Oh the things they learn at school......

Sorry it's been awhile since I've blogged, but life has been busy with the new job, Connor starting school and other assorted life stuff. But I was reminded the other day that it's been awhile (hi mom!), so I thought I'd better update this site before I got in trouble again. LOL!

Connor started school three weeks ago, and what an adventure it has been so far! It has been a bit overwhelming --- not to mention very overstimulating --- for him. But he's finally starting to adjust and is doing rather well. I do suspect he's a little bored with learning his alphabet and how consonants and vowels sound since he has been reading at a fourth grade level for over a year now. But his teacher is aware of his ability and is working to customize his lessons to his level to help prevent boredom.

While I have been basically happy with his school experience, there is one thing that I am not so happy about --- his newfound vocabulary. Thanks to some of his more colorful classmates, I have heard phrases such as "dang it to heck" and some others I won't mention here. Most disturbing is the fact that apparently one of his classmates regularly misuses the name of Jesus Christ. Connor told us today that makes him very sad when his classmate does that. :( Sadly, I have realized I can't put Connor in a bubble, and he will hear these sorts of things while out and about in the world. All I can do is let him know that we do not use those sorts of words and phrases here, and hope he understands.

Labor Day Fun.....

So, it was a lazy day at our house so far. The boys went outside to play with the remote-controlled car Connor got for his birthday. They drew a race track with chalk first. They also went roller-blading and scootering, so they were pretty tired by the time we had lunch.

Connor spent some time after lunch building new bridges and tunnels for his train set. He was using blocks to do it. I was pretty impressed with the construction of some of his tunnels. If this kid doesn't grow up to be an engineer (like so many of the Bergs), I'll be shocked.

Zorro was napping in the living room window when I snuck up on him and took this. He wasn't amused. :)

And here is Gabe, drinking from the bathtub. No matter how many times I've seen him do this, it still makes me chuckle. He positions himself with his paw on the drain plug, then constantly licks it because it's getting dripped on from the tub. He hasn't figured out the flaw in this plan yet, and he's been doing it for 5 years! LOL!

First Day of School

Today was Connor's first day of kindergarten at Hance Elementary School.


We dropped him off and watched him go to his classroom. He was hesitant at first, but quickly warmed up when he saw Matthew, our neighbor, in the classroom. I think he's going to have a great time with his new classmates and his teacher, Mrs. Hoffman.

Three days of birthdays......

August is a busy month for birthdays in our family. Isaak has his on Aug. 11, followed by birthdays for my sister, my dad and Connor. I thought I'd do one post to recognize the three days of crazy birthday celebrations we have every year to commemorate.

The hot chick in the righthand side of the picture to your right is my sister, Ann --- or, as I like to call her (because it annoys her) --- Annie Bananie. Annie just turned the big 4-0 on Aug. 23. If you ask me, she looks hot for her age! I hope I look that good at 40. :)

Next up, we have birthday boys number 2 and 3. My dad's birthday is Aug. 24. I won't tell you how old he is, but I will tell you a little story. Growing up, we always got our age in dollar bills in our birthday cards. As we got older (and my parents got funnier), they decided to make those dollars into change. That later transformed into pennies. So we'd get these heavy cards because my dad, the wisecracker, would tape the number of pennies to correspond with our age inside our cards. Let's just say if I had to tape the number of pennies he is this year, I'd need an pretty big card! :)

Connor, who was born today, was almost born on my dad's birthday. In fact, dad was hoping he'd be born on this day so he could share his birthday. Connor, apparently, had other ideas. While still in the womb, he clearly decided it would be better to have three consecutive days of cake than just two, so he insisted on being born at 12:25 a.m. Aug. 25. :) Here are some pictures from the party we had Sunday for him. In the picture above, the kids are gathering the candy from the pinata.

In this picture, the kids are anxiously awaiting the birthday cake.

The kids played sports-themed games during the party. At the end, they all got a gold medal for their efforts. Connor enjoyed handing them out.

This was one of the more popular games --- the relay race balloon pop. The kids were on two teams and had to run to the chairs, sit on their balloons, and pop them. Then they ran back, tagged the next person in line, and the race continued. After awhile, the kids didn't care about racing and just wanted to sit and pop the balloons. But hey -- that was the best part.

And here he is, blowing out the candles on his cake. It was a fun party, but boy was mommy tired at the end of the day! I think I slept better than Connor!

Happy birthday to all my favorite August people! Love you!

Rest in Peace, Rocky......

I was deeply saddened to learn last night that Rocky, the 28-year-old Kodiak bear at the Pittsburgh Zoo, had to be euthanized. Rocky had a severe spinal condition that made everyday living quite painful for him. There is a complete story about him on the Post Gazette's website: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10232/1081353-53.stm

We enjoyed seeing Rocky on our many visits to the zoo, and were amazed at how congenial and fun he was to see. He did many tricks and always seemed happy to see the many visitors who came to see him each day.

I hope Rocky has his bone and his special snowy mountain in bear Heaven. Rest in peace, buddy.

Fun in Canada!

While we were in Canada for Peter and Sally's wedding, we had some fun that wasn't wedding related. Here, pictured to the right, are some fluffy clouds I could see outside my window on the plane ride there. No matter how many times I've seen this, I still find it an amazing view.

While we were there, we visited the Reynolds-Alberta Museum (www.machinemuseum.net) in nearby Wetaskiwin. The museum restores antique motor vehicles and aircraft and puts them on display. You can get a ride from one building to another in a vintage car, which is really cool. Pictured below are the Canadian Snowbirds, who were practicing for an upcoming air show at the museum.

In the next photo, Connor is pretending to fly one of the many aircraft on display at the museum. Some of them are set up with stairs so you can sit inside and try them out. This plane required you to pedal with your feet to make it go, much like a bicycle. Glad we don't have to do that anymore when we fly!

In the next photo, Connor and I were trying out an early-model helicopter. We're not big at all, and we just barely fit in the thing! I couldn't imagine having to actually fly it!

The next photo is of a machine located at the entrance to the museum. It shows how inner gears work. It was pretty neat to watch.

Here we are, at a lake in Wetaskiwin. It had a nice fountain, and a play area for the kids. Connor, grandma and grandpa Berg had a great time using the digger in the play area.

And here's Connor and grandma, blowing bubbles on the front porch. They were having a blast!

Another Berg Wedding!

Isaak's youngest brother, Peter, got married on Saturday to his longtime girlfriend, Sally Hindle. He and Sally have known each other longer than Isaak and I have been married, so it was wonderful to see those two lovebirds finally tie the knot! I can't think of two people better suited to one another (OK, except for me and Isaak). :) Here is Isaak, the best man, and Peter, waiting for the arrival of Sally. The wedding was held at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, and it was a gorgeous location.

A part of the ceremony I really enjoyed was where they combined roses into one vase. Prior to this, the mothers placed them in two vases. I equate it with what Americans usually do with the unity candle. It was so lovely and I really liked it.

Here's Isaak, with two girls on his arm. He received lots of jokes about that at the reception. :) He was the best man and Peter had no other groomsmen, and Sally's sisters were both her bridesmaids. So Isaak had double the duties. He handled it well. He also delivered a very nice speech at the reception. I was proud of him.

Here is the bride and groom, exchanging rings.

And here they are kissing for the first time as husband and wife!

And here they are, being announced as the new Mr. and Mrs. Peter Berg! There is a small movement to get them to change their names to Hindle Berg, to combine both of their last names. but Sally assured us at the reception that that would not be happening. :( Bummer. I think it sounds super cute.

And last but not least, here we all are, at the first dance at the reception. Connor wanted to join us, so he did. Everyone laughed at our three-person dance. I was glad Isaak's cousin, Brenna, snapped this photo so we can remember it for years to come!


Best wishes to Peter and Sally for a long and wonderful marriage! We love you both! Sally, welcome to the family!