A Night of Big Bugs

After we woke Hannah up from sleeping on her plate, Joshua noticed some big bugs on our back deck (the light was on), so we went out to check them out.  We first saw a praying mantis, which was pretty cool.  The Royals used one as a pseudo-mascot this season, but I've hardly seen them in real life.  This summer we've seen a few, though.  It took abit of convincing, but Joshua let it walk on him.

 He then flew away but landed on my shoulder.  He seemed very content there, enjoying the view and riding as a walked around the deck.

Clara was not interested in joining us, but Hannah again showed impressive bravery, as she wanted to hold him.

We then spotted a cicada.  We thought they were pretty much done for the year, but apparently not.  Hannah again shows her bravery here.

Finally, we also found a leaf bug.  I caught him and showed him to the kids.  So over the course of a few minutes, we'd found a praying mantis, a cicada, and a leaf bug, all on our back deck.  It was quite the night for large insects.

Eyeing Her Watermelon

This series of pictures is funny to me, because Joshua and Clara are both enjoying a slice of watermelon, but Joshua can't keep his eyes of hers.  I didn't really notice it at the time I took the pictures.  At first glance, it would seem that something about hers is more appealing, but actually I think he's just curious about what kind of weirdo eats watermelon with a fork. It's like he's happily enjoying his, able to chow down as fast as his mouth can move, but he doesn't understand why someone would intentionally slow the process of putting sweet, delicious watermelon in their mouth by using a utensil, and he's genuinely curious about this foreign process.

Hannah is not a fan of watermelon (I know where she gets that from...), so she ate her regular meal inside.  However, yet again, the full day with no nap was too much for her.  Unlike previous times where she fell asleep on the trampoline or on the ottoman, this time it was right on her dinner plate!  There's still no way she's going to take an actual nap, so this is going to happen every so often until she gets older.

Wood-Fired Steaks and Walking Sticks

After taking a picture of the kids last week, I realized we probably don't have enough pictures of all three of them, so I took a few more today after church.

Meghan and I had a date night tonight to celebrate our 13th anniversary.  We went to J. Gilbert's for dinner. We went there a couple years ago and really enjoyed it then, and we really enjoyed it this time.

Mom and Ron watched the kids to allow us to go out, and while they were there, they found a walking stick.  Joshua loves bugs and was okay with it being on his face, as Ron sent us this pretty cool picture of him.

First Day of School

 This year is a big milestone since Joshua started kindergarten. As with most things, this is extremely traumatic for me, not as much for him. He was excited to go to school and be a big kid.

He started off in Mrs. Haun's class. At this school they spend the first week or so of kindergarten evaluating which class they want which kid in, so we knew she might not be his permanent teacher, but in the end he did get assigned to her class.

  

He is doing great so far.

The girls also started a new school/daycare since I am working full-time now and so need full-time care.

Clara is in Pre-K and Hannah is in preschool.

It is going well so far. Hannah, as always, is a little slower to adjust to a new situation, but both girls are enjoying their classes.

Family Bike Ride with a Park Pit Stop

This morning we went on a family bike ride.  We have done that as much this year as last year, so I wanted to make a point to get at least one more in before it gets cold.  After some debate, Clara rode in the Burley with Mom, and Joshua and Hannah rode in the Weehoo with me.  We stopped at a park along the way, because the kids love parks, and we had a little extra time.  We played on the equipment, and while there noticed a green cicada.  It was notable, because we didn't have any of that color in our yard this year.  Hannah is too big for the baby swing, but guess who's not?  That's right.  Chicken Baby.  So Hannah helped Chicken by pushing her in the swing for awhile.  After our respite, we headed back to our car to conclude our ride.

Late August

 We got a chance to have a fun family day with the Leach side of the family. I am sure Jason will post more about that in the future, but they decided to remedy Hannah's issue with not having an apron. They got her this super cute purple apron that Hannah loved so much she slept in it. This is her right after she woke up.

 Joshua got the idea somewhere, perhaps from a show, that gelatin (and he always says gelatin, never Jello) is really fun and cool and he asked me to make some. We finally did and it lived up to all his expectations. I was pretty surprised that the kids all loved it because I cannot stand the taste of it, but they thought it was pretty great. I see more Jello in our future.

 At work they gave out these glasses so we could look like that one "Can you hear me now" guy who used to be on the Verizon commercials and now has switched to Sprint. I am really not the type of person who enjoys that type of give-away, but you know who is? This girl. She was really excited about them.

 We had our last day at Natureplay preschool for all three kids. This has been a great place for the kids. They really meet each kid where they are and help them grow from whatever point that is. We will miss it.

 This is Joshua on yellow day. They are starting the year spending a day on each color before moving on to letters.

This is the girls on pajama day. They were pretty excited to wear jammies to school.

Picking Up Joshua

There are not a lot of benefits from being unemployed.  But one perk is that I get to drop off and pick up the kids every day.  Well, Meghan usually picks up the girls from Goddard on her way home from work.  But since Joshua gets out of school at 3:40 each day, obviously Meghan isn't home to do that.  But I am!  I have plenty to do at home during the day, between job hunting, cleaning, and other tasks I try to complete around the house, but I always look forward to the afternoon when I get to walk up to the school and meet Joshua as he gets out.  We then walk hand-in-hand all the way home (which isn't very far), and we talk about his day or whatever else he wants to discuss.  We also then have time at home for an hour or so before Meghan and the girls get home.  Once I have a job, this will scenario will probably change somewhat, but for now it's really special to me to get to pick up my son from kindergarten every day and to walk home and have some one-on-one time.