Micah Starts Kindergarten!

OK, they all started school...

Claire's in 4th grade

Jenna's in 6th grade (middle school!)

Katie's in 10th grade

and Micah is in kindergarten!  Boy, was he excited!!  He's been counting down to Aug 26 for many months.

And it was a red-letter day.  When I was in the lobby with him, waiting before it started, he gave me hugs and kisses and said he loves me. Then we went down to his classroom.  Once in there, he hardly gave me any attention because he was totally focused on his teacher and his new class.  Awwww.  So cute!

In the pic below, you can see his teacher, Mrs. Leasure (she taught all 3 of our girls as well!) and a couple of Micah's friends.  Actually, the boy across from Micah is one of his best friends so far-- Parker.

Micah's teacher says he is doing really well.  He likes to talk (yes!) but so far he is doing a good job being quiet when he's supposed to. 

So glad he's doing well and enjoying it so much.  So far, all the kids are enjoying the new year. (of course, we're not very far into it, either!)

Claire and Brownie

Yesterday I took Claire out to the Ketchum's for a riding lesson.  I think this is the first one she's had in a year.  Since she's not serious about it-- this is just for fun and the experience of it-- and because Michele generously isn't charging anything-- the lessons have been pretty infrequent. 

It's such a gorgeous location; and yesterday was over-the-top weather (it's been a cool summer, and we are loving it).  Even the drive was fun!  And I happily watched this lesson for an hour and a half.  Michele's a great teacher; Claire loves it; Brownie's a good little pony.

Along with actual riding, Claire gets to learn a bunch about horse care.  Here she was brushing Brownie's tail.  Since I grew up on a farm with dairy cows, this position right behind the hooves always makes me a little nervous.  Brownie's very well trained to stand still for the grooming and to lift her feet when necessary, etc.

Claire made huge improvements in being able to follow Michele's directions, and thus being able to get Brownie to halt, etc.  So Michele let her trot with Brownie for quite a while.  Of course, Claire loved that part!

Berkeley County Fair

Fifteen years we've lived in Berkeley County and we've never been to the fair, so this was the year.  We went Saturday evening, and it was quite the experience.  I know I haven't been to the Hudsonville fair since I was a teenager, so maybe my memory isn't quite accurate, but this was definitely nothing like that. We did have fun, and, really this was all about the experience, right? We had to dodge a lot of mud because of the rain the night before.  Dodged cigarette smoke all over the place.  Of course, dodged oodles of people.  Another year, we'll go earlier in the week so we can see the animals and the other exhibits. 

Micah had a great time driving this car!  Here he even used both steering wheels.

The reason we chose to go Sat pm was so the kids could see a demolition derby once.  None of the girls was excited about this. And we really didn't stay that long.  Saw one heat of the 8-track race they do.  The actual demolition part was separate, but it was the same cars and they definitely did some smashing and falling apart.  Then the girls were happy to go out and look at a jewelry display someone had up. :) Chad and Micah stayed for one more heat-- they went down close to the fence so they could get some mud on them.

Really, if you want to see rednecks near us in WV, here's a great place to do it! :)  Like a whole different culture.

PA

Last week, I took the kids to PA for a couple days.  Chad was able to get a bunch of school work (board meeting!) and home work done while we were gone.  We visited the Hoovers at Menno Haven (that place holds quite a few memories for us) and then headed up to Chad's parents' house.  Did a lot of school shopping (no clothing tax in PA) and played games and watched Gilligan's Island and HGTV. :) 

Katie's bday

Happy birthday to our lovely daughter!  I'm a week late, but the pics we got of her on the big day (with her requested giant chocolate fudge cake) didn't turn out that well.  Here's a great one from City Park the other day.  On her birthday, we celebrated by going out for pizza and a movie, and then presents and lots of cake at home.