Birthday Season and the Start of School

Well it is birthday season around our home. We celebrated Anika's 8th birthday a few weeks ago. She enjoyed eating sushi with daddy when they went out the night before her birthday (a family tradition) and the staff amused her by making her stand on a chair and dance while they sang "Happy Birthday".
She spent a very fun overnight with Auntie Shana and Uncle Scottie and suprised us with "fake" glasses she picked out while they were shopping. They look adorable on her but we are hoping her eyes stay strong and she will never need "real" ones!
Elijah is preparing to celebrate his 4th birthday this weekend. He does not know it yet but he has a new bike coming his way! He is enjoying learning his letters and writing them during school time. We has demonstrated he likes to write with both hands spontaneously and appears to have equal ability writing with both. We are encouraging him to continue with both if he chooses. It will be intersting to see if he starts prefering one more for writing as his writing develops.
Aubrey has joined Anika this year as I group teach. She does her own math but everything else is the same. She loves the hands on activities and has really made the most of the great weather, playing outside any chance she gets.
The babies (I often wonder how long I will call them that) keep us very busy. They move from one activity (or one mess) to the next. They both love to pose for pictures lately which makes taking them easier and they turn out adorable!
Ty entertains us with his love for music, playing the guitar and dancing. His smile just melts my heart and he calls me "mom mom" which is about the cutest thing I have heard. His language is rapidly developing, today he said "smoothie" in his own cute way. He loves hitting a ball off of the tee and has a natural swing.
Orion climbs everything, loves to play with any ball and is really into turning anything he can into a gun with his "bew bew" shrill. The number of bruises he displays at the end of each day has gotten fewer througout the summer. It definately is not due to lack of action, it must be better protection with each fall!
We enjoyed a family weekend in Red Wing in September and completed a 3 mile hike with the kids just before it began to rain. We started a landscaping project that is a lot of work but is turning out nicely. We will complete it in the spring. Shawn is gearing up for hunting season and continues to work hard in supporting our family. I have had the opportunity to do a few vaccine presentataions recently and assist a few new moms with postpartum issues. Shawn and I have been finding a little time to go on a date a few times a month and are looking forward to resuming our workout program next week.
Look for pictures in the next few days!