Lost tooth!

Caitlin has lost her first tooth!

It had been loose for a while and I could see that it was ready to come out. So I asked her if she wanted me to pull it. She said yes. So I just reached in and grabbed it. Surprised both of us. But baby girl was brave. She didn't cry or even wince. Probably too excited to have finally lost a tooth.

Happy Birthday Dominic!

Our little boy is now 9 years old. 

And what a fun age that has been so far. 

Here are a few pictures from his birthday celebrations.

 

 

First Day of School

While we had a wonderful summer, both kids were excited to start school.

 

 

Caitlin is in 1st grade and Dominic is in 4th grade. Seems hard for me to believe.


Caitlin at her desk. 

She has Ms. Janzen for her teacher this year.

Dominic at his desk.

He has a two new teachers this year, Mr. Moors and Ms. Ellie.

 

Lewis

We had a sad element to our summer. While we were visiting my grandparents we received news from my MIL that Lewis was at the vet and very sick. He couldn't walk or eat by himself. He was completely helpless. It was obvious from the start that he was wasn't doing well and probably wouldn't make it. But I brought him home and spent a week feeding him and keeping him clean. I wanted the kids, especially Dominic, to have a chance to see that we'd tried and to be able to say good-bye.

By the 2nd week he had begun to be in pain. So we made the painful decision to put him to sleep. I took him to my friend's house (who is a vet) and she helped us say good-bye. She turned down the lights, put him on a soft blanket and let us hold him while he went to sleep. It was so sad, especially to watch Dominic say good-bye to his friend. But we couldn't let him be in pain with no hope of getting better. We'd tried everything and now it was time.

We will miss him greatly. He was a very special cat.

But Dominic wanted to heal his heart with a new kitten. A friend had some kittens so we brought two home. Wouldn't want one to get lonely. =) And with Alex (Caitlin's cat) so big, we weren't sure how one little kitten would adjust alone.

We named them Meme Fox and Katie Ganshert - Meme and Kate.*

They are the sweetest little kittens imaginable. The kids are in love and even Alex seems to have accepted his two new sisters.

*Sadly a coyote got Kate about 2 months after we brought her home.

Summer Fun

Remember those choirs they were doing so well? They've been great at getting them done, but some are more fun than others. =)

The kids have gone to sports camp the last two years. This year it was pretty hot, but they did great and loved it.

 We had a couple of picnics in our back yard. 

Caitlin loves her Daddy.

 Jon was out of town visiting his grandmother. So I took the kids to Burgess Falls. We had so much fun. Although I had to say silly stuff to get Dominic to give me a real smile, I eventually got the photo I wanted.

We went to see my Aunt and Grandparents this summer.
 My kids adore their great-grandparents and the feeling is mutual. It's wonderful to still have my grandparents and be able to share my children with them.

We had lots of other fun activities this summer.

Summer reading program fun

Lego Club

Even the Algood Police joined us for that one. Turns out they like Legos too. =)

Playing dress up

Picking up some pools at the store for our party.

 We had a blast this summer and all bemoaned how quickly it went by.

Growing kids

Jon asked me to help him hold something outside. He's working on the garage. I wasn't really paying attention as I slipped my feet into some flip flops at the door. Later I looked down and realized they were the ones Dominic had been complaining were too small for him. While a tad tight, they definitely fit me. What has happened to my little boy?!

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He isn't the only one growing like a weed. Today I packed lunches so we could spend the day at the pool. I packed a sandwich, chips, grapes, peanut butter crackers, and some cookies in each lunch. We go to a pool in a neighboring town that provides free lunches to the pool attendants. So the kids skipped the burger, but took the fruit cup, milk, and chips. Caitlin ate EVERYTHING. She then helped a friend polish off a massive jumbo bag of popcorn and ate a few of my carrots. Upon returning home she claimed to be starving so I fed her more carrots and a large banana. We were all going in different directions so had sandwiches again for supper. She ate two sandwiches and some carrots. I have no idea where she's putting it, but expect to be changing out her wardrobe again soon.

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Jon just came inside a bit exasperated, holding a book. Apparently Dominic was reading while he was mowing. I'm a little afraid to see what my lawn looks like after that.

Dominic and Caitlin are in two summer reading programs. And while both of them have always loved books, this has inspired Dominic. If he's not outside, he's reading. He's plowed through an impressive amount of books in just a month and isn't slowing down. I had mentioned several months ago that I wanted him to experience other types of books. He was reading books that were all the same genre. And while there wasn't anything wrong with them, I wanted to widen his imagination and vocabulary. He took me to heart. He's read Around the World in 80 Days, 2 Hardy Mysteries, Judy Bloom, non-fiction about sharks, anatomy, dogs, insects, etc., and several classics. We are also flying through the Little House books at night. We are almost finished with the series. This does my heart good to see my kids fall in love with reading.

Chores and amazing kids

Towards the end of the school year the kids begged me to change their daily chores. They were tired of them and at the very least wanted to trade.  I'd made a summer calendar with the idea that I'd be more intentional about what we did instead of coasting through like usual. In the words of Dominic this was Caitlin's first "real summer break". So I wanted to do some new things. We put in movie and pool days. But I also added some cooking classes, required book reviews, and new words (both English and ASL) to learn each week.

And on the very first day of our summer break (the week after camp meeting), I changed their chore charts. I sort of expected to hear some complaints. I'd added two extra chores to each one and the new ones were more difficult. So far I have woken up each day to find them either finished or almost finished with all of their chores. They are waking up at 6am to get them done so that we can have the whole day to read, play, cook, and have fun. 

And they are enjoying them. Caitlin had a moment of difficulty when she had to figure out how to clean the tub. She couldn't get the cleaner to spray out (her hands aren't strong enough) and she couldn't reach the other side of the tub. But the kids worked together. Dominic sprayed the cleaner for her and she just climbed in and got to work. When she finished, the tub shone.

I'm continually amazed and thankful for these tremendously awesome kids that God has blessed me with.