P.E. class begins

Micah did a trial Physical Education class in the spring and really enjoyed the structured games.  So, we signed up and began today through the SportsKidsAZ program with Coach Jonathan.  There were over 40 Eastside Explorer kids involved.  Class will be on Wednesday's from 1-2pm.  (Lilly & I will be having some play time on the playground.)

Piano Lessons begin

 Micah's piano lessons will be on Tuesday at 12:30pm.  We go to Mrs. Amy Cline's house for his 1/2 hour lesson.  Today Mrs. Cline introduced the eras of music - Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century.  Micah will be memorizing some of the artists of those time periods.  He will also be memorizing all of the scales: beginning with C Major and G Major.  This is the beginning of his 3rd year.

SCHOOL'S IN!

Today was the first day of school - Micah (9 years old) 3rd grade; Lilly (4 years old) preschool.  Lilly was telling everyone she could last night that she was starting school.  She had such a big grin on her face and her eyes lit up!  At the beginning of summer she was asking to start and talking about it often.  We re-arranged the 'school room', organized her desk, purchased new school supplies for both of them and today it became official.
Micah & Lilly's teacher asked them to bring two of their stuffed animals with them to their first day of school.  Micah selected:  Baxter (pillow pet) and Sydney.  Lilly selected:  Ladybug "Sunshine" (pillow pet) and Sparkly Bear.  During circle time they both introduced their animals and told why they selected them.
We had our 'first day of school' pictures, Jesus Calling & prayer journal, calendar, emptied backpacks (that were full of new school supplies), drew self-portraits, wrote a summer entry in their journals, read books, and they each had some one-on-one instruction time.
Micah had an orthodontist appointment and his first piano lesson with Mrs. Cline.  We celebrated with lunch (and ice cream) at Chick-Fil-A.  We watched one episode of 'Little House on the Prairie' for our quiet time and then they played with Kevin & Kaitlyn Meigh for a while.
Tonight we'll "show off" to dad!

Labor Day - flying high!

Matt & I had a 'date morning' today.  For our 40th birthdays, my mom & dad got us each a hot-air balloon ride.  It's taken us almost 2 years to complete this activity, but we did.  We drove to Chandler, AZ at 4:30am this morning and lifted off the ground, in our balloon, a few minutes after 6am.  It wasn't a very windy day so in 1-hour we only traveled a distance of 3 miles.  (You can see Matt's Google Map of our route.)  We reached a height of 1 mile.  The most interesting fact to me was that when we did the math (adding up the weight of the balloon items, the people, and the air) we were equivalent to a mac truck flying in the air.  It was a gentle, beautiful, and amazing experience!  Thanks mom & dad.

Basketball Season Begins

Micah's basketball team, the GOLDEN SCORPIONS, had their first basketball practice this weekend.  His team is through the Foothills YMCA (where we have been going before) but this year he is involved in the 3/4 Competitive League.  There are 8 kids on the team and their head coach is ... Matt Rich.  They will be having practices on Sunday afternoon from 3-4pm (at the YMCA).  Games will be either Friday evening or Saturday.
Before practice Micah and Matt went basketball shoe shopping.  Micah came home with a size 6 shoe.  They look huge!