Only 5 More Days

So, in 5 days Jon will be going to school. He will be in Kindergarten this year at Lake Elmo Elementary, going 5 full days a week. I am very excited for him and I know he is ready and excited as well. We've already met with his Teacher, Mrs. Ritzer. She seems to be a very nice teacher, although Jon was having a little trouble pronouncing her name. He is better at it now. We dropped off all of his school supplies already and he was so excited when we went shopping for them he thought he needed everything in the store! When we went to his school last Tuesday morning for Eat, Meet & Greet, he wanted to stay but I told him in 7 days is when you start school. He got to see his classroom and where he will be sitting. Where his cubby is and his name for lunch. Speaking of lunch, I am hoping with him eating hot lunches at the school he will not be as much of a picky eater. He is getting better at at least trying new foods. He knows that the first day of school it is pizza for hot lunch so he is excited about that. He also received his lunch code for lunch money which is 5 digits long. I thought he would have trouble with it, but he pretty much has it memorized now. Especially since I make him practice every time he wants something to eat!

To get him ready for the school year, this whole week we have been putting him to bed by 7:30pm. He doesn't fight it because he knows he will be starting school soon. We've been preparing him about going to bed early all summer. On nights he has to take a shower, he needs to come in even earlier and he has been OK with that too. He has been getting good sleep all week so far and getting up early enough for breakfast and enough time to get ready in the morning. He will be taking the bus as well, so he is very excited about that. His stop seems to be one of the last pick ups and one of the first drop offs. I was worried that he wasn't going to get home until 4:30 or so, but the time should be OK.

As for me, like I said I am very excited for him and I know he is ready (he is getting really bored at home). But it will be very weird for me. I won't have Jon with me all day long! I won't even be able to see his expression on the first day of school when he walks in. That I know I will miss (They had said to let the kids deal with 1st day on their own, which I agree). I wanted to take pictures, but I guess I will have to wait for another day. I know I will be taking lots of pictures that morning and at the bus stop so at least I will have those. I also signed up to volunteer once a month. That should be fun as I volunteered at his preschool as well.

Than the following week Nicholas will be starting preschool. He will be going to Jon's old school, Lutheran Church of Peace Preschool. He is very excited as well and knows the whole routine since he had to watch his brother do it. He will be going two days a week in the mornings. So I will actually have two mornings to myself! Well, I babysit a little girl on Tuesdays, but I will have Thursday mornings to myself.

So, I am not sure how I will react Tuesday morning. I don't know if I am going to cry or just be proud. I guess we will have to wait and see! Stay tuned for pics of Jon's first day of school!

Minnesota State Fair 2007

We went to the State Fair last Saturday for Mike's work. We all got to wear Boston Scientific T-shirts to see if we would get "spotted" and win some cash. Unfortunately, we didn't get "spotted". We did have a good time though! The kids can't last a whole day there yet, so we stayed there until after lunch. I always have my goals when we go to the State Fair and we did all of them before we left. This year I wanted to get Nicholas' hand casted (see pics below). Last year I waited in line and a old lady cut in front of me. I was SO mad. This year when we got there that was the first place I wanted to go and there was no line! It was decided that we would get both the boys hands casted. It turned out great! If anyone would like to get it done, he is there every year in the Merchandise Mart Building (by the main gate entrance). His booth is in the back right corner. I also always get my Christmas Ornaments at the fair in the Grandstand. Those were my two biggest goals this year and of course eating the food. We also always go to the Kids Home Depot Workshop. This year was different, they down sized quite a bit. But we were able to ask for the aprons and bring the kits home and build them later. This year, Jon picked the Helicopter and Nicholas built a tool box. This year we took a ride on Skyride. It was a little scary for me at first, but Jon seemed to enjoy it. Nicholas got to ride with his Daddy. Of course the boys and Daddy went down the Giant Slide as well. They loved that! I love the MN State Fair! Mike said next year I can go with my family. He's not into it as much as I am. Thanks for going again this year Hunny!


Nicholas @ Giant Slide


Jon @ Giant Slide


Nicholas & Daddy Getting off the Skyride


Jon in the pod of the Skyride


Both the boys won this stuffed animal at the Midway catching water in a bucket. Nicholas actually won it all on his own. I was going to help, but he screamed NO!


Eating Pronto Pups! YUMMY!


Views of the boy's hands casted








This is Jon's hand when he was 18 months


Our 2007 X-mas ornaments

Czech Days in Iowa

Two weekends ago I visited my old friend Helen and her family. It was her home town festival called Czech Days. I had been to it once before, and I think Helen and I figured out that it was 11 years ago since the last time I was there. It was so good to see her family. They are all so much fun! It was rainy and cold the whole weekend, but that didn't stop the tradition of a fun weekend. Thanks to the whole family for their hospitality! I hope to bring my family next time! Below are some pictures that I wanted to share.

The Lukes Sisters

Me, Helen and Anna


The Little ones! Aren't they all adorable?!

Still Trying

So, I am still working on getting this blog looking the way that I want it to look, so please bear with me. I am made a title header in my photoshop elements and I am trying to get it loaded, but it is taking forever and I am not sure if that is how it is suppose to take. Any way....

Yesterday me and the boys drove out to New Prague, MN to visit my cousin Olivia and her two boys. She is a photographer and just recently opened up her own little studio. We met there for a playdate/photo shoot. She is so great! The pictures she put on her blog look fantastic! Plus, the boys had so much fun! They were both bummed that we were not going back to the studio to play and take more pictures after a treat at DQ. When I showed them the pictures on her blog this morning, my little 3 year old told me, "Mom, I want to see my fighting moves pictures!" It was cute, but they didn't make the cut on the blog. My favorite ones are the ones with the cowboy hats. Too cute! You will have to check them out. A link to her blog is to the right.

I am hoping to update this often and put pictures up, but I am still trying to get the hang of things.

Let's Give This A Try

I thought I would give this a try since I have always looked at my cousin's blog site. We used to host our own website, but it just too much time to do. Now that my oldest will be going into kindergarten and our youngest will be in preschool, I thought it would be time to start something up again. I will just be giving updates about our family and our kids lives, and of course post pictures. That was the best part of our old website. I'm new at this so please be patient! Hope you enjoy!