1st Day

Here’s our big little girl!  Today was her first day of preschool.  I can’t believe she is already old enough for this!



Last night we had a celebration for K’s first day.  We invited both sets of grandparents and one set of good friends.  I decorated in a school theme using ideas I found off the internet.  (I saw a really cute vase decorated with pencils but I didn’t have the right shape of vase and when I used a glass the whole thing tipped over so I just left it empty...I should have put fake flowers in it or something.)



The guests colored on their “placemats”.





K requested pizza, and I made a “blackboard” cake that said Happy 1st Day of School!



Here’s a little closer picture of it.



Then K got to open a few gifts.



We gave her memory box that I had made off of http://www.papercoterie.com/ a few weeks ago.  It says “The artwork of:” with her name on it and her picture is on the back. 

My thought is to have it hold her school papers so once it gets too full she will have to sort out.  She gets to keep whatever can fit in the box. I thought that might cut down on the paper clutter. :)



Boo enjoying the cake. :)



It was a fun little celebration.  Thanks for coming everyone!



This morning we got up early…yes early for us but not for the rest of the world.  Our girls normally sleep until 8:00 or later so needing to be at school by 8:00 is definitely going to take some adjusting!

Daddy made Minnie Mouse blueberry pancakes per the new-preschool girl’s request. :)



Then we got S out of bed, tossed her in the stroller (she ate after we got back home) and made the three block walk to preschool.



We got there right as her friend, S, arrived.



K did beautifully!  She waltzed right in the house and started talking to the other kids and playing with the toys.  It really helps that she is very familiar with her teacher (our Pastor’s wife) and has been to this house about a hundred times before.  She also knows 5 out of the 8 kids in her class.  She had no hesitation and didn’t even notice when we said goodbye and left. 

Here she is with two of her little girlfriends.


My friend and I picked her up afterwards and she said she had a great day.  Her exact words were, “I had fun!  There was apple slices and banana bread for snack!”  I guess that is the makings of a great day. :)

Considering how great of a cook that Miss J is, we know she is going to have a wonderful year!  Haha:)

Ooo Canada!

Last week we fled the country!  Yep, we went to Canada again for Labor Day.  Baseball families vacation!  What a busy and fun five days!

We went shopping.

Made new friends.

Went to a candy store.

And a totally awesome toy store.

Hung out in our pjs.

Swam in the hot tub.

Played soccer.

Tried to knock out our front tooth, AGAIN.

Read books.

Went to the lake.

Shared a picnic.

Went swimming.

Played on a really cool inflateable water slide.

That had really cold water coming out of it.

Laughed at each other.

Played games.

Went hiking.

Danced to the XBox Kinect.

Played cards.

Played princesses.

Colored.

Did stickers.

Ate yummy food.

Went out for ice cream.

Skipped rocks at the river.

And had a wonderful time!

Thanks for the memories Canada!

An Hour of Summer

My poor husband.  He has been working his tail off this summer!  I feel so bad that he goes and works for 8-10 hours a day and then comes home and works on our house for another few hours. 

With that in mind I have been trying hard to figure out ways to help him get a few hours of summer.  The other day after another three day weekend of working on the house I insisted that we make time to go to the lake.  We only managed to get away for an hour but it was just the medicine we needed to give Daddy a little break. 

We worked hard all afternoon, with the help of both our dads, and then packed a picnic dinner and headed out. 

It had been hot that day…in the 90’s which felt super hot after our very mild summer so as soon as we got there everyone was in the water.  S on the bottom left, T the speck in the middle, and K on the middle right.

The water was cold at first but T and I quickly warmed up to it.  The girls were another story.  K stayed in the water but both of them got so cold they were blue and shaking.  K desperately wanted to be in this picture but had to clamp her lips shut to keep them from chattering.  Boo’s little body didn’t stop shaking until we had her dried out and in the car.

We live in such a pretty place.  Love that view.

Bug has been getting braver about the water.  She will actually float in her life jacket without clutching on to any and all available limbs.  With the life jacket AND the baby floaty she is a swimming machine!  The phrase that goes with this face is “dog paddle! dog paddle!  I can do it! dog paddle!”

But she definitely likes a helping hand whenever possible.

What a perfect hour of summer.  Hopefully we can sneak in a few more before our fall weather sets in!

Friends with Babies

The other day I realized that two of our good friends are having babies soon so if we wanted to see them while they were still families of three we’d better go ahead and do it!  So I set up two “dates” to hang out.

Last Tuesday we met one set of friends at a park and had a picnic dinner.  The kids played on the playground and then found the water.  I knew Boo would be soaked no matter what I did so I went ahead and stripped her clothes off before she could ruin them.  Good thing I did because both she and K were fully in the water before it was over.

I’m really glad we got to spend time with them when we did because even though they weren’t due for a few weeks they had their baby last Saturday!  So excited for you guys V family!

The next day we had a playdate with our good friend E and his Mommy.  We met up at a jumpy place and the kids had a ball playing on all the inflateables. 

These next pictures are off my phone and not as good of quality. 

Boo is such a little daredevil.  She had no hesitation climbing the huge slides and going down.

She loved it and wanted to do it over and over again!

The three kiddos taking a breather.

After they worked up an appetite we headed to Sonic for some lunch on the patio.  We had a great time!  Thanks for meeting us guys!  We’re looking forward to your announcement any day now!

We are so thankful for good friends!  And for new little friends too!  Can’t wait to meet the new babies!

Fun in a Box

When I was little there was nothing more fun than a box!  My mom used to get me refrigerator boxes to play in and I thought it was better than anything.  Must be a universal kid thing because my girls love boxes too! 

We had a big box that our patio set had been in and it was just sitting in the garage waiting to be turned into a fun playhouse. 

Two weekends ago we when were pouring the concrete footings for the porch I needed something to keep the girls occupied while I helped the guys so I pulled out the box.

Cut a few windows and a door in it and they were pleased as punch to play happily while we worked. 

I made them a picnic lunch and they ate inside their house.  It was so cute when they held hands, without prompting, to pray before they started eating.

Pb&j and mandarin oranges.  The lunch of champions. :)

They spent hours in that thing!  It has now been dragged to the backyard and is a little warped after been hit by the sprinklers about twenty times but they are still getting some use out of it. :)

You can see that T put a “doorknob” on by screwing two wood plugs together.

Why buy fancy toys when you can give your kids a box?