Max's first day of Kindergarten!

Here is the big guy on the first day. Isn't he so cute with his spikey hair and cute big-boy clothes!? I can't get enough of him dressed for school! He is even sporting really (seriously) cool Darth Vader shoes, which I am usually opposed to. But, these are not super cheesey, or ugly, and he really loves them!

Here is the happy guy hanging up his super cool guitar backpack. He has been so easy going about school! He is so happy to get up and get ready each and every morning. He is loving his new friends (all 4 of them! the class split is 13 girls and 5 boys)! And, he had no separation anxiety about me leaving him (sniff, sniff). This guy is going to rule the Kindergarten!

We are all super excited for a great school year!

Molly's first day of Kindergarten!

Molly was so excited on her first day of Kindergarten! She was so thrilled to wear her new SKINNY jeans (she only likes skinny jeans not fat jeans-her words, not mine) and t-shirt, because again, it was 95 degrees! She had lots of opinions about what she wore, her hair, her shoes, etc. Not all of them were my preferences, but with Molly, one learns quickly which battles to fight.

How cute are they RUNNING to school?! We all tried to keep up. They were so full of energy and I loved that they were holding hands. I think they eased each other's fears!

In front of the bulletin board outside of their class.

And, finally, Molly, hanging up her backpack. She got a little nervous at this point and clung to me for a while. TOTALLY caught me off guard. I expected that more from Max, because she is usually so dang independent! But, her teacher distracted her and she was happily playing soon after!

Here are her and Max drawing a picture of their favorite animal. Molly drew an elephant and Max drew a Saber-toothed Tiger.

And, this is where I would like to insert "getting off the bus on the first day pictures," but lo, when the bus pulled up to my house, Max and Molly were not on it. Apparently they were on the "walk list" because we live too close to the school, so they were pulled off of the bus and the bus driver was kind enough to pull over to inform me that they were waiting for me in the school office. They were so deflated when I got there to pick them up. They were so looking forward to the bus! The secretary informed me that she and the principal were working with transportation and would get it all worked out. The Kindergarten bus is for ALL kindergarteners. And, this was one time that I knew the school secretary's feistiness would work in my favor. Sure enough, by the next morning I got a call from her saying that they were on the list and could take the bus home that day. Oh happy day! They were so excited and ALL smiles when they got off of the bus that second day. I am pretty sure that the bus is the highlight of Kindergarten so far.

It is so great seeing them come home happy every day and loving school. To me, that is the sole purpose of kindergarten. I am so happy that they got a great, fun teacher and that they are loving it so much!

Backing up a bit...the first day of school!

I had to back up to the first day of school! It's always so monumental and exciting. This year was no exception. Olivia went to 5th grade. She was so excited!!! Of course, it was 95 degrees on the first day of school, so she had to only wear half new school clothes with some shorts. Funny, it's cool here all summer, then the first week of school gets blasting hot. Oh well. Here is my grown up darling!
Here she is heading down the hallway to her new class! The first day was super special this year because Grandma got to come with us! Olivia was so happy to have her there! Also, Olivia started the day before Max and Molly, so she got her "own" first day. That made it nice and less hectic!

And here is the only picture I got of her in her new classroom where she was not saying, "mom, STOP" and giving me the evil eye. It is apparently no longer "cool" for your mom to walk you to class in 5th grade and take lots of photos. Eventually I looked around and noticed that, yes, I was the only parent in the class. Yikes. Jon is sure that I will be there until her senior year. He could be right. It's just such a big deal. I couldn't send her off to the sharks without checking out the water and making sure it was friendly. It's my motherly duty, right?

Here's to a great 5th grade year and LAST year at elementary school....sniff, sniff....my baby is growing up to fast!

Happy Birthday, Max!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy! This guy stole my heart from the get-go! At 4 lbs 12 oz he literally felt like such a fragile, special little gift, and he was so sweet and cuddly. He and I had a special connection right away. I mean, look at this little guy, swimming in his premie clothes. My heart just longs to have him back in my arms, but oh no! He is SIX! Crazy!

We were so lucky to have Grandma here for the big birthday celebration! She saved my bacon, loved the kids, and just was so fun to have around for a whole week! So, even though this is a blurry picture, it's an important one. Max really loves his grandma!!!
And, here is the father of the year, working on his masterpiece. Jon was so great to help out with Max's cake. He did an excellent job!

And, drumroll...ta-da! Darth Maul (for those of you non-Star Wars fans):

And, here's the cute birthday boy in his new birthday outfit on his way to school! He is such a cool kid!And, this is actually Max, don't be fooled by his awesome new costume! He has been dying for a Darth Vader costume for months!
Happy birthday, Max! Here's to a great year being SIX! We are so proud of who you are becoming and are so grateful to be your parents!!!

Happy Birthday, Molly!

Oh my goodness! How can it be? This is a reoccurring theme: I can't believe my little Molly is SIX. It was just yesterday that she was sharing the womb with her baby brother, and now she shares nothing with him! I had to dig out some reminiscing baby pics of cute Molls, too, of course. Here she is on her blessing day with her cute little bro:

And this is the little princess just a few months old. She was such a darling baby. She was sweet, and easy, and slept through the night at just 6 weeks! She was a saving grace. Of course, she did have her moments. I remember calling Jon on the phone one night (he was working out of town) in tears because I had been rocking Molly for hours and she wouldn't quit wailing! But, those moments were few and far between, and our nickname for her as a baby was "our little pioneer baby" because she seemed like a baby who was just content all of the time and patiently waited her turn to eat, be changed or be held.Molly asked for make up for her birthday, and we obliged. Just for PLAY, of course. She has had the most fun with it, and has only used my white towels to wipe her face a few times! She loves to play dress up, make up, and paint nails. She is a real GIRL. I am still not sure where she came from!!! Here she is on her way to school on her birthday! (please note her new birthday cowgirl boots! So cute!)And, here is Molly's Barbie cake. Every girl needs one of these once, right? She loved it! It turned out ok, but when the candles were lit, Barbies hand got in the flames and started smoking! Yikes! Molly blew everything out quickly and saved the day. She had a great birthday and was smiling ear to ear all day!
We love you, Molly! You are becoming a darling little lady. You are full of spunk and we love that about you, too!

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

My baby is ELEVEN. E.L.E.V.E.N!!! How is this possible? How could this little baby, (6 lbs 4 oz at birth) that I could hold in my hands with little spill-over, be so big, and grown up, and Eleven? It's INCONCEIVABLE! We really love our Olivia! She has been a great oldest child. She broke us in, taught us the ropes, and has thrown us lots of fun curve balls along the way. I dug out some old pics and scanned them (we had a film camera back in those days) so you could all see what a beautiful baby she was:

And, she has grown into an even more beautiful (inside and out) YOUNG lady. For her birthday she wanted a chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake with Reeses on top. So, I obliged, of course. It was my first attempt at an ice cream cake, and all went well except it leaked a little ice cream over night while it was hardening up. All who ate it said it was delicious. I snoozed and lost on that one, because when I got done cutting cake, it was GONE. It must've tasted better than it looked!

Here is the birthday girl opening a morning gift. She got a new game for her DS and she is loving playing it in the 4 spare minutes she has each day after all of her homework, piano, and chores are done (oh, how I miss summer...)

And, here is my big girl getting her EARS PIERCED! That is the number one thing she wanted for her birthday. She has been psyching herself out for months to get this done, and she did pretty well. Grandma was there to hold her hand, and she only shed a few tears. I was too busy video recording to be very sympathetic. She shook it off quickly, though, and now is LOVING her new pierced ears, with SAPPHIRES in them. She looks lovely.

We love you, Olivia! Here is to a great year of ELEVEN! We know you will make it a great one!