Ike, Karly, Natalie, Owen, Henry & Colin Gibbs

Monday, August 24, 2009

Natalie's First Day


Natalie had her first day of kindergarten today. She was so excited this morning, she woke me up at 5:50 - I was planning to get her up around 6, but she beat me to it! The drop off went well - Ike and I both walked her to her class. There were no tears or drama. When I picked her up, she was really excited. The first thing she said was that she didn't get sent to the Principal's office!!! (We had explained to her last week that it was not a good thing to go to the Principal's offce.) Then when I asked what all she did, she said she'd had a great day. So everything went very well and she's looking forward to going back tomorrow.





Sunday, August 23, 2009

Changes


We've enjoyed the last few weeks of summer, and now it's time to get back into the normal school routine. The past couple weeks have involved haricuts for all of the kids (and Nat even had about 4 inches cut off!), signing Owen up for the Fall T-ball season, getting him set up with a new glove, bat, and T-ball set in the yard (and he's got an arm and can really whack the ball!), and enjoying Henry's silliness around the house. We also have enjoyed our friend's pool a few times. Last weekend, Ike and I endured our first PTA meeting for Natalie's new school. We were there 3+ hours, and we only left when we did because the babysitter was waiting on us. The week before last was Natalie's last week at camp, and she was home with me all week last week. So I rearranged my work schedule and we had some fun together. We did a lot of things, including going to paint pottery, making cookies with her easy bake oven, going to the Musuem of Natural Science for an IMAX movie and to see the butterflies, going to the zoo, and some girl lunches out. Ike and I also took her to breakfast one morning. Her friend Madeleine from pre-school (who will also be in her kindergarten class) was also out for the week, so her mom and I switched days to keep the girls two of the days. Madeleine accompanied us to the science museum and played at our house one day, and Natalie went to Build-a-Bear, the downtown park for waterplay, and to play at their house one day. Last Friday, Natalie had a meet the teacher event at school. So we were able to take all of her school supplies, meet her teacher, and get lots of info for the first week of school. Owen has moved up to his new class at school - new building, new friends (thank goodness his best pal Gracie is in his class, though - this is the girl he "marries" on the playground on a regular basis), new teachers, and he is thrilled! His first full day was Friday and he talked about it all evening. He has two teachers that Natalie had in the past, and we really like both of them, so that's good. Henry moves up to a new building & teachers on Tuesday. One of his teachers is a teacher Owen had, and she's great, so we're glad about that too. Tomorrow is Natalie's first day of kindergarten, and we are all very excited. We just need to get adjusted to the new routine. There is no flexibility anymore with when she gets to school. It will be interesting. We had a good weekend. Friday night we moved Henry out of the crib. We were a little nervous to see how that went - he's a bit more of a devil than the other two, but it went really well. He's very excited! He runs in his room, jumps on the mattress, and says, "My bed!!" Yesterday was busy. Henry started gymnastics class with Ike and Natalie went to a friends birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese (I got out of that headache and sent Ike with her!). They had fun though. Also yesterday we gave Owen an early birthday present of two tickets for the Texans/Saints game (which was last night) and a Texans jersey. He and Ike had a blast last night (even though the Texans lost)! They left after halftime, and Owen was really pumped up when they got home. Today was a lazy day and time to get ready for the big first day tomorrow. We'll post an update of Nat's big day tomorrow.






















Monday, August 03, 2009

Circus, Recital, Luau, and Other News

More of the summer has blown by and now we can't believe it's August already! In the past couple of weeks we have been to the circus, Natalie had a dance camp and recital, and Owen's class had a luau. Two weekends ago we took Natalie and Owen to the circus. It was a late night so Henry stayed home with the babysitter. Natalie and Owen loved it! From the various answers from each of them, their favorite parts were: Natalie loved the acrobats and trapeze acts and the elephants, and Owen loved the tigers and the motorcycles. So that was a lot of fun. We had another pool birthday party that weekend, and that's always a big hit with all of the kids: swimming, cake, ice cream, and a pinata - what more could you ask for? The following week we had some exciting news. We are having another baby boy! (yes, we are expecting again for those who don't know!) This is the last addition to the Gibbs' family. That week Natalie had dance camp, and we enjoyed her performance on that Friday. The instructors told me that she has a lot of talent and expect her to go far with it, so that was nice. She definitely loves dance more than anything else. That same day, Owen's class had a luau, and Ike, Nat, and I went. Owen specifically invited Natalie, so we were sure she was there. Those two are the best of friends (98% of the time!). So Owen showed off his hula dancing skills. That was entertaining. Henry continues to show his personality, and he is quite a character! He is the face maker in the family, and loves to show off his many expressions. He keeps us busy - you can't take your eyes off of him b/c he's always into something! Last week was a pretty average week. I had to go to New Orleans for a couple of days. Everything went smoothly while I was gone. We had a quiet weekend. It's hot again, so the outdoor activities consisted of the kids running in the sprinkler. Natalie is getting ready for kindergarten, starting in a few weeks. The boys are also getting ready for move-ups at school. Things are very exciting with all of the changes, but also very hectic too!