1st day of Kindergarten!

1st day of school

Aleigha started kindergarten this year and LOVES it.  She couldn't wait to get back in school after the summer so she could start socializing again.  She had a great two years at Montessori preschool (same as Grayson) and during the summer, we have a college age sitter.  Aleigha has Mrs. Mandros as her kindergarten teacher and she thinks she is really nice.  So far, she hasn't had much homework.  The only take home homework she has had so far is making a paper doll that looks like her.  She loved doing that.  She always has stories for us after school.  Aleigha also informs us that she has a new boyfriend named James.  Her boyfriend at Montessori was Will.  So Will has been replaced by James already... Wonder how long James will last?  hehehe
Aleigha is also in gymnastics this year at Rising Stars Academy.  She loves doing cartwheels all the time!

1st homework assignment

JUNIOR HIGH

Grayson started 6th grade at Parkside Junior High a few weeks ago.  It has been a much easier transition than I had expected.  He really enjoys changing classrooms and teachers throughout the day.  He also loves having choices for lunch in the cafeteria!  It seems like he has great teachers too.  He is on the "D-Team" this year.  Parkside has 7 teams (P R K S D E) so the kids have a smaller group to get to know and they do fun stuff together.  The school has a great website where the parents can see what the homework is every night and what he bought for lunch and what his grades are so far.  It is also really cool that all the kids get their own laptop during the school year.  Much of their homework is done on the computer.  The kids do not have text books.  Their textbooks are online!  Grayson loves it!

1st day of school

Grayson has also joined the Cross Country team and is really enjoying it.  They run 2 mile races during their meets.  Today, for example, they are running in the East Peoria Invite in Peoria, IL so they get to ride the bus there and on the way home they will be stopping at Culvers to eat lunch.  The season is just a few months long and they have about 6 or 7 meets.  Grayson run two miles in about 17 min which I think is really good!

during a race in Peoria, IL

So far, junior high hasn't been too bad..... :)

Uterus

I'm glad mine is GONE now.  I would never want to go through the hysterectomy experience again though.  The 1st 24 hrs after surgery was like a nightmare where I couldn't wake up.  Pain everywhere.. indescribable pain/discomfort.  I even had pain in my eyes!  I couldn't fully wake up from the anesthesia either which made everything seem like it was in slow motion.  I'm documenting this now (since the surgery was only 3 days ago) so I won't forget.  Everyone I have talked to that has had this surgery in the past said it was the best decision. However, they have forgotten to mention about the pain associated with it!  HaHa.  Every day gets better though and I'm sure I will be telling everyone the same thing a few months from now....
Here is a pic of my luxury hospital room that I was so lucky to have!  I should also mention that I had GREAT nurses while I was in the hospital as well.  I really shouldn't be complaining because everything went as planned.  No complications during or after surgery.  :)

Camping at SF Park

State Farm Park hosts an annual camping event and Grayson brought two of his friends this year (Ty and Collin).  This was the 1st year that we had a Camper as well.  We usually put up a tent but Jeff borrowed his brother's Camper for the weekend.  The boys had a BLAST!  I, of course, left at 9:30pm and went home to sleep in my own bed.  Aleigha was brave enough to stick it out all night as well for the 1st time.  She thought she was big stuff.

breakfast

  They love to play games outside - they make up games called MineCraft and Hunger Games!

Aleigha feeding the ducks

at the trailer....

they did not want to leave!!

State Farm Kid's Triathlon

Grayson and his friend, Ben, completed their 1st Kid's Triathlon in August!  They both did a great job and we're so proud of them.

SWIMMING first...

then BIKING...

Finally, RUNNING

after the race.....

this picture says it all.....  :)

YAY!  a trophy, water bottle and t-shirt to take home!

1st day of the 2012-2013 school year

 
Grayson is in 5th grade - the last year of elementary school... His teacher is Mrs. Kalina and we love her.  They have a pet gerbil, named Kesha, the he adores.  Mrs. Kalina doesn't believe in homework so we have lucked out this year.  She is very much into technology and communicating with other kids all over the world.  This is the first year that we've allowed Grayson to walk to school.  It is exactly one mile and he always walks to and from school with his friend, Collin.

Aleigha is in her last year of pre-school at Montessori and she still loves it!  She loves school and making stuff to bring home and pretending to do homework at night.  She tells me she has two boyfriends this year. (Last year she only had one boyfriend.)  These boys do not know of this situation but Aleigha loves to talk about them!

blogging... oops... (Indiana Dunes)

It is so easy to post updates on Facebook so I've neglected this blog!  :(  So here are some updates...
We went to Indiana Dunes in August.  It was such a nice beach and great trails and dunes... but very sandy as you can tell from my shoe after a hike...

at a restaurant   == of course, they had a balloon lady while we waited!

at the top of one of the biggest dunes

at an Ourdoor World store.. it was HUGE!

Grayson's 1st Communion

Grayson had a reading during the church service of his 1st communion so I recorded it. He did an excellent job. He is such a smart, handsome little man now!!  They actually drank real wine and they all thought it was gross.  (GOOD!)  :)

Jeff and I were small group leaders and we had a great group of kids.  It was a fun week.  The kids made their own chalices to take their 1st communion in. 

Orlando, FL Vacation!!

We left our house at 1am on Friday night/Sat morning and drove for 16 hrs to Perry, FL.  We drove to the beach the next morning (Sunday) so the kids could see the sand and Gulf.  It was a very tiny beach but the kids loved it and we saw a huge horseshoe crab which Grayson is still talking about!
Then we drove to Orlando and checked in to our 3 bedroom timeshare.  It is great!  Soooo nice to have this extra room.  We went to the Magic Kingdom last night at 7pm (we had to swim first) and we stayed for fireworks and the Electric Light Parade.  We were there until 11:30pm!  Aleigha was so tired but after a 10 min nap in the car she was ready to stay up so we finally got to bed at 1 am.

Today we went to Disney Studios - got there at 10 am and left at 4pm.  It was a good park and we saw a lot of shows and characters.  We saw the Disney Jr show, Ariel show, Beauty & the Beast, Indiana Jones and Disney Rocks!  We went swimming after we got back to the condo and then ordered pizza for dinner. Tomorrow Jeff and Grayson will go to Epcot while Aleigha and I stay at the condo and swim, walk around and just have a lazy day.  I'm looking forward to that!!

The weather has been perfect while we've been here.  Sunny, 80 degrees and a light breeze.
Tomorrow night, Sherry and Lily will be joining us from New York! We can't wait to see them. :)
(I will add pics to this post after we get home.)

2012 fun...

I haven't posted in a long time... just haven't made the time.  Here are some pics from our events this year...
Here is Grayson's 4th grade music program.  This was the only time we could see him.  We picked the wrong side of the stage to sit at!

 Here is Aleigha's Cherub Choir for 3-5 yr olds.  She loves her teacher - Mrs. Weeds.

Here's Grayson's 4th and 5th grade Upwards Basketball game.  They won their last 3 games!

 Grayson and one of his best buddies, Ben...

 Here are the kids' Valentines that they handed out to their class rooms....

 Here is Aleigha in her most striking model pose!!

 This is a normal site to see - Johnny and Grayson playing with the I-touch.

 Aleigha's bday party... Strawberry Shortcake cake by Jeff!

That's all for now!  :)

Aleigha turns 4 tomorrow and wanted to sing a song....

Aleigha singing in December 2011

The Polar Express in the Monticello Railway Station

Robotics Club 2011 - Grayson

Grayson and Ben work together on a part of their team's entire robotic mission.  Their team has 10 members in 4th and 5th grade.  I took a video of Grayson's section.  The entire mission takes 2 min and 30 seconds with each mini-team working together taking turns. They are given a lego robot that they must program on a computer to do certain tasks on the board to get points. This was a practice run with other teams.  The actual competition which will be judged will be at Bradley University in Peoria on December 10th.  The kids learned a lot from watching the other teams and how they completed the same missions.

Aleigha in the Cherub Choir at church

Aleigha loves singing and her Cherub Choir meets once a week and then performs at church once in Oct, Nov and December.

Pictures

Sibling love... :)

Grayson, Aleigha and Johnny at Lake Iroq....

At Curtis Apple Orchard in Champaign, IL..

Johnny and Aleigha having fun with marshmallow halloween suckers!

Me & Shana in her backyard...

Family pic...