Grouplove

When Ben told me he had bought tickets to go to a concert, I was a little skeptical. Wouldn't we just feel OLD at a concert? I hadn't been to a concert since college. And who were these "Grouplove" people anyway? I had only heard one song of theirs on the radio and it wasn't amazing or anything. BUT, Ben was excited and the tickets were purchased, so we were going.

I started listening to some of Grouplove's other songs in preparation for the concert. It's always more fun if you can sing along. I found that I actually really liked their music and got excited to go.

It was so FUN!



Grouplove put on a really fun show. The music was awesome and the band knew how to work the crowd. I liked their music even better in person. Plus, I had a really hot date. ;)  (I tried to get a picture of us, but it was just too dark in there.)

Also, there were plenty of people there who were way older than us, so the only reason for me to feel old at the concert was that my back hurt from standing by the end.

And we were tired and ready for bed afterwards.

Maybe we are getting old. :)



It was a really fun night, and I'm glad we went. There's something about live music that just fills you up inside and moves you.


We are over there on the right side of this picture somewhere.   (Picture from Grouplove's website)

Homeschool

I have thought a lot about homeschooling since Evan was about two. A woman at church, who had only sons, mentioned that she homeschooled her boys because traditional school just isn't set up for the way that little boys learn. That made so much sense to me, based on my experience with my own son's personality, (Anyone who knew two year old Evan knows this is an understatement! lol) and I've thought and read a lot about it since then.

When Evan started kindergarten, it wasn't realistic for me to homeschool him since I was helping out at the office, but at the end of last school year, when he asked if I could homeschool him this year, I knew it was time to give it a try.

So far, it has been wonderful!

 The freedom to speak his mind, move around, and take a hands-on approach to learning has been wonderful for him. Having one-on-one time for me to connect with him has been wonderful for both of us as well. Sure, there is still some sitting and traditional book work involved, and he does do a little bit of grumbling every now and then, but after a year and a half of watching him struggle through school and hate it more and more, he has finally regained an enthusiasm for learning. He's actually excited about what he's learning for the first time in a long time.



You would have thought it was Christmas when the homeschool stuff arrived. There were "oooh"s and "aahhh"s the whole time I was taking everything out of the box.



He loves that he gets to "play with blocks" in math.




First science experiment



Today's experiment





Both boys are attending the homeschool class at the YMCA and LOVING it. As soon as I pick them up, they start raving about all the things they did. The class is two hours long... the first hour is in the pool and the second hour is in the gym.





Of course there are wonderful benefits to traditional school as well- Asher is loving his kindergarten class at the elementary school- but at this time, for Evan specifically, I think homeschool is going to be so good for him. We're both really excited about this year!

Swayin'

I took this video of Ellie swaying to the music the other day and thought it was just too cute not to post.


She has really been loving music lately. She loves to dance, but she's also started trying to sing and it's so cute. Her favorite song right now is The Itsy Bitsy Spider. I've started singing to her before I put her to bed and she will go right to sleep if I do. All of my kids are music lovers and I love that.

No reason

I feel like it's been forever since I took pictures for no reason.

Well... forever for me, anyway. ;)

Tonight, I went to scope out a location for a photo session I'm doing on Saturday, and I enjoyed snapping away and just capturing whatever I happened to capture. I sure do love these little creations of mine. They make me happy.

Family Pictures!

The most recent picture of our whole family that I have framed for the wall is one of the family pictures I took three years ago. THREE years ago! Just for reference, here is what we looked like three years ago:



Not a single one of us looks like this any more (unfortunately). There's also that little detail of our sweet little Ellie not being around yet.

We did have a beautiful lifestyle session done right after Ellie was born and I LOVE those photos of us..... but I'd like to meet the woman who would hang a large picture of herself one month postpartum in the living room, because I don't think she exists. If she does, she doesn't get as chubby as I do when she has her babies. 

It was definitely time to try for a new family photo.

We headed over to the Ballard Locks on Saturday where my friend Lori took some pictures for us. Ellie was a little stinker and only lasted about 20 minutes, but I love what we were able to get! I was also glad to get some pictures of me and each of the kids together... it's so rare for me get in front of the lens with them.

Lori let me take the pictures home and edit them myself, so I've been going through them the last couple of days and picking out my favorites. Here are some of them!










These silly boys came up with this pose themselves. :)









Looking at airplanes.

Kindergarten!

Asher had his very first day of kindergarten today!



He told me last night that he was excited and a little bit nervous. He did a great job, though! We are close enough to walk to school and the weather was nice today, so that's what we did.


(Evan's new thing is looking evil in pictures... in case you couldn't tell.)

Showing off his backpack:



Walking into school.



Outside his class room:



Immediately after I snapped this picture, he turned and walked through the door of his class room. No hug, no "bye Mom". *sniff*

When I picked him up after school, the first thing he said was, "I didn't get detention!!" :) He was excited that he got to do the monkey bars at recess and he made friends with the little boy sitting at the desk next to him.

I can't believe my little Asher is old enough for kindergarten, but I think he's going to have a great year!

Olympic Peninsula | Part Two

On Sunday, we headed to the Hoh Rainforest. The weather was cool and overcast... perfect for hiking. Ben felt a little gypped because it didn't RAIN in the RAINforest, but I, for one, was glad it didn't!



We did two shorter hikes that were the perfect length for the boys. The scenery was GORGEOUS. The trees were huge and everything was covered in moss and ferns. So amazing!













Trees growing on top of a tree:



Trying to find a four leaf clover:

















Ellie enjoyed the ride. She especially loved it when Daddy would jump up and down.





This river was so blue, even though the sky was gray that day. The literature about the area says that the glacier grinds rocks into a powder which gets into the river and that's what makes it look so blue.




After we were done hiking, it was time to make our way home. Ben was disappointed that we never spotted Bigfoot. Also, since pretty much EVERYONE has asked... no, we didn't see any vampires or werewolves either.

We decided to ride the ferry home, just for fun. It's always a treat for the kiddos.







Such a fun little weekend! What an amazing little corner of the world we live in!