We had special visitors tonight for Maddox and Kennon's soccer scrimmages. Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim made the trip over to watch the kiddos bust out their moves on the soccer field. Both kids played their hearts out, each scoring several goals and keeping up with the rest of their teammates. Then we all had a yummy meal at The Barrelhouse. So nice to spend the evening with Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks for driving over!!
Kim ( my good neighbor friend) and I and another neighbor mom put on a road race on Labor Day. We did 4 race distances…. 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, 1 mile and 5K. We had a SUPER turn out and the kiddos AND ADULTS really seemed to have a good time. Each person got a pretty lei and a snack when they crossed the line. The top three in each race got a token for a free DQ ice cream cone. Eric placed 3rd in the 5K!! Way to go Eric. We had about 60 participants. Such a fun time. One of our neighbors even videoed part of the 1mile and 5K race with his drone:) Check it out at https://youtu.be/0jlrDRmhfVC. You can't see the kids but you can see Eric running. If you can't get to it by the link type in 'Century Heights Run' on youtube.com and you should find it. Pretty professional if you ask me :) I think we'll ask him to do it again next year but maybe more of the kids run. We didn't even know he was going to do it! He's a computer/science guy and his dad is an anesthesiologist…so they've got some techy smarts. We are so blessed to live in such a great neighborhood. Next up…an outdoor family movie night in October.
Look at that running form!! My beautiful princess. Go Maddox Go! Happy girl.
Kim getting ready to tell the 1/4 milers Read Set Go!!
Maddox and Kennon at the start line for their race…the 1/2 mile. Maddox is at the far left. Kennon is behind her but you can barely see his hat.
And they are off for the 1/2 mile….!!
All done Mom!
Maddox is really enjoying Kindergarten. She is still adjusting to the demands of the day but is always happy to go in the morning and excited to tell me about the happenings of the day. Tuesday's she goes to the library with her class. She gets to pick out two new books and brings back the two that she had the week before. She was so excited to show me this one about Tinkerbell. The "Ff" hat she has on is part of the 'Letter Bootcamp' they are going through right now in their classroom. They work on a letter per day and make a hat of something that starts with the letter of the day. You can't see it but this one is of a Frog. She continues to make new friends and is growing closer with her teacher Mrs. Gaspelin.
I decided to take Maddox for her first manicure the day before her birthday party day. She enjoyed it and the lady even drew a flower on two of her nails which Maddox was excited about.
Maddox requested a Belle birthday cake for her 6th birthday celebration. I am starting to get the hang of these doll cakes and was able to get this one together in only one day.
We had a Princess themed party at the Family Museum. Maddox invited 3 of her closest girl buddies to join in her family celebration. The museum staff had the kids do a craft and play a couple of games before we opened presents and ate cake. The boys got to decorate a shield and the girls got to decorate a magic star wand. Not sure if it was the time of day or what…but all the kids were quiet as a mouse during this activity. You could have heard a pin drop in the room as they were decorating…which usually doesn't happen when you put 7 kids aged 2 to 6 all together in a room. Kind of crazy. Their creations turned out beautiful.
Reid, Carter and Kennon with their shields.
Maddie, Priya, Maddox and Avery with their decorated wands.
Game Time!!
All the gang….Priya, Maddox, Carter, Reid, Kennon, Maddie, Avery
Maddox with her Belle birthday cake
Make a wish Maddox..!
I love Reid in this picture…for those of you who know Reid…this is totally his personality…such a silly and adorable kid.
Maddox and Carter after the party festivities…I think they look a little alike here! Definitely Knowles genes in these two.
Getting a picture of ALL the cousins together is always on the 'to do' list for our family weekend get togethers. This one turned out great… Cashin-9 months, Maddox - almost 6, Carter-4, Kennon-4, Reid- 2. All smiles!! Again…. I see a lot of 'Knowles' genes in Maddox and Carter in this picture.
Kennon still rockin' his museum shield the next day
On Maddox's actual birthday day she wore a dress to school and was treated as royalty! She got to wear a crown for the day, was the special person, got to bring frosted sugar cookies to share with her classmates and got a great keepsake birthday gift from Mrs. Gaspelin. Oh and she got a goodie bag from Mrs. Gaspelin too….with all kinds of trinkets that started with B for birthday. Sometime between the start of the school year and Maddox's birthday Mrs. Gaspelin had each child in the class draw a picture of Maddox, unbeknownst to Maddox, and write at the top of their page ' Maddox is 6' ( a great sneaky way to get the children to write letters they might not be so familiar with!!) and then they 'signed' their work of art. Then Mrs. Gaspelin put a nice laminated birthday cover on the book and had the pages bound together. It is so adorable!!
Maddox and her birthday book.
The special page Mrs. Gaspelin drew for Maddox….she even got the bow in her hair ( there have been very few days that Maddox has gone to school WITHOUT a bow in her hair). It is really a cute book and will certainly be something we look back at over the years.
So Kennon is a attending a great literacy program at the Family Museum called Literally Yours on Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 1:15-2:30. He LOVES LOVES LOVES it so far and seems to really be learning a lot already! His teacher is named Ms. Marie. Kennon has homework each week. This week it was 'look at the picture and describe to your parents what you see'. In the early stages of reading you are to 'read' the story by looking at the pictures. This homework is encouraging that technique along with what they do in the classroom. This week the homework is rebus reading. I am REALLY impressed with the skills he is learning so far and think he will come out of the class with a love of reading. And more importantly he LOVES to go to 'reading school' as we call it now….!
Kennon's writing skills have improved drastically in the last couple of months. He is now able to write his name upper and lower case appropriate, something they just started working on at church school. I am very proud of him and most importantly the kid ASKS to work on 'his letters'. He seems to be very interested in school activites…right now…we'll see as time goes on :)
Maddox was sooo happy to start her ballet class up again at the museum. This year we go on Thursdays instead of Wednesday ( which worked out well since we have soccer on Wednesdays this year!) She is in pre-ballet 2 which is a level up from where she was last year. They are going to build on the skills they learned last year as well as work on further coordination, posture and dance history knowledge. I am thrilled with the program at the museum. She got a special new leotard from her Aunt Brooke ( and the rest of the Knowles family) for her birthday. It is absolutely gorgeous on Maddox and several of the dance moms were in awe of it!!! To the point that a couple of them got online to look it up and purchase it the minute they saw it. It has this beautiful mesh back with embroidered flowers and shiny rhinestones. These pictures don't do it justice. Thank you to her special Aunt Brooke for picking out such a beautiful piece.
Two Thursdays ago Maddox and I got to walk in the Pleasant Valley Homecoming parade. It was a fun time and I think Maddox felt very important :) We even got to meet another classmate or two of hers. She liked seeing the band but was more in awe of the 'princesses sitting on the back of the fancy cars'..ie the Homecoming court!!
Eric brought Kennon down to watch the parade. He was kind enough to share some of the candy he collected from the parade with Maddox. One of the minor drawbacks to walking IN the parade is you don't get any candy!!
Last Saturday the weather was beautiful and there were loads of fun activities to do in the Quad Cities. We actually had a hard time picking…but settled on hearing the Pleasant Valley High school drum line at the Family Museum and attending the Moline Regatta. Kennon had a ball banning on the drums and clapping to the beat as they played.
We were happy to be outside watching the boats cruise by. The kids were interested in the boats for a bit of time but then entertained themselves playing on the bleachers for the majority of the time we were at the event. One of Eric's co-workers rows and actually won her race. She provided us a great amount of information about rowing and specifics of each race and the boats. It was a fun time and such a beautiful day to be outside.
Go…Boats…Go…. ( I've been reading a bit too much Dr. Seuss with Kennon!!)
Sunday of last weekend was equally as beautiful at Saturday in regards to the weather. Luckily we had some outdoor activities planned. I got in an 11 mile run in the morning, Eric got in a long bike ride and then we headed out to Scott County Park for a work picnic. VNA hosted a family friendly picnic. They had lots of kid friendly type activities and equipment as well as there were two parks near the picnic shelter. I got to hang out with some of my co-workers on a casual level and the kids enjoyed eating the goodies and playing at the park. One of my good PT friends, Katie, had a baby back in April. His name is CJ and of course Maddox was interested in helping to 'take care of him and hold him'. He is a happy little fella.
With the dip in the temps at night my ( or rather Eric's mom's) rose bushes are blooming like crazy!! This one has bloomed a bit over the summer here and there but right now it is full of blooms. This particular bush still had the tag with it when it made its way to our house ( I'm sure you aren't surprised Kies kids…Doris did keep a paper or two around her house:) and is called the Tournament of Roses floribunda from Jackson and Perkins ( a rose company that Doris used out of California). I looked it up online and it is sold out. A popular rose and I know why. It is just beautiful…full a lovely light pink ruffly petals that fade to yellow near the center of the petal and it has a yummy sweet smell. I am in love with its glossy green foliage too. So thankful that we were able to transfer 2 of Doris's rose bushes. I have now added 3 more bushes from Jackson and Perkins mail order, to Grandma Doris' bushes. I am hopeful they will all do as well as this Tournament of Roses bush.
Gorgeous….!!
Eric and I were able to get over to the Hawkeye game yesterday. It was a blowout and a beautiful game to attend. The kids stayed home with our favorite sitter, Jamie. They had a grand time with her as did Eric and I getting to reconnect and enjoy the company of one another. We hope to get in another game yet this season.
The start of the kids 1/2 mile race. You can see the kids at sort of the back of the pack. Maddox ended up finishing 5th and Kennon 7th. Good job Kies kids.
I have been working A TON in the last two weeks which has deterred me from getting this blog updated. I started training a new PT which is rather time consuming as well as keeping up with my regular audits as well as working on modules associated with the new software that is to roll out on October 14th. I put in almost 30 hours in the last 2 weeks!! PHEW. That's the most I have worked since I quit….wait I thought I quit??? I have just about gotten the new gal going on her own so my time with her will subside and I shouldn't have any audits until the first of the month. So I"ll just be working on the modules associated with the new software this week. Once we go live with the new software I will start my new role and should go in to the office MWF mornings and work while Kennon is at church school. I'm hoping this will be a nice 'set schedule' for me. The X factor is going to be if and when they hire another PT/PT assistant and how I will fit training her into my new work.
Eric has also been working a ton. All of the legal work is done with the merger with the Chicago crew but the transition will be ongoing for quite some time. The Chicago firm has a lot of great expertise in helping clients navigate transitions in life. They also have a psychologist on staff who will be a great asset to The Planning Center. Pretty exciting!
Eric has also been working a ton. All of the legal work is done with the merger with the Chicago crew but the transition will be ongoing for quite some time. The Chicago firm has a lot of great expertise in helping clients navigate transitions in life. They also have a psychologist on staff who will be a great asset to The Planning Center. Pretty exciting!
As a family we have settled into a good routine since I last posted. The kids are enjoying Awana on Tuesdays at our church. It is fun for them and also fosters their relationship with the Lord. Eric and I are happy to be leading the lesson in Cubbies, which is Kennon's class. Wednesday is soccer right now…but will be over in 3 weeks. The kids have grown so much in their skills and confidence. I am really happy with the Bettendorf Soccer Association. Thursdays is ballet for Maddox ( which she LOVES) and free play for Kennon at the museum. Saturday nights is church and Sunday evenings we are planning to join a small group with some other families from the church once soccer is over. Eric and I are getting in several exercise sessions each week and are both planning to run the 1/2 marathon in St. Louis in a couple of weeks. Both kids are really enjoying their time at school/preschool and always have happy stories about their friends, activities, and accomplishments for the day. Kennon is doing no nap now which has GREATLY helped him get to sleep at night!! Both kids are usually sleeping now by 8pm which is so nice for Eric and I. As the weather cools we keep pushing to be outside as we know the snow will fly soon. Time to get the 70 tulip bulbs I ordered in the ground:) I'm hoping it will look a bit like Holland around my house come next Spring.
