B is for Ball and Ballet

Greetings! 

 This is my favorite picture!!!

Elsa and Jonas are learning so much!  Each day they surprise us with something new that they picked up at school.  This week the letter B was featured and the kids learned how to make the b sound, recognize b and Elsa proudly proclaimed that "ballet starts with b".  A great week!

Jonas and Elsa are starting to think about what they want to be for Halloween this year.  It is pretty neat that they are aware that it is coming up and they have real specific costumes that they are interested in.  More to come on this I am sure!

We celebrated last weekend with family and have some pictures from our feast!  We also have some singers in the family:) :)

A good, but long week, and we spent most of Sunday relaxing and recovering from bits of colds and all around tiredness. 

God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Celebrating Friends!

Greetings!
Did I just feel a cool chill in the air?  Is fall arriving?  Did I send my kids to school on Monday in shorts and friday in fleece?  Wow, things can change quickly in the pacific northwest!  

Jonas and Elsa had another great week at school.  There was a week long focus on apples.  Jonas loves apples so this must have been a dream realized for him to be able to talk and learn about apples.  There was also a wagon race involving tricycles...needless to say Elsa loved it.  Every day, Elsa and Jonas are laughing and having fun at school!  It is great to see.

Upon a request from Jonas, we had homemade pizza this week.  He really made a case for it.  "I think it would be a good idea if we had pizza for dinner tonight."  He helped Dan with the process and may not have eaten much but was proud of his creation.

Elsa comes home from school every day wanting to perform ballet.  She has a special place in our front yard which is her ballet school.  She does several moves and is quite happy with herself.  She loves to where her pink tutu that has also been worn by her cousin and by Mari!  She is keeping the tradition alive!

We celebrated a birthday with our friends Jen and Ron.  It was great to get all the Dec 12th birthday kids together to celebrate the day.  Lots of playing, reading, and fun to be had for all. 

Our sunday school music continues this week.  Jonas ran up and hugged Dan throughout the performance of "All God's Creatures have a space in the choir".  Elsa was seen clapping at several points during the song.  It is great to share music with other kids and with Jonas and Elsa.

God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

A great full week of school!

Greetings!
Elsa and Jonas have taken off full speed at their new school this year.  They are having so much fun!  We drop them off and they are confidently walking away towards their work areas.  It is really a blessing to see them blossom!

 At church!

 The best birthday party ever!

 Just to get a feel for the scale!

This week we attended a great birthday party!  The party was held at a place with huge inflatable bouncy castles, slides, and more.  The adults had nearly as much fun as the kids with all the sliding, bouncing, and laughing.  It was great!

Jonas and Elsa helped Dan practice all week for sunday school.  Dan does the opening ten minutes of music and Jonas and Elsa were really into practicing with him.  They helped with silly words for some of the songs.  And, they provided the much needed percussion with egg shakers, plastic toys, and any other noise makers they could find!

The first runny noses arrived midweek and worsened by the end of the week.  The kids seem to be feeling better today and we are so thankful that they are strong and can fight off these colds! 

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

School Rules

Greetings!

It has been really special to see how well Elsa and Jonas have done this year at pre-school.  Last year, the first two weeks of school were really hard for them.  They didn't always want to go and would get really emotional at the drop off in the morning.  They liked school but it would take some time for them to warm up to the idea.  This year has been great.  They bounce out of the car and beat Dan to the door of the school.  They love the play ground, the teacher, the kids...they are hitting their school stride!

Jonas and Elsa had a great week and talked about the snake they found in the sand box at school (cool!), the circle time for book reading, several new friends they played with, and all the cool things they see on their class walks around the high school.

Picture:  Elsa was really getting in to her book on Saturday!  The frog prince and frog princess wanted to watch a little caillou after their bath.
God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Labor Day Readers!

Greetings!
Jonas and Elsa both really wanted to read the same book this morning.  After a little tug of war, a little parental suggestion, and calmer heads finally prevailing; they decided to take turns reading to each other.  Very cute! 

We hope everyone has a restive labor day and celebrates what hard work can accomplish!
God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Your hands

Greetings!
The big day arrived and Elsa knocked it out of the park.  She joined Dan and his friend singing at church this morning.  She beamed while she sang.  Check out the video!

Watching her sing reminded me that sometimes masterpieces take a while.  Watching Elsa and Jonas grow up and blossom into amazing kids is truly special. 

God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas