Lucy at the piano

My Lucy girl loves music.  She really was a dancer before she could walk and a singer before she could talk (ABBA quote). She likes to sit at the piano and sing and play.  She does NOT like it if it's not her turn at the piano.  If I am teaching a piano lesson she likes to sit at the piano and scream at my students because she does not like to take turns at the piano. Sometimes she will let me play, but that's pretty rare.  I love my music baby.

A rare moment of piano sharing for all.

First day of preschool

Jack was so excited for his first day of preschool! He burst into my room at 6:15 AM and said "Can I go to school now?"  Poor guy had to wait 6 more hours before he could go to school.

It's pretty hard to get Lucy to stand still, especially for a picture, so Jack used the choke hold method to get a picture with his baby Lucy.

Jack is attending Baylors preschool along with our neighbor, Larissa.

Those two LOVE school!

One morning at breakfast Jim said: "Jack, what's your teachers name?" Jack replied: "You don't need to know that."

We love our Jack!

Summer storm

We had some pretty ominous clouds over our street. Just a thunder storm, no hail or tornadoes!

Here are the kids with Jim on his birthday.  We had a great day and I made Jim his preferred cake, Olive Oil cake. Simple and delicious.

Jack's first soccer game

Jack is using the same uniform Lilly used in her season of soccer when she was 4.  This is the smallest size the uniform comes in, all the 5 and under kids look adorable, drowning in their uniform. Jack was very annoyed with the giant uniform, which I can't blame him, it's not easy to run around a soccer field in clothes that are way too big. It was so hot and muggy that the kids were all melting down by the end of the game, I wouldn't have been running around in that humidity. They did great!

Later in the day a rain storm came and cooled down Danville.

First Day of School

Meet the teacher night

Lilly is at a different school this year (sob) for 3-5th graders.  We all went as a family to meet her new teacher and tour the school.  Her new teacher is pretty much the best teacher ever.  She hugged me a few times and love just pours out of her.  It's always really helpful for me to have a fantastic teacher.

I was so excited that Lilly still allowed me to take my traditional meet the teacher picture and I took a bunch of pictures.  As I was taking them, they appeared to be coming out well.

Extreme sadness poured out of me when I got home to find I had been shooting with a crazy fast shutter speed.  I can't explain to you what that means, because I don't know that much, but it did mess up my pictures. SOB. When I was outside taking rain pictures I bumped up my shutter speed as high as I could.  I just remembered from my photog class that the faster the shutter speed the more you can literally stop the motion.  This is good for running pets and kids, or rain falling from the sky but not indoor, evening pictures.  I think.  Either way, my shutter speed was way up (because I forgot to readjust the settings) and I ruined my meet the teacher pictures! SOB!  At least you can still see the people.

Lilly and Mrs. Orndorff. 3rd grade. An attempt to edit the picture:

At least my camera took some better pictures outside in the sun.

Outside Liberty Valley Elementary School.

Neighbor Cara entering 5th grade and Lilly entering 3rd. Back at the same school again.

End of Summer 2014

Lilly's commentary on the end of summer:

Lilly: "I can't wait until I'm an adult and I can have summer forever. Mommy's lucky because she has summer forever.  Daddy never has summer, just on weekends."
Me: "Did you know that being a mom is a job? I have to work at home, but it's the best job in the world."
Lilly: "Actually, working at a butterfly farm is probably the best job."


This was a summer that was different from most.  We had some epic travel and not much of a routine.  While it was glorious to not be tied to a routine, it was...well, different. As always, I mourn the changes and growth in my children for a few days, but only for a few days. A new school year, a developmental marker, a new milestone that leaves behind a younger stage, makes me sad. The end of a season (with winter being the only exception, I regularly welcome the end of winter) makes me a bit melancholy.  The great thing about my lovely little family is we seem to really relish our seasons and celebrate the changes.  We have a great time playing and running and a great time watching some shows and taking it easy.  Here are some pics from the end of summer.

(First two photos are by Lilly)

We love Lucy around here, and lego hulk.

These girls are our next door neighbors, and have been ever since we moved into our house 5 years ago.

Cara (10), Larissa (3), Lilly (8), Jack (4)

Lots of trampoline fun this summer.

Total blurry 11 year anniversary shot at the DC Temple, where we were married.

A summer rain storm sent us outside to play in the light rain.

Then we played Jack's favorite game: How close can I get my eyeball to you.

Lucy close up. This girl loves to be outside and regularly attempts escape.

Happy end of summer to all.