Extra, extra...read all about it!

[A lot to cover from this month...so here are the stories that made headlines...]
David starts preschool
Proud of his new Spiderman backpack
I am so excited for him to have a little structure four days a week for a couple hours. He loves going and, after his first day, Anna asked David what his teacher was like. He told Anna that his teacher had long, yellow hair and then he said, "I love her" in such a sweet but serious voice. If anybody calls it, "school" he is fast to correct them that it's called "PREschool". If I ask him too many questions about preschool, he says, "I can't talk about it anymore Mom." and walks away. I can't wait to see the progress I know he will make this year...maybe he might want to actually sit down and color more than a 10 second scribble. Cutie.

Kate now has some well-deserved time to herself

But still attached to David's hip when he is home
After we dropped off David the first day, Kate ran to her room and started playing in complete uninterrupted peace. She just sang and chattered with her toys for two hours while Blake slept (and has been doing it since). So happy for her.

I asked her to show me a sad face because David was gone...so sincere...
...that she couldn't hold in her excitement! Anna l-o-v-e-s first grade
Getting a piano lesson here and there
She loves going to school, reading her take-home books, and practicing her spelling words. She got 100% on all three of the spelling tests she's had so far. I am trying to squeeze in some time to teach her piano. She is very motivated to learn, but I feel bad I am always pressed for time :( and we don't always get around to it. I was surprised to found written in her journal (swear I wasn't snooping), "I love Joe Jonas". It's probably those tight jeans, vests and almost there facial hair that convinced her. She is always so sweet and concerned about others. When I was really sick a couple weeks ago, I was driving her to school and she said, "I'm sorry your sick, mom. I really wish I could stay home and help you." And recently she was holding Blake, who had a high fever, and she kept saying, "Oh Blakey. You're so hot, I feel so bad for you." Then she told me, "Mom my stomach kind of hurts for Blake." [photos courtesy of David Olson] My projects
Two down, a bazillion to go
So far, I've painted (with a lot of help from Jay) a crib my friend gave me and put together a chore board for the kids. I got a package of four 12x12 in cork boards (at WalMart), threw some scrap paper on them and printed up some simple chore charts on them. So far so good. Not perfect, but at least we have an attempt to structure to our days now. And I've gotten into couponing...some work and time involved but I think it's been fun and so worth it! Thanks to this site.Blake turns seven months old

Yummy, sweet and delicious as ever polls say

He can't quite roll his chubby body around yet, but he gets on all fours every time I set him down. I think those roly poly legs are holding him back from crawling still. He LOVES to eat peas like a garbage disposal...his favorite meal by far. We really love having him as the newest part of our family.Our little day trip
Only one puking incident (sorry Kate)

We drove to Globe, Lake Roosevelt, the Dam and back around and down by the Salt River and Canyon Lake. The scenery was so beautiful and we all had fun getting out for a couple hikes and a relaxing drive. The kids were all a little dissapointed when they didn't catch any lizards.