September Recap

We went camping in the mtns. off Blueride Parkway - John got his workout that day...

Caroline & Elise - the waterfall was the view at the end of the hike

Camping at Bear Den Campground with the Roger family

The family shot - cool day, but beautiful views

Look how far down....

Back in Charlotte, we woke up one morning to see these two deer in our backyard

Elise loved the jumping castle at the Preschool Blast Off Event!

Pretty face painting

Train ride at Preschool Blast-Off!

Only a designer-daddy could make these pancakes!!

First Day of Preschool

Last week after our busy Labor Day trip, Elise started preschool. She attends 2 mornings each week.
We got up early and had breakfast, got dressed and got her lunch packed and into her blue bag.

Bag in hand!

We've been talking a lot about how she'll get to go all by herself to play at school and meet new friends, and she was very excited to go.

Big girl!

The closer we got to school, I could tell she was quiet. They have a carpool line, and the director, Susan, helps each child out of their car with their bag & shows them to their classroom each morning. We had discussed this and she was ready to get to her class. I snapped a picture just as she was ready to walk into school, and after pulling away, I broke into sobs! I wasn't quite prepared for this emotion - feeling like I was sending her off on her own when she had only met the teachers and didn't know any other kids in her class....but when I came back after lunch to pick her up - she was all smiles and said that she really enjoyed circle time, and got to hold a puppy. It was very surreal to have her away for the morning and not know exactly what she did. I kept trying to ask her, but she didn't offer too much. Then, we got home and relaxed a bit, and she fell asleep for over 2 hours. It was a lot! So - we'll be back at it again this week!

First carpool! Ready for preschool

Visit to MN over Labor Day Weekend

We traveled to Minnesota for Labor Day weekend & enjoyed seeing family and a few friends. Paul and Jodi also made the trip, and we had a nice visit over breakfast with Josh & Debi in Bloomington. My mom requested that we take a photo with the 3 of us...here you go, Mom.

Sisters

Elise wanted in on the girls' photo

After breakfast with Carlsons, John's parents came to pick us up and treated us to a wonderful roast beef dinner. Elise woke up at 4:30am EST, and so here she was starting to droop a bit.

Sleepy girl with Oma

We brought along cupcakes from our favorite little shop, SAS Cupcakes and shared with everyone...yum!

Cupcakes on the deck...smiles all around

On Sunday, we visited the Minnesota State Fair & several others had the same idea...there were throngs of people! We enjoyed seeing the animals, eating the fresh cheese curds, corn dogs and the dairy milkshakes!

Nigerian goats - aunt Jodi wants these someday

"Yum!" Strawberry milkshake

Elise and Ethan also got  to be farm hands through an interactive expo. They got their aprons, pails and had to collect corn to feed the animals, plant some corn, and milk the cows.

Getting ready to help on the farm

A 'hands-on' experience

I made some little t-shirts for all the cousins - and they all got the letter "e".

Cousins - all start with "E"

It was so fun to meet up with my good friend, Sarah Jahnke. We met their family for a bit and got to reconnect!

College roommate, Sarah

Jahnke kids & Elise

The weekend went by quickly. I took a quick snapshot of Elise's special bed. Opa built it for her. Thanks so much Oma & Opa for hosting us for the long weekend!

The special bed for Elise

The End of August & Start of September

On Saturday Elise helped her friend, Emma Grace celebrate her 3rd birthday with a dance party at the YMCA. Here is our little dancer having so much fun at the party!

We've also been spending more time outside with the ridiculous humidity levels gone - it's been great to get out on the greenway. Here is Elise and Emma Grace - they're pretty good riders most of the time.

Emma Grace chillin' with her bear

Front porch

My dad and I also found out that right now is the high season for hummingbirds, so we promptly got our sugar water ready & hung our feeders. It's been such fun to watch those little birds fly in all day to get their sugar fix!

Ariel

On Wednesday this week Elise got to go to her preschool class and visit with her teachers for the new school year. She loved it, and I just had confirmation again that this is such a great school with wonderful people & I'm just as excited as she is for her to start. After our classroom visit, we went to see friends, and Elise had the privilege of borrowing an Ariel costume and red wig! We almost can't get her out of it...she loves it!! I had to tell her this week that we couldn't wear the wig out to the store, only the costume, because we might scare away some small children.

Cousins

On September 1st, Curt & Robbe got the keys to their uptown apartment. They are both so excited to move into a new place, and it really is a great little set up for them. We visited them after their first night and celebrated their new place with Donatos pizza, which, by the way is just a block away!
Great apartment you two....now just to get settled and make it your own.

Welcome to Charlotte!

On Sunday evening, my cousin, Robbe arrived in Charlotte after a loooong weekend of driving. He left the Rockies Friday night, drove all day Saturday, and drove into my parents' driveway around 6pm. He was here for work last summer around this same week, and we just loved having him. We got a call two weeks ago that he had a job opportunity to work with his company here at the Charlotte office, and he accepted. He and my brother, Curt, are looking for a place so they can rent together. Welcome to Charlotte, Robbe!
Here's a little video of his arrival....little E was so excited!

Thankfully, Robbe had his friend, Andrea to co-pilot the long trip, and we enjoyed having dinner together, and then a quick tour of Charlotte before she had to fly out early Monday morning.

I'm always finding something to do....

I just love being at home with Elise, and being home has given me time to work on a few projects. I'm always finding another project to work on, and most recently I've just done a few small updates with new pillows in the family room & wall art in our foyer.

I've also readily found some of my problem areas. Does anyone else have these? Here is my problem closet. I need it to function in many roles - hang coats, store my sewing supplies, store my tablecloths, linens & placemats for the dining room/kitchen, as well as house some of Elise's art supplies like paper, stickers, etc. My mom loves to design & organize closets, so we've come up with a plan. Even now as I write, it isn't complete...but we've started and that's what matters.
Stay tuned for a makeover picture...

My dad came over to help me work with moving some of the shelves and hanging new ones, and Elise was thrilled to be helping out, too. It's been very warm here, so pardon her "attire."

Since we've been working in this closet, little Miss has also found all her winter gear & has been wearing it all around - including outside in the humid & 90+ degree weather.

This is the face we get when we say, "Smile, Elise"

This is another face we get when we say, "Smile, Elise."

What else has been going on here...we just got a new Super-Walmart that opened less than 4 miles from us! We went on opening day & it is so nice to have this convenience so close! Also, since Elise's most recent 3-year old check-up, the doctor told me that I can start to really try to limit her thumb-sucking by teaching her that this behavior isn't something we do, especially in public. She usually resorts to this when she's going to bed, but if she's bored, she'll relapse, too. I try to remember to explain before we go into stores that we are in public, and we shouldn't suck our thumb, and that we can get germs. So now, throughout our day she'll ask me, "Mommy, are we in public?" She's starting to catch on...but it's definitely a process.
We are getting excited for the Fall! Elise starts preschool the week following Labor Day. She will go on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and next week we will get a call from her teacher to schedule a visit in the next couple of weeks. I think it will be such a nice time for her to interact with friends & be in another environment for a few hours. Well - I'm off to get a list together to make dinner tonight. Thanks for reading!

Boating

We are in the dog days of summer here in the Carolina's. Very hot, very humid, and no relief in sight. We have been trying to stay cool by enjoying the water! This past weekend Elise went tubing for the first time. She really doesn't mind trying new things. We enjoyed a few hours out on the lake with the Walker's.