Benjamin's First Day of American Kindergarten

Benjamin started school right after Labor Day. He was excited about starting American Kindergarten but a little reluctant to riding the bus. Unfortunately, it was a dreary rainy and windy morning on September 7 here and we were running a little late. I seriously didn't think he was going to catch his 7:38 a.m. bus but somehow we made it out the door and he made it and I even managed to get in a few pictures.

So, here's our big kindergartener, Benjamin on his first day at Patrick Henry Village Elementary School.

The first couple of pics are from the lobby of our building before he geared up with his rain jacket and umbrella.

He looked so big and so ready for his big adventure but shortly before the bus came so did the realization that he was getting on a big bus... WITHOUT Mommy!

He teared up and fought back the tears as I explained to him that someone would be on the bus to help him know what to do, where to sit and what to do when he arrived at school. And his buddy, Edward, would be with him.... they could sit together and all would be good.

So, off he went onto the bus and out of the wind and rain. He came home tired and VERY hungry (apparently their lunch is at 10:40 a.m.)

He said the kid from his class that sat next to him on the bus ride home actually fell asleep. But overall his day was "SUPER AWESOME!" and the bus ride was "Awesome!" as well.

They learned about raccoons the first week of school and he shared interesting facts about the nocturnal creatures with us nightly at the dinner table. He is such a sponge and just soaks up everything they're learning about. I love hearing about every little thing he learns. It's all so new and such an adventure.

However, he is not so fond of rest time at school and doesn't particularly like getting up before the sun to get ready for school.

Week two of school they learned about coconuts and he is now a wealth of information about coconuts as well!

Samuel's First Day of German Kindergarten

I am soooo backlogged on photos that I had hoped to post... but in effort to catch up with some of life's recent happenings in our world I will try to make some more posts...

On September 1, Samuel started German

Kindergarten at Markushaus, the nearby kindergarten that Benjamin attended last year. His best buddy in the neighborhood, Eli, also started there this year. The two of them are very eager and excited to be following in their big brothers footsteps.

We were actually just returning from our week in Spain when I realized the following day was September first and the beginning of the school year for our little man. I hadn't been mentally prepared for this big step or been preparing Samuel for this event either.

So, I was a little nervous to spring this on him. But he was excited and ready to go on his big day. He couldn't wait to take his backpack and lunch box (for morning snack), find his cubbie, wear his house shoes at school and play with the marble run he had longed to stay and play with last year daily as we dropped his brother off.

So, off we went on September 1 and he was grinning from ear to ear. He was happy to find that he has the same cubbie that his brother had last year and he seemed to know exactly what to do when we arrived. He took off his backpack, hung up his jacket and lunch box, then sat down to change into his house shoes.

Then he and his buddy were off to explore the marble run.

Overall, these first couple of weeks for him have gone great! He generally reports that his school days are "Super Awesome!" and he has been learning a "Guten Morgen" (Good Morning) song and "Elefant" game. The teacher reports that he doesn't say too much but participates... claps, sings, dances, colors, etc. His favorite part of the day is going outside on the playground (which, with the amount of rainy days here isn't always a daily happening). He was so excited the first time he colored a picture and couldn't wait to bring it home; however, they don't generally bring their pictures home right away.

They hang them and put them on display. So, we took a picture of it with my iPhone so he could show Daddy and Benjamin his big accomplishment. He was good with that.

Most days he comes home hungry and tired. There have been quite a few days that he has fallen asleep on the couch shortly after lunch. It's a lot for a lil guy but he seems to be loving it and is constantly asking "How do you say [something] in German?"

Life Lately

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind for the Chapman family lately...

Don took two plus weeks of leave during the month of August and we enjoyed a ton of activities and day trips with the kiddos then we spend a week on the island of Mallorca, Spain and now returned to school and soccer starting up.

So, I have a ton of photos to post but thought I'd just drop in quickly and post my favorite picture from our trip to Mallorca.

The majority of our vacation we spent at the resort we stayed at or the beach which was a short walk away from the resort. On our last day there, we took one boat excursion on a glass bottom boat to another part of the island. It was great and the kids really enjoyed the boat and we enjoyed seeing other parts of the island and the view from the sea.

When we stopped for a little bit over an hour at a port area of the island. We did a little shopping and Samuel fell in love with this little guitar. He had to have it so before we boarded the boat again we stopped in and bought it for him. He strums it quite nicely but breaks out into a rowdy song and dance on occasion. It's just so Samuel! And I just love this picture of our boy and his little guitar on the boat.

The Kids in Our Neighborhood

Here are a few photos of the kids out and about in the grassy area in front of our building. There is no shortage of kids in our neighborhood and the boys have made some good friends.

There is a sidewalk along our grassy quad that the kids love to ride their bikes and scooters on but there are plenty of other things to keep them busy while we're outside. The boys spend the majority of their time at the rope swing near our building. There is a plastic climbing structure under it and they spend endless hours there. Samuel has not yet figured out how to swing on the rope swing by himself... but I'm sure it's only a matter of time (and courage!)

We also have a water table and a sand table that attract many of the kids in the neighborhood. And the nice thing about those activities are that Grace enjoys them just as much as the bigger kids.

The bad thing is that we've already gone through four 50 pound bags of sand! There are also a couple of playgrounds close to our building which we frequent often.

Our community also offers a fair amount of shade which is nice. But one thing about living near older trees is that there are sticks everywhere! And it only takes a good rainstorm (which there are plenty here) for there to be all kinds of NEW sticks in the yard. The boys LOVE sticks. At first I made an effort to keep them from playing with them. "You'll poke your eye out..." comes to mind when I see kids with sticks. But there is really no stopping it around here. All the kids play with sticks... one day they're swords the next they're magic wands or axes or guns or whatever their lil imaginations decide they are. I grew up in an area without any mature trees, and we've previously lived in neighborhoods with very few mature trees. So, this whole fascination with sticks is new to me. But I think I may have come to terms with the fact that they are boys and they are going to play with sticks whether that excites me or not.

Our neighborhood is fenced in and gated and we generally feel safe in our lil community. Everyone knows everyone and usually there is at least one Mom out there with the kids... if not more. I tend to be outside a lot with the kids especially now that Grace is running all over the place. It seems like there is a lot less mischief for her to get into outside than inside!

Overall, I think the community where we live is somewhat of a kids' paradise for the lil ones.

Grace Exploring the Neighborhood

Here are a couple video clips of Grace on the move in the neighborhood. She was still a little unsteady on her feet in these, but that was a couple of weeks ago... watch out nowadays, she is really moving out and climbing on everything!

Benjamin Entertaining Grace

For the most part, the boys really adore their little sister and they love to make her smile and laugh. I took this video clip about a month ago of Grace and Benjamin. Benjamin had just finished up a bath and was curled up in his towel when Grace approached him and they started playing...

Grace's First Birthday

Wow! Where does time go? Our sweet lil Grace recently turned a year old! I feel like it was only yesterday that I was posting pictures of our newborn baby girl.

Well, it's taken me a couple of weeks to post pics but we enjoyed a cookout with friends and neighbors as she celebrated her first birthday.

She was a trooper the entire party and enjoyed her cake, bouncy castle and being spoiled with lots of attention.

It's hard to believe it's been a year now since the day we welcomed Grace into the world. She continues to be such a joy and has turned into a busy but happy little girl.

Some of Grace's favorite things as she turns 1 year old:

Grace loves to climb... into, onto, out of, on top of, etc. She's an active lil one year old!

She loves bath time and comes running when she hears the bathtub water running.

Grace LOVES good old Kraft American cheese slices.

She loves bottled water. (Odd, yes, I know, but she loves to carry the bottles around and loves to drink from them).

Grace loves the nearby playground and is often running in that direction as soon as we head outside.

She loves to dance.

And these are just a few things that make our Grace the lil character that she is these days. We are so blessed to have her in our lives each and every day.