4th, 1st and Pre K

I didn't think I would be so sad to see the summer come to an end and see my kids off to school. I thought for sure I would be happy to watch them go out the door and not return for a few hours, happy and more educated. After all, the house would be quieter, and a lot less complaints and fighting. However, that was certainly not the case with me.

Adam and Jenna was were so excited to head to school and Logan was sad he couldn't join, but he did go ahead and packed is own lunch in his lunch box just like the big kids.

Let's just be honest, Jenna is struggling. 1st grade is different than kindergarten. It's longer, every day, a little more challenging, and the hardest part is she doesn't have her Kindergarten teacher this year. She REALLY wants to go back to Kindergarten so she can have the same teacher. She has cried every day so far and I'm hoping that soon she will be able to adjust and be happy to go to school. (This is so different for Jenna. Usually she has not problem at all going to school, or doing new things. In fact, on the first day of school she wouldn't give me a hug good-bye, she just wanted me to go.)

Adam on the other hand, loves school. He loves his teacher and although he says 4th grade is harder, he also says it's more fun. He has to really step it up now that he's in upper elementary school, but so far he's done just that. He was bummed, however, to learn on the first day of school that 4th graders no longer get an afternoon recess.

 

 Logan started preschool and LOVES it! He was upset when he learned that he wouldn't be going every day. On the first day, his teacher had each of the students (there is only 8 of them) make a cardboard car and "drive" to school. I am very impressed with his teacher and the way she runs her preschool.  

Although my kids are growing up WAY TOO FAST, I'm excited for this next chapter in their lives and the things they will learn. I'm sad to see summer come to an end, but look forward to the growth our kids will have this year!

More July fun, this time with the Richards

July was a very busy, fun filled month for us! We were able to see lots of family, have really late nights and lots of laughs. Here's some pictures of what the cousins did when they got together on "the farm."

 You may be wondering about this picture so let me explain. This year there have been SO MANY FLIES...so if you can't kill them all, you may as well try to see how many land on you at the same time and try to get more than anyone else in the group...and that is what they did.

I am really excited about this picture. A microwave? Yes, our new, working microwave. I didn't realize how much I used my microwave until ours went out 6 months ago. Hooray for a working microwave! :)

July already?

The 4th of July was full of fun with family and friends...

 

 Allie is now 4 months old. That went by fast, didn't it? She is so much fun and smiles most of the time. Allie can now grab onto things and they go straight to her mouth. At of 4 month check up she was a whopping 12 pounds, 9 ounces and I am now starting the supplementing process, (wish me luck).

 

 My friend Katie gave me these matching shirts when Allie was born. I loved dressing them up and Jenna loved looking just like her little sister.

 

 My mom came our way while the big boys were away on their annual camping trip. It was fun to have Kody, Hailey and Carson come along as well. Kody was a huge help with the kids and every time I put Allie down, he would pick her up and hold her.

 

 For a short time we have 3 six year olds and here they are...

June is so fun!

So much  happened in June and I haven't been good about keeping up with all of it. We started out with swimming lessons, which as a huge hit, then we (by we, I mean the kids) did some backyard camping, and since Ryan is the best dad in the world, the kids got to run in the sprinklers with their dad, along with all the other kids in the nearby houses. Ryan also came up with the idea to have a movie night outside, so he pulled out an old TV and DVD Player, set it up and before we knew it we had several kids in our front yard watching a movie in the dark. They all loved it and still are talking about it. I only got some pictures of those things...

Allie turned three months old, found her toes and likes the chair a little more.

More of May

We were so happy Ryan was able to have a day off Memorial Day. He went and spent some special time with Jenna, then took the 3 older kids fishing with his dad. Allie and I stayed home and took a nap!

 

 Jenna has been taking dance these last few months and last night was one of three of her dance performances. She was so darn cute, as were the other girls.

 Allie is adorable! We love that she will smile at us and is so alert!

A month in Review

May has been a busy month for us. Here are a few things we've been up to:

 

Adam receiving "Zest" Award at school

 

 Adam's Spring Piano Recital. He did an amazing job!

 

 Mother's Day was full of loves, notes, chocolates, a new skirt :) and gratefulness I get to be a mom of such wonderful children!

Allie continues to be loved by her family. Even after 2 months, the kids still can't get enough of her (neither can Ryan and I)

 

 Allie turned two months on the 18th. She weighed 10 pounds 10 ounces and doing great. I had concerns about her being congested, but the doc says that's normal until they are four months old. I another concern that she wasn't eating enough, but the doc says she looks great and in continuing to grow, so I shouldn't worry.
Then Allie had to get her immunizations. She was NOT happy about that. Fortunately, Jenna was there to calm her down after everything I did wasn't working. Jenna has a way of calming Allie down a lot!
Allie smiles and coo's. She loves to see her daddy and doesn't mind being held by her siblings. She has only fallen off the couch once, and she survived. Allie sometimes will only be up once or twice at night, but sometimes it's 4 or 5 times a night. We're still working on that.
She's still on medication for acid reflux, which seems to be helping.
New born clothes are mostly no longer being worn and 0-3 month clothes are being worn more and more all of the time.

I originally wanted to take pictures of Allie by a big giant stuffed bear, but I decided to do this chair instead, which she hated. Sorry Allie, but maybe next month it won't be so bad.

Happy Birthday to our six-year-old baby girl. Jenna has been counting down the days until her birthday for a good 2 weeks. When the big day finally arrived, she came bouncing into our room and exclaimed that she was now SIX! It is so fun to have a birthday when you're still young!

 

We had lunch with Jenna at school, then later took cupcakes to celebrate with her class. After school she had speech therapy where she was thrilled to share with her therapist that it was her birthday. We ended the day with family over for cake and ice cream.

 

Happy 6th Birthday, Jenna!