Stargazing

Tonight I took the kids (and my mom) to Family Night at the local planetarium. The topic was the Earth's Moon. It was pretty cool. We learned about the moon phases, the dark spots on the moon, and we got to take off and land on the moon with Neil Armstrong! The planetaruim director also simulated the rise and fall of the sun and moon and pointed out some constellations. After the program was finished, some volunteers from the Naperville Astronomical Association set-up their telescopes. We were able to view the moon, Jupiter, the Hercules cluster of stars, and one other star I don't remember the name of!

- We were able to view the craters on the moon.

- We saw Jupiter's rings and two of its 30 moons.

- The Hercules cluster of stars is a cluster of half a million stars - pretty cool

Austin REALLY enjoyed it. He's been very interested in the solar system for a while. Actually, my mom and I really enjoyed it too. Seeing Jupiter was really cool! Even Libby enjoyed it. She liked the bear constellation we saw in the planetarium the best. They actually draw the picture of the bear so you can see it clearly.

If you have kids intrested in space, I would highly recommend a trip to the planetarium.

Sparkie

Here is the picture you have all been waiting for... drum roll, please... Presenting Austin in his Sparks vest!!!



In the picture, Austin is holding his official Sparks membership card. He's pretty proud... He finished his Rank section of his book tonight and will receive his Rank patch next week.

Here's a cute one of both kids in their vests:

Summer is Over For Sure

Even though I felt like summer was over when Austin started school in August, it wasn't really over until this past weekend. For the last 3 summers I've marked the end of summer when all the water toys come out of the water at the cottage. This past weekend marked that end. Chad and my dad worked hard to pull out the boat, dock, and boat lift. It's a lot of work for them. My mom and I, and the kids, cheer from the sidelines. :) The boat lift is the hardest of the jobs. It weighs a lot and has spent the summer sinking in a few feet of muck! The wave runner and floating dock are still in the water, but they don't require much effort to pull out (at least that's what Chad says - I wouldn't know :) ).

Even though summer has passed we will still make a few other trips to the cottage for apple picking and fall festivals. Sometimes we even do some wine tasting. There are lots of vineyards in the areas surrounding the cottage. It's really a pretty area.

Cubbie

Austin and Libby started the AWANA season last week. Last night they both passed their entrance booklets - Austin for Sparks and Libby for Cubbies. We spent all week last week listening to the Spark song which we could download from the AWANA website. I find myself singing it in my head daily! Help! However, it was very helpful in helping Austin learn it, which was one of the things he had to do to pass the entrance booklet; along with learning the Sparks motto ("My friend for Christ"), the Spark key verse - John 3:16, The Pledge of Allegiance, and the pledge to the AWANA flag. (Wow, maybe I should try to pass the booklet myself!)

Libby had to learn the Cubbie motto ("Jesus Loves Me"), the Cubbie key verse - 1 John 4:10 (you'll have to ask her to say it to you sometime, she's cute), Romans 3:23, and Romans 5:8. I was very impressed at how well they both learned their verses.

Libby received her Cubbie vest last night, also. I almost cried when I picked her up and she was wearing her vest. Oh, my little girl, my baby is growing up... I cannot believe she is old enough to be in AWANA. For some reason I wasn't so sentimental when Austin became a Cubbie.

Austin will receive his Sparks vest next week. Stay tuned for a picture of Austin in his vest!

Bee Sting

Yesterday Libby received the first bee sting of her life. She made it much longer in her life without one than did Austin. Austin was only about 14 months old with his first bee sting, Libby is a few weeks shy of her 4th birthday. We were having a picnic at the park with some friends before Austin went to school. The kids were playing in the sandbox while the mom's (and Chad) were finishing our lunches, when Libby let out a screaming cry - you know, that cry that you know for certain your child is hurt... She screamed, "I hurt my knee!". I suspected it was a bee sting and I took the ice pack our of our lunch box and put it on her knee and she immediately stopped crying. She was quite the big girl about it. Of course, she had to keep the ice pack on her knee even for her nap that afternoon!

Chad was present for part of the picnic. He just returned from a nine day trip to Europe and met us at the park. Boy are we (especially me) glad he is home!

Single Moms

Today is my last day as a temporary single mom. I cannot give the single moms of the world enough credit. It's exausting... and I don't even have to work outside of the home! For you single moms out there... I hope you have other people around to help support you and your children. Thankfully, I have friends and family that took me in for my short-term singlemomhood. :) My mom cooked us dinner and kept me company and watched my kids a few times, while some friends had us over for a meal or two. That reallly made the week much more bearable. Thanks, Mom!

I have to say my fuse is much shorter than before Chad left 8 days ago. Praise the Lord he will be home tomorrow afternoon. We have missed him tremendously. Welcome home, Daddy!

Labor Day Weekend

Fun with Grandma & Grandpa

On Saturday of Labor Day weekend, Austin and Libby spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa Martinson. (Chad and I had a free day, woo-hoo!) They spent the day at Deer Forest Amusement Park in Coloma, Michigan. Grandma forgot her camera so she used ours - see some of the pictures below...

They enjoyed riding rides, feeding the animals, riding ponies, and eating ice cream.


Austin wouldn't feed the animals until the very end of the day. Once he tried it he liked it. The first picture show him not wanting to feed the deer. The second pictures shows him finally trying it.










Libby enjoying the ferris wheel...












Do you think they enjoyed their ice cream?!

Austin's 1st Day of Kindergarten

I'm a little late at posting this, but "better late than never"! Austin's first day of school was August 27th. He went for 1/2 hour with mom tagging along with him!

Tuesday, the 28th was his first 'full' day of kindergarten all by himself. He walked in, turned and waved to me with a big smile just like he had been doing it forever. I wish I could say I walked away smiling, but I'll have to admit I had tears in my eyes. They had to be quickly wiped away so I could console my bawling 3 year old daughter, Libby. She cried all the way home. She did the same the very next day. She told me she was sad because she was going to miss Austin. So sweet.

This is Austin with his teacher, Miss Erickson. The first thing Austin had to say about his teacher was, "Mommy, she's pretty"!

So far he LOVES school. He can't wait each day until it's time to go (he has afternoon kindergarten which starts at 12:50 PM.

Oh my little boy has grown up too fast. I'm so thankful that kindergarten is only 2 hours and 45 minutes a day. I don't want to even think about next year when he will go a full day. It makes me want to cry.