Sniff Sniff

Tomorrow is our official first day of school and although I am more than ready to get on a routine and schedule, I am going to miss spending the days with our three year old daughter! I am pretty sure I say this every year, but I have learned so much about her and have seen her blossom to be such an amazing little girl. We have had our moments, but I have never laughed or cried so hard as I did this summer with her!

10 on Tuesday

The summer is officially over...as I am working on the blog today I am in a computer profile class at school. So, here is my 10 on Tuesday for the kick-off to the school year!

10. Learn how to create a profile on our webpage...hopefully to upload classroom newsletters.

9. Manage a classroom blog

8. Create several picture schedules for some of our new students (after meeting some of them, these will come in handy)!!

7. Finish our family meetings

6. Make name-tags for: coat hooks, cubbies (mailboxes) desks, folders

5. Hang up the new apple clock that papa picked up at Scholastic

4. Get lots of rest tonight as our first official "back to school" day begins tomorrow with meetings, meetings, and more meetings.

3. Finish organizing the books in our "book closet".

2. Did I mention get lots of rest tonight?

1. Plan the first week of school...

Of course, the list could go on and but I won't go into the details.

Vacation Part 3

As I sit here typing this entry, countdown to starting back up again has begun!! Although I have had family meetings and classes this week, we "officially" report back on Wednesday. We have had a great summer together...it definitely was a whirlwind and kept us busy!! Here are some more pictures from vacation in Canada!!

Here is Grandpa Brinkmeyer's brother, Ken, with Kayin down by the river that runs through the city of Edmonton.

All of the light traffic control boxes were painted -- these were in Strathcona which is a very artsy little town. A lot of fun shops and UNIQUE merchandise!!

A little sneak peak of the mountains (this got out of order for some reason, but it's on our way to Banff). City Building downtown Edmonton

Fields of canola...these were close to LIME GREEN in color!!

Signing and filling out our declaration card for Customs to get into Canada...this makes is official!!

Checking out Aunt Amy's jewelry!!

Watching the sea lion show at the Edmonton Mall...for any of you out there who like to shop--they have over 800 stores with an attached hotel!! We couldn't believe the size of this place! There was an official size ice hockey rink, a waterpark, a miniature golf course (Uncle Joshy would LOVE IT) and a little lake running through the middle...absolutely incredible!

Ice Hockey Rink

Olympic statue on a corner in Strathcona (about 20 minutes from Edmonton). Found several new things from jewelry to souvenirs in this little town!

VACATION PART 2

Passed out and zonked even before the plane left out of Minneapolis!!

Showing Baby Baby what she sees out the window!

On the flight, they offered complimentary snacks...these little biscotti cookies were a hit!!

Checking out what's for sale in the Skymall magazine!

Reading to mommy and Baby Baby

VACATION PART 1

Okay, so I am trying to figure out how to change the font color to match the new background and I can't!! Hopefully soon I will remember since it has been quite awhile from the last blog post!!
We arrived safe and sound from a WONDERFUL two-week vacation in Canada and words can't even express how thankful we are to Grandma and Grandpa Brinkmeyer for organizing it and making it happen!! Kayin and I were able to meet some family members for the first time and we definitely made a lot of memories!!
I know many people who read this enjoy the videos of pictures, but most of you relish in the single pictures with descriptions! So, with that, I am going to be doing a series of posts about the vacation. With over 200 pictures to choose from, there is no possible way to include all of them unless I do a short slideshow for one of the posts (which I might do if I can remember how to put one together).

The first part is at the Fletcher household!! We made it just in time for a Toad themed birthday party!!

N with his HUGE bullfrog!!

Someone is missing from this picture!!

Having Aunt Jessi pain my nails before vacation!

Swinging with N on the swingset

Look at all these toads!! I believe the boys caught most of them behind their house at the lake!

Swimming--first lesson

Today was the big day...SWIMMING LESSONS!!! I honestly don't know who was more excited-mommy or Kayin! She has, from day one, loved the water and we couldn't wait to get her signed up somewhere! I have a friend at school who subs every now and then and I love her spirit and her way with kids. When I realized she gave lessons, I knew where I wanted Kayin to go. She has recently renovated her back yard to accomodate this massive pool (which I am just a little jealous) and has quite the system going! She has been giving lessons for quite some time and although we couldn't be out there watching every little move our little fish was making, we watched anxiously from the "parent pool house". The last five minutes she lets parents come out, show off what the swimmer has learned and assigns a little homework assignment! :) This week, we are working on our "circles in the water" and "1, 2, 1, 2" chasing ducks in the pool!! ENJOY!!