Woodland Lights

The kids and I braved the winter temperatures to see some outdoor lights this year! Yoshi was out of town and missed the fun! Notice that the kiddos are dressed in snow suits. I was very determined that they would stay warm. Overall, it was a wonderful time, and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year!

This place had a lot of fun rides. The kids loved them, and I was struck by how very grown up Tai is. At one point, he would not sit next to his sister and demanded to have his own car! She was brokenhearted. Our little man is no longer a baby.

This Santa ride was pretty fast, and I was worried that Tai would get scared, but he loved it. I've got a little dare-devil on my hands. Maia, of course, is the cautious one of the family.

We stopped inside for a while for some face painting. This is the first time Tai has been interested in having his face painted. Notice how patiently he is waiting while Maia finishes up.

She absolutely loved her snow flakes.

Tai chose this deer all by himself, and he is pleased.

Santa Visit

just pictures

Maia at the zoo. The kids love the lorikeet exhibit. We always have to spend a long time in there feeding the birds.

The merry-go-round at the zoo!

Maia and Tai at the library

Maia outside the library door just before she received her very own library card!

November 17th

Hello to all my readers (okay, all 5 of you,) who are wondering where I am. Life has been good but busy. I'm finishing up my first graduate course at Wright State, and life has been much more complicated than it was before taking graduate classes. I have been doing a lot of reading and writing. November 17th is the day my final paper is due and my time will be my own again. I'm really looking forward to it! Hope everyone is doing well!

After School

I've been meaning to type this entry for a long time now, giving descriptions of the pictures. Realistically, it's not going to happen, so I'm just posting the pics:)

After Maia's first day of school, I took the kids to Friendly's and a good time was had by all. The End.

Maia's First Day of Kindergarten

My little girl went off to Kindergarten today. Almost all the other moms cried, but I kept my cool. Yes, I felt a bit sad, but I was so happy for her! She is so ready to begin school, meet new friends, and learn exciting things!

Background information: In our little town, all the students are expected to walk to school. No buses are provided, except for Kindergarten, because the building is a 1/4 mile or so outside of the city limits. This is the only year Maia will ever get to ride a bus, and she is psyched about it.

The bus picks up all the children at the elementary school. When you arrive, you take your child to this little room inside the school, and they are checked in. Then they sit and wait together until the bus arrives. The parents hang out outside, as can be seen in the above picture. Actually, I was photographing the bus that just pulled up.

Here comes Maia, coming out of the building and in line to get on the bus. It was very cute seeing all the kids lined up in a single-file line.

Pausing to say hello...

A final goodbye...

This was Tai's expression when the bus pulled away. He was pretty devastated that his sister had been taken away on a big yellow bus. When we got home, he cried for a long time. The only thing he would say was "buh." I knew he meant bus, and it made me want to cry too.

Stay tuned for the next post to see the reunion!

I'm Back

Wow! Two months with no posts? That is bad, even for me! Actually, it is my personal record.

Get ready! Some really exciting posts coming your way in the next few days!

How's that for a teaser?