School Photos

The proofs for the kids' school pictures came in this week!

Alex Lounging For the Camera
What could he be thinking about here?
Alex and I have been have some especially interesting conversations lately. Our cat Ghengis had to be put to sleep last month, which has triggered lots of questions about what happens when you die. We have been talking about heaven, and our family members that are in heaven with Ghengis, but Alex has not quite grasped the concept yet. This weekend when Jeff was up on a ladder cutting down a tree branch, he asked if Dad was going to go "up, up to the sky to heaven with Great Grandma Eva." We will continue to talk about this...
Elena Hamming It Up
Elena loves being at school! Each night before putting her to bed, we talk about all the people we love. Her teacher, Mrs. Zawadski (can you believe she can say that name?), and her friend Evie are high on her list. She also cheers and claps when I tell her to put on her shoes for school in the morning. It is very reassuring that her school career is getting off to such a happy start.
Doesn't she look much older than 2 here?

Our Family Portrait

Do you see the resemblances?

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

The kids started the morning with a race to the mailbox to get the newspaper. Since we get two newspapers, they both won! After getting Mom the newspaper, we decided to break out the finger paints on the deck. Alex is getting so good at writing his name, he can even do it with a paintbrush now. Alex also painted the family of his best friend Jack . The boys were scheduled for a play date Sunday afternoon, which Alex was very excited about.
The Andersons
Elena was more interested in eating the paint than creating works of art. But she stopped long enough to turn out this beautiful masterpiece. She did a nice job of using green- the color of the month in her preschool class.Little Grouch at the Wheel
Bored with playing artist, Elena and her paint covered self left the studio behind to pretend to drive Mom's car. Thank goodness for the easy to wipe down leather seats! Her mood and attention span have not been great the last few days, so this Oscar the Grouch shirt was a good wardrobe choice. She has been battling what will likely be the first of many colds now that she is around the preschool germies. The poor girl lost her voice and just wants to be cuddled. However, she is still her VERY opinionated (okay bossy) self. She insisted on wearing this shirt to bed and the entire next day as well. Hopefully she will start feeling better soon!

My Heart Belongs to Daddy

This shirt says it all!

Elena is definitely a Daddy's girl. In the morning, she asks "where Dad-dee" if he has already left for work when she wakes up. When Jeff calls me on my cell phone, Elena begs to talk to him and will try to grab the phone away. Jeff gets the "rock star" greeting when he arrives home from work, complete with wild screams of delight and a running dash towards him for a hug. After we read bedtime books together as a family, Elena wraps her arms around Jeff's neck and insists that he (never Mom) rock her to sleep. And how could he say no to that sweetness?

Friday Night Fun

The weather was gorgeous Friday night, so our family headed outside after dinner. Alex and Jeff practiced their golf swing, and the girls got pedicures on the deck. After cutting and filing nails, Elena and Mom painted their toes a beautiful pink. While Mom painted her fingernails, Elena got busy with Sleepy Baby. Elena is at such an imitative stage right now. Her baby dolls get a lot of attention!

The Donut Dance

Although Elena is still deserving of the name Princess Picky Eater, she has no problem eating anything sweet. Watching Elizabeth occasionally eat Cookie Crisp cereal for dinner certainly hasn't discouraged her from developing a sweet tooth! After picking Alex up from school on Thursday, we fed the Broad Ripple ducks and then went to Alex's favorite dessert place- Dunkin Donuts. Everyone got to pick out a special donut to eat after dinner that night. The promise of the chocolate sprinkle donut she chose herself was sufficient motivation to eat dinner without too much of a fight for a change. Elena was so excited about her treat, she even did a little Donut Dance which we captured in this movie.

Dinner with Grandma Sandy

Jeff had a late business dinner and Elizabeth needed to get some work done at the office, so Grandma Sandy volunteered to come have dinner with the kids on Wednesday night. The kids were very excited to spend some time with her. Alex was especially hyper and full of funny faces.
Elena's smile didn't leave her face the entire visit. She loves all the attention she gets from Grandma Sandy.Grandma brought some fun finds from the dollar store, including a feather boa to add to the dress up bins.The kids were sad when Mom came home to out them to bed. Alex took a couple of photos of Grandma leaving as we waved goodbye at the door. Grandma brought some of our tomatoes home with her. Alex planted different vegetables at the beginning of the summer, and the tomatoes have overtaken the garden due to our neglect. I wonder if they tasted good?

Bye Bye Michigan!

The Walker and Campbell cousins came to say good bye Sunday afternoon before we headed back to Indiana. Katy is holding a squirmy Elena and standing next to JD and Isabelle, while Alex sits in Christopher's lap next to Annie and Mitchell. So much for the "no weapons in the house" rule! Alex made a gun out of legos in time for pictures. Isabelle and Katy both wanted to hold Elena for this last photo. Alex was done with sitting still. Too bad he would have to sit still for the upcoming 5-hour car!

Playtime in Michigan

Grandma and Papa have a fun mix of new and very old toys to play with- some of the toys even date back to Jeff's childhood. Others are hand-me-downs from older cousins. As the oldest girl cousin present, Isabelle was the designated ringleader over the little girls. She is so sweet and gentle and acts just like a little mommy to Molly, Ellie and Elena.Ellie & ElenaEllie Supervising Alex and Molly on the Sit & Spin
Annie Showing the Little Kids How Its Done
Alex continues to practice his photography skills every chance he gets. He took some fun snapshots of Jeff at the table with Grandma and Papa, and of Grandma working in the kitchen. It is interesting to see things from his perspective!

Lunch with Seven Kids

There were seven kids at Grandma Liz's house for lunch on Saturday. It was loud, crowded, crazy, and so much fun! It is hard to imagine that this is what EVERY meal was like for Jeff growing up with six siblings.
Look Mom, No Hands! Elena learning a thing or two about eating from her cousins
Grandma doled out Oreo cookies to the kids who ate all their lunches. Aunt Lori is in the background of this picture trying to do dishes. Her cute basket-ball sized belly did its best to make that task difficult, but she still managed. Molly and Ellie will be welcoming a new baby brother or sister (it is a surprise!) in another week or two.
Alex always eats the outside chocolate part of the Oreo first so he can lick the frosting off last. How do all kids just intuitively know how to this?

Ice Cream on the Monon

We stopped by a local ice cream store after school on Wednesday. The store is located on the Monon Trail, so we got window seats that allowed us to watch the bike riders, roller bladders and runners passing by.

Alex chose a waffle cone and Elena chose vanilla ice cream with sprinkles in a bowl.
While eating, Alex showed off his "golf course." This basiscally consists of him putting his waving fingers out by his shoulders. We have NO IDEA where this came from, but it makes us laugh every time. Elena was not all that happy with her ice cream choice, as evidenced by her furrow. Fortunately, Alex volunteered to trade. Of course his generosity may have had something to do with there being twice as much ice cream left in Elena's bowl than in his waffle cone... Elena was content to eat every last bite of the waffle cone. During our after school treat, the kids told me all about picture day at school. They seemed to enjoy cheesing it up for the camera. We are looking forward to seeing how those turned out soon.

Book Time!

After breakfast on Sunday morning, everyone grabbed a book for a little family reading time together. Alex likes to recite favorite books from memory and count various objects when he reads. He loves that he can check out a new book all by himself at the school library every Wednesday. Elena's favorite companion lately has been board books. She brings them in the car, into bed at night, and always with her to the potty. She reads to her babies, and likes to line them up and organize them after she finishes reading. Maybe she will become a librarian?

Swimming with the Rosenbergs

TThe Walkers invited ourselves over to swim at the Rosenberg's pool on Sunday afternoon. The kids had been missing their summer buddies "CooperLogan" (the boys are a one word name at our house) since we all started back at school.

Crazy Jumper
Off the Diving BoardChilling Out with Logan
Snuggle Time with Alan
It is funny how much Elena graviates towards Alan, who is no where near the baby-lover that Debbie is. After swimming, she climbed right into his lap to warm up and get her snuggle fix in. Later on, Elena came over to sit on Debbie's lap and to join in on girl chat Debbie and Elizabeth were having.The Orange Suits played great defense against the Rosenburg Boys. Jeff acted like a big kid in the pool and seemed to enjoy playing around even more than Alex.Slam Dunk!

Picnic at the Park

The weather on Saturday was gorgeous! Elizabeth dropped everyone off at the playground and ran to buy Alexandra a birthday present for her water park party later that afternoon. Alex brought his bike along and spent some time riding laps around the track.

Go Alex, Go!

When Elizabeth returned, it was time for a picnic lunch.

All Done!

After they finished eating, Alex went straight for the curly slide.

The kids and Jeff did their best impression of monkeys.

We Rule the PlaygroundA running race around the track with Jeff finished off our fun morning at the park. The kids were so tired from all this running around, we had to wake them up to go to Alexandra's birthday party!