Kellen, Kellen, Everywhere a Kellen, Kellen

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRETT!!!

The kids have been keeping busy this week and the weather has been nice enough to cooperate for outdoor activities. Mostly sunny this week with temps in the 70s. Quite nice. It was humid on Monday though, which is odd with 80 degree weather here. So, soccer practice was a bit sticky and also buggy. I ended up with a couple bug bites. Boo!

I got to volunteer today for Kristin's classroom today. Didn't get to be in the class, but got lots of copying done and met one of the other moms from the room. That was fun! We have a friend that graciously watched Kellen this morning while I volunteered. :) He had fun. This afternoon we played and met some of the neighbors while outside. Our only direct neighbor has a 5 year old grandson with the name Kellen! Funny. We never thought we would know so many Kellens!

A Busy Day and a Quiet Day

Saturday was busy. Kristin had her soccer game early in the morning. They don't keep score at this age, but Kristin will tell you that they lost. Her team played really well though. And depending on how you look at it, Kristin scored the first goal again. She put a hard shot off the cone (post) and it looked like it was going to trickle in, but one of her teammates was crashing for a rebound and may have gotten a piece of it before it crossed the line. Go Kristin!

After her game we made a quick stop at home and then Kristin and Danelle were back out the door for team pictures. After Danelle brought Kristin home, Danelle was right back out the door again to attend some training for being a Girl Scout Leader. While she was gone, the kids and I walked up to Kristin's elementary school. Kristin took her bike and I pulled Kellen in the wagon. Kristin needed some help on the big hills so I pushed her with one hand and pulled Kellen with the other.

When Danelle got home from her training, we all piled into the car to go to a BBQ a friends house. We had a great time there and then got home in time to give the kids late baths and tuck them in bed.

We made up for a busy Saturday by not doing much today. Ran a couple quick errands and went to an open house. We loved the floor plan but it's a short sale and needs to much work. Also had a storm sewer easement with a manhole in the back yard. We did really like the floor plan though and hope that something similar comes on the market soon.

Here's a couple pics from Kristin's soccer game. And yes, I know we need to take more photos of Kellen. :-)

It's Friday!

Kristin's game tomorrow is at the elementary school we used to live near. I can hear her telling her teammates all about it already. :-) Looks like it is shaping up to be a gorgeous day too. She has team pictures after her game so it's nice that the weather will cooperate.


Kellen is back into his Cars phase again. He has a bunch of the different characters from the movie and loves playing with them. He tells me which ones are the good ones and which ones are 'not nice'. He has also been enjoying doing various projects at the art table lately.


Kristin likes to sing along with songs on the radio or CD in the car. This evening she was singing along to BNL's Grade 9 (circa 1992), and Hello Dave's Golden (circa 1996). Warmed my heart. :-)

Fall is Upon Us

Lovely day outside today with a high of 70 degrees. It was actually sunny too!!! Kellen and I got outside to run a few errands and to play a little in the afternoon. Kristin had soccer practice tonight and since it was nice out we all went. Aaron followed Kellen around as he was zipping around on his scooter. He has gotten quite the hang of it lately and is really enjoying it. :) Kellen probably fell asleep super fast tonight.

Kristin has her first spelling test tomorrow. She has the words done without really any practice. The lists will get harder, but for now this will get her used to spelling tests and what they are like. Kristin is really having fun in 2nd grade and making new friends. We are thrilled to see her be such a happy kid.

Spiderman Scooter

Kellen is getting very good at riding his Spiderman scooter. Whenever it's not raining for Kristin's soccer practice, we make a family event out of it. We bring Kellen's scooter along to help keep him occupied. The practices are at a middle school, so there is plenty of space for him to scoot around and not be near traffic or the parking lot. He likes to lift one leg up and hold it up rather than putting his pushing foot on the scooter. Especially on downhill inclines.

We recently discovered that another girl on Kristin's team also has a little brother named Kellen. Kristin was lamenting to me yesterday that she doesn't know any other Kristins in her school. Who'd have thought that Kellen would be a more common name than Kristin?

Here's a few pictures from Kristin's last game. In the first picture, notice that she is getting her body in there with a taller girl on the other team. You can see in the next photo who got the better of the play. :-)

Soccer - 2nd Game

This morning was Kristin's second game of the season. The girls did well and won both games again. Kristin scored the first goal of her game!.... again. :) GO KRISTIN!!! The weather even cooperated for the most part. It sprinkled some, but in all it was a good day for soccer. Later came the rain. Kellen was busy with snack, finding and picking up worms, and trying to sneak away to the playground. :) Busy boy!

This afternoon was a mellow one at home. It was nice to not have to run around today. I think we all needed that break. However, it would have been nice to get outside, but Mother Nature had other plans... like rain. Boo!

Kristin brought home her first homework for 2nd grade. Pretty minimal this week with a spelling list and reading time. I tested her on the spelling words tonight to see what she needs to work on and she just missed one of the "challenge words"... habitat. She was close though and spelled it habatit.

Settled In

Last night Kristin had soccer practice in the rain. She doesn't phased by it though. Danelle said she wore her new raincoat the whole time so that's good. Kellen and I stayed home for some quality time out of the rain. He was in a rough-housing mood so mostly he practiced knocking me over from a sitting position and then trying to pin me. He ought to be a good tackler in a couple years. :-)

Tonight Danelle has an information meeting for Girl Scout troupe leaders, so I've got both kids tonight. So far they've been really good. Just sneaking in the blog between bath time and bed time.

We're pretty well settled in from the move at this point. Just a few minor loose ends to tie up. We had some things in a storage unit while we sold the house and we're trying to figure out if we can go to a smaller unit now or even take it all out of storage.

We're looking forward to a quieter weekend ahead. Just Kristin's Saturday soccer game on the agenda so far.

Nice Days

Today and yesterday have ended up being nice days outside, getting into the upper 70s. Yesterday, Uncle John came over to spend some time with the kids and watch Kristin at soccer practice. He even came over before Kristin got out of school. Kristin liked the suprise of Uncle John with Kellen and I to pick her up! She ran right to John and gave him a big hug. :) Soccer practice was fun and the girls even got popsicles afterwards... Kellen got one too!

Today was my work day, but the kids had good days at school. Kristin got mail today from her dentist. She won the monthly drawing this month for having "sparkling clean and cavity free" teeth. Her prize was two movie tickets. We will have to find a movie to take her too. She was super excited! We took a walk tonight to take some dishes back to a friend and to just get outside. What a nice night!

The Weekend

Another fun weekend for us. Kristin's soccer team started the fall season off with a bang. Her team is called the Cheetahs. Kristin got things rolling with the first goal of the game. I didn't even have the camera going yet.

After her game, Kristin and I went to a picnic at a Park in Portland near my work that my company put on. Kristin had a good time because there was a bouncehouse. She was hoping that a girl from her 2nd grade class would be there (I work with the girl's dad), but they must have had other plans. There were a couple other kids there that she had already met so she had a good time. While we were doing that, Danelle took Kellen to a birthday party for his friend Ari at Pump It Up Jr., so both of the kids got to have fun on bounce-houses.

Today we found some blue shelving for Kellen's room and retired his older and smaller brown two-shelf book case to the kitchen area. It was a good day for a BBQ, so we had some friend from the neighborhood over for dinner.

All in all a pretty fun and relaxing weekend. Here's Kristin celebrating a goal:

Good-Bye Portland Beavers

Forgot to mention that we went to a Portland Beavers baseball game last Saturday. It was there last homestand in Portland - they are leaving town after this year. A major league soccer team will be taking over the stadium so the Beavers have no place in town to call home. We enjoyed a family night at the game. They were selling the souvineers for pretty cheap so we loaded the kids up with wiffle ball bats, and ball cap for Kristin and a glove for Kellen. The kids each got their own team photo poster with the current team in the middle being framed by photos of teams gone bye. The Beavers have come and gone from Portland several times in the last 80 years. This last time they were hear ten years. We hope they'll come back, but I'm sure we'll have fun going to soccer games next year. They'll be called the Portland Timbers. I guess without the Beavers they'd just be the Trees.

Kristin had soccer practice in the rain tonight. She's used to it by now - it poured for her first 5 practices this summer. It was Danelle's first go with the rain though since I handled the summer practices. :) Kellen and I went to the grocery store for bananas and bread. After looking for a Car Kart (we didn't find one), Kellen settled for carrying the basket and walking. He carried the basket all the way through the store, even after it had bread and bananas in it. He was very proud of this accomplishment and told everyone that made eye contact with him what he was doing.

Kristin is looking forward to her first game of the fall season this Saturday, and Kellen gets to attend a birthday party of a friend from daycare, also a first.

First Day of 2nd Grade

Kristin was up on her own this morning and ready to head to school. She is excited to see her friends and so many are in her class. :)

Here is our 2nd grader! How time flies. In the last picture she is giving Sparky (school mascot) a hug. What a good way to start of the school year!

Busy, Fun Weekend

We've been keeping busy this weekend between unpacking, normal errands, birthday parties, and a BBQ. The kids have been good and are adjusting very well to the new place.

Tomorrow we'll wind down the weekend with more unpacking and Kristin has a playdate too. She is super excited to begin second grade on Tuesday.

Amongst all the unpacking and getting settled, Danelle took the kids to the zoo on Thursday and to the swimming pool on Friday. Friday was also Tumble Bus day. Kellen rated the swimming pool above Tumble Bus, which must mean that he really likes the water.

Thursday afternoon was Kristin's last swim lesson of the session. She showed remarkable progression from her last session. Having the pool at daycare has really helped her comfort level in the water. Before her swim lesson, we went to her school's Ice Cream Social to meet her teacher and a couple of her classmates who also showed up at the beginning of the event. Kristin was excited to see several familiar names in her classroom.

WOW, Second Grade!

Lunch with Daddy

After some morning errands and a trip to the chiropractor for me, the kids and I headed to see Aaron at work and go to lunch. Kristin had been wanting to do this all summer, so we got it in just before school starts back up. It was nice being able to have a family lunch. :) After that the kids and I went to Columbia Outfitters overstock store to look for raincoats for the kids. Got one for Kellen, but will continue the hunt for Kristin later this week. We also stopped by the Girl Scout store to get Kristin's Brownie vest. She is excited to get back to going to Girl Scout meetings.

More unpacking this afternoon. Getting closer to done. Mostly down to the kitchen. Whew! Tomorrow afternoon is a busy and exciting one for Kristin with an Ice Cream social at school to meet the new teahcer and her last swim lesson for this session. She is super excited!!!