Benefit for Uncle Gary

What an emotional day on Sunday! It was so wonderful to see everyone at Gary's benefit, and even more wonderful that he could attend most of it. It's a true testament to the wonderful man Gary is that so many people came to celebrate him and his family. Everyone was so generous and the benefit spoke volumes about how much Gary is cherished and loved. Here are a few photos of the day. I didn't get as many as I would have liked and encourage you all to share your photos and stories of the day.

The auction was great fun, and so many people were terrific at bidding on everything! I will certainly enjoy my first Twins game at Target Field this Sunday with Chris! It worked out so well that Sunday happens to be his birthday and I was desperate for a gift!

We love you so, Gary and Margene!

The Benson tribe:
The entire McCuskers team!
Mira became a lion for the day:
Amelia became a kitty:

Bekki, Griffin, Amelia, Michelle:
One of the wonderful clowns who entertained the kids! At one point, the clown told me he had too many "helpers"!

Benefit

There was a benefit yesterday for my uncle Gary. The McCusker's softball team that Gary (and my dad) played on organized the benefit. It was so fun to see these people from thirty years ago!

It was a somber occasion, but one that was also filled with generosity and love. Everyone seemed to give all they could to help him and aunt Margene. There was wonderful food, and two great clowns to entertain the kids! Mira and Amelia both got their faces painted. Mira became a lion (and so did many other kids after they saw her cool paint job!), and Amelia became a cat for the day. She wasn't shy about meowing to every single person who crossed her path!
The food was great and the live auction was great fun! I scored a pair of Twins tickets in the lower level, so I'll be taking Chris next week on his birthday. Such a memorable day. We love you so much, Gary!

State Fair, through the years

Every year at the State Fair, it's our tradition to get our family photo taken in the photo booth. It's great fun and we never know what kind of photo we will take! Here are the past 6 years:
Getting us all centered is getting harder and harder, but we are getting better at it! (Well, except for last year, when we forgot to shut the curtain and ended up with a dark photo.)

* Credit to my friend Ivy for putting her State Fair photo strip on her blog (http://skradebaby.blogspot.com/2010/09/strip-2010.html) and reminding me to do that on mine as well.

Mira's first soccer game

Today was Mira's first soccer game! After taking photos of the teams and individual players at 8:00 this morning, we drove to the park for her game.

Mira is on the Wizards team and they played against the Jazz! It was really fun to watch these sweet girls running up and down the field. They really put their hearts into the game! Mira's team lost 3-2, but boy did she enjoy it!

Mira played forward for the first half of the game, and defensive back for the second half. I'm not sure she anticipated all the running. By the end of the game, she was pretty tired out. No goals for Mira, but she had a few good defensive plays where she got the ball away from the opponent.

Mira is number 12:
Games every Saturday until Oct. 16. It's going to be a busy fall!

Postcards are in!

The postcards for my book design business are in! Spread the word if you know anyone who needs help with book design. I'm really excited for this new endeavor. I've created a list of local publishers, as well as those in nearby states to send my postcard to. Hopefully that will create some extra business!

Waiting for Mira after school

On Tuesday, the first day of school, I left work a little early and picked up Amelia at daycare. I wanted Amelia to come with me to pick up Mira from the bus stop. It was exciting for Amelia to see Mira coming home from school that afternoon.
Mira after a successful first day!

Amelia checks out the library

Mira had soccer practice last night, so Amelia and I went to the library to get some new books. She really loves to be there and is great at helping me pick stories to read. She also likes to get a DVD to watch. We picked up a couple and will have movie night this weekend while Chris is out of town.

Amelia wanted to scan the books out at the checkout counter. She did a great job!
We have such a great new library. We try to go every week, and probably will more in the winter to spend some quiet time on the weekends.

Mira and Amelia visit the dentist

Last week Mira and Amelia had dentist appointments. We go to this great dentist who specializes in children. They have names for the instruments, a flat screen TV that shows a fish tank, free princess toothbrushes and toothpaste, and a treasure chest to pick a prize from after the appointment. Very exciting!

It was Amelia's first dentist visit. She did just great! She listened well and the dentist said her teeth look just great. Here she is in the dentist's chair:
Mira's visit brought different news: she will certainly need braces. The dentist was positive about that. She has a little overbite, which I never noticed. And her center alignment is off, meaning her top teeth are centered where they should be, but her bottom teeth are shifted slightly so the centers don't line up. And she has a top tooth that isn't coming in yet, but when it does, it will be turned a little.

None of this bothers Mira right now, which is good. When we told her she'll need braces, she got all excited. I guess that's a positive! Chris and I didn't have braces, so we have no idea what is involved. We hear they are expensive. Checks can be sent to our home!

One note: Mira has glasses and will need braces. If she gets a broken leg, she'll have her aunt Kelly's trifecta of all the cool things Kelly wanted as an elementary schooler. Jealous, Kelly?

And here is a sweet structure Mira made in the waiting room:

First grade, first day

Mira started first grade today! She was "nervous and excited" and ready to go this morning! We packed her lunch last night (pb&j, wheat thins sticks, pineapple) and a snack for school (apple juice, string cheese, fruit strips), put out her dress (unfortunately, she had to wear pants under it since it was so cold), and looked forward to her first day.
She wanted to wear her hair down today, instead of in her usual pony tail. To look older, perhaps? Her favorite part of school was recess and eating the cookie her teacher handed out. Her least favorite part was doing the work, simply because it was boring. I guess they already covered that in kindergarten.

There were a couple friendly faces at school. There were three kids from her kindergarten class in her first grade class, and she also discovered a friend from the pool this summer was in her class too!

The bus was 20 minutes late to pick up, and 20 minutes late to drop off. So hopefully they'll get the schedule down this week so there isn't so much waiting. Her stop is right across the street from daycare, just like we hoped. She rides with Isaac from daycare in the morning, and is the only one at her stop in the afternoon. But I think the driver will drop her off at the daycare driveway in the afternoons. I talked to him today and showed him where the daycare is, so hopefully, he'll just inch forward a house and drop her at the driveway.

All in all, a successful first day! We're trying to get into a routine, with homework to come, lunches to make, soccer practice two nights a week, plus I'd like to get to the club some evenings! It will be a balancing act to figure out in the coming weeks for sure!

Pretender

Mira and Amelia got bunk beds a month ago. Since Mira is older, she was the proud recipient of the top bunk. I explained to Amelia that the directions on the packaging said that the top bunk was only for children 5 years and older (which is true!). Amelia accepted that explanation . . . at first.

However, my clever 3 year old thought of a loophole to this rule! I caught her on the top bunk the other day and told her she was too little to be up there. Amelia looked at me and said, "But Mom, I'm pretending I'm 5. So I can be up here!"

Clever cat.

DIY!

Chris and I did a not-so-little do-it-yourself project this past weekend. We put a backsplash up in the kitchen. Actually, Chris did most of the work, I just made some extra trips to Home Depot to return and purchase more items. Although it took about twice as long as we planned (don't most DIY projects?) we really love how it turned out! Brightened up the counter-area of the kitchen and really looks wonderful!

Before:
And—ta da!—after:
Great job, Honey! I love it!
Now go have a beer.

State Fair, 2010

Oh, what a perfect day for the State Fair! Nice cool weather, cloudy and perfect. Well, until it started to rain mid-afternoon. But we were nearly done anyway and had prepared with umbrellas, so no harm done.

We met my mom, sister, and niece and nephew there and spent the day together. First up, cotton candy and pronto pups at 9:30 am. Now that's what I call breakfast!
On to the Midway right away for the kids rides. It's always good to get them on the rides before they eat too much!
I even went on a mini roller coaster with Mira and Amelia. I thought Amelia would be scared, but she loved it! Mira's face in this photo tells a different story, though! Although she said she loved it.
Then to the cheese curd booth! We can't miss that ever. Farm animals to pet:
Butterfly house, just random walking around, the grandstand for our annual Christmas ornament, and the arcade to get our family photo taken, as is our tradition.

Mira found a peace booth and got a tattoo:
Posing by what she thought was Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine!
Then the rain came and we headed home, full and tired. It was a great day. Until next year!

School Days, School Days

We went to Mira's school today to meet her teacher, Mrs. Lawson, and see her classroom. She's looking forward to school starting, and I think she'll do wonderfully!

We got her supplies (a pack we bought last year that's not worth even close to the $36.00 we had to pay), met her teacher (an older teacher who didn't show much interest in her students as she met them), and saw Mira's desk. There are 3 kids from her class last year, and many more to meet this year.

Mira in front of her desk:
When we got home, we looked through Mira's math and reading books. We even did a few lessons. Mira is realizing that the reading and math are much like she learned in kindergarten, and she had a very good grasp of the math problems and could read the stories with ease. So I think that gave her good confidence going into the school year.

Good luck in 1st grade, Mira! We love you!