Bowlin Beige

What did you say?? I'm in FIRST GRADE?? Yep - it's hard to believe we now have a 'firstie' in our house! Ainsley started her second year at The Steward School today. So what does it mean to be in 1st grade at Steward? Well, some pretty exciting things happen when you move up to a grade with a number. Last year all the kindergarteners had a Steward School tote bag with her initials. This year, as a first grader, she gets to bring her own backpack. So she spent about 25 minutes in Target last week selecting the perfect one - dark purple with pink hearts and six (yes, count them, SIX) pockets. She is so excited to see how much stuff she can fit in the pockets of her backpack. I'll have to check it each morning to make sure she hasn't hidden the toaster or the dog in her bag.  Another perk of moving up with the big kids is that she can now play on the playground before school. Last year she had to go straight to her classroom when she arrived. The b...

Summer is a wonderful time. A time for swimming, playing outside, enjoying the late sunsets, and running around barefoot. The one thing that is not awesome about summer is that my kids spend a little too much time together. They fight over toys. They argue over what movie to watch.  They interrupt each other constantly.  They push and shove and kick because they can't figure out how to fit on the couch together. Ainsley builds things and Parker knocks them down. They can't agree on what color the carpet is.  Unfortunately  I missed out on these sibling experiences being an only child (my parents were so smart...). But luckily  during the school year they only see each other for 3 hours a day so it's not so bad. Spending all summer together creates some challenges. So we signed Ainsley up for camp one week in June. She took a (perfectly-timed and sanity-saving) two week trip to my in-laws in July. And now we are getting ready for school to start again. Halle...

After a long summer we finally made it to the lake in early August. We spent five days with my parents, relaxing by the water and enjoying the outdoors. It was actually a little cool while we were there, so we only went swimming a few times. But after our hot and humid Richmond summer, the cool air was a welcome relief for us.  The kids have decided that Burger King is their new favorite stop on road trips.  Nana and Papa kept all of my old bikes and even put new tires on some of them so the kids could ride them up here. Ainsley found Papa's old tricycle in the barn and thought it was the best bike ever! We found lots of frogs, toads, and newts during the week. And we spend a lot of time catching and examining them! Looking for fish and attempting to drop pebbles onto lilypads to see if they float. Testing out the water. "It's not cold, Mama!" I received several bouquets of lilypads. A very happy water dog. ...