Oh My! It has only taken me first quarter to find my groove, and here it is: one day at at a time. These past two months have been a blur with Parker starting kindergarten, having his tonsils out (not really planned), Macy and Tony being sick, our first Parent/Teacher conference, and Halloween. Parker was BubboFat (I'm sorry if that is not the correct Star Wars spelling :)) and Macy as our busy Bee! We are looking forward to her first birthday in a couple of weeks. Time is going too fast! A big Congratulations to the West Family with the arrival of Wyatt and the Cope Family with the arrival of Delaney!! We can't wait to see the next member of the Reijgers Family - coming soon! We are trying to treasure every minute in the chaos and hope you are too!

Coming Sometime in the Near Future.....

It's 12:12 in the morning, and I should be getting ready for bed. I have been on the computer getting ready for school for the last 2 and half hours. I need to fill you in on summer coming to an end, Parker starting kindergarten, and Macy's days with Mrs. Kelly. But I really don't know when that is going to happen exactly. After 13 years of teaching, you would think I would have this down to a fine tune. But the state keeps changing GLEs (grade level expectations) and my district is constantly looking for ways to improve MAP scores. Don't even get me started about that! But my point is that, for all the people who don't have a teacher in their family or their friendship circles, the job is so much more than 9:15 to 3:45. I know we get part of June and all of July off (which is one of the best parts of the job :0)), but teachers average more than 60 hours a week when school is in session. Although we are only paid for 35 of those hours. Yes, we are all thankful to be employed, but let's get real. Your child's teacher deserves more than another Christmas coffee cup! OK, that sounds bitter....I am going to bed.

Macy's Summer Update

I am so excited to be blogging before 10 o'clock! So far this summer, the best gaurantee for an early bedtime is an afternoon spent at the pool. Macy went to bed at 6:30 tonight! Now I may not be so excited if she wakes up in the middle of the night ready to start her day! Macy has spent her summer smiling! She is the happiest baby I have ever seen. Although she has become a Momma's girl in the last three weeks. She is not so happy if we are apart which doesn't bode well for a return to school. But we'll worry about that when it gets here.

Parker loves to read as does Macy! She loves to sink her teeth into a good book! :)

This is how Macy saw Grant's Farm! Although truth be told, she was held most of the time. But I had to put her down so I could get her picture.

Where is time going? We got out Parker's learning home which Macy was happy to enjoy! Having a big brother who shares is so nice!

Macy's favorite part of Ballwin Days was the fireworks. She wasn't scared at all.

Macy enjoyed the baby section at the Magic House, but big brother was eager to move on to the slide where Mommy's arms enjoyed a quick break at the bottom of the slide.

Grandmaw, Grandad, Uncle JB, Bobbie, and Pa made it over for the fourth. We had a great time! You can see that Grandmaw and Bobbie made sure Macy had plenty to eat before the fireworks started.

Parker's Summer Update

Oh my goodness! I can't believe it has taken me over a month to sit down and blog! But to be honest, I would be in bed now if it weren't for some gentle nudges from Texas to update! The first month of summer vacation has zoomed by! There is so much to share that I have decided to break it down by child :). Here is what has been happening from Parker's perspective: He attended Books In Bloom for four weeks (missing three days due to a fever that would never end). Rockwood School District offers this program for incoming kindergardeners. It was good practice for both Parker and Mommy! Here he is with his teacher, Ms. Sheriff.
June also found Parker getting his eyes checked for kindergarden and seeing the ENT. Thankfully, he has great eyesight unlike his mom and dad. The ENT requires another visit in September. Have you noticed Parker talking like he is stuffed up? Well, we didn't but the ENT did so we will be back in Sept.

Of course, it wouldn't be summer vacation without a trip to Grant's Farm to feed the goats. We have already been twice!

We finally made it to Ballwin Days. Although Parker enjoyed the rides alot, his favorite (besides the fireworks of course) was the fire demonstration. They had two dorm rooms set up. One with a set of sprinklers and one without. The fire was put out in less than 5 seconds with the sprinklers. After 3 minutes, you can see what the other dorm room looked like. Scary, but Parker loved it! He especially enjoyed watching the firefighters come to the rescue!

We've also been to the Magic House. My favorite part is now the roof top garden. I wonder what plant this seed will become!

Parker enjoyed the bubble room too.

The last week of June found Parker counting down the days until Jillian returned. Every morning he reminded me that she was with Nini in Iowa. It was all I could do to keep him from being on her doorstep when she returned. They were so busy playing with each other on the fourth that this was all I could snap.

Hopefully, you will see Macy's version of June tomorrow. But with my recent track record, that isn't a promise. :)

Good Times!

Getting those monthly pictures is getting trickier...It only took about 12 tries! I can't believe that we are at the half-way point. Macy is officially a 100% Similac baby. Hurray for Macy and Mommy!

Our hiking friends inspired us to get out in nature (that alone took a lot of inspiration for me!). We headed to Powder Valley. We had never been there before and were surprised at all the cool things to see! Here is Macy at the nature center.

Parker admires the snapping turtle.

Part of a Missouri waterfront. What a catch!

We "hiked" two trails. Here is Parker flexing his muscles after our second hike.

My mom, Pa, and Bobbie came to stay with us for two weeks while I finished school. They did an awesome job taking care of Parker and Macy! They played a lot of games. Parker was thrilled to learn that Pa was the King of Cards. Never to miss an opportunity to win, Parker quickly changed to Pa's team when Pa had won at Uno. The lucky streak continued much to Parker's delight!

We heard about Thrive through Jen Reigjers and were glad to support a worthy cause -choose life! The sun came out at the end - here is Jen with Jennifer Hackmann and her mom.

The Bennett family was there with ACTS. Lucas ran and came in 2nd for his age division!

Way to go Karl, Spencer, Parker, and Tony! What troopers - despite the rain!

After the race/walk, there were activities for the kids as well as live music. Parker was amazed by the "balloon clown". Parker very generously shared with Macy.

Bobbie, Pa, and Mom met us at Crown Candy Kitchen after the walk. It was their first visit as well as Macy's! YUMMY!

Macy took her first bath in the tub. She didn't mind but my back did so bath time is back to the sink.

I am so happy to be starting summer vacation but that meant the Greats and Grandmaw left today. I am so grateful for all the memories they made! Parker rejoicing over his latest treat whether it was bubble gum or a Bakagon carrying case. Macy falling asleep listening to the classics, Mountain Dew, Froggy Went A Courtin', or She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain sung by Bobbie and Grandmaw. If we heard it once, we heard it 100 times: Macy is absolutely perfect and Parker is 1 in a million. We couldn't agree more!

I wish I could report that we had journeyed to some exotic beach, but that is not the case. It is just that time of year. If you're a teacher, you know what I mean. But Macy is protesting this computer time as Parker and Tony are doing their "100 minutes" so this will have to be brief.

We have gotten to wish a lot of Parker's friends Happy Birthday lately. We had lots of fun petting the animals atBenny' party.

Finally, the graduate! Parker had Pre-K graduation Friday night. I have to admit that my mind fast forwarded 13 years....We were so glad that Grandmaw, Pa, and Bobbie were able to make the trip to witness the first of many "graduations'.

We love you, Parker!

Birthday week comes to an end!

I grew up with the tradition that one day wasn't enough to celebrate your big day. I have great memories of being taken out to the restaurant of my choice with my parents and my brother, a dinner with our extended family, and some sort of get together with my friends. What good times! Parker has quickly caught on to this tradition. Last weekend kicked it off birthday week. The next highlight was getting to go to Baskin Robbins after Wed. night church. We started this addiction last summer when we made frequent stops there on our way home on Wed. nights. When school started, our stops ended. Parker asks just about every Wed. night if we can go and our standard reply is not until school is out. But birthday week was the exception- much to his delight. The grand finale got under way with the arrival of his great-grandparents, grandparents, and uncle Thursday night. On Saturday, Parker had a cosmic bowling birthday party which is why there are no pictures. My camera wouldn't work in the dark and neon lights. But all his friends seemed to enjoy it. The funniest comment came from Benny: "I thought bowling was only on Wii." He opened his presents at home with much enthusiasm. This was the first time he had gotten a significant amount of money for his birthday. We had a John moment and talked with him about money management - save some, give some, and spend some. He seemed to do well with this strategy. Sunday night, after everyone had headed back to KC, Parker was riding his bike through the house (thanks Grandmaw and Grandad!) he told Tony he had a fantastic birthday. Then he asked "How could we afford all this?" Tony replied that God had blessed us. He must have taken our money management talk very seriously.

Easter Sunday

Parker had his own private Easter Egg hunt in the backyard despite the mud and cool temperatrue. I am so ready for warm weather!

Happy Birthday Parker!

OOPS! I left off Tony's favorite picture from the Egg Hunt. Tim Ezell from Fox 2 was the MC. He is the nicest guy! We thought Parker would be hard to wake up since he was out late Saturday night, but he woke up on his own at 7 asking "Can you believe I am five?". He was excited to open a package from his Great Grandmother Peggy in Hot Springs, Arkansas. She crocheted a beautiful blue and red blanket - just his size. After opening it, he said that "I need to send her a thank you note!" Then he accidently found Macy's hiding spot and was thrilled to see a real fishing pole. Off to church we went armed with doughnuts for all his friends in Kids' Community. After church, we ate with the Coles. They are sure to be our future in laws with the conversations Jillian and Parker have been having lately! He opened a package from Grandmaw and Grandad - his first SpongeBob movie. Thrilling to my big 5 year old! Next we headed to the Magic House where we explored the new addition. Parker was answering the phone in the Oval Office. He asked us if Obama was calling him. When it was time to go, we weren't sure who was more tired - us or the kids!

The Coles sent home a birthday cake for Parker which he wanted at Sponge Bob's intermission.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy! We love you!

Easter Egg Hunt

We went on an adult Easter Egg Hunt Friday night. The Uebelein kids babysat for us - it was the first time we left Macy for an evening out! Notice it only took 4 babysitters for me to do it. They did a fantastic job! Parker and Jillian were too busy playing to pose. We had lots of fun! We would play again next year!

Saturday morning found us at Tilles Park for McKnight's Easter Egg Hunt. Macy didn't hunt but she did dress for it.

Parker's ready to hunt!

Face painting fun!

Parker and Macy with the Easter Bunny