Is she really that smart...or was it just good timing?

So, this is the story:

Joe picks up the girls from daycare this afternoon. He says to Leah
"What did you learn about it school today."
Leah said, "We learned about the letter T."
Joe said, "Can you tell me some words that start with T?"
and before Leah could answer, Amber said "Two"

Appartently this started Leah and Joe laughing fit that lasted 5 minutes!

9/6/11 Leah's First Day of First Grade

Leah started first grade - WOW - yesterday. She picked out her outfit. She also requested that I curl her hair! Of course, I had to take some pictures. Leah was so cooperative with photos. She even wanted some pictures with Amber in them. Amber, however, was not too cooperative, but I did manage to snap one good one!

She told me before school that she was excited, scared and nervous. I was impressed that she could explain those feelings!! Since I don't work on Tuesdays, I get to take her/pick her up from school. Joe, Amber and I all took her to school yesterday. She requested that I walk her to the door! I was shocked, but, of course, I took advantage of it because I know soon enough she will not want me anywhere near her on the first day of school!

After school, she was absolutely exhausted! I asked her what her favorite part of first grade was. She told me, "sitting at my desk and coloring in the morning."

On another note....JOE GOT A JOB!!! We are very excited. He will be driving/delievery, just not exactly sure in what (van or dock truck). He will know more tomorrow.

Amber

So on Saturday (9/3), we were all out playing on a beautiful day! Leah decided to pull out some buckets and fill them with water. Of course, Amber had to play too! She thought it would be fun to pour the bucket of water on herself. An activity she repeated as long as Leah would fill her bucket. We also discovered on this day that Amber is not afraid of bugs. The first one that she picked up, she tried to eat. Luckily, I was quick enough to get it out of her mouth. The second one was...well, you can see for yourself in the picture. Oh, and she still likes to put everything in her mouth...she was also trying to eat the rocks!

MN Zoo 9/4/11

While the 2 daddy's golfed all day (2 rounds of 18 at 2 different locations...thanks to Jaclyn who found a great deal), the 2 mommy's took the kids to the MN zoo.

I was on a quest to get a group shot of the kids, but it proved to be quite difficult.

Amber was a trooper, she got a short nap on the way down to the zoo, and for the most part, she was just a doll. Kurtis and Kaysee were also just as good as could be. We were very lucky at how the little kids behaved.

We did have a little drama with the older girls, but, they did pretty good overall. Leah, unfortunately, lost a new wallet that she had bought with her own money, and, I thought that was going to be the end of the good behavior, but, after a quick outburst, she did calm down and didn't let it ruin her day. Leah and Kaylee had fun running around. I am not too sure how much attention they actually paid to the animals.

Amber is still calling all of the animals "puppy."

I was shocked at how exhausted I was from the day at the zoo with the kids. Does this mean I am getting old????

Leah got to spend the night at Kaylee's house. A fun way to spend the night before the night before school starts!

Cabin 8/26-29

Leah went up to the cabin with Nonna and Grandpa on 8/17. Joe, Amber and I didn't get to join them until 7/23. We were also joined by Joe's mom, Mary. It is always nice to be up at the lake!

Leah had a great time with Nonna and Grandpa before we arrived. They were joined from Wednesday to Friday by Dan, Tiff, Thea and Delila. Of course, the girls had a fabulous time together.

Joe and Grandpa took Leah to get a real fishing pole. She is learning to cast with it. She is doing pretty good. Before we got there, she was fishing with grandpa (with her barbie fishing pole) and she told me that she caught 2 rock bass. I don't even know what a rock bass looks like!

Amber walked up the entire flight of stairs up the hill (which is a lot) just holding my hand. I have decided that she is going to be a future tennis player, because with every step up...she grunts!

Amber didn't want to have much to do with the lake water, until we went to the public beach on the lake for a picnic/play time. She ended up sitting with me in the water - splashing and watching her sister play for about 45 minutes. It looks like she might be getting more comfortable with the lake water. Leah is still a bit shy about the lake. It is so funny because she is not shy at all in a pool. She doesn't like to put her head under water in the lake...because of the fish!

We had a nice visit with Aunt Sara who came on 8/26, and Priscilla who came on 8/29.

It is always a sad day when we have to leave. But we had to get home...Leah had open house for 1st grade!

8/16/11 A day at the beach

My Aunt Vicky (who is also Leah's Godmother) met Leah, Amber and I at a beach in Pine City. We met up with Vicky who was stranded at the side of the road (in town) because she ran over a piece of wire that got stuck in her tire. We found a repair shop who requested she bring the car there. So, we brought it there where they found the remaining wire (most of it had broken off on the drive to the repair shop). Luckily, there was no leak in the tire. The repair man was able to give us directions to the beach as we had failed to find it using GPS! So, we went to get lunch at A&W and headed to the beach!

Leah had a blast in the lake. It was pretty shallow, so she felt comfortable jumping into the water from the end of the dock. She is getting so confident in the water. I love it! Amber was not too sure about the water...sometimes she was good with it, sometimes she wanted nothing to do with it. She definitely was not going to have anything to do with walking barefoot on the sand! We took a short paddle boat ride around the lake (it was a very small lake). We had a nice time until it look like the weather got bad, so we packed it up and headed to the scrapbooking store in town! Aunt Vicky got Leah a few supplies while we were in the store. She had to work on her scrapbook as soon as we got home, where she used most of the supplies she had purchased that day!

8/13/11 Michael's 7th birthday

The handsome neighbor boy (who happens to be promised to Leah...they just doesn't know it yet) turned the big 07! What a fun day. Leah had fun playing in the pool (until she fell of the ladder and landed on her rear end - ouch). Amber had fun being driven around on the Gator and jumping in the blow up jumper. Leah is so good at entertaining her sister- she drove her around, in the gator and jumped with her in the jumper, and helped her "ride" the trike! The kids had a blast taking down the pinata. A gorgeous day to celebrate a birthday! Happy birthday Michael.