9 Week Adjustment

This is a little over due, since they have been in school for almost 3 months. But we received cute little reports from their teacher letting us know how things are going. And it is obvious which is transitioning better and handling the change with a little more grace:) Having a teacher as a parent alerted Craig to the "creative" language she used. I read between the lines and interpreted what was REALLY going on (and the day I volunteered, I witnessed some neat behavior from Drew).

    Kelsey has adjusted beautifully to our school and classroom routines. She is excited when she             arrives, appears happy at school, and is an active, engaged learner. She has established
    relationships with both teachers and peers.

    Drew has adjusted very well to our school and classroom routines. He loves to be with his friends       and he makes a wide variety of good choices during playtime. He responds well to redirection
    and he is beginning to get used to the length of the school day.


This past weekend Craig's sister and niece came to visit us while his brother-in-law and nephew were hunting. We had such a fun time watching movies by the fire, playing new games, going to the Christmas parade downtown, and finishing the weekend with brunch!! We've been to the parade in past years and the weather was okay - bundled up in snow pants CAN be enjoyable! This year the temp was warmer but the risk of getting rained on was high. We packed hot chocolate and brought the wagon and ended up staying dry. It was a nice parade that lasted just long enough and then we headed to a local burger joint to warm up and fill up :)

Of course, enjoying some hot chocolate

TV Stars

 So our kids go to gymnastics at a facility owned by the parents of olympian Chelsie Memmel. Their instructor is Mara, Chelsie's sister, and she teaches all the younger classes - and is the best because I think I've said this before, but it's gotta be equivalent to herding cats. TMJ 4 news did their preps plus show from M & M Gymnastics center, honoring Mara's younger sister, Skyler, who was signing her letter of intent to Central Michigan University. It happened to be the same night Kesley and Drew have their tiny tumblers class. If you click on the link, thankfully they are the first 'story'. If you want to skip through, they come on at 4:28. They are sitting on Mara's lap on the floor and Drew's willingness to participate is classic class clown status.

Preps Plus

Happy (Belated) Halloween

We had just amazing weather for trick-or-treating Sunday! (the opposite of every day since :( ) My mom lives up in a small country community, "where everyone knows your name" kind of town and  has a quaint, mellow Halloween. This year we were joined by our favorite little guy, Baby Benson, and Kelsey and Drew were actually excited to trick-or-treat AND dress up, something that was a struggle on years past. My whole family met at my mom's house; we all grabbed an adult beverage and headed out on the road because there are no sidewalks!

Kesley's outfit was hand-made by our favorite sitter, Arlene!!

Oh, just a random morning wake up call from your friendly fluffy cat