Virts Family: October 2012

Oma Birthday

This year we celebrated Oma's 87th birthday on September 8, 2012, just a few days after her actual birthday. We had a nice dinner of fried chicken and salads at Lilli's and Uncle Manfred was able to come up for it too. After dinner I decided to snap some photos of Oma with some of her great grandkids (too bad we are missing Bentley).

My girls are so lucky to have Oma. When I asked them what they love about Oma Abbie's response was,"She lets us play restaurant with her things" and Rylee said, "She gives us all kinds of things to eat and lets us watch cartoons." She is an amazing lady!!

Rylee's 1st Day of School

If I thought Abbie's first day of school was tough this year, I forgot that the baby was headed off to preschool. I was so worried that Rylee wouldn't want to go to school and that she would throw a big fit and cry. Instead she was so excited to go and couldn't understand why I didn't need to make her a lunch like I do for Abbie. She picked out a beautiful dress and with her brand new backpack strapped on she was ready for her first day...

Isn't she precious?

Rylee really admires her big sister!

When we dropped her off she put on an apron and started to paint. I had to leave because I was the one getting teary eyed. Jeremy said she asked where I was, got a little paniced and her eyes welled up with tears but then Jeremy promised they would come see me for lunch and content she went back to painting. Uggh...she is growing up too!!!

Lobster Dinner

Jeremy bought live lobsters for a special treat over the long Labor Day weekend. The girls were infatuated with them as they crawled around the box and then watched them as they crawled around the sink. We only had a pot big enough to cook one lobster at a time. Jeremy and I were worried that the girls wouldn't like watching us put the live lobster in the boiling water. We worried they would get upset realizing that we had just "killed" a live animal. Nope...not the case at all! Instead they liked watching the lobsters get more and more pink the longer they cooked. They didn't like the taste of the lobster, but they talked all night about watching them cook!!

Breakfast in Bed

Labor Day was such a relaxing wonderful day, starting first thing in the morning. The girls got up early and made me breakfast in bed. In fact, they brought breakfast in bed for ALL three of us!! The breakfast also included a precious note...I am so so blessed to have such amazing, thoughtful kids!!!

We shared this for breakfast: a banana, 1/2 of a chocolate muffin, 2 plums, 1 Poptart, 3 Thin Mint cookies, some Cheetos, and three Starbursts. A breakfast for champions!! The note read: "I love you. Thank you for everything you do for us!!"
They don't realize I should be thanking them...I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!

1st Day of School

Another summer has flown by and I can't believe it's time to start school again. Abbie is growing up so fast and I can't believe that she is already starting 2nd grade. She seems so grown up to me now that she rarely needs my help for anything. She picks out her own clothes, does her own hair, reads herself her own books...What happened to my baby girl??!!

On one hand I am sorry that school is starting, but on the other hand Abbie loves school so I am excited to see what this year has in store for her....

She looks so old!!

My Girls!!

All of the Virts' girls

Emily and Abbie

Emily, Abbie, Norah, Rylee, and Malia

Front Yard Photo Shoot

At the end of August it is tradition that I spend a day taking pictures of the girls. This year I struggled deciding where I was going to go take them. I felt like I had done all of the "regular" spots, so this year I decided that our backyard provides a beautiful backdrop and one that is easy to use. I loved just letting them be kids and many of the pictures make me smile because they aren't the usual posed pictures that I normally snap...

Doesn't she look old here?

Even Sissy jumped into some pictures...

I love this genuine laughter!

Woo Hoo!!

Holter Lake in August

I think that all of the Virts family would agree that Holter Lake is one of our favorite places to go. This trip in August was no different.

This trip we decided to try something new, and this time it wasn't fishing. Jeremy and I decided it was time for the girls to try water skiing. We bought a water ski trainer and turned them loose on the lake.

Rylee wasn't afraid to get out on the trainer at the end of the rope. I am not sure why I thought she would be, but at three years-old I thought she would get scared when she saw how far away from the boat she was. We taught each of the girls three signals: go faster, go slower, and stop. It didn't take long for Rylee to stand up while being pulled by the boat and then she wanted to go faster...and faster...and faster. She started to go so fast that she was starting to catch some air and I thought she was going to immediately sit down and then want to be done. Nope! Instead we got the sign, "Go faster! Go faster!" She is definitely our little daredevil who isn't scared of anything!

Look at how far away she is....and she is loving every minute of it! Sometimes you could even hear her singing out there.

Grandma Nate and Abbie watching Rylee

Abbie's water skiing adventure looked a little different than Rylee's. Abbie was much more timid and cautious. She didn't like to go very fast and if she started to catch air, she immediately sat down. Even though she was cautious, she still did a great job and said she enjoyed herself.

We also spent lots of time in the water just playing too. Jeremy filled up the gigantic tube and we all played, swam, and just enjoyed the weather and the company.

I think this is a nice look for Jeremy!

Jeremy's introduction into the water isn't always an ordinary one, but the girls love to watch him and his acrobats....

And the entry...

Another aspect that made this trip so fun and memorable was the grandmas. Grandma Nita actually camped with us 2 of the three nights. She insisted on sleeping in her van, but the girls loved to go out and climb in with Grandma in the morning. Grandma Nate come up early one morning and stayed until after dinner. To us, those are memories the girls will have forever!