Alki Art Contest Winner

This beautiful little girl loves to draw and paint and color.  Sometime in July while we were hanging out down at Alki she colored the  picture below and entered it into the Seal Sitters coloring contest. Her picture shows a seal and a bunch of other sea life. I got a call a month or so later saying that she was a winner and we were invited to their celebration.  It was no surprise that the judges awarded her "most colorful" she has always used every color, glue stick, sparkle available when doing art. 

The celebration was fun too.  They had an art table set up and much like his older sister, this guy can do art for hours.  Especially when there is a very attentive a little bit older than him girl helping out.

 Josie spent time at the art table too

 But her favorite was the chocolate cake.

 This is the new Seal Sitters (a non-profit that protects sea mammals in the Puget Sound) seal statue down at Alki

 Josie being recognized as a winner... she takes it very seriously.

 And our winner outside posing with one of her prizes.  She got a signed copy of a Seal book written about the seals in the Puget Sound and a stuffed, plush seal.  We are very proud of Josie!

He's Flying

One small  post backward before I move on into more of September... For Marty's birthday I gave him a flight lesson.  He could bring another person and we decided that it would be a bit too risky for both of us to be up together much like when we decided that I would skydive and he would take pictures.  So of course he wanted to bring Jodi along.  Funny, she is also who I went skydiving with and I must say she is certainly the BEST work wife we (both Marty and I) have ever had! I was at home with the kids sitting on the deck waiting for them to fly over and Jodi captured the entire experience.

And they made it back to the ground still smiling!!  First time flying success!! 

And So It Begins

 We had such a nice summer, weather-wise, that it really is hard to complain but the second or third day of school the rain came and it just made me dread a little bit the rainy walks to and from the bus stop.  The kids, of course, couldn't have been happier about the rain.

 Especially this little guy.  If there is a puddle he will find it and jump in it.

Benjamin Solo

The day Josie went back to school Benjamin and I went and spent most of the afternoon at the Pacific Science Center.  He even got to hold a Brazilian Beetle. 

 We spent some time trying stuff out at the gift shop.  This picture cracks me up. They are glasses with a cup and a ball on a string attached and you are supposed to move your head and neck and try to get the ball to go inside the cup.  Watching him do this was simply hysterical.  He was almost always cross eyed and smiling.  Too funny.

 This summer, although fun-filled, was a tough one for Benjamin.  I think he struggled with having to share the time I normally have for just him with his sister who was obviously also home for the summer.  It was an amazing transformation just about a week after Josie had been back in school and suddenly sweet, lovable Benjamin was back.  Thank God!!  His behavior was getting to the point where I was about ready to ship him off to boarding school!
So in addition to Pacific Science Center and the art studio we also spent a lot of time building structures with all of our different building materials.

 And going to parks.

 And building, building building some more.

 It is so nice to have my sweet boy back!!

First Day of First Grade

 Josie started her first grade year at Schmitz Park on Wednesday September 4th.  Look at how mature and poised she looks!!  She is amazing at starting new things.  She embraces it completely and has no apparent fear or trepidation. She is such a beautiful girl inside and out.  We are so proud of the young lady she is becoming.

A quick pic with little bro. 

 And a couple blurry ones of her posing by her locker.  Lockers are new to her this year.  Because she was in a portable last year she didn't have one so this year her locker is extra special.  Her teacher this year is Ms. Crozier and she had come highly recommended.  She had a baby in the summer so she was on maternity leave up until last week - November 18.  One benefit of being so behind on the blog is that I can write the update while I write the original blog post.  While Ms. Crozier was on maternity leave Josie had a great long term sub named Ms. Klein.  We have been happy with both teachers so far.

Here's to a very fun and successful first grade year for our little girl.

Just found a few more first day photos.  Marty had jury duty that day so he took a few photos before he was off on the bus.