There She Goes

Claire started Kindergarten today.
I thought I would be sad and that it would be really hard for me but there are so many good things about her school and she is SO ready for school that it wasn't sad for me, it was just exciting. I think Claire had a harder time leaving Sprinkles (her giraffe in the picture above) today than me! She had a long goodbye with him and assured him she would be back soon. SO glad I caught that on camera :)
She is attending Nampa Classical Academy. As you can see from the pictures, NCA is brand new. There is no grass, just dirt - a lot of dirt.
There is no 'school' just a bunch of portables and sidewalks while they build the Academy which will hopefully be open next year.
Her friend, Abe (top right photo) is in her class. They had preschool together last year and get along so well. So glad she has a good friend to go to school with.
Each school day begins with a flag ceremony. They say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the National Anthem.
I'm so excited to be a part of this new Academy. I love Claire's teacher, I love the curriculum they are using and love their outlook on education. On their website it states "Preparing students for their purpose in life".

Here is the explaination about NCA from their website:

Nampa Classical Academy (NCA) offers Treasure Valley's
only K - 12 classical liberal arts education through a public charter school.
Nampa Classical Academy will open fall of 2009 for grades K- 9, adding each
consecutive grade per year until the school reaches 12 grades. Nampa Classical
Academy is a classical liberal arts public school fashioned after the Hillsdale
Academy Educational Model, using time-tested Classical Curriculum.
This historical model features a traditional, value-centered curriculum stressing
subject mastery and critical analysis. The curriculum is strong in phonics,
classical literature, grammar, composition, mathematics, "modern" sciences,
history, geography, and rhetorical analysis and writing. The ultimate goal of a
classical liberal arts education at NCA is for the child to be equipped to live
out their purpose in life with skill, and wisdom. It is an understanding of how
to live life that contributes to the overall good of society.

See why i'm excited?
Can't wait to see what tomorrow (and the rest of the school year) brings.

When we got home today from dropping her off at school, Owen said to me, "can we do some homework to get me ready for Kindergarten?" It was so cute. I put Amelia down for her nap and Owen and I worked on his letters for a while. I think it will be a chance for me to spend some one on one time with him and hopefully help him be ready for all this next year.

Twin Falls County Fair

We took our kids to the Twin Falls County Fair this weekend. Dave took Friday off and we took the opportunity for a fun family day before school starts.

The kids had SO MUCH FUN.

Claire's favorite was the REAL pony rides.

Owen's favorite was the motorcycle ride. He was concentrating really hard and being very cautious on the 'jumps'.

Amelia's favorite was the "ponies". She was SO excited that she was big enough to go on the rides. Can't believe she'll be two in a few days.

my Claire

a conversation I just had with Claire:

me: Claire, I need a good dinner idea.
Claire: you could ask me for a dinner idea.
me: Do you have a brilliant dinner idea?
Claire: hmmm, I did, but it just escaped me.

can't you just hear her saying that? it's just so 'Claire'

it's 5:00 p.m. and I still don't know what we're having for dinner tonight.
cold cereal, anyone?

Happy Birthday to Owen

Sunday, June 7th was Owen's 4th birthday. Can't believe he's already 4. We had a fun day. We went to church and Owen was very excited that the primary sang to him and gave him a Tootsie Pop. He chose orange, of course, his favorite color. When we came home, some of our family came over to have some cake and ice cream with us.

I found the directions for this cake on familyfun.com and thought it would be perfect for Owen this year. I'm by no means a professional, but I thought it turned out cute and most importantly, Owen thought it was fabulous.

When we were getting ready to open his presents yesterday, Owen said the funniest thing. He remembered that the UPS man had brought a package to our house a few days earlier and he said, "where's the package the UPS man brought to me?" then he thought for a second and said, "how he know'd it was my birthday? That was so nice of him."

Every year on their birthdays, I write down what my kids favorite things are. Here is Owen's list for this year:

favorite color: orange

favorite movie: All About John Deere and 'Cars'

chocolate

Mondays (because the garbage man comes)

Sunny D

Claire & Amelia

playing with mom's hair (especially at bedtime)

doing any kind of project with dad

licorice

spearmint gum

Just one more quick thing about my Owen before I forget:

Several weeks ago we were sitting at the table having pizza and root beer. Amelia was all done and pushed her plate away and then instead of just pushing her root beer cup gently away, decided to swipe at it with her hand. There was only about 1/4" of root beer in it, but it came flying directly at me and splashed all over me. I calmly (?) and firmly told Amelia that she couldn't do that and showed her my shirt which was now covered with root beer. She was just smiling at me with her cute little face.

I looked over at Owen and he had his head down but he had a huge smile on his face. I said, "Owen, it is not funny".

and he said, "I know, mom, that why i'm laughing to myself!"

ready for summer

we had a taste of Spring 2 weeks ago with almost 70 degree weather. we played outside and enjoyed every minute of sunshine.

last week and this week have been chilly, rainy and windy. we miss being outside.

today, Claire had the great idea of setting up their own 'pool' and putting their swimming suits on. They did canonballs off the couch into the pool, then would wrap themselves in their beach towels to 'dry off''. It was so funny. They layed out their towels like 'beach chairs' and insisted on having lemonade to drink.

25 random things about me

I posted this on my facebook, but thought I would post it here too. I love reading things like this about my friends and family.

1. I’ve lived in 2 states in my 34 years of life: Idaho and Alaska
2. I think being a mom is the hardest and most rewarding job in the world
3. I hate spiders and mice
4. I love to laugh
5. I still think about funny things that happened in high school or college and laugh out loud
6. I’ve been married to Dave for 8 years in June
7. I love being married
8. I have 3 kids, all born within 4 years, but not ‘planned’ that close. Claire was born in October of 2003, Owen in June of 2005 and Amelia in September of 2007
9. I love being a mom – I love that I can love them SO much even though they drive me crazy at times.
10. I love tulips
11. I love rainstorms
12. I am not very outgoing and prefer to NOT stand out in a crowd
13. I procrastinate
14. I like lots of different kinds of music and always play music for my kids. I may have the only 3 year old who knows a Neil Diamond song when he hears it.
15. I love having a budget and keeping a balanced checkbook.
16. I used to go dancing 3 or 4 nights a week – no wonder my grades in college weren’t very good.
17. I hate running late
18. I love Food Network – it inspires me to make yummy food.
19. I started wearing glasses in second grade.
20.I only wear glasses now to read.
21.I love cutting hair although I have NO training to do so. I’ve cut Dave’s hair ever since we got married.
22. I don’t mind doing laundry EXCEPT the white loads. I can’t stand matching all those socks.
23. I want to be a graphic designer someday.
24. I love a good bargain and love to shop clearance sales. It drives Dave crazy.
25. I have a ‘thing’ for fonts. I can spend hours looking online for new and different ones.

saying goodbye

today we said goodbye to some wonderful friends who are moving away.

we are so happy for them in their new adventures, but sad that we won't have preschool with them anymore, that we won't see those little cutie pies at church every Sunday, or have them over to play Barbie's for hours. Who will share our excitement every time a new Barbie moves comes out?

we can't wait to hear about this new chapter in their lives.

Mickelsen family - you will be missed.

oh, how time flies

Where do I even begin?

Several people have mentioned that it is about time for a new post.
I guess they are right.
I think ever since Owen was born, I run behind schedule.

The past few months have flown by. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Dave's family. December was a blur, as always. We had a wonderful, stress free Christmas - Dave even had a few days off, which are few and far between.

So, now here it is the new year already and I think about posting everyday - just never seem to get around to it. After the kids are in bed, there are dishes and bills and clothes to fold, etc, etc. You get the picture. Oh, and did I mention that my 5 year old has not gone to bed well for the last two weeks. I am pretty sure she can run on less sleep than anyone else in this family. Tonight she was still awake 2 1/2 hours after we had done the bedtime routine; brush, read, tuck in, etc. I can't figure it out. Can 5 year olds have insomnia?

So, my new goal for this year, or at LEAST the next few weeks, is to post more often, about everyday, small things happening in our lives.

I'll believe it when I see it, but I promise to try.

Fall Pictures

This weekend we took adavantage of the WONDERFUL weather we've been having and we took some fall pictures. The weather was perfect - maybe even a little warm for the sweaters the kids were dressed in. We had a fun time and the kids loved walking around the park.

Happy Birthday Claire

Claire turned 5 years old today. We had a family celebration, ate some cake and opened presents. It was a fun day, hopefully fun for my little girl. It just doesn't seem possible that she is already 5.

we gave her this ribbon wand that she loved to wave around.

Owen also loved the ribbon wand, but couldn't figure out how to wave it around without hitting Amelia on the head.

Here is Amelia trying to hit herself on the head with the wand - I think she got hit with it so many times she figured that's what it was for.

Every year on their birthdays, I write down a list of their favorites. Here's Claire's from this year:

• color: pink
• movie: Barbie Diamond Castle and Enchanted
• food: pizza and Alfredo sauce with noodles
• song: I Love to See the Temple
• watching Word Girl on PBS
• playing Word Girl games on the computer
• going to gymnastics
• and, of course, Sprinkles (her little stuffed giraffe she has loved since she was about 4 months old)

Happy Birthday, Claire.

we love you SOOOO much

Happy Birthday, Amelia Mae

I can't believe she's already one year old.

Amelia's favorite things:

• bathtime
• being outside
• playing pat-a-cake (her little finger is the cutest when she 'marks it with a B')
• her Fisher Price piano - she loves sitting on the seat and dancing to the music
• her pink blankie with satin edges
• Claire and Owen
• when Daddy comes home from work (she holds her arms out to him and grunts until he comes over and gives her a hug)
• Gerber Graduates fruit snacks

Amelia's stats (just for the record):

• 15 lbs. 14 oz.
• 3 teeth; two on the top, one on the bottom (we were worried that she was going to be 'Hagdalena Magdalena' for the rest of her life (are you familiar with the song?) "She had two teeth in her mouth, one pointed north and the other pointed south". Fortunately, another broke through earlier this week.
• crawling, but has taken a few steps
• first word: ow! - she says this anytime anything (even remotely) hurts.
• nicknames: miss Mae, Mia (Owen calls her this. I think he thinks he is saying 'Amelia' but doesn't quite get the 'L' sound in there), Amelia Bedelia (Dave calls her this all the time and sometimes even shortens it to just 'Bedelia')

Happy Birthday, Amelia. We love you.

The Next Food Network Star

Claire LOVES the Food Network.

She knows all the stars and asks to watch their shows - especially Giada De Laurentiis in Everyday Italian. She'll play in the bathtub with bowls and measuing cups like she is adding ingredients and making some sort of dish - and explains everything as she goes. The other night at dinner (Dave was working late, so we were having a very easy baked potato bar) she was thanking me for making dinner and in a very Giada-like fashion (hand gestures and all) said, "mom, this is SO good. I can taste the potato and the sour cream AND the cheese and it is just sooo good."

I am so hoping that Claire will keep her love for all things in the kitchen. I would love to have one good cook in our family!

Our Garbage Man

Our Owen has two responses when we ask him what he wants to be when he grows up: one is a garbage man, the other a garbage truck.

He LOVES practicing dumping stuff from one thing into another or simply dumping stuff on the floor. The problem with this is that lately our toy room is NEVER clean because Owen loves to dump stuff out, but doesn't love to clean up afterwards. I've tried to tell him that the garbage man doesn't make a mess, he helps us by taking the trash away so we don't have such a mess, but he isn't grasping the concept. A few responses he has made when i've been frustrated with the mess he mas made have been: "but, I was making a mountain" or "but, I was being the garbage man". I wish you could see the innocent look on his face - I just can't stay mad.

Before bed on Sunday night, Owen dutifully helps Dave gather up and take out the trash and organize the recycling. His Monday mornings are spent patiently waiting at the front window for the garbage man and the recycle man to grace the curb in front of our house. One day Owen was standing in our front yard to get a closer look at the trash being lifted into the truck and the garbage man waved at him as he went by. Owen had the biggest smile on his face for the rest of the day.

the beginning

ok, so here we are
i've been wanting to do this for a long time, but with all three kids could never find the time.
so often things will happen that I want to write down so i'll remember forever and I guess this is the perfect way to make that happen - and to share with our friends and family the things that are happening in our lives.