Trip To Michigan

Over labor day and Mommy's birthday we visited Granny, Grammommy, Gramps and Uncle Kirk at the cottage in Michigan.  We had a blast!!!   I can't express enough how much that little cottage has meant to me in my life.  I have such fond memories with my Granny, Grandad, brothers and cousin!  Next summer can't come fast enough for us to return! 

1st Day of School Class Report

Email sent from Mrs MacLeod to all parents.  FYI, Becky is the assistant.  Evelyn and Sylvia were featured in 6 of the 7 pictures she sent.

As Becky said "Today was awesome!" I couldn't agree more. Your children were truly delightful and seemed to be enjoying themselves throughout the morning. They were interacting with each other and having a good time from when we were inside the classroom to the times we were on the playground. When we came together as a group for our first circle time to go over the day's schedule and learn each other's names they were attentive and caught on to the routine right away and also when I read How Do Dinosaurs Go to  School? by Jane Yolen. Of course today was the first day and this was all new and exciting so please if your child seems to change his/her mind about school over the next week or so don't panic they are just realizing that this just isn't a one time event. But we hope to make each day they come to St. Aidan's fun and exciting. 

On Wednesday we will go to our first Chapel at 9:30 and they will be introduced to the "Banjo Man" (Rev. John Baker) who will teach them some wonderful songs and stories. We will also be finger painting that day so please dress your child to get messy. They will be painting their shape/color. Also with this great weather we will be outside just enjoying ourselves.  

As always if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email/call me. I am here for you.

Below are some pictures taken today so you might see what we were doing!! 

Take care.

Mary Olivia

Note from Mrs MacLeod

This is what Mrs MacLeod said about the girls first day.  I gave her a heads up Sylvia likes to "try" things she shouldn't.  Sure enough, it was my kid eating the playdough on the first day.  I asked Sylvia about it and she said "Mommy it was gushy, I thought it might taste good.  It was very yucky."

Meredith

The girls had a fabulous day and you would never know that they have never been in a preschool environment.  Evelyn was a bit more reserved  than Sylvia when we went out on the playground the first time but we walked around she found her sister and Charlotte [Charlotte is the next door neighbhor] so she was happy. The second time we were outside all five girls from the class were playing together with a large tub and having a great time!! 

Funny you should mention Sylvia and her fingers in her mouth. I caught her a couple of times doing it and even trying out the play dough. When I said that wasn't such a good thing to put in her mouth she immediately stopped but we will keep an eye on her hands in mouth. So you know -- the play dough is edible since we make it at school but I doubt it tastes very good but have seen many a child pick up little pieces and put it in their mouths and never spit it out. We do wash hands a lot and there is a sink in the classroom which the children were already using today.  

  

Take care and I am so very excited to have Sylvia and Evelyn in this year's class. They are wonderful additions.

Mary Olivia

First Day of School

They were so ready to start the 3 day 3s program at St Aidan's (9am-Noon) on September 10th!  No tears and LOTS of excitement!  It took all of 5 minutes to walk through the woods to the school next door.  They had their school-assigned, but personalized to make them stand out, tote bags.  They quickly found their name and shape, said "bye", and walked into the classroom.  What big girls we have!!! 

Little Fish

They are great little swimmers.  We've been told by their swim coach, they can pretty much skip the next series of swim classes and go to level 3!  Woo hoo! 

Busy Before Naps

It's hard to say, but I think Evelyn is growing out of naps.  It's really hit or miss and the days she does nap, she wakes up early!  She napped today, but she had to play with her babies (stuffed animals) and put them in bed in tents!  She slept with them all like this!  Super silly girl. 

Kiddie Camp

The girls are having a blast in kiddie camp this week.  17 kids, 3 teachers and a super hero theme.  Its 5 days in a row for 4 hours each day.  They do circle time, crafts, some kind of physical activity (they went to the soft play room first day, then playground the second, Thursday they are going to the spray park), and then lunch...all in the preschool at the nearby Recreation center (where they do gymnastics, swimming, etc).  They have done very well with drop off.  Evelyn was called a cry baby by a boy when she had a slight meltdown the first day before lunch.  It wasn't nice, but it was true!  They are definitely going to be ready for preschool!  We just found out who their teacher is, Mrs MacLeod.  Good stuff! 

Trip to Dutch Wonderland

The girls had a blast on our girls only trip to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA. We went with a friend, her daughter (Kaitlyn) and son (Ryan, yes a boy, but a baby!).  We had a blast!  The girls were so good.  Walked for 7 hours! 

More pictures to come! 

Yoga!

The library has offered so many fun programs this summer.  This time it was yoga!  Sylvia was very into it from the begining.  Evelyn always does yoga at home (lots of different types...inside joke), but she ultimately had a blast.  Check out that tree pose!  Grammommy would be so proud! 

Vacation Bible School

The girls had a blast at VBS.  They even performed a little show on the last day.  It was so sweet.  Videos to come.  Here's their first "class" picture. 

He's not Bubba!

After caring for our foster cat a few days, I decided to reach out to the shelter and ask if Bubba was his real name.  Sure enough, it's NOT!  His name was Ashley!!!  Bit of a strange name for such a big boy, but he's definitely Ashley. He responds to it.  David somehow knew that Scarlett O'Hara's love interest in "Gone with the Wind" was Ashley Wilkes. 

He's a cuddler for sure and lights tight places (which is odd becuase of his size). He used to hide under our bed, then in the storage room, and now really likes to retreat to Angela's room.  However, he gets noisy at night and we all kick him out.  So, he's left to sleep in the basement. 

Our kitty lover, Sylvia, is most timid around him.  She thinks he's going to bite her.  Evelyn is in love. 

Vacation Bible School

We are gearing up for preschool and signed up the girls for 3 camps (soccer, Vacation Bible School and a kiddie camp).  This week they are attending VBS at a neighbhorhood preschool.  Their class has about 12, 3 year olds with 3 teachers.  I was a little concerned there may be crying, anxiety, but they ran off to their "tribe" to sit with their friend Kaitlyn.  They had a great time doing crafts (made a neat necklace), singing songs, dancing, etc.  Oh, I must mention that Evelyn's favorite thing was "eating goldfish."  You'd think these kids are so deprived (Mom, who do I sound like???).  Evelyn has never fallen asleep so fast! They were so tired!  It's seriously the best deal going!  Just $60 for both of them to attend 3 hours/day.  And, it's well run!  Will be an annual thing, I think.

Weekend Fun

The weekend was lots of fun.  Friday, David and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  I was a sport and agreed to a motorcycle ride to Great Falls.  Note that this was after a 14 mile run earlier than day and in 95+degrees.  We had a great lunch at the Old Anglers Inn.  Totally low key. 

Saturday morning, we celebrated a friend's birthday at her pool party.  Lots of pizza, cupcakes and swimming.  In the evening, our friends invited us and 2 other couples to their house (with kids) for a dinner party.  It was a house full of girls four, 3 year olds and 2, 1 year olds.  The kids ate first and the adults enjoyed an amazing meal while the kids played for hours in the basement. 

Sunday morning we hosted friends at our pool for swimming and a cookout. 

Lots of good fun! 

Bubba!

Watching Snookums the hamster for 3 weeks inspired us to become a foster family for Alexandria Animal shelter.  I filled out the paperwork and one day later, we had BUBBA!  He's a neutered domestic shorthair cat. He was given up by his military family because they had to move and couldn't take him.  He's been in the shelter 3 months and they are at capacity.  He's super gentle and purrs all the time.  He doesn't have any illnesses and is up on his shots; however, he is OBESE!  He's 24 POUNDS!  He can hop on the couch, but pants when walking up the stairs.  He's on a strict diet and with all the room in our house, he's surely to lose some weight.  We don't know how long we will keep him, but he's up for adoption if you're interested! 

Outdoor Fun

Silly Faces of Evelyn

She was hamming it up.  Notice the first two pictures, she's "feeding" her baby. 

Fun Outside

The girls like to put the babypool at the bottom of the slide for extra fun! 

2012 London Olympics

We are super pumped in the Romley household for the Olympics.  We had a opening ceremony party planned, but had to cancel becuase Sylvia had a little stomach bug.  We still had fun and made crafts, cookies and watched the opening ceremony. 

Drawing Characters

Big developmental step...the girls are drawing characters/figures.  The black one (top picture) is Evelyn's, you can see the S' (backwards) and E's to distinquish who made which card.  Don't you like the curly hair on the right card? 

Names, Crafts and Silly Times

We have been good.  Took the girls to a cool water park for 5 hours on my day off (videos to come), Mommy and Daddy had a date night, we hosted friends from DC on Saturday night and hit the pool on Saturday.  The girls are totally swimming under the water!  Here are some cute pictures of the girls writing their names, making crafts and having a silly time with Daddy.  Plus, pictures of hula time at the libary with their friends.