Back to School

Well we are about 1 month in, but here are some pictures from the first day of school.

Elizabeth is starting 2nd grade. She will have the same teacher this year, she is moving up with her class. Elizabeth is excited and is really enjoying school so far this year.

Katie was so excited for kindergarten. She has the same teacher Elizabeth had for kindergarten so she was even more excited. At first it was a little tough for her just getting used to being at school all day, but she is adjusting well. She is so excited to learn she wants to be doing what Elizabeth is doing now.

The person who has had the hardest time adjusting has been Danielle. She sure misses her sisters and I don't think she thinks I am nearly as fun. She loves to go and get the girls she gets very excited and when she sees them. She runs and hugs them as soon as they come out.

Grandma & Grandpa Harper

We had a great visit with grandma and grandpa this last week. It was quick, but fun. Katie kept grandpa entertained by playing every game we own with him. I think she might have even let him win once. He also took the girls to Krazy City and they had a ball.

Danielle had a great time bonding with both grandma & grandpa, but she loved grandmas curlers and shoes.

On Wed. we went up to NY. The train ride is always a highlight. We got to go see Mary Poppins (thanks to grandma) and it was great. Elizabeth loved it so much she could hardly blink.(Sorry no pictures) Then we went to the American Girl Store, and spent some time exploring the city. We had a great time and the girls always love to go to NY.

We hope grandma and grandpa had as much fun as we did and we can't wait to have them come visit again. We hope it will be soon. Although the girls keep reminding me that we need to take the trip to ID. They were very tempted by grandpas offer to hide in the suite case.

Summer Fun

Well after nine long months of saving and working the girls finally had enough money to buy themselves a Nintendo DS. In January they both decided that they really wanted one after seeing all of their cousins had them. So since Santa had just come, Dave and I told them if they really wanted it they needed to start saving. They had jobs that they did every week to earn an allowance, they sold some toys and cookies at a yard sale, they saved all their birthday and holiday money. They worked really hard to buy them and Dave and I were really proud of them. We are also hoping because they worked so hard they will take better care of them. It was very exciting to go and purchase them. On the way home from the store Katie fell asleep but she still had a tight grip on her new toy.

On another note we planted some sunflowers and the girls have loved watching them grow. We just go our first flowers this week. Check them out.

As you can see they out grew any of our expectations. I was hoping they would get as tall as Elizabeth, but they are taller than Dave. And as you can see the bee's love them. Also please notice Dave's new work attire, I took these pictures on his Lunch break. He is enjoying the little benefits of working from home.

I Love the Mountians

Well we had a great weekend away. We went to Connecticut and spent the weekend at Alice and Fred's cabin. (Thanks again for letting us stay there.) The girls were so excited to be going and the drive up was so beautiful.

On Friday we went for a little hike up to Bish Bash Falls. It stopped raining just long enough for us to go on the hike and then it started up again. The mountains and the trees and the water was all so beautiful it was fun to be out in the woods and away from everything for a few days.

On Saturday the sky was blue and it was a beautiful day. We took the kids swimming all afternoon and out to dinner that night, they played hard all day. Then they all fell asleep. and we had a great time playing some games and spending time with Jason, Holly, Darcie and Bill. Just wanted to share with everyone a few pictures and what a great time we had.

HAPPY 4th of JULY

Well we had a great 4th we spent lots of time in the water and the girls had a great time. We went to Hurricane Harbor where Elizabeth and Katie rode down the water slides and enjoyed the wave pool. Danielle was not a fan and preferred the little sprinklers they were more her size. Then we went out on the boat with Pop-pop. It was a great time we docked in a little cove and the girls swam we grilled and had a great time. Danielle love the ocean water. she had a blast playing in the sand and getting nice and dirty. Saturday was a little more laid back we hung out with some friends around the pool and took in the fire works that night. They were great. Here are a few picture and we hope you had a great 4th also.

Family Update

Well we have to say Happy Birthday to Danielle. She turned one the end of April, and she has been running around crazy ever since. Danielle was so calm, and then she learned to walk and now she wants to be in everything. I am so glad I have Elizabeth and Katie to help me with her. They are great big sisters. Danielle's favorite place to be is outside. She would be outside all day if she could and when we bring her in she likes to sit by the back door and look outside. We only wish it would stop raining for a few days so we could go out a little more. She just wants to keep up with her big sisters and she seems to be growing up too fast.

A few other things that have happened. I ran a half-marathon in May. It was 13.1 miles and it took me 2 1/2 hours. I don't know if fun is the right word to describe it but it was defiantly exciting. 9,000 people ran in the race so there were a lot of people out cheering for us, although We had the best cheerleaders. It rained the entire way, but we finally finished, soaking wet.
It was the last day of school on Friday. The girls are very excited about summer. Elizabeth did well in 1st grade and is excited about going to 2nd. She had a piano recital and she really enjoyed learning to play this year. Katie had her pre-k show and her teacher said she has a beautiful singing voice. She definantly has loves to sing and she sings loud enough for everyone to hear and enjoy.
Dave also started a new job on Thursday. He is really excited and we think it will be a great move. The best and worst part of the new job is he will be working out of the house. We will be glad to have him around a little more, but are working on establishing boundaries with the girls. Katie and Elizabeth are working on red and green signs for his office door so that if he hangs up the red sign that means he is working and not to come in and if it is green then they can come in. It will be a little challenging this summer, but in the fall they will both be in school all day then he just has to deal with Danielle and I.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth

Well now it is Elizabeth's turn. We celebrated Elizabeth's 7th birthday March 27th. She is growing up so fast. We made some special cupcakes for her class and some of her favorite teachers. Elizabeth is doing really well in school. She reads really well and enjoys the Junie B. Jones books. Elizabeth is such a good big sister, even if she is a little bossy. She know what she wants done and she tries to tell everyone how to do it. Elizabeth has been a great help with Danielle, she is very good with the baby. In a few more years she is going to make a great baby-sitter. Dave and I can't wait. For her birthday Elizabeth got a new bike and she has been riding it whenever she can. We have had so much rain that has made it hard to get out there. But she loves it. Elizabeth is still taking piano and she loves it most of the time. Once she learns a song she wont stop playing it. It's just the practicing to get the song right that she seems to have a hard time with. I just can't believe the progress she has made the past year. We just love Elizabeth she defiantly keeps Dave and I on our toes. We love her, she is a special part of our family.

Katie Lewis - Happy Birthday!!!

So I am a little late but I just wanted to do a little spotlight on Katie because it was her birthday on January 23. She just turned 5! The years just fly by. Katie is just a little sweetie. She knows it too and uses it to her advantage whenever she can. We all love her very much and have watched her personality really bloom the last few years. She used to love to follow Elizabeth around and wanted to do whatever Elizabeth wanted. Although she still does this to a point she also has developed an opinion and this has been an adjustment for Elizabeth. Katie loves the color purple. She loves to help her dad, she likes to help him fix things, and build things. For example, she asked for a project for her birthday, so we found the birdhouse she could build and paint. She loves her Pre-K and primary classes and has lots of good friends there. Katie loves to sing and will walk around with her mp3 player singing at the top of her lungs. Katie is also turning into quite the soccer player. She is pretty good and really loves to run. She can be very competitive, she really likes to WIN and she keeps score on everything. Katie is also my little love bug. I can always count on her to sit and snuggle with me. We love her and are so lucky to have her as a part of our family.

Here are a few pictures from her birthday.

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Disney World: The Happiest place on earth.

Well we had our first family vacation to Disney World. We met up with my parents, all of my brothers and sisters, (with the sad exception of Gabe) and their kids. We had a great time, it was so busy we walked miles every day. It was a little cold, but the kids still talked us in to letting them swim. We got to go to all of the different kingdoms and it wasn't too busy so luckily we didn't wait in a lot of lines. The kids bought autograph books and that made it a lot of fun to find all the characters and get them to sign the books.

Elizabeth said her best day was when she wore her dress-up and we went to the Magic Kingdom. She was very impressive in her big white dress. Jiminy Cricket asked her to marry him and she said "I'm just 6 I can't marry a cricket". We all had to laugh. Elizabeth said her favorite rides were Space Mountain and Toy story. She said her favorite shows were Beauty and the Beast and a Pirate Dinner show we went to.


Katie said her best day was every day. She said she really enjoyed meeting the princesses, especially Cinderella who is always Katie's favorite. After She signed Katie's book Katie turned and ran to show Dave and Cinderella said "Oh! Don't run darling, you might loose a slipper." It was fun to see how all the people we met really stayed in characters. Katie said her favorite ride was the Toy Story ride and the Haunted Mansion. (She was the only one of the kids not scared by it. She said"It's just a ride, it's not real.") Katie said she really like the Nemo show.

I think Danielle's favorite part was the new stroller, so she could sleep while we ran around. She also really liked the characters, and all the crackers we fed her.

My favorite thing were all the shows we got to see they do such a good job it was a little taste of Broadway. I also enjoyed being their with all the family, but I think I got my fill of Disney and don't need to go back any time soon. Maybe when Danielle is Elizabeth's age.

Dave had a fun time at Kennedy space center with all of the boys. He also enjoyed the roller coasters, especially Everest and Space Mountain.

Grandma Barnes

Hello and Goodbye, Grandma made a quick trip to NJ she came in right after Christmas and left right after the new year. It was a quick trip but the girls were so glad to see her and spend some time. We had a great trip to Longwood Gardens about an hour away. We had beautiful weather it was about 50 outside so it made for the perfect night to be outside and looking at all of the lights. The girls favorite part was the fountains that lit up and went off to the music. (Think Bellagio on a smaller scale.) The girls were very impressed with all of the flowers, Christmas trees and the lights. It was a lot of fun. We also got to take grandma bowling and watch out!! Bowling with kids is a great way to learn patience. It can take forever for their ball to get down to the end of the lane. Anyway we want to say Thanks for making the trip, and we hope to see you again soon.