Ainsley - 3 and 3/4ths...

When I look back at Ainsley's 3 year post, I can't believe how much she has grow into a little lady. We are so blessed to have a sweet little girl!

- Ainsley is SO much fun! She is a little person, so observant, and is always surprising us with her sweet take on life. She can be opinionated, but for the most part, is an easy little girl.
- Ainsley started preschool this year, going 2 days a week with her cousin, and bestie, Mya. She loves her teachers and all the things she is learning. She sings the little songs from her school (Open, Shut Them Prayer; The Days of the Week) and prays each night "because her teacher told her to". She also goes to co-op with me once a week and I volunteer in her classroom. I love to get to see her with the other 3 year olds. She is a very good listener, and spends lots of times doing each of the activities.

- She also took a ballet class over the summer, and loved every minute. I cried the first time I saw her dance. She took a tumbling class this fall with her cousin and she loved that as well. 

- She has completely mastered writing her name, and frequently "writes" us all kinds of letters. She also loves to draw pictures on paper or on the whiteboard and color. 
- Ainsley's favorite toys lately are her dress ups and her play kitchen. She loves put on shows for us all dressed up, dancing around and singing.  The more accessories the better! She will also serve you tea or pizza if you head on over to her kitchen.

- Her favorite princess is Ariel, but she likes them all. She just watched her first princess movie, Cinderella. 
- She also likes to pretend to be a baby. She wants us to hold her, sit her in the baby doll highchair, and treat her like a baby.

- She loves to sing and ride her bicycle as well. 
- Over the summer, Ainsley became quite the swimmer at the pool. She loved her puddle jumpers for the first half of the summer, and then discovered she knew how to jump under the water. She will go under the water for 3-4 seconds and push herself through the water. I can't wait to see how much she'll improve this summer!

- Ainsley got her hair cut for the first time over the summer. I was so upset that I cut it too short, and now I look back and love it.

- Following her own footsteps with potty training herself, she gave up her pacifiers on her own this summer. She woke up one day and told me she was done, so we gave them away to Chad and Jen's baby. She never looked back, even though I was very nervous!

- She loves to play with Evan. They are such buddies and I am so thankful for their wonderful relationship. I hope this continues as they both get older. She also loves her cousin Mya, It is so fun to see the two girls together.
 
Ainsley is definitely a little girl now, and we are all having so much fun with her!

Evan - 7 (and a 1/4) :)

Evan turned 7 in October which still seems pretty unreal! He is such a great boy. We love him and are so very proud of him.

It's been a long time since we've posted, so we have a lot of cover!

Activities
- Evan played soccer in the spring (instead of baseball), and then again in the fall. (Doug coached both his teams.) He is currently playing Upward basketball for his second season. It's been fun to watch him start to really start to pick up on both sports.

- In addition, he learned to really swim this summer (passed the 12' deep swimming test), took a tumbling class, and really enjoys indoor rock climbing. He is quite determined when he gets on the wall to always make it to the top. He will stay up on trying over and over.

 - Evan also started Cub Scouts this year, joining a Pack with his two best buddies. He is having a great time. He got to camp out with Dad in the fall and his boat won the award for best pirate theme in the regatta. He's working on his Derby Car right now. Most of all, he loves having time with his two friends.

School
- Our biggest change in the last year has been to Evan's school. He has been doing 1st grade this year at home! I won't go into all the details here, but we chose to try homeschool out this year for a number of reasons, to give him more individual attention and learning plan, more time to explore his interests, more time as a family, to name a few.

- School has been going much better than expected. Evan is excelling at school. Math is still his favorite. (He is placed in 2nd grade math, but we are already working on 3 grade concepts.) His reading has also greatly improved. It's fun to see him reading everything in site and he recently just finished reading his 1st Magic Tree House chapter book on his own.Writing is still his least favorite, but he is improving in that as well.

- We are also attending a co-op once a week where he gets to socialize and learn from other parents. (At first he wasn't sure he wanted to go, as usual, but has now decided that he loves it.) He takes a class on the 50 States, Art, Science Investigators, and Math Movers.
- On the days A has preschool, Evan knows it's time to get serious about school. Poppy also comes up at least once a week to help Evan with lessons or watch Ainsley while we do school. It's been great having the ability to take lots of field trips, play outside, and try new things.



Fun Stuff
- Evan has made new friends this year at co-op as well as staying friends with his buddies and neighbors.
- He still loves anything outside, especially if it involves water! He has also gotten really fast on his two wheel bike, zooming around the neighborhood. He loves hiking as well.

- He loves Pokemon, and finally learned how to play after months of sorting cards. Looking through his cards is still a favorite activity.
- He will play DS, Wii, or iPod, but in small spurts. His favorite TV shows are Wild Kratts, Phineas and Ferb, and Mythbusters.
- He doesn't really play with many toys, but is always coming up with something to play using a few items and his imagination.
- He plays so well with Ainsley. He is very patient with her, but they are starting to get more and more on level with each other. They love coming up with pretend scenarios and now playing on our finished basement! I would say that this has been one of the biggest advantages of homeschooling. He's also great with kids of any age. He will play with the older kids across the street and will play with his cousins or Ainsley's friends. 

- For his 7th birthday, we had a sleepover with his two best friends. They did a scavenger hunt during they day and slept in tents in the basement at night. I think all the boys had a great time.
- After at least 5 years of the same haircut, Evan decided to change it up! He looks so handsome and much older. We're still experimenting to figure out which way he likes it, but the bowl cut is gone. 

- At his 7 year checkup, he hit 4 feet tall! He's also around 55 pounds, on track with everything developmentally, and still had his allergies (yuck) and slight asthma (which acted up this winter - boo).

We pretty much consider ourselves to be the luckiest parents to have such a great boy who is "all boy" with such a tender heart. We love you Evan!

Brother & Sister

We are so blessed with the most amazing family. I am so lucky to have a wonderful husband, and two great kids. The one thing I have been especially thankful for these past few months is the sweet relationship between Evan and Ainsley. Sure, they occasionally fight, but all in all, they are such good friends. They play together so well coming up with all kinds of plans and scenarios.

I love seeing them together and I pray they stay good friends throughout their lives.

Christmas 2012

Summer 2012

We had an amazing 2012 summer! I think we packed as much in as we possible could.

Here are a few of the highlights:

•  Evan went to 3 camps, Safety Town, and VBS. It was a little busy, but most were in the morning so we could get to the pool by the afternoon. Ainsley also got to take a summer dance class for some fun.

• Both kids are water bugs! Evan took swimming lessons to learn the correct way to swim. Before the lesson, he could make it across the pool, but it didn't look pretty. He was able to pass the deep end test at the pool, allowing him to climb the rock wall and jump off the diving board, and to swim in the 12' deep end! Ainsley is even more of a dare-devil, trying to keep up her big brother. She loved her puddle jumpers, for part of the summer. With them, she could swim by herself all over the pool and KI waterpark. She also is getting really close to being able to swim. She will dunk her head under over and over and propel herself through the water. (She will stay under for several seconds.) As soon as she figures out how to take a breath, she will be swimming.
• We spent lots of time at KI and KI waterpark this summer. Ainsley loved the rides this year, and it was so much for to watch her. Both kids loved the waterpark, especially the wave pool and the sand volleyball courts.

 

• We attempted a garden this summer, but it was too hot, so we didn't do very well.  

• Halfway through the summer, we got passes to the Mason pool. The kids had a blast! Evan's favorite was the rock wall, which you climb up out of the water, and then fall into the water. Ainsley loved being able to walk around in the huge part of the pool that is 3' deep. It was so nice for the kids to be able to swim since the waterpark at KI was always so packed.
• One of the kids favorite things was just playing outside with the neighborhood kids. 
• We headed down to Norris Lake for a long weekend with Erica's family and Aunt Diane and Uncle Charlie's boat. We had a blast! Evan was seriously crazy on the tube, not wanting to get off for a minute. The last day, he was tubing with Uncle Chad and decided to stand up on the tube - his own idea. 

• We ended up the summer with a trip to Brown County/Columbus IN, which was also so much fun hiking and swimming at the hotel. 

We did so many other fun things with our family and friends. It was one of the best summers yet!