Capturing the time while I can.

Here's my little guy at about 16 months. I'm looking down at him now, but I realize that in a few years I'll be looking up to him. I'm guessing he'll be about the same height as Michael 6'3". River enjoys jumping right now and does quite well at it. He also likes to dance. I'm so thankful for my little River.

Fort Wayne Zoo

Michael and I had planned for a couple of weeks to take Simone to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. We saw on the weather forecast that it was supposed to rain on the day we had planned to go. We looked for alternatives should the zoo be rained out. We found a children's science museum in Fort Wayne so we were set, we'd visit one and our day wouldn't be ruined. When we got to Fort Wayne it was a little misty/drizzly so we went to the Science Museum....it was nice for older kids, but not enough stuff for kids Simone's age. We decided to leave after 1 hour even though we had paid to get in. Off to the zoo we went, sprinkling and all. We had free admission to the zoo since we have a zoo membership at our local zoo. The Zoo was wonderful and we had it all to ourselves. It sprinkled on and off, but we had a wonderful time. Since it was near the end of the zoo season, and because it was raining, some of the exhibits and rides were closed. Simone did get to ride the carousel (the only passenger). We especially liked the rainforest walk, the red pandas, the orangutans and the seals. We will definitely go back in the spring hopefully when the weather is nice and all the rides are open.

Family Pics Long Overdue

Here are some pics that were taken at Easter and just developed. My parents and the grandkids and a long overdue Muhme family picture.

Simone's B-day Party

Here are pics from Simone's b-day party. Most of the pics were taken by Simone herself. She had such a good time.

My Daughter is 5

Sunday was Simone's b-day. What a fun weekend we had. Simone requested a hacienda b-day. So, on Friday, the partying began. We went to hacienda and the wait staff came out put a sombrero on her head, brought a cake and sang. She thoroughly enjoyed that. That night at hacienda we were able to spend with Nanny, Papa and Uncle Jerry. It was a special evening for Simone. Then on her actual b-day, Sunday, we went to church. Simone had a big B-day Girl button that she wore and her Sunday School class sang to her. After church we went to Grandma and Gigi's house. They bought pizza and my mom had puchased a horsey ice cream cake for Simone.....again, it was a special time for Simone. The fun isn't over yet, Monday was school and Simone took in some reese cups for her class. She got a big star sticker and enjoyed having her new class sing to her. Some fun things about Simone. Simone is very tall for her age. The doctor told us when she was 2 that we should expect Simone to be close to 6 feet tall. She is going to be tall and beautiful. Simone is an auditory learner, from what I've observed so far. Simone is creative and can draw quite well. She loved to paint, cut, glue and anything crafty. Simone loves to play pretend. She loves to act out stories that she has seen or heard. She loves to pretend to be different animals. Her favorite animal is the horse. Her favorite color is Blue and she loves to dance. Simone has completely captured the hearts of all her family members.

After School Fun

Simone has 27 kindergartners in her class. Only 3 of the kids are half day, including Simone. Since she is only 1/2 day she does miss out on some activities that the all day kids have in the afternoon. I try to make sure she has craft time/art class and some fun time (this is usually while River is sleeping). She also gets to spend Wednesday and Friday afternoons with my mom, which she loves and wouldn't be able to do if she was an all day student, as I tutor those days. Here is an envelope puppy that we made....we also made a bunny envelope and an elephant envelope. She loves to cut and glue.

In the other picture she is holding a car "King" from the movie Cars. Her favorite has always been "King". She has a bunch of cars that she plays with and we made a parking lot out of construction paper so they all have a place to park.

Please pray that Simone has a great Kindergarten year. So far, we are doing well!

August Rush

Yes I did see the movie, it was okay.
I wrote August Rush because there is so much to do this month. We ended last month with Michael's Birthday. Simone and I made a double layer chocolate cake with sprinkles. She was very pleased to be able to give this to Michael on his special day. Since his b-day is near our anniversary, we usually celebrate them together with a weekend getaway. This year we celebrated his 38th b-day and our 7 year anniversary with a trip to the Windy City. Usually we go see a play when we go into Chicago, but this year we just relaxed. We had dinner with friend Jerry and later went to a nice evening cafe. The next day we tooled around Chicago taking in the sites. My mom graciously watched the kids for the 2 days so we could have time away.
This month, we've had to take simone to the doctor and dentist for her kindergarten school forms. We've had to make appts. for shots and for teeth fillings as we found she has 2 caveties. Simone is going to a school where uniforms are required so we need to go and buy those. Then there is the lovely list of school supplies to buy. We have school orientation and p/t meetings all in the next 2 weeks. Plus and most importantly, our little girl turns 5 in 3 weeks. Her b-day request is to go to Hacienda as she wants a sombrero on her head and the staff to sing happy b-day to her. All this and it seems like so much more. Once September hits it will be a breath of fresh air.