ball glove! We had a great time and wish the two all the best!