We've got spirit, yes we do!

A typical Friday night outfit for Hannah requires that it contain yellow and blue, as we are most likely at a high school football game. It's funny to see us at a game...Mike and Nathan are watching the action on the field, I'm craning my neck to watch the action on the hill where Hannah hangs with all her friends.

The Face of Determination

Nathan has learned to ride a two-wheeler! This day has been a long time in the making and boy has he worked hard to get here. We've had a couple trial runs without the training wheels, but it never lasted more than a few minutes. This time we could tell there was something different about his attitude. I think there was a part of him that just got sick of not being able to take off on that bike and ride like his friends could. So after a couple of bike modifications, he finally did it!

Every day he teaches me what courage really is. Every day he teaches me what perserverance is. Every day he shows me what patience is. Imagine being in a world surrounded by people that stare at you. All the time. Having to be a "teacher" to other kids, and adults too, is such a big burden for such a little guy. But he does it. With his head held high and a smile on his face! I just fill with emotion and swell with pride when I see how he handles himself. Isn't that how we all feel about our children? It's a sign we get in the uncertainty of parenting that maybe, just maybe, we've done something right :)

Just a few happenings...

from the last couple weeks. I'm feeling long-winded so prepare yourself :)

Mike has been on a couple small business trips to Minneapolis, Detroit and Chicago. It's been so nice to have him home! The first 8 years we lived here, he was gone at least 2 weeks out of every month and not having his support at home really stunk. So with the changes at work in the last year, we've been blessed with less travel. After a trip to Sweden a couple months ago, we realized it had been nearly 11 months since he had to fly somewhere. YAHOO!

Hannah is doing really well in school. She is happy with her schedule and has some really great teachers, one being the dad of a kid she's been friends with since 3rd grade. She was elected to Student Government and will be going to camp at the beginning of October. Swimming started again after a short 4 week break and she's stoked to be back in the water. It's funny how we're all so ready for the rest, and after only a couple weeks she starts getting antsy to swim again. We have a new coach this year so that is an exciting change. What's been hard is that she swims with older kids and they are all doing high school swimming right now. She's missing her friends and can't wait until they return in a couple months.

Nathan is also doing well. His teacher is a blast and he loves her! He just finished testing for the gifted program called E2. We should find out in a few days if he gets in. He was excited for homework and now that he has it, not so much. I think we all saw that one coming :) He has decided that he'd like to give swim team a try. It has been fun to watch him, he's so cute. There's another little girl that has the same condition as he does that signed up also. We know their family well, as the kids ski together in the winter. It was a nice surprise to see them at the pool the first day and I think it was a sigh of relief for the two of them. Being different is easier when there's a friend to go through it with you. Of course, he is counting down the days until he can hit the slopes!

I'm still plugging along with the different committees and such that I am a part of. Right now, I am the Vice-President in the PTO at Nathan's elementary. I also serve on a committee at the district level and we're working on re-districting. It's never fun going through those changes let alone being one of the people to make those changes a reality for others. Mike and I are both on the parent board for the swim team and that's a ton of work. My task load is scaled down alot compared to recent years. This summer was a real turning point for me and it opened my eyes to the necessity of saying no to a few things. I don't let go of things easily so it's been a challenge to stick to keeping things to a minimum. Next year, I plan on being done with almost all of it and sticking to swimming and Nathan's classroom.

We send our love to everyone and hope you are all doing well. Until next time :)

Nathan's Birthday Pics

Here's a few pictures from Nathan's birthday party this year :)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Aaahhh!

It's like a switch has been flipped this weekend. We had 96 degree weather on Tuesday and today we're in the crisp 60's. The air smells so clean and refreshing. This is my favorite time of year! I especially love:

• football
• leaves changing color
• blankets
• getting cozy on the couch with a good book or movie
• apple picking
• driving with the windows down
• sweatshirts
• fires in the backyard fire pit
• baking
• thanksgiving
• halloween
• the promise that ski season is right around the corner (mmm...hot chocolate!)

I think the list could go on forever :)

You knew this was bound to happen

There's no way we could let the official start of the NFL season come without a nod to the Steelers ;)
Time to break out the jersey's, the Terrible Towel, and get our game on! Here's to a great season of football. Woo Hoo!

We have success!!

So when the end of the first day of school comes and Hannah says her day went great and Nathan stands in the hallway of school screaming, "I love second grade!", there's a sigh of relief. I knew Nathan would LOVE his teacher, they have such similar senses of humor. (*side note* His teacher's name is Mrs. Viglianti...and she tells me today that a little girl in her room kept calling her Mrs. Vaglianti, well, I almost choked I laughed so hard!)

Anyway, let's hope the excitment lasts a while.

So these are the shoes that Nathan HAD to have this year. Luckily we were able to find them :)