Summer time

 After a long day in the sun at the water parks, I found Claire Bear dead asleep like this, (she was supposed to be in time out).

 We made a trip to the 'Couve to help my parent's pack up their house and move.  We took a day off and my mom and I headed to Seaside with the kids.

 Carousel fun, but what's a road trip without a massive melt down?

 After we were all cool, calm and collected we headed to Mo's in Cannon Beach for lunch!

It was a perfect Oregon coast day!  Near 80 degrees with no wind, unbelievable!

 While we were at the beach, my Dad sold the couch and kitchen table, it was a long week of sitting and eating on the floor!

Artsy Fartsy

I am going to try to catch up on all my overdue Summer posts, brace yourself.

A few months ago I subscribed to kiwicrate.com   which is a company that sends craft kits to you each month.  It took me over two months to finally open our kits, so I ended up cancelling it, BUT the ones we did do, the kids loved!

The first theme was a castle theme.  Brayden got to make the catapult, it was pretty awesome.

 

 Dani got the princess crown...

 Ellie got the knight's mask.

 We also had a gardening kit that was shipped in the Spring.  We opened it in July, but Brayden was still successful with growing his beans.  We had to throw them away after we got back from vacation, but it was fun while it lasted.

My funny family

I meant to write about this in the last post, but forgot.  Last night after we got home from the open houses, Kent and I were talking about the kids' teachers.  Kent said how he was talking to Mr. McCaslin for a  while and he was kind of offended.  Apparently Mr. McCaslin said to Kent,

"I see you married up."  (totally random)  Kent looked at him, dead serious and replies,

"I don't think I could have done much worse."  Mr. McCaslin just stared at him, dumbfounded.  Kent never did smile or give any indication that he was kidding.  Those of you who know Kent well can totally picture this.

I heard this after we were home, and I started freaking out (after I laughed for a bit).  But all I can think is Mr. McCaslin must think we have a totally dysfunctional marriage and home.....oh well.

Another tidbit about our first day.  I just managed to help both girls with their homework, which is going to be a major feat every week.

An excerpt from their "All about me"  project:  What do you want to be when you grow up?

Dani: "A doctor!"

Ellie:  "A rock star!"

And there you have it, my two very different, twin girls wrapped up in five words!  :)

The time has come.....

I have been thinking about this day, let's face it, wishing for this day for FIVE and a half years.  It has finally come, ALL of my children are in school!  It is way more bittersweet than I ever expected.  We did the whole open house/meet the teachers, the night before school started.  Everyone was excited and nervous, but loved their teachers.  I was overwhelmed, but feeling confidant that they would all do great!

Ms. Jenny (p-school teacher) and Mr. McCaslin (k-teacher) each gave the girls copies of "The  Night Before Kindergarten."  We read it twice.  :)  Everyone was in bed by 8 and sound asleep by 8:30.

 6:30 AM, wide awake and ready for school!  Outfits were on, and breakfast was being prepared.  I rolled out of bed, put my happy face on (those of you who know me well, know this is a HUGE challenge in the morning), and assisted with breakfast duties.

 Danielle raring to head to the bus stop.

 Brayden, the big, experienced 2nd grader.

 Ellie, anxious to get out the door!

 All of my babies, putting up  with me and all of my pics.

 At the bus stop, ready to roll!  (Notice we were the first in line, maybe because we got out there 10  mins. early).

 My babies boarding the bus for the first time.
In Greenacres, we have a funky system.  All the Kindergartners from here and another school go to their own building, the K-center.  The little guys ride the bus up to the elementary school, transfer, then ride to their own school.....this never was an issue for Bradyen, but I had some concerns for my girls, who don't always pay close attention to their surroundings.  I was the first crazy mom at the bus station at K-center.  This is the girls getting off there.

 Super excited to start their days!

 Mr. McCaslin, corralling all of the troops, they did a good job of waiting in line....this is when I started to lose it....I felt the lip trembling, ball in my throat and the ugly face.  I quickly hugged each girl one last time and scurried to the parking lot.   This was somewhat unexpected, I had not shed one tear during all the preparations for this day.  I did not shed one tear when Brayden went to K, I think in part because he turned 6 the day before K started, he was older, ready and very prepared.  Plus, I had two distractions at home to take care of.  But the tears started and they didn't stop.  I pulled into the coffee shop on the way home, saw an acquaintance and could barely tell her what was going on.  I fumbled through my order and continued home, where I had to start work.  I sat in my office and cried.  I tried to pull myself together, then heard a knock on my door, shoot, it wasn't pretty!  I opened the door, and the poor Dad who has been bringing his son to  speech for just 3 weeks, looked at me with his mouth hanging open.  He said, "Are you ok?  Do we need to leave?  Can you handle this?"  I explained to him what was going on and he was very sympathetic, he has an older daughter too, so he had experienced this.  Throughout the session I had sniffles, and I could hear him chuckling at me.

After that session, I had a no show, and then a cancellation.  There you go, my morning completely shot.  I decided to go for a run to relieve some of this silly stress.  When I got home there was a voicemail on my phone.  I saw that it had the school number on it and totally panicked.  Come to find out, Ellie got a bloody nose at school.  The  nurse took great care of her and she came home in a totally different outfit. I asked them what the best part of school was.....you ready for it?

"Riding the bus!!!"

Lots of excitement on this first day!  Tomorrow, I am sure I will be shoving them out the door!  :)

Red Hot!

It is Summer in Spokane!  It is officially 100 degrees.  We have beat the heat the last couple of days by visiting lakes and/or playing in the backyard.  Yesterday we headed to Liberty Lake County Park and the kids swam and swam.  My little Ellie Bellie was the first to swim out to the dock and jump off.  She is fearless, she reminds me of myself when I was young.  That is her with the life jacket a foot shorter than everyone else on the dock.

                                       We have also been playing in our blow up pool.

                                                               Dani as happy as can be.

                                                     Cousin Hunter, manning the hose.

Today we headed to Lake Couer d' Alene and met Kent's family there.  We played in the sand, swam in the lake and ate snacks for a fun four hours.  Finally, the 100 degrees sent us packing to our A/C.  It was a perfect lake day.  Today was also the day for my sprint tri, I am in mourning that I wasn't there to compete, but my friend Steph was able to, and she said all went well.  Hopefully next year I will be a Valley Girl Competitor!

Happy 4th!

Summer has officially begun!  The heat is here!

The kids couldn't get the slip-n-slide out fast enough.

                                                                           Ellie

                                                                          Dani

                                                                        Brayden

 We headed to our new Greenacres park on the 4th and walked/rode in the parade.  Brayden was determined to win, he was a bit disappointed when we couldn't pass anyone.  :)  Whose kid is this?  I have no idea how he got so competitive. 

                                                                Beautiful Bella

                                                                 Our handsome pup

                                                                       Claire Bear

                                                      Ice cream at the end of the parade!

After the park, Kent's whole family headed over for a BBQ.  I failed to take ANY pics. but it was a fun day!

                                   We stayed up late and watched fire works from our deck! 

                                                Glow stick bracelet from G & G Wagener

Best of Friends

I have always been so grateful to the person who matched me up with my freshman room mate in college.  They could not have found a better match for me.  Julie and I hit it off instantly, she made living at college a blast!  I have so many fun memories that I absolutely cherish.  She and her son, Carter, came to visit us a couple of weeks ago!  We barely did a thing, but it was a good time!  It's so easy having them here, we didn't have to plan anything, we could just hang out.  Thanks for a fantastic, laid back weekend Julie and Carter!