School Days

Kate has begun kindergarten.  She is doing very well.  Being a teacher, I've been watching Kate and encouraging her to start reading, but she has never been interested in my willingness to instruct her.  She wanted to play not read.   I knew that once she was ready it would kick in, and I hoped that some of my academic genes would be in her too.   I am happy to say, Kate is LOVING school and is asking me to teach her things when she gets home.  I am LOVING that!   Here are a few highlights from Kate's first weeks of school.

Best Farm with Kate and Papa Gallagher

A few weeks ago, Kate and I met my parents at Best Farm in Frederick, Maryland, for an impromptu photo shoot. I love having one kid to my self and being able to do something special with that child.  We had a fun time focusing on Katie Norah, and ended up with some great shots.

Summertime...Summertime...gone to the breeze of autumn's whisper

I really do hate it when I let months go by without posts.  I so enjoy writing.  And this blog is one outlet for me.  But this summer has been CRAZY!!!!!    It is all a big blur.  But I wanted to fill you in on a few highlights to catch us up to date.

JUNE:  MOVING, UNPACKING and more unpacking

We moved into our new house on June 1st.  We love our community here in Purcellville, Virginia.  It has been fun exploring new roads, towns, playgrounds, and shops.  It has also been fun getting to know the neighbors.  All in all we are so blessed to be living int he home we have in the community we are in.

 Kate and Nathan at town hall.

 Nathan had to visit the local fire department!  They have free ice-scream sundaes every month throughout the summer.  It is a very big hit with my kids!

Hamilton Park has also become a favorite spot for my kids.

 

Papa Dan took the kids to Leesburg Animal Park one afternoon.  That was a lot of fun!

 

And Kate lost her first tooth in June with the second tooth falling out soon after.

JULY:  ROAD TRIP - Ann was spending some time in Washington state with her daughters and other grandchildren.  Then she was tasked with driving their car back to Virginia.   Ann made a few stops to visit family in Oregon and Idaho.  Then I met up with her in Utah to finish the drive.  We spent a few extra days in Moab, Utah, exploring Capital Reef National Park (my favorite), Arches National Park, and Canyonlands.  Amazing country- like nothing I have ever seen before.   I loved being there.

 

 Nathan and Kate tracked our progress across the country on a big map that Papa Dan set up for them.  Each night they would mark our route after I called in to say goodnight. 

 We were blessed to see an amazing sunset as we drove across Kansas.  Beautiful.

 The history teacher in my loved the historic monuments.  I was very excited to see the Mississippi River too.  Our country is so big and so diverse - I hope I get to see a lot more of it years to come. It was a fun trip for me, but it was also the longest I've been away from my kids.  I was ready to get home.

AUGUST: Fair and birthdays!

I made sure I was home from my trip in time for two occassions:  the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair and Kate's 6th birthday.  It's a tradition now that we go to the fair on her actual birthday.  Both kids were so excited and looking forward to it, so Josh and I decided we would drive back to Maryland so they could go to the fair again.  Plus, Kate's pre-school teacher, Mrs. Russo, has lambs and pigs in the fair.  She was willing to give the kids a behind the scenes look at the animals.  Can't resist that, now could we?  :)

 Keeping with the animal theme, we had a pony birthday party.  Kate has been very interested in horses this summer.  She was able to visit a friend's horse in July and something clicked with her.  I definetely see horseback riding lessons in Kate's future.  Good thing we live in horse country now.


Kate leading Harper down a path.  Big horse.  Little Kate.  Nervous Mommy.  But they did great together!  At Kate's party we had a pony that gave each of the kids rides.  And another minature horse that the kids could pet, and groom and "decorate".  It was a lot of fun.

August also brought us a new family member, Salem the kitten.  He is the most tolerant cat I have ever met.  Kate adores him! She had been asking for a kitten for 2 years now.  So thought her birthday would be a good occasion to grant her wish. Salem is technically Kate's cat, but we all love him.  We adopted him from the animal shelter at 4 months of age.  He is the perfect blend of tolerant and playful.

It's been a good summer.   A busy one, but one full of laughter, blessing, and family.