County Fair

Last weekend was the County Fair. The kids had a wonderful time. I spoke with Morgan on the phone on Saturday morning, and when I told him we were going to the Fair he seemed sad that he was missing it again. He has been gone for over a year, so we are missing doing things together the second time around now. He was especially disappointed that he would be missing out on Funnel Cakes. Those are his favorite Fair food, so he told Lydia to eat one for him. So we bought one to share in Daddy's honor.

Braden and Lydia had a great time on the rides. Braden has always loved roller coasters, but this year he didn't want to ride the small one because it was "too baby-ish." But Lydia rode it with a friend for the very first time. She has become much more daring and brave recently.

We went with some of our friends, and then met up with a lot of other friends at the Fair. It is really great to live in such a small town. We have only lived here for a year, and we can already go to the County Fair and run into most of our friends. Braden got onto one ride, only to discover that the little boy sitting next to him was one of his good friends from school last year. We really look forward to the Fair next year when we will be able to go and share our Funnel Cake with Morgan.

Braden Starts First Grade

On Wednesday, August 17, Braden started first grade. He is going to a different school this year. Last year he attended private school, because he barely missed the cut-off date for Kindergarten in NM. Private schools test for readiness, rather than adhering to strict cut-off dates, and Braden's tests showed that he was ready. We had prepared him the year before, because he met the cut-off in MD. He had a wonderful year last year and was a little nervous to start a new school. But when I went to pick him up after school, he met me with a huge grin, and said, "I loved it!!"

He is really starting to read, and his handwriting is improving. Handwriting is probably his least favorite part of school, so we have some struggles during homework time. He will have his first spelling test on Friday, so we did a practice quiz tonight. He did really well, and we are going to work on the words he had trouble with tomorrow night. He really enjoys PE and Music also. One of his good friends who lives just around the corner is in Kindergarten this year, so they play together every day at recess.

We live about a block away, so we walk to and from school every day. This is a picture of Braden walking to school on the first day, dragging his new backpack with wheels.

We had to fill out a questionaire for the Self-Esteem board at school. One of the questions was "What is your goal for this year?" Braden's answer was "to learn to read." When he was asked "What do you wish for?" he answered "For my Daddy to come home soon, and to go swimming in a pool." I really think he is going to have a great year.

Tales from the Potty

Lydia has been working very hard at potty training. She has done really well for the past two weeks, and has gone for three whole days without one single accident. Each time she uses the potty, she earns a small Tootsie Roll. Before that we had been using stickers on a chart, but she didn't like having to wait until she earned 7 stickers before she could have her lollipop. Hopefully we can wean her off all of this candy now, or we might be exchanging diapers for cavities!! In the above picture she is holding a bag full of her old diapers to be given to one of her younger friends who still needs them. She felt great about being able to give up her old diapers.

Below, she is pictured with her reward for being potty trained. We bought it a couple of weeks ago, and have been waiting for her to go for three consecutive days without an accident. Tonight she finally earned her Fairytopia Barbie.

The County Fair Parade

The county fair is this coming weekend, so yesterday, to kick it off, we had our annual County Fair Parade. Lydia twirled baton in the parade, and did a number for the judges near the end of the route. Melodie rode in the back of the truck with all of the little girls and some of their moms, and Braden got to ride in the front of the truck with the driver. The girls haven't been practicing this summer, so it was very impressive that they still remembered their routine. At one point, during the performance for the judges, Lydia decided to go solo, and went and stood out in front of all of the other girls. The crowd loved her. Fortunately, her coach was able to reposition her, and they finished up their performance together.

Camping

On Friday we went camping. The Church here owns our own camp site in Cloudcroft, NM, which is about a half hour away from us. It is up in the mountains, and it is amazing how different the weather is up there. It had been in the high 90's in Alamogordo, and the highs in Cloudcroft were the upper 60's. We went up to camp with some other people from Church. They had a big Dutch oven dinner Friday night, and then Saturday we ate breakfast together and learned how to make bread in Dutch ovens and had a 72-hour emergency kit workshop. My friend came with me, and camped in our tent. It was nice to have some help with the kids. When we got there, it was really muddy, and we were expecting more rainstorms that night, so we set up the tent inside the big lodge. In the middle of the night it rained really hard for about an hour, and as luck would have it, we had positioned our tent directly under a leak in the ceiling. So we got a little wet even though we were camping inside!

What a Zoo!

Tuesday we met some of our friends at the zoo. Our little zoo is the oldest west of the Mississippi. It is very small, and doesn't have any really big animals, but it does have otters, kangaroos, and peacocks. In this picture, the kids are looking at the monkeys (their kindred spirits). We spent several hours there that day. We packed a lunch and had a picnic with our friends, and then Braden and Lydia played on the playground with the other children. Braden and one of his good friends enjoyed watching the trucks drive by on the busy road outside of the zoo almost as much as they enjoyed seeing the animals (maybe more). We really enjoy the zoo because the playground is really nice, there are nice picnic tables, and there is lots of shade.

When we went to leave the zoo our car wouldn't start. So Melodie called roadside assistance and they sent someone out to jump start her car. It turned out to be a dying battery, so our adventure that day continued as we went to Wal-Mart to have a new battery installed. To kill time we had dinner at McDonald's, and a very nice man who was eating there made balloon animals for the kids.

Batter Up!

Monday night we played softball with some of our friends. It was Braden's first time playing, and he was so excited every time he hit the ball. Our friends were just playing for fun, and their small children were also playing, so Braden was able to run all of the bases every time he went up to bat. He had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, Melodie had thrown her back out (picking up laundry baskets!) during the day, so she wasn't able to play. Lydia enjoyed running around with one of her little friends and trading shoes with her and applying chapstick. She is such a girl!

Braden and Lydia Complete the Summer Reading Program


Last Saturday, Braden and Lydia attended the closing ceremonies for the Summer Reading Program. They each earned their T-shirts and a certificate by reading at least 20 books each. Throughout the summer we kept track of books we read together on book logs, and for every four books read they got a prize at the library. This is becoming a fun tradition that we look forward to every summer. They each read between 40 and 50 shorter books, and Braden also read several chapter books with Mommy. We have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia together. I remember loving those books when I was young. I worried that they would be too advanced for Braden, but our chapter every night together is a highlight of his day. At the closing ceremony they played in a big jumping tent. Lydia was nervous about going in, so the man who owns the tent let Melodie go in with her. That was an adventure for Melodie, who feared for her life as small children bounced all around her and she got motion sick. But the kids really enjoyed it :)

Kisses From Daddy


Tonight the kids decorated their "Kisses from Daddy" jars. They each have their own jar with 111 chocolate kisses in it. We still don't have a definite date for when Morgan will be returning, but nothing is definite in the military. We are guessing (and hoping) that he will be back by Thanksgiving, so we are doing a countdown to that date. Each night after bathtime, the kids will each get to eat a kiss. I wrote on the lid "A goodnight kiss for Braden (or Lydia) from Daddy," and then they colored the lids and decorated the jars with stickers. They are very excited about their jars, and know that when there are only a few kisses left that Daddy will be home soon. They miss him so much.

The Hanners Family