She can really do it!!!

On Wednesday, it was nice out.  Windy...but nice.  Our neighbor Tice was out riding his bike.  I told Lily she should get hers out.  She has been reluctant to try it since she fell a couple times this summer.  She never got hurt, but it just scared her a little.  When Matt and I tried to help her, we always ended up getting frustrated, so we just took a break.  So, today, I didn't push it.  Tice came over and we were having her watch how he does it.  Low and behold, she did it!!!  I bet she then rode her bike for an hour that evening before Matt got home.  

Tice teaching her how to start.

Hudson wanted to do it!

I am so proud of her!

Now I think we need to raise her seat.  She might need a bigger one soon!

Watch Hudson trying to pull Tice and then Lily gets going!!!!  Yay!

She even rode her bike last night all the way to the Outside Classroom open house.  That is clear across town.  Way to go Lily Jo! :)

Sydney's birthday party

On Saturday, we went to Lincoln to celebrate Syd's birthday after the football game.  We went to John and Laurie's loft (Lily called it Uncle John's castle), to watch the game.

You can see the stadium from the deck....here are the balloons released after our first touchdown!

Fun on the deck.

My Husker babes!

We were able watch the game and hear out the window of the announcer, music, and the crowd.  It was neat to be that close.  At half time we went to Buffalo Wild Wings across the street.  Game day makes me miss living in Lincoln.  After the game, my whole family (minus Maguire) came to the loft.  Lily and Hudson were so excited to see everyone.

Caden knows how to make rubberband bracelets, so he made a lot!

The birthday girl!  

Our gift to Syd.  Her American Girl will be stylin'!

Syd got a wheel chair for her doll from Gma! :)  It was funny to watch them push her around.

Happy Birthday to Sydney!

Gig and the kiddos

More bracelet making.

Some of the adults then went downtown to a couple bars.  I will say it was a first for me to be downtown with my dad and siblings and in-laws all together.  We went to the Railyard to check it out.  It was really neat.  The big screen is massive and lights up the whole area.  What a fun weekend!

Busy week

Last week, I had 3 days of meetings.  It sounds nice because its a change of pace, but planning for a sub stinks, let alone 3 days of it.  I am on the Language Arts committee now and we are doing a lot of work with the Common Core and CurricuPlan.  Sounds interesting, right!?  We will have many more meetings through out the year that will require a sub, so my kids are going to get good at adapting. :)  My friend Asia is also on the committee so that is nice and we also get to have lunch together.  So, I guess there are some perks, too! :)

On Thursday morning, I got to enjoy the double rainbow before I went to the meeting.  It looked like it was full.  So neat!

On Friday, after our meeting, Asia and I picked up the kids and met at the Barn Festival outside of Hastings.  There were so many people there, but we got some cute things. 

I am glad that week is over....but conferences were this week!  Phew, finally done and I get to enjoy my Friday off! :)

Football, Friends, Swimming

A couple weekends ago, we got tickets to the football game.  Lily and Hudson stayed with my cousin Tess (Thank you!).  We met Virgie and her friend Jake before the game and had lots of fun.

I love Husker Saturdays!  They didn't win, but we still had a good time.

After the game, we picked up the kids and went to Omaha.  I was invited to Micaela's bachelorette party.  It was so great seeing these girls again.  Crazy how things change: two are pregnant and one is getting married!  :)  

Matt and the kids were at the hotel while I was at the party.  The next morning, we made sure to hit the pool!

Aunt Gigi hung out with us!

We then finished our day with a trip to Cabela's! ha ha

Hudson's monkey trick

sneaky

So ornery....he stole a blue crayon out of one of the desks and is sneaking away so I won't see him.  Geez, I can't get anything done with this kid around. :)  ha ha

Putt Putt golf night

On Thursday night, Newell elementary students and staff had fun at Putt Putt night.  I took the kids and Matt met us there.

We had a fun time.  I was surprised to see so many students and staff there.  The weather was beautiful.  I think Lily and Hudson had fun their first time miniature golfing.  When Hudson got the opportunity, he would pick up the balls and throw them.  Lily wanted to finish every hole no matter where her ball went.  :)

Our school year in progress...

Alright, I think I am finally getting into a routine with kids and work.  Every morning, Matt gets the kids up and starts dressing them and gets breakfast for Lily.  Then they all bombard me in the bathroom to brush teeth and do hair.  We try to leave at 7:00am and we go to Little Miracles first.  Lily is going there before and after school.  Then Hudson and I get our alone time on the way to Heather's.  He is so talkative.  He likes to tell random things "No" outside the window.  :)  

I drop him off and get to school by 7:30am.  Finally my 9th year of teaching, I feel like I am in a good rhythm.  I have not had to go up on the weekend yet.  I stay later on some  nights to get things done, but I am getting better at using my time wisely.  About time, right?!?  I try to pick Hudson up by 4:30 (later some days) and then we go get Lily.  We usually have an hour or a little more until Matt gets home.  Then they like to snack......

Hudson eating his grapes.  He loves this rocking chair.

Have you seen the commercials when there are a group of men and one of the men is behaving like a diva/drama queen??  He stops being a drama queen when he gets a SNICKERS.  Hudson is a drama queen until he gets his milk.  So, some days our evenings are full of whining until Mommy gives in. 

Lily is enjoying reading and writing...so Hudson is following suit.  (and Daddy's reading habits.)

Lily is learning sight words, so I had her write some sentences.  I helped her with one and she went from there.  Of course she then had to decorate the whole paper.  ha ha!

Time for bed around 8:30pm.  Then we do it all over again!

Some mornings we get smiles....but he DOES have his milk.  ha ha!

Off to Kindergarten and Heather's.

I hope you enjoyed a day in the life of the Elsbury's.

Visit from Gpa and Gma

My Mom called me to ask if they could bring us supper and hang out with us for the evening.  Yeah...of course!!!  They came on Monday evening to play and have meatloaf and play some more.  We are so fortunate to have family close by.  Lily and Hudson loved showing off for them.

He is such a character!

Thank you Mom and Dad for your visit.

Weekend

What a great Friday morning sunrise!  God is Great!

After school and daycare, I took the kids to a park to wait for Daddy.  Lily was going to be studying insects the following week and she was to collect cicada skins.  Since we don't have any mature trees at our house, we looked at the park.

Gross, but we did find 19 skins on one tree!  

Lily had him giggling!

We ate supper with Daddy and then headed home.  On Saturday, we headed to Omaha and then Waverly for Maggie's 1st birthday and the football game.

My sweethearts!  This picture turned out great....so weird because he was on the move.  It is hard to get a good smile from the two of them these days.

Hudson and the birthday girl.

Happy Birthday Maggie.

State Fair 2013

Labor Day Weekend!

I love love love 3 day weekends!  My Friday ended with a relaxing FAC with teacher friends.  Love my friends! :)  We got a lot done around the house on Saturday including watching the first Husker game of the season.  Although it was too close for comfort, our Huskers came out with a win.  Lily made a tent using the coffee table and ended up falling asleep under there.  She is so creative.  

On Sunday Matt's parents and Emily came to be with us and they had tickets to Lynyrd Skynyrd that evening.  We grilled burgers for lunch and played around the house.

A little dark.

Hudson was such a good boy all weekend.  He likes to show off :)

I bought Lily UNO cards last week and we have almost played every day.  She couldn't wait to play with someone else.  

We then convinced them to go to the State Fair with us before the concert.  We were glad the weather was cooler.  Other than there being A LOT of people there, it was a perfect day.

Racing cars

I had heard that the Butterfly tent was fun, so we all went in.

We all have one.....Grandma had one on her shirt the whole time we were in there.

Hudson loved holding them.  He wanted to touch and kiss them.

She liked them, but also got a little nervous with them too.

Petting zoo

So adorable, waiting to ride the camel.

The Dudos walked by and visited for a little bit.

He liked watching Lily.

Lily thinks the camel is smiling in this picture.

I love this picture.  I am blessed with 2 great kids that love one another.  Lily wanted to show him all the animals.

This cow was willing to cooperate with me for a picture.

Matt's parents went to the concert and we got supper and found a seat for the pirate show.

Her concerned look watching the pirates.

Lily and Aunt Emily!

As you can see she is almost 48".  So, there are still some rides she is too short for.

We got her a bracelet this year....which we don't think was worth it.  There were soooo many people there that we had to wait a long time for each ride she went on.  There were a couple rides she wanted to go on but the lines were too long.  The water rides looked like lots of fun, but were definitely popular.

The Mac and Cheese ride.  

Hudson had fallen asleep while I was holding him.  So, Lily went on a couple of the kiddie rides on our way out.  She had a super time.  We didn't play games and there were a few rides I know she wanted to go on, but it was a great night.  

The State Fair is a lot of fun.  I am sure Lily is already counting down for next year. :)