So what have we been up to lately?

Before I begin this post, I want to mention something. I'm not real big on the idea of putting our kids personal information /pictures on the internet. You will notice that some of my sentences do not follow proper English grammar rules. I'm doing this because I do not want to put our children's names on this blog. If you decide to respond / comment to any post, please be kind and remember to not use their names. Thank you!

Ok, now that business has been taken care of, what have we been up to lately. Well, in late August we went to a friend's birthday party and here are some pictures of the kids in and around the pool.

She is figuring out how to do the backstroke.

She did this all on her own, nobody showed her how!

Check me out, I'm just chillin'

As Arnold Schwarzenegger would say "I want to pump You up!"

The kids have really had a good summer swimming. We have gone on many swim dates to either the local indoor and outdoor pools,as well as our neighbors pool. She took two weeks of swim lessons, and is confident if she wears her 'floatie', but she still doesn't put her head completely underwater. He isn't as concerned about getting his face or head wet, he's concerned about the temperature. If he thinks it's cold, there's no way he's going in.

Both of the kids are doing well. They just started preschool (again for her, first time for him). She has the experience of going to "work" so she is used to it. He on the other hand has never been away from Mommy and Daddy for long. The first day he went into his classroom and bolted for a kitchen center to play. As I was walking out the door he turned and looked at me. I said "Bye, Bye, I love you, have fun!" He tilted his head like "Huh" then turned and ran off to another toy area. He never cried that day at all. I meant to bring the camera with me that day, but forgot, so next time they both go to class I'll get a picture of them outside their classroom doors. Look for those in the next few posts.

Both kids are very verbal. She talks constantly and LOVES to read (pretend - it's just SO darn cute). He LOVES anything that moves, makes noise, has wheels, etc. He will repeat over and over an animal and the sound they make, or a vehicle and the sound it makes. He can be found spending up to 20 mins at a time playing alone with his Thomas the tank engine train table and train cars. She LOVES to pretend cook & pretend shop. She has a kitchen and a 'cafe' table in her room. She also likes to pretend to be a waitress, princess, or teacher. I'm always saying Hi to her kids ("Mom, Mom, say Hi to my kids" while she does the Vanna White showing where they are). Ok, enough about them for awhile.

Tom recently flew to Milwaukee for the weekend. He hung out with the family and watched the UM vs. UF football game. We respectfully have no comment about that this year (smile). Erika had a lot of extra time on her hands in August becasue work was very slow and not as many interpreters were needed. Now in September, she works almost everyday straight.

Prior to Hurricane Hannah drenching us with rain, we had an interesting thing happen. One of our backyard trees had been dropping it's leaves and I thought, "Don't tell me Fall is already here", but that wasn't the case. The poor tree must have been dieing, because it fell. Well, it might have been a sick tree, but it wasn't a dummie. He knew we had a pile of trimmings etc... out there and he headed right for it. Here's proof. We (ok Tom, I had nothing to do with it) cut her up and we will have a good pile of firewood come winter.

The day before labor day our block at a small block party. I couldn't attend because it was one of those days that I actually was able to work. However, the kids had a good time playing with the neighbors, have a look.

I'll try and get some more pictures and info for you all soon. Take Care!

Love Us!