Cousin Audrey is 1!

She took her time and sampled the cake. Well, the frosting.

And got some presents

Enjoyed some music with Dad (Uncle Andy)...

And later, we had the opportunity to enjoy a bonfire out back.

Roman and Zoe were mostly interested in the Octoberfest themed party going on next door by this point- the hammerschlagen and a light up frisbee were too much of a draw for a 6 year old. Before it got too dark they spent some time watching the activities from Aunt Laura and Uncle Andy's play structure. 

and then a few weeks later...

We got to have Audrey over at our house over night while Andy and Laura went to a wedding.

It was fun.

Uncle Mike made some fun airplane noises, which got a smile. 

This is one sweet girl! So mellow!

Audrey had fun watching Roman and Zoe, and Roman and Zoe had a lot of fun playing with Audrey. Zoe just reminded me that Audrey was so, so, kind of happy that Roman kept falling of the foot thing. Translation: Roman pretended to fall down of the ottoman, which made Audrey laugh. Over and over again.

Such a nice cuddler!

It was really nice to have her around. 

We'll have to do it again!

Our New library (or libraries)

Star Wars Reads day at the local library... Dad was too busy to attend (next year!), but I thought it would be worth checking out. 

It was. The Lego table got someone's attention, also Yoda and Chewbacca origami, a scavenger hunt...

Wait. Star Wars?

Well, there is a princess involved.

And cookies. Decorate your own cookie to look like a planet from the movie (Dagobah*? Tatooine**?) or other sphere (Death Star?). 

Death Star.

Although Zoe recently recounted that she chose the Death Star but opted to turn into a smiley face instead (confirmed if you look very closely at the photo above). 

Once a week we go to dance and 10 steps away from where we drop Zoe of for dance is another public library. A nice little one.

With a bench seat in the kids area for reading.

It is pretty awesome.

* I had to look this up to expand my list

**I had to look this up to make sure I spelled it right.

Happy 6th Birthday!

SIX? How has that happened?

Hello Zoe!

Everything is awesome

(even if it's a 'bad cop' looking Lego guy)

A little celebrating with family: Grandma and Grandpa B, Andy, Laura and Audrey (almost 1!), Uncle Dave and Grandma Candy (who spent the night last night....you were so excited).

Miss Audrey is next to celebrate :)

Zoe' Creations

Hermit crabs in the Specialist's room.

"The hermit crab got out of it's shell. And that yellow piece right there is the Batman symbol. And that's the woodchips, and the top of the tank. And that's its two eyes."

Anything else?

"I smelled the wet wood chips...and it smelled a little bit not good."

Twice a day they go with another teacher to do a variety of things: art, science, gym, the library. All very exciting.

Monkey!

A test in cutting skills I think.

But adorable.

Mystery bag. What is this Zo?

I got a blue whistle. 

Sure enough.

Wicket (our cat), Marble (the turtle, on the ground), Roman (with blue fairy wings), Daddy with our goldfish balancing on his head, Mommy, Zoe.

Mommy and Daddy, with a bird in the air and a squirrel on the ground.

This is a school bus.

"That's just stuff that I wanted to put on the piece of paper."

"Rex told me this was sloppy...he's not very nice."

That darn Rex. Forever in mama bear's radar as the boy who criticized my angel's work ;)

Zoe had Pete the Cat too. Pete got some pink and purple boots (fabulous!)

Zoe made this turtle on the first day of school (oops., she just pointed out his back leg was missing). She took it out and promptly gave it to Roman. What a sweetie.

Roman's Masterpieces

I mostly like the writing. I love their writing and how they space their letters. Roman's is typically more tightly spaced and regimented. Not in this example, of course. But in the past I was more accustomed to seeing Zoe's words because she got in a writing groove, and home came Roman's and it was....different. I like that. Unique styles each.

And the frog drawing is awesome.

Seed/Bean art. Minnesota State Fair exhibit, here we come.

Very nice.

backwards a. That always gets me - the backward letters. Last year Roman had some writings where the whole word was backward and read right to left. I think it was his name. I wondered if it was a mirror trick, or if he did it on purpose. "No."

The mind is an amazing thing.

I suppose that letters are just symbols that we've decided mean something, so why not backward? Which makes it even more amazing to me that all these lines and curves on the screen mean something.

Orange shirt. Roman and Dad love the orange.

This, I was told last night as I was taking pictures is "a masterpiece".

There you go.

And something about the porcupine's butt. Mom rolled her eyes, made a dismissive "Roman...." and we moved on.

Observation skills.

"I observed that snails have moss on their shell."

"I observed the brown stuff was snail poop."

"I observed you can actually see snails move. I thought that you couldn't see snails move 'cause lots of books they tell you that you can't even see them move, but you can."

check.

I wish _I_ was in kindergarten.

Both Roman and Zoe were SO excited to ride the bus this year, and it's still going well. They spent their 2nd week talking about buses and bus safety and the like.

I'm told the other passengers are the white cat from Pete the Cat and Pete the Cat. This is a book series they've been reading in class.

Thus...Roman/Pete the Cat.

Roman's room has a frog theme. He brought this home one day. 

Zoe just asked 'how did you paint the frog?'

"Water paint...and you know how I did the back?  Oil pistols."

Apparently oil pistols are like an 'oily crayon.'

Parent Night at school

A list of all the kids in the school. Traditional names? Some. But some not so much. Mike and Mary selected something not so Mike and Mary, and so have a lot of parents.

Look, apples!

With birthdays coming up. 

We saw this on the way in.

We laughed.

And the sign explained the face.

Tee hee.

Zoe decorated herself by her coat hook. Long hair, big smile and eyelashes. That's our girl.

They are bringing home a lot of drawings and such, and I keep thinking I need to take pictures and post. Trying to catch up. It was a busy week as Roman started gymnastics and Zoe started dance class. And we signed Roman up for Scouts. He'll be a Lion. If he sticks with it he'll then be a Tiger.

Lion. Tiger. Bear? Oh my, no, that's later. Too bad.

Fall?!

A stop at Victoria Valley Orchard for some apples and a stroll in the orchard.

Kind of nice to go to a place that just does apples.

Wow, I am so behind

I've lost my system (and that's okay).
Take photos with real camera. Sit down and download. Organize (folderize). Crop. Save. Upload. Write. Publish. Burn a disc once and awhile.  It's demise started with the smart phone (more than 2 years ago) and was escalated by the disappearance of free time in a day.
So, I need to define a new normal.
New normal:
Living in a quiet neighborhood, where the kids can go out and play by themselves (that was a tremendous "oh wow" moment), or more likely with their new neighborhood friends (Matthew and Gabe). It's made me realize that we aren't going to have them 'for ourselves' much longer, not really. So when they're driving me insane with their clinging and their demands for attention (in whatever form it manifests itself), I need to remember that our focused you-are-my-everything time with the little ones is dwindling.

OH MY!
But, we're not their yet.
My best attempt of photographic proof of that the last two months existed:

...checking out a local park....

...checking out the local beach...

....checking out the new school....

...Waiting anxiously and excitedly for the bus on the first day of school...

And, I am told that Zoe, Roman and Gabe all sit together in the same seat now (after the first day). Gabe is in Zoe's class too.

Courtesy of Ms. Johnson.