Our Family is kinda "Artsy"

We just had the County Fair over here. Matt put in three photographs. Charlotte put in several home arts pieces and a collage in Home Arts. Henry put in a poem and a watercolor. I put in two scrapbook pages and two types of cookies. As a whole we didn't "fair" too badly. (Har har.) In fact we ribboned in pretty much everything we competed in this year! Matt got second place for this picture:

This was his first time entering the fair and that particular amatuer category had tons of entries. So I was really really impressed and proud that he got that place. I guess that's where reading the manual and learning from the top magazines will get ya!

Henry got third place in both his picture and his poem! He had a poetry reading on Saturday. Lily won first place for her poem! I've included the videos in this post. They are both so darn cute! Siobhan, Cindy's friend took it on her digital camera! Thanks Siobhan!

There are a couple of things that Shioban missed getting. First, when Henry went up to the microphone, he tapped the mic loudly and said "Is this thing on?"- which made everyone laugh and after he finished reading he gave a triumphant "woohoo" and held up his ribbon and poetry book. And when he sat down, Sammy went "Good Job Henry!" and hi-fived him! Very cute!

As for me, I won First Place for this layout. I won Second Place for another layout and my Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies and Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti won both placed second. Cindy, placed 3rd in the two categories she entered in. My only beef with the fair this year (and I'm not talking about the bovine exhibit) was that there is no distinction whatsoever between Mini Albums and regular Scrapbook Albums. Cindy went up against and lost to two mini albums that clearly did not take half as much time to make as Cindy's large 12x12 scrapbook. I think next year they should split the Scrapbook category into two. Because quite frankly she was robbed.

Of course not to be outdone by any of us. My little sister, Charlotte placed First in four out of the five categories she entered in, including her Fine Arts collage pictured here. She ribboned in everything. She is very talented. I am so proud of our family and friends. Seeing our stuff at the Fair just makes the whole experience even more sweeter.

Fall already.

Wow. Can't get over how quickly 2007 has gone by. I mean seriously. It's September people! The boys have been in school for a couple weeks now and things are going very well. Henry's new teacher, Becky is great. And I'm not just saying that because I was on the committee that hired her. She's very easy going and welcoming. The kids and parents just love her. Discovery room has become a real lively community. They have really gotten into writing and reading already. They have penpals in a school in Florida and they take language on Friday. Henry is having fun learning sign language.(PS. One of Henry's front teeth fell out right before school started. Isn't he a cutie!!)

Sam is adjusting to going preschool three times a week now. Because this is pre-kindergarten things are more focused, so he's had to deal with that. Not to mention the usual problem with food. If he doesn't like snack - he refuses to eat any of it. He wouldn't even get near the table at first. I have taken to bringing him nutrition shakes so that he gets some nutrition before lunch. So at least now he will sit with the group and dring his shake. Otherwise, he just loses it with hunger. He's going through a real emotional time right now. He's been crying a lot over the littlest things. The world has just become to look so big to him now. Teacher Debbie has told me that all of this is normal. He's working through negotiating this reality, learning rules and learning about himself. That's a lot for a little four year old to learn!

I will leave you now with a few pictures of our Labor Day weekend. We went to New Brighton Beach on the Sunday. We had a sunset picnic with the Hoffmans, Murakamis and Sterns from school. It was freezing but, the kids all managed to get soaked still! And then Gilroy Gardens on the Monday. The boys always have wonderful time communing with nature.