August extras

Harrison got Invisalign!

Irish shirts from grandparents' trip to Ireland.

water play

We went to the water park quite a bit this summer and usually with friends.  Grace was really sad one time that we had to leave before she could go to her favorite area (Rock & Roll Island).  I promised Grace that we would go back, just the two of us and only do what she wanted to do, including posing on the lounge chairs.

first day of school

The emotions were all over the place on this morning.  Harrison woke up saying he didn't feel well but got ready anyway.  He called me from the bus stop saying that he was throwing up.  He stayed home and missed the first day of school.  Leo wasn't so lucky.

Leo went to the STEM magnet middle school with Harrison last year.  Although he did well academically, it wasn't a good fit.  We decided that Leo would attend our zoned school for 7th grade.  Needless to say, he's been apprehensive about going to a new school even though he has a ton of friends there.

Grace was the only one who couldn't wait for school to start.  She loves her school, friends, school supplies, etc. and was so excited about second grade.  She wouldn't let me curl her hair or do anything fancy because she had PE on her first day.  She was also excited about that because she loves PE.

It was so sweet to see Grace with her friends again.

I made cookies for the kids to have when they got home.

Harrison pulled himself together for the second day of school.  He still didn't feel good but knew he had to go.  (And he reported having a good day when he got home.)

We have an 8th grader, 7th grader and 2nd grader!!!

And here's Harrison homeroom teacher and Grace's teacher from the Open House.  I could only get Leo in front of his school because taking pictures was way too embarrassing.

I hope & pray that we all have a good school year.  I really think we will.

ancestry

Jeff & I believe it's important for everyone to know where they come from and who they are. With the help of DNA, we found some answers.

In our family of five, none of us are biologically related, so to find common ancestry was exciting.

Here are some of our findings:

We all have English and Scottish ancestry.

All three kids have Italian ancestry.

Everyone except for Jeff has Irish ancestry.

Everyone except for Grace has Germanic European ancestry.

Leo & Grace both have Central & Eastern European ancestry, which includes Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary.

Some of our ancestral regions were very specific. Harrison's DNA says that his ancestors are from Southwestern Italy, Leo's Italian ancestors are from Sicily and Grace's Italian ancestors are from Southern Italy (love a Southern girl!). Both mine and Grace's DNA shows that our Irish ancestors are from Ulster and Northern Ireland. We also share the same ancestral region of the Scottish Highlands and Central Lowlands. How cool is that! Leo's DNA was specific to Switzerland in Germanic Europe while the rest of ours wasn't. Leo's DNA was also very specific to his English ancestry showing East Midland, Yorkshire and Humber and Northeast England.

I have the fewest ancestral regions with only 4 and Leo has the most with 9 ancestral regions. Together, our family is from 14 ancestral regions. Harrison has the most Italian heritage at 51%. Leo has the most Scottish heritage at 21%. Grace has the most Irish heritage at 40%. I have the most English heritage at 58%.

What I have learned from getting our DNA tested:

1.  DNA inheritance is random.  Parents pass half of their DNA down to their children, but which DNA gets passed down and which doesn't is completely random.  That's why even full siblings can have different origins results.

2.  Since none of us has any Native American, we all come from immigrants.  

3.  In the last 1,000 years or so, our ancestors may have known or interacted with each other.

4.  We are related to more people than we can imagine.  

5.  We know where we come from.  

I marvel at the fact that we can learn all of these things by spitting into a tube.  There are so many scientific breakthroughs and updates that our DNA results are constantly being updated and refined.  I love having all of this information at our fingertips.  It makes me feel even more connected to our family.

tubing

As one of our last summer activities, we went tubing down the Rappahannock River.  We were told that the river was high and therefore would have a slow float.  It was such a beautiful day for cool and clear river water, leisurely floating, rapid descents, avoiding rocks, shallows and unexpected depths.  In other words, thrills, spills and chills!

We walked down a wooded path to stairs that led us into the river.  This spot was so slow that Grace & I had trouble catching up with Jeff.  The boys got right over to the rapids and were way ahead of us most of the way.

We finally caught up to the boys when they stopped to jump off rocks.

Grace and I decided we'd had enough fun after the first trip down the river.  The boys all went again.  They had a blast rolling down the river.  Oh, and Harrison hit a rock and popped his first tube.  He & Leo had to share a tube for the very last part of the first trip down.  Memories!