Newest Family Member

For MONTHS Sophia has been nicely reminding Seth and I that she would like a pet mouse. When given the choice of what to do an a random weekend while sister naps, Sophia would ask to go to the pet store to look at the mice.

So, for her 6th birthday, Seth and I bought her a mouse. We chose a gray and brown spotted mouse who needed to be adopted (he was picked on by the other mice in the store).

Sophia was so excited to see her birthday "gift."

She LOVES her mouse. And so does Chloe. And so does Seth. And kinda me....

Welcome to the Oberst home, Joey (mouse)!

WHAT?! Not already...

This week Sophia was assigned her 1st "Report" project. She needs to research her favorite animal and present findings to the class. She's expected to answer questions about habitat, diet and unique qualities. Sophia has chosen to research elephants (reasoning: because she has a stuffed elephant that she can "bring into class to show everyone what an elephant looks like").

I suggested to Sophia that she ask daddy to help her do the research on the computer. I knew Seth would love spending that time with her. I walked in 25 minutes later to see Sophia sitting on Seth's lap taking notes about their findings. Very sweet.

As a side note: Seth and I were trying to remember when we first had to do an oral presentation. We think it was around Jr. High age. NOT 1st grade. Crazy.

Kisses for Cookie

Chloe LOVES to kiss and hug my belly. She has affectionately named the baby "cookie." Every day she asks to kiss and hug Cookie. Adorable!

Hey! When did you learn that?

Usually when Chloe and I go for a bike ride, it starts with me pushing her and inevitably ends up with me carrying the bike and Chloe following behind me crying. Yesterday was different! She actually pedaled the whole time. Honestly, I'm not sure how long she's been able to pedal. The trike has been on the front porch for a couple of weeks and she has been "practicing" each time we leave and come home. Maybe I've been too busy to notice. I'm glad I was there to witness her ride yesterday!

Troop #1647 Newest Member

Over the summer Sophia and I talked about her joining a Girl Scout Daisy Troop. She knows a couple of the girls from school, and the other troop members are from the neighborhood. After checking out a meeting, she decided it was "perfect." So we went to the official Girl Scout Store to purchase the required vest and patches (thanks Seth for ironing it all).

We just had our first meeting of the year. The girls reviewed the Girl Scout Law and Promise and discussed what it means to be a friend. Very cute.

My biggest concern is trying to memorize the following:

The Girl Scout Promise

On my honor, I will try:
To serve God* and my country,
To help people at all times,

And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

The Girl Scout Law

I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to

respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.

Back to School

Sophia is officially a 1st grader! Her teacher this year is Ms. McBride in Room 2-A. It's a longer day (till 3pm) but she gets a longer lunch and an extra recess! Sophia was excited that there are a few girls from last year's kindergarten class in the same class with her this year.

When I asked Sophia how her first day of school was, she answered "o.k. all we did was review the rules." She followed up with "some of the kids didn't follow the rules so they had to stay in at recess. They were boys of course." Of course I will never have to worry about Sophia not following the rules.

I look forward to the 1st grade experience!

What's Wrong?

This has been Chloe for the past week. I wish we could figure out how to make it better. Is it just being 2 years old?

Good thing she's still so cute even when crying/fussing.