McClellan Boys- 5 and 2 years young!

Conner's First Day of Pre-K

Back to St. Susanna we go!  

Conner started pre-Kindergarten on August 13th.  He was so excited to go- until we got there.  Thankfully, I remember well what we all went through last year.  Even though it still did not make my heart feel less heavy, I do know now that I have to let him grow and that he will be ok.  He is definitely doing better this year than he did last year; however it has still been a little bit of a process. He is sad to leave for school in the morning and is sad when it is time for him to go home!

 Jason and I are also struggling to get back into the swing of school - especially school that is five days a week. However, I think that in just a few more weeks, all four of us will be back into the swing of it and ready to go every day.  We are so thankful for his two wonderful teachers and also very excited about Fr. O'Connor's move to St. Susanna!  Here's to fewer tears and more smiles in September!

Drew's Skiing!

Yep- Drew is up on "skis".  Watch out Heritage Lake!

Conner's Fifth Birthday - Fishing Style!

Conner was extra lucky this year - the year that he turned 5 - because he got to have two birthday parties!  His true birth date fell on feast and ski so we had a family birthday party on that day and a friend birthday party the next weekend.  On his actual birthday, our friends Lindsay and Brent and their kids were in town from Chicago; so it made his birthday extra special! Conner is starting to look older now.  In the past he has always had that same baby face, but it is slowly starting to change.  I love so many things about Conner, but over the past year what I have noticed that I love the most about him is the way that he loves others.  He loves with his whole heart and he always shows it - he loves older people and babies, he loves our marina staff, he loves lake security, he loves our volunteer firefighters, he loves the campground managers, he loves his grandparents and his uncles and aunts, he loves his friends, he loves Jason and me and even though he doesn't show it as well - he loves his brother. I am so proud of him!

Conner's big present was a new tube!

His birthday party theme this year was bass fishing (of course).  So all of the kids got stick poles and had a fishing tournament.  We were lucky enough that all of the fish were biting that day- so the kids had a blast.  We also played fish egg toss which is always a favorite of the kids (and the adults).  Conner got a lot of really cool things for his birthday including a real bow and arrow (thanks to Uncle Bill), new skiis, an army tent and tons of fishing gear.  We are so lucky to have such great people in our lives.