Our Junior Achiever

 No, I am not tooting our own horn about Ms. T, but she literally was an outstanding achiever tonight.  She participated in a Hall of Fame event for Junior Achievement in Cedar Rapids.  It was was black tie event (her first) and there were about 600 people in attendance.  She was awesome!!  Her job was to escort one of the nominees (more on him later) into the ballroom and then up to the stage for his presentation and then back to his seat.

Here she is practicing with another girl who helped with the presentation.  And with Emcee Beth Malicki from KCRG Channel 9.  She was so great with the kids!

Teagan and Blake, another Williamsburg student who participated tonight.  Williamsburg represented well :)  Blake read the invocation and did a great job.   

 The girls taking advantage of a photo op with Beth.

This is blurry, but hey, they were on the move!!  Teagan got to escort Jon Kinzenbaw, who is from Williamsburg and was being inducted.  It was special that a local student got to take part in it with him, but also that my mom has worked for him for almost 30 years.  Like I said, there were almost 600 people there and Teagan rocked it.  She walked him right where they needed to be and did this momma proud :)

 While Jon was speaking she waited up on stage for him.  My little girl is so big!

And here we are!  We didn't plan our body placement well - notice Brad's shoulder and up spot in the back.  Sorry honey!  Anyway, the important people are front and center!  Jon is really an amazing man and has given so much to our community.  He continues to lead not only as an entrepreneur, but as a role model to many people.  Thanks to Junior Achievement for the opportunity and a great night.

Our Soccer Star

 Tate started soccer this year and loves it.  I have to admit that we know very little about soccer, but all that matters is that he loves it and we are all learning.

Only a couple weeks left before we move onto basketball - gotta say we are loving being outside on some of these gorgeous days :)

A little of everything

Just a few catch-up pictures of things going on (or that I haven't posted about)

 This week is Homecoming for school.  Teagan and her friend Carlee on twins day.  And Tate on professional day - is it a shock what he wants to be when he grows up? :)

 I get so caught up blogging about the kiddos and what we have going on that I forget about my other half.  While we are all really busy running here and there, we always seem to find time to do things together as a family and make memories together.

 Some of my time over the summer has been spent at my parent's new house.  They are officially moved in and are finishing up the cleaning out of the old place.  I have inherited some of my old stuff and have to now find a place in my house, but here are some of the old games we dug out one day.  Anybody remember any of these?

And of course adult time!  Brad and I spent an amazing weekend in Chicago with some awesome friends.  We started with a Cubs game on a rooftop - highly recommend it- and then the Iowa game at Soldier Field on Saturday.  Even though it was a close game the Hawkeyes came away with a "W", so it made for much happier husbands and end to the trip.  We are taking a bit of a break from games in Iowa City this year, but still hope to get in at least one more game.  We have some other plans for weekends, which I will keep you posted on :)

Back to School

Its back to school for the Schaefer kiddos.  I would have blogged about this way soon but someone (husband's name omitted) took the memory card hostage for awhile :)

Teagan started 3rd grade and Tate started senior preschool.

 Teagan's first day happened about a 3 days before Tate's and he really struggled with it.  For a kid who is always told to act big he couldn't quite understand why he wasn't starting school with the big kids.  We are all good now and rolling with the routine.

He finally got his day to shine and was so excited.  He goes every morning Mon-Thurs and then heads to Susie's house after.  He is officially the oldest kid there and is playing a new role.

 The kids can walk to school together this year since they are in both at Mary Welsh.  It gives Tate a chance to be the big kid and Teagan to be the big sister.

Tate with Ms. Laura.  So far we hear only rave reviews and he loves everyday!!

Birthday Mania

 August is like Birthday central at our house.  Both kids' big days are only 6 days apart.  Usually we have one big party at our house, but different events led to a different set-up this year.

 The first party started at my parent's house after a couple hours of moving somethings for my parents.

 Tater and some of his new clothes and accessories for school.

Teagan asked for (and got) a tatoo kit. It is actually not as bad as I thought and has been pretty popular with visitors to our house :)

The Schaefer/Von Ahsen crew.  If that doesn't say trouble I don't know what does!

 We had tatoos out for the kids, but our amazing grandparents decided to humor the kids and get some too. Here they are with their hand, ankle, and wrist "art".  We are so lucky to have them and the fact that they are able to join us makes every event so special.

The next stop was Des Moines and the Schaefer/Van Zee party.  The adults had celebrated Aunt Lindsay's birthday the night before, so we went for a breakfast party.  The kids got their favorite doughnuts and breakfast pizza.

 Teagan showing off her new kicks for school.  Notice Tate in the background not being able to wait for his sister to get done with one gift before ripping into his next.

Tate and his new shoes.  This is how high he can jump just by putting them on :)

 The crew!  Teagan and Tate have birthdays 6 days apart in August and Will and Kate's are right next to each other in September, so we are lucky to be able to have combo parties and be able to spend time with everyone.  Lindsay and Shane were nice to Grandma and Grandpa and had Lauren in December :)  We were lucky to be able to have everyone join us this year - even Aunt Jill from the east coast.  It worked out that she was back for a visit and could hangout with all of us.

Now that the birthday craziness is over we can focus on school, soccer, dance, piano lesson, football, and whatever else we decide to pack our days with :)

Darcy Gets Her Groove Back

 So, my summer is officially over and everyone I am reconnecting with asks "how was your summer?"  I tell them it was great, but when I think back I have a hard time recalling what exactly we did.  After finally upload pictures from 3 different devices, yes I said 3, I realized we did a ton of stuff and had a really great time!  Here are some of our events in no specific order:

 Weddings: Kelly has been like a big sister to Teagan since she was born.  We were so excited to be able to share her day with her.  As you can tell in the picture she is an amazing person and we are so happy for her and Holden!  Brad and I attended to other weddings this summer as well, so there are 3 of our Saturdays there.

 Just hanging around.  I teach about 3 weeks of summer school, so I don't officially start summer until the end of June.  I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me since I still get about 6 weeks off, but July gets crammed with trips and swim lessons, then its August and birthdays and then back to school.  

 Teagan participated in a golf clinic here in Williamsburg and then 2 tournaments.  She does well and enjoys it so we are excited she wants to do it.  Tate will be right there with her soon enough.  They enjoy going to the driving range on nights I have golf league - there is another activity that I forget about, but am lucky enough to enjoy each week.  It is so good to be able to get out, do something I enjoy (most of the time) and hang out with some great friends while doing it.  Brad and I also golfed in 2 couples tournaments this summer.  Brad played in the Club Championship as well, getting 2nd place and the Pro-Am this past weekend.  

The middle of June marked Linda's birthday.  We always take the kids out to visit and here they are signing "Happy Birthday" to her.  Something we all know she is all smiles about :)  Speaking of time flying by, we can't believe it will be 10 years in December since she left us.  We feel her presence everyday - especially with the kids.  She is definately a huge part of them.

We took our annual Schaefer/Van Zee trip to the Ozarks.  As always it was fun and relaxing while being able to spend some time with everyone.  We were excited to be able to have Jill and her boyfriend Stephan join us this year.  They added to the chaos fun!  Each year it gets less stressful and more relaxing to be in the water.  The kids are becoming better swimmers and understand what they can do to have fun but still be safe.

 Aunt Beth made an appearance a couple of nights this summer.  We don't get to see her as much as we would like, but when she is here she always comes up with something to do with the kids.  This night they were having a jumping and contest, which then turned into Sumo wrestling.  I will spare you those pics :)

 August was filled with about 2 weeks of birthday festivities for the kids.  They each got to choose 1 friend and have a day out.  This is Tate with his buddy Henry.  The enjoyed a morning showing of "The Lorax", lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, and then playtime at Kent Park.  They had a blast!  I didn't get a picture of Teagan's day, but she had Carlee come along for a manicure/pedicure night complete with supper at Hy-Vee Chinese and then some shopping.  I think they both had a good time.

 We did 2 separate family parties for the kids.  The first was a Friday night at my parent's house.  It was a double duty event since we spent the first hour or so moving some furniture into their new house (post about that sometime in the future)  The second was a Saturday morning in Des Moines with the Schaefer/Van Zee family.  The kids spent time with their cousins Will and Kate while us adults spent a night out.  Then Saturday morning was doughnuts and breakfast pizza.  Now thats a birthday celebration :)

We are gearing up for Hawkeye football season - its right around the corner.  The kids were very lucky to get a birthday gift of jerseys from family friends this year.  And they just happen to have the name and number of our favorite Hawkeye :)

 Last week we took off for St Louis with just the kids.  It was a really great vacation and packed with tons of fun stuff.  Starting with kids meals that turned my entire family in pirates!

 Then a stop in Hannibal, MO at Mark Twain's Caves.  Brad and I both remember going there as kids so we decided we wanted the kids to have the same memories.  They loved it and it was a great addition to the vacation.

 Once in St Louis we went to a Cardinals game - I know, Cubs fans should never walk through those gates, but the stadium is beautiful and we had a great game experience.  So glad we went.

 A visit to the arch and then supper for Teagan's birthday at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Also a new find (thanks to Gpa and Gma Schaefer & Brett and Jane).  The City Museum.  A collection of tunnels, slides, and everything you can imagine.  The kids had a blast and it was so much fun to watch them explore!  So, thats it - my summer.  I guess you can say we did a couple things :)  I hope to post more about some of these individually.  I am also finishing up my menu planning for August and September while doing calendars for family activities.  This fall looks to be about as eventful as summer.  We wouldn't have it any other way!