The Birthday Girl!

Oh, I can't believe that this sweet girl is F.I.V.E!!!!!  She is truly the most helpful, LOUD, rational, TORNADO-LIKE, compassionate five year old I know!  I feel extra blessed that she has a September birthday and I get to spend one more year with her at home!  She was an easy baby and her laid back attitude has just continued...she is as busy as can be but is so flexible that I often forget that she's so young.  We just hope she isn't saving her crazy years for when she's a teenager!  :)  

 And just for a fun comparison...Hailey's birthday collage at age 5!

More to come on her birthday party and birth"day" celebrations!

 A fun little FIVE yr old photo shoot!

Kai riding her bike!

Kailee girl can ride her bike without training wheels!!!!!  It was just a matter of us having the time to get out and practice (without little brother running crazy in the road!)  She has Hailey's old bike that is a little big at 16inches, so we have a little 12in bike, but it had a flat tire!  When Leevi was in the states he picked up a new tire tube (of course the PX was out of something so basic!!) and she took off!!!  She had practiced a few times on Luke Green's old bike and really got the confidence!  She's a professional!!!!  

 

 

And a cute note that Kailee dictated to Hailey a few weeks back!

 

Edelweiss Resort Church Retreat

We had another wonderful chance to escape to the Bavarian Alps for a holiday weekend.  This is at least our 6th time there and while sometimes I feel like there is so much more I want to see in Europe, the views never get old and the "comfort" of an American hotel in Germany keeps us going back.  The hotel itself is pretty pricey, but it has 4 restaurants, an indoor pool, gym and spa.  We've been fortunate to go on 3 retreats that are paid for (and one business trip that we tagged along with Leevi that was paid for) and the other times, we've found an hotel in Garmisch that is run by an American couple who have great rates and large family suites.  This time our church put on a retreat and for only a $100 suggested donation into the offering plate at church, we stayed for 4 days and 3 nights! It was wonderful and relaxing and loads of family time was built in (and time for a massage that Leevi booked for me by surprise!) 

 

The resort sets up a carnival of sorts during the warm weather holiday weekends (Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day) and they had plenty of things to do for the kiddos.  When we pulled up after the F-I-V-E hour drive, the kids immediately (after a potty break...we didn't have to stop once on the drive down!!!!) headed to the bounce houses while Leevi checked us in...it was too perfect and well deserved fun!!!

This little courtyard was right outside our hotel room back door...of course we brought a ball for Luke and this was the perfect area to play.  One of Kailee's good friends from church had a room at the corner of this courtyard, so they had some extra play time together!  And the hotel put on a fireworks show Saturday night and we had the PERFECT view (somehow Luke and Kailee stayed asleep through the whole thing!  We have a white noise app on our iPad that we use when we travel since we all are used to sleeping with fans on for noise.)  

The girls' most favorite thing about the resort are the pool and hot tub!!!!!  Luke definitely enjoys it too!!!!!

I LOVE the hotel lobby!!!!

This river runs next to the resort and is always a favorite place to walk to and throw rocks...the water is FREEZING though coming fresh from the mountains!!

More festivity fun!!!

 My empty beer stein kept Luke busy for awhile...he'd put his pacifier in and "drink" it out!

Sunday morning after breakfast, Kai and I were snuggling in bed while we waited for church to start and before long Hailey joined us and then Luke piled on!!

Our official sessions of the retreat were on Friday night for 2 hours and Saturday morning for 4 hours.  The big kids had lessons of their own and Luke went into the nursery (our sessions were at the Garmisch Chapel)  Luke did ok in the nursery for a bit but after he realized that I was gone he had a fit!  Krista, our chaplain's wife, was working in the nursery and went to get Kai to help with Luke.  Kai was in big sister heaven because Luke wanted only her.  Hailey wanted to stay with the big kids, but Kai offered to help since there were some pretty awesome toys in the nursery.  Kai ended up starting in the nursery the next day and ate up every compliment about how wonderful and helpful she was with Luke (she even got him down for a nap!!!) 

Sunday we had church with the Garmisch congregation and Sunday night we went to a worship dinner hosted by the Garmisch chapel.  The dinner was an awesome buffet, wonderful music and a great end to an awesome weekend!  We woke up on Monday and let the kids swim one more time before the long drive home!!!

And just some random fun.....the picture on the right is of Luke eating yogurt in the hotel room that weekend at Edelweiss and the picture on the left is of Kailee doing the same in the hotel in Heidelberg when we first moved to Germany!  Kai was 20 months and Luke was about to turn 17 months. 

And one more...Kai on the left and Luke on the right at the same age as above!

Luke at 16 months

Time continues to fly with this little man!!!!  We are soaking up every last bit of sunshine before the gloomy winter sets in!!!  I'll be curious to see how he handles the winter with his obsession to be outside!!!

Watching the lawnmower man!

Sister torture!  I caught her before she actually popped it, but Luke seemed to know what was coming!

Who needs a pool when you have a bucket!?

Harassing  Chillin with Leila

Fist bumps are his new thing!  And once he's on a roll he wants to fist bump any stranger that passes!

Soccer and baseball are his absolute favorites!

When he connects, it really goes far!!!

Our handsome man!

I have had this bike seat since Hailey...Kai got a ton of use out of it when we lived in Mannheim and I imagine Luke will also since both girls now can ride bikes or scooter efficiently!

One of the last Ice Cream man visits of the summer!!!  I used to get him a cup, but he has to have a cone like the big kids!

The Green boys bought this with their allowance!  Luke somehow knew just what to do!

This age is so rewarding when you can SEE the learning!!!  The night before this picture, Kai set up a "library" in Luke's room with the lego table, a stacking block, and books.  Wouldn't you know that the very next night, Luke dumped his legos and repeated the EXACT same set up!   It was also a big lesson for the girls on Monkey See-Monkey Do with good and bad behavior!!  He's always watching!

Hangin with the big kids!!!

He is giving Kai a run for her money with his climbing!  You name it, he'll climb it...couches, dining room table, bar stools, dressers, playground equipment, window sills!  I'm praying that the crib isn't next!!!  I will definitely fight him on that one!!!  He loves going to sleep at naptime and nighttime so hopefully the love will outweigh the adventure!  (And I have no idea how he got into this cart without it tipping over!!!!)

His blonde highlights are just too much!!!!

We love you, Buddy!!!

16 month video snippets!

 

FIRST day of SECOND grade!

Even though we were all sad to see the summer come to an end, Hailey was excited about her first day of 2nd grade!  We found out the Friday before school started that she knew two girls in her class that she had 1st grade with, but also found out that her two best buddies, Luke and Victoria, were in different classes...there are 8 2nd grade classses (she still can link up with them at recess though!)  We also found out that her teacher was still in the process of being hired and she would start the year with a sub!  Ugh!  I wasn't too happy with that considering the heartache we went through last year with THREE 1st grade teachers!  Hailey didn't make a big deal about it though so I kept my grumbles to myself!  She had the sub for the first week (who was wonderful!) and her new teacher, Mrs. Eishen, started yesterday!  I was quite impressed with the info packet she sent home yesterday and it looks like we are going to have a wonderful year!!!!

Ugh, they are all growing too fast!!!!!!!!!!!

Kai wanted a Mommy picture too for her First Day of her Last Year home with me!  :) 

It rained all of the first day back, but the weather has been nice since then!  We are in the low 80's on the 2nd week of school which is pretty surprising for this time of year!

Luke was all about wanting to color and eat glue!!

Kai made herself comfy in the reading nook while we got Hailey settled into her classroom on the first day!

I'm not sending Kai to preschool this year for several reasons...one, being to save $400-$500 a month because it's not like my days would be free since I still have Luke at home and two, because she's getting plenty of social interaction and direction from other adults through soccer, gymnastics, children's church and Awanas.  Reason three because it's one less thing for poor Luke to be drug around to and pickup time would cut into his naptime.  And because she's so good at keeping herself entertained...I think she enjoys having all of the Barbies to herself during the day! :)  Of course I can incorporate learning into everything we do throughout the day, but we also designate a specific time for math, reading, and writing!

Luke is oh so helpful during this time!!!  He climbed right up into the barstool when Kai got down!

If he really won't leave us alone, I'll put him in his highchair to occupy him for a bit!!!

We miss Hailey during the day, but the time goes by fast and the afternoons full of homework and sports go by even faster!!!