First Day of School 2012-Day 1

Three new grade levels in our house-4th, 1st and preschool. I qualified the title of this post with "day 1" because today was only the first day for the girls. Robbie gets his first day tomorrow. And it won't be his real first day. It will be his visit. With Mommy and Daddy. For a short period of time. Then next week he will go for two days. The first day will be with half of his class. The second day next week will be his real REAL first day. Full class. No Mommy. No Daddy. Nine to Noon. 7 days and counting...

So these photos are really only of the girls' first day. For the first time EVER in elementary school, Padyn and her besty are not in the same class. That's ok. We are trying not to be upset about it. At some point they have to go it without each other. And they still get to spend recess together...

When I asked Kate how school was, her response was, "I don't really like first grade." Great. Fingers crossed that this will not be a battle year. My guess is she is reacting to much less play, a longer day, and MANY more kids in a SMALLER classroom. How can 32 1st graders in a classroom built for 20 be a good idea?

Padyn said that she LOVES fourth grade! Oh good. At least one of them likes it.

Katelyn and her bud are also not in the same class, but we are used to that. They weren't in kindergarten together, either. Both are disappointed but will manage.

Cousins....Bella LOVES 3rd grade.

And even though it wasn't Robbie's first day, we had to get him in a picture. I think this was taken in Padyn's classroom.

To all of you in the same First Day of School boat, cheers! Hope you had a nice, easy, uneventful day also.

Jumping Boy (and Random Sisterly Background Noise)

We spent the last weekend at the lake, where it was SO COLD FOR THE END OF JUNE! That did not stop the kids from wanting to go swimming. Who wouldn't want to swim in 90 degree water? Even if it is only 55 degrees outside and windy. But it was a good thing we did decide to let them swim, because this was the day Robbie decided he could jump into the pool all by himself. No help from Mommy or Daddy or Sisters. All. By. Himself. You can see that he can also get himself back to the steps alone. Try to ignore the noise being made by the girls. I don't know what game they were playing, but it involved Mommy and Baby and Tango-ing. Yes. They were doing the Tango in the pool. I have no idea.

Two down, so many more to go...

Katelyn lost her second tooth shortly after she lost her first, which is to say, a few weeks ago. Just getting around to showing you the photo now...

One Down, 23 or so to Go

It was a hot dog that finally did in Katelyn's first loose tooth. One bite and we had a big bloody mouth on our hands. Fortunately, the blood did not phase Katelyn at all. She just looked surprised, then pleased, then pulled that tooth right out of her mouth. And here is what we have now...

...a very excited 6 year old.

First of Many Dental Visits

Now that the big man is 3 years old, there are many things that are changing in his life. The major one is that that he no longer gets his pacifier. So far, it has not been too painful of a process. (But please do not speak of this matter to him. It only causes hysteria and tears. The paci has become that which must not be named). But on the bright side, I will now allow him to chew gum. His first two endeavors in that realm ended well, so I believe that this is a trend that can continue.

Today Robbie experienced another perk (only to some) of being 3-visiting the dentist. The first visit to the dentist usually just consists of having Dr. M look in your mouth and having the hygienist show you all the "fun teeth toys." No one actually expects to do a cleaning or any serious dental work on the first visit.

But Robbie was such a willing dental patient, that not only did Dr. M get to look at all the boy's teeth with his magic mirror, the hygienist actually managed to clean and put fluoride on his teeth! And there was no complaining or crying on Robbie's part. He was a very, happy, willing participant in this process. See for yourself....

Of course, the movie on the ceiling piped through the headphones might have helped a bit...

This afternoon he actually asked to GO BACK to the dentist. Can you believe that? What a kid.

Photo Saturday-Arm Bands

There is a story here, but for now, just let the pictures speak for themselves. I call this collection "Photo Shoot with Arm Warmers."

Happy Saturday

Big Boy Bed

Tonight is the first night Robbie is sleeping in his new "Big Boy Dinco Car" bed. It's a temporary solution until I figure out what I want to do with his room, furniture, bed, etc. And I wasn't in any rush to take him out of his crib-he doesn't try to climb in or out or anything. In fact, my original plan was to leave him in his crib as long as humanly possible. But a friend was getting rid of this bed, so I took it while I could. And since it was making my real car sleep out in the driveway while it took up space in the garage, we decided it should just be in Robbie's room instead.

I didn't think he would fall asleep so fast or willingly tonight, but look at that. Not even 45 minutes after I left him. I guess cars really do have a magically qualities for this boy. (Oh, do you see the navy blue bag with the red strap next to him? That's his "Car Backpack." Many of his matchbox cars, mainly the ones from the Cars movie, are in there. He demands to sleep with it these days. Just further support of my theory.) Night night, Buddy. We'll see how this all plays out in the morning...

First Day of School

First Day of School, Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011. The day Padyn became a 3rd grader and Katelyn became a Kindergartner. They were pretty happy to be going back to school...but I think Mommy was most happy.

Robbie was pretty happy just because he is Robbie...and he has a car.Padyn is pretty lucky to have her best pals in her class again.

And we are pretty excited that Mrs. W is our teacher...

And Mrs. S. is our classroom aid again. We love her.

Katelyn is SO LUCKY to have Mrs. B as her teacher.

And while she thinks preschool was more fun because it wasn't as long, she is pretty happy to be a big kindergarten girl.

The first day of school also coincided with Daddy and my 14 year wedding anniversary. Not that we had much of a chance to celebrate...Yeah Mommy and Daddy!

Kinder Orientation

Katelyn and her cute new hair visited her kindergarten class today. School officially starts tomorrow. I'm a bit anxious for her, remembering how the first couple months of preschool last year were a difficult transition for her. I'm taking as a good sign that she did not want to leave her new classroom today. I had to drag her out....

Yea for school starting tomorrow!

Strange Children

I have strange children who live in my house with me. Most days they do normal strange children things, like refuse to eat the "crust" of the quesadilla or demand to wear sweatshirts when it is 97 degrees. Some days it is really out there, like not liking to eat the cookie part of a chocolate chip cookie (many crumbly bits all over the floor) or going to bed in 5 pairs of pajamas. Yes. Five. When it is still 80 degrees in the house. AND sleeping under her down comforter.

I can't capture it all, but in the past week I got a few things to share....

Dressing up with sheer skirts. (Fortunately this time, she kept her clothes on underneath. Usually she only has on underwear and throws a fit when I won't let her go over to the neighbor's house to play like that. )I didn't take these pictures, nor do I recall this incident, so I must not have been present. I wonder if Daddy really encouraged Robbie to put that skirt on, or if he did it himself...

With a unicorn in one hand and Lightening McQueen in the other. What could be better?Two in a recliner is better one, I guess. I didn't witness the beginning of this transaction, just the end result. I'm sure Padyn was there first, and Robbie decided it looked like a good spot to play with his cars.

Notice the anklet on P? She's been wearing that all the time these past couple weeks. Not sure where that idea sprang from...

Apparently suspending yourself between the couch and the coffee table is just as comfortable as reclining in the chair. Again...no idea. Missed the set up, just saw the end product.Is there a better spot to play with your iTouch? Since I saw him doing this again today, with iTouch in hand, there must not be.

And lastly, our dress-up queen has moved onto pretend injuries. Here is her "broken leg" in its "cast." I'll have you know she wore that 4 socked cast to bed tonight.

Oh, and this is the kid that doesn't wear shoes and SOCKS, remember? But according to her, 4 socks are more comfortable than one. Maybe I could buy her shoes 2 sizes too big? Then her huge socked foot would fit into them and we'd be done with this battle.

I doubt I will ever win the "Wearing Dress That Falls Off Shoulder" Battle, though. Too bad. As they say, gotta pick 'em.

Robbie Gets His Groove On

I'm sure that chicken wing dance move is going to impress those ladies in his future...




My favorite part is the second half were he knows to pause and wait for the music to start before he busts a move.

Photo Friday-Sports Center

It's great when we go to Papa's house. Everyone gets a little sports conditioning...

And everyone plays baseball in their grandparents' garage, right?

Everyone uses the inside of the garage door as a backstop (complete with cardboard target) while wearing totally inappropriate clothing, right?

We are so normal.

Happy Friday.

And welcome 2011.

New Skillz

There's a lot of things Kate wants to do for herself lately. I just wish they were the same things I want her to do by herself (like find her pjs and clear her place). But I'm usually willing to take the ones that she gives me. A new skill that she decided she was capable of earlier this month was cutting her own apples. So, me being the busy mom I am, I said, "Great! Here you go." and gave her a cutting board, a butter knife and a peeled apple.

Silly me. I assumed she'd cut a few chunks and be done with it. But no. Not Katelyn. Twenty minutes later, this is what I found on the counter.

She'd already consumed about half the apple. This is what was left of the massacre.

Catching Up

Clearly I've been on a vacation from blogging lately. Somehow I just haven't been able to find the time. So we'll start with something easy...Christmas.

Christmas came a bit early this year. The girls' first present actually arrived before Thanksgiving, but it was a couple more weeks before we could put it together. These awesome bunk beds have literally doubled the size of the girls' bedroom. They are super excited about their new beds. But clearly, it hasn't really helped keep the room tidy...Another early present for the girls...tickets to the Nutcracker ballet. Surprisingly, both girls enjoyed it. I wasn't sure since they are so sensitive to anything slightly suspenseful or a tiny bit frightening. Kate did ask me to cover her eyes while she covered her ears when the Nutcracker was fighting the King of the Mice. And other than wishing it was over about 15 minutes before it ended (because she was bored), she thought it was great. Padyn also loved it. When I asked her what her favorite part was, her reply was, "All of it."

Here they are demonstrated what they had seen that afternoon. Oh, and Robbie wanted to get in on the picture, too.

Christmas continued to come early. We let the girls open their present from Uncle Greggie and Aunt Hezzie the day before Christmas Eve. Thanks, guys, for our AWESOME new game!

I skipped a day of photos, but we celebrated with Grandma and Auntie and Bella and Trevor on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day found us at home in the morning opening our presents from each other. Still in our jammies. We were all a bit tired as Katelyn was up coughing most of the night and Robbie was awake every couple hours with, what we figured out a few days later, was hand foot and mouth disease.

Only an hour later, the house was in complete chaos...

Christmas continued...more presents, more houses, more family. Kate and Robbie didn't get to participate in all of it since the were ill. But they didn't mind sitting around watching TV with Daddy while Padyn and I celebrated at Grammie's house.

And after it all...all the presents I mean, the clear winner for Katelyn was the last one she opened at Papa and BonBon's house. Can you tell what it is from the picture?

Even when I tell you it's a unicorn pillow pet, you still might not know what it is. But don't worry. If you come over, it will be the first thing she shows you.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.