School!

Once again I am completely behind on this blog and maybe one day I will get caught up but I doubt it. So let's just start from now and hopefully one day I will fill in the holes.

Can you believe this girl started Kindergarten!?

Yesterday!

It was quite the day. She is in the afternoon class so I tried to keep her busy all morning. With all the excitement, she was completely ready, with her jobs done, by like 9:30.  I showed her on the clock what time we'd get lunch and that we'd leave after that.  So she went out front to ride her bike and every five minutes she was inside checking the clock!

 One benefit of school is that she actually lets me fix her hair! Hopefully that continues for the whole year. 

 We ended up eating lunch in like 5 minutes because she just wasn't hungry (too excited). So I told her we could leave right then and walk or wait 10 more minutes and I would drive her.  She choose to leave right then.  It was so fun to watch her skip the whole way to school. It is definitely a memory I won't forget. 

 As we got closer to the school, we ran into one of Addy's friend and they both ran to the front of the school and we found them sitting on the bench waiting. Sadly, they aren't in the same class but they will still get to ride the bus home together.

Of course we get in her classroom and she no longer needs me.  She is so independent and not afraid of new things which is awesome and sad for me all at the same time.

My favorite part was watching her come home from school with a smile on her face. And then to hear all about it.  My mother inlaw once told me that she made sure she was always home when the kids got home from school cause she could always tell how their day went within those five minutes of them being home.  It really is the truth because I got all the details and by the time Mitch got home, the excitement was gone and he got very little recap.  It reminded me of just how lucky I am to be able to stay home with my beautiful kids!!

2nd day of school

She is growing up too fast.

Last night, we also had a little back to school feast. I printed out a few little school name cards and napkin rings.  Then we also talked about our family motto for the school year which is Kindness begins with ME.  Hopefully it will be a good reminder for all of us in the family to remember to show kindness in all that we do.

Celebrate Youth

We had another successful year at the Celebrate Youth activity.  I took zero pictures of poor Brayden who was for the most part stuck in the stroller. But I did capture a few of Addy enjoying her last day of summer vacation.

 She was even brave enough to try the climbing wall this year.  So I was patient enough to stand in the forever long line with her even though it was really hot.

Can you see her?

On the trolley. I wasn't coordinated enough to get brayden in with us with out dropping my phone and him.

Getting her hair fixed up.

It was a very fun and exhausting afternoon.

How did I get Brayden to stay in the stroller? 

(I know some of you are wondering that)

I let him eat a creamy all by himself.

He was covered from head to toe in sticky chocolate popsicle but at least he was happy!

Dad's birthday celebration!

My daddio had a birthday not too long ago and to celebrate, most of the family came up to Idaho!

We had lots of fun all weekend.

Friday morning, we started the day doing a temple session with some family names my mom had.  Then in the afternoon we headed down to the zoo.  The weather wasn't the greatest but it didn't stop us from having fun anyways.

These lions were a definite favorite. The kids enjoyed having roaring contests with them. 

We got to the monkeys just in time for them to get their dinner which was fun to watch them jumping all over the place fighting for some food!  

Later that evening after everyone arrived, we went bowling.

Usually I am a terrible bowler but for some reason I was awesome.  I even got two strikes in a row on the last frame!  Pretty proud of myself.

Brayden loved playing with the balls as they came out of the shoot.

The next day, Mitch and I headed back over to the temple to help participate in our ward temple day.

After lunch, we packed up and headed up to Jackson. We dropped Mitch off at the Bar J to save us a place in line and then the rest of us went into down to wander around the shops.  Once again it was rainy and a little chilly but there wasn't too much complaining.  

Around 5:00 we headed back to the Bar J so we could be there for the fresh biscuits! 

Then we put Mitch on the carriage with all the kids and the rest of us just walked the path.

Brayden did not enjoy the ride so I got him off and let him just walk around.

He was in heaven!

Yeah, we barely survived the bear attack.  Good thing my sisters are brave and fought him off!

It was such a fun weekend which went by much too quickly.  Other highlights were Mitch's famous and delicious crepes, grandma teaching the kids how to make stick boats to float down the river and grandpa paying for his own birthday weekend!  I have been so blessed with such an amazing family! We just missed Tyler and Karson since they had to stay back and work.  Maybe next time the weather will be just a little more sunny and we can head to the lake!

Boo

Turns out we have a ghost living in our house!

Awhile back Addy would want to surprise me by picking up the toys or putting her clothes away. She would always say "don't look mom" so I'd make myself busy with something and she'd do her nice thing and then tell me to look. I'd pretend to be scared thinking there was a ghost in our house. Well one day she found my stash of left over fabric in the closet and came up as a real ghost. She'd even cut out the holes for her eyes. It was so random and put a smile on my house.

Attempt #2

So we put a halt to the baby food for about 6 weeks because it was causing some constipation problems which made for a very unhappy baby. This is our second attempt and this time around he's just not loving it. I know it takes time to adjust to the new textures and so we still keep trying even when he squeezes his lips together and flings his head side to side.  It really makes me laugh sometimes. So this was a rare smile while in his chair.

Just had to put this last picture up because lots of times this is how a squeeze a shower into my mornings.  Place them both in front of the iPad with a show on. And yes, we let our son play with dolls. This is the real version of our family!

Lovin' our toes

This little man is obsessed with his toes. I know all babies go through this phase of grabbing their toes and such but wow this guy has taken it to a whole new level.  I sometimes wonder if it is because normally he has his special shoes on, so he just isn't used to having nothing on his feet. Or he is just a canibal trying to chew off his big toe. 

Fort

Addy built a fort and then asked if Brayden could come play in it with her.  

If when you mean sit by you as play. 

Then sure.