Helpful Checklist

I quickly figured out that Anna needed some guidance in the morning when getting ready for school so I thought a checklist would help her get ready on her own with minimal help from me.  It has worked GREAT!  She thinks she's big stuff marking off the tasks as she gets them done.  :)

We miss her!

 We miss having Anna at home during the day.  She was such a great help with the younger two and loved to help with making lunch and serving it.  She would also help entertain Noah if I was busy and he was fussy.

 She gets on the bus at 7:30 in the morning and has quite the "send off" with all of us waiting by the door with her.  :)

 She loves riding the bus and I'm thankful it's safe and only has a few kids from her school on it.

Audrey waved "goodbye" to her and then yelled, "Hey!  Bring my sister back!" as the bus pulled away.  She's kinda lost without her playmate at home but I do have to say, it's a bit more peaceful as there's not as much arguing either.  :)

Prayers Answered

Noah is doing so much better and we are thanking the Lord for answered prayer!  He is on a second round of antibiotics because he still had hard spots under the skin when he finished up the first round of antibiotic so to be sure the infection is fully cleared up, the doctor went ahead and prescribed a second round of medicine.  The picture below was taken this week and you can tell quite a bit of improvement with the redness and swelling.

The picture below is one of the first pictures we took when he was diagnosed and as you can see, the above picture shows a lot of healing and progress.  Thank you Lord!

 Below is a picture of the smaller spot on his side that is pretty close to being completely gone.

 Here's one of the first pictures we took of his side.  Lots of improvement shown in the above picture - Yay! 

Thank you all for praying for Noah!  We are so thankful we caught this in time before it got really bad.

First Grade

First grade has arrived for Anna and we all survived the first day back to school.  She was so excited this morning as well as a little nervous which kept her from eating hardly any breakfast.  If you know Anna, she doesn't pass up food EVER!  I talked with her about how the morning and afternoon would go and that seemed to calm her down some.  Riding the bus to school is a big deal in our house.  Last year with her attending afternoon Kindergarten, I had to take her to school every day so riding the bus to school was a new experience for her today. 

Idlewild Amusement Park

We had a fun day today celebrating the end of summer before school starts on Thursday.  We visited Idlewild Amusement Park and really wore ourselves out!  :)  The weather was beautiful, a bit chilly even in the shade during the morning hours.  We had planned to visit the waterpark as well but didn't think it was quite warm enough.  We first went through Storybook Forest which was filled with characters from nursery rhymes.  This was so much fun!

 The girls met Mother Goose as we began our journey through the forest.  Her house is the yellow one behind the school below.

 We then visited the Little Red Schoolhouse where Audrey was the teacher (scary!) and Anna was student.

 The girls were so excited to be Raggedy Ann and Andy!

 The Three Little Bears House

 Geppetto's Workshop

 Pinnochio and his story

 The Old Woman who lived in the shoe.

 Mary, Mary Quite Contrary's Home

 Little Red Riding Hood's Home

 This is why Little Red Riding Hood was not in her home... there was a wolf in her bed!

 Rock a bye baby in the tree tops...

 One of our FAVORITES!

 We had so much fun on the rides.  Audrey couldn't ride all of the bigger ones but was able to ride the Scrambler and the Tilt-a-Whirl.  Anna had us cracking up with her screams!  Audrey didn't know what to think... I think she was in shock!

 The Carousel is ALWAYS a favorite!  This was Noah's first time riding on one.  :)

 Bumper cars and tea cups!  This was the nicest picture I got of the girls on the bumper cars.  They had quite the fight before the ride started as Anna was holding the steering wheel and Audrey was determined that SHE was driving.  Audrey was slapping Anna and Anna was yelling at her... what a sight!

 Here's a self portrait of us on the Tilt-a-Whirl.

 Airplanes and Boats (thank goodness for two controllers/steering wheels!)

It's too bad you can't hear Anna's blood curdling screams in the video below.  The first ride we rode was the Scrambler and it was quite a shock to both girls!  :)

I tried to take a video while we were riding the Tilt-a-Whirl so I apologize that it's a bit shaky.  Anna loved it but I'm not so sure about Audrey.  I'm sure for a 3 year old it was a bit overwhelming but thankfully she didn't cry.  :)

Peach Festival

Are you ready for some pictures?  Hope so because here's a ton from our weekend outing at the Peach Festival.  We debated on going with Noah's situation but the doctor reassured me at our appointment on Friday that we were free to do whatever we had planned for the weekend as long as he was acting like himself and thankfully he was.   

 Couldn't see Audrey's face in the pig, just her fingertips, until she got a boost from big sister.  :)

 Our sweet peaches!

 Here's another little peach!

 They had 2 big bounce houses which the girls loved of course.  What a great way to burn energy!

 Anna wasn't too sure about the big slide.  Audrey had to be her dare devil self and go down backward!

 Noah liked wearing Daddy's hat

 This slide was something we've never seen.  They took a huge pipe and buried it in the hill and made it into a slide.  You had to use a feed sack to slide down on.  Michael and Audrey went super fast down it!

 As you can see, Anna did not love it!  Her face in the above picture makes me laugh all over again.  I know, I'm such a mean mommy laughing at my child's fear, but sometimes it's just funny.  She was in tears by the time she made it to the end.

 Thankfully the ducky races were close by and those were fun for everyone.  I was hoping to get a slice of fresh peach pie but they didn't sell it by the slice and I really didn't want to take home an entire peach pie for only Michael and I.  Guess we weren't supposed to have any after all.  =(