First Day of Kindergarden!!!

The first day went perfectly.  We were all up pretty early to see Avery off and she wasn't nervous at all.  She put all her stuff away and sat right down i her classroom, eager to get started.  Such a perfect day and when I picked her up she said she couldn't wait to go back!  Great first day!

'Twas the Night Before Kindergarten

When your babies are born I feel like you are so eccstatic that God blessed you with these amazing little creatures and you can't help but picture their lives and think about their futures.  You think about their first steps, first words, first day of kindergarten, high school graduation, going off to college, getting married, and then eventually your own babies having babies of their own.  All these thoughts and visions seems so far off and so abstract that its so surreal when it's time to actually cross one off the list.
As I sit here, the night before Avery starts Kindergarden, all I can think of is, how are we here already?  How did 5 years go so quickly?  It sounds so cliche but it really does feel like just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital.  I remember it all so vividly, but it was 5 years ago.  We have made so many memories in the past 5 years and I feel eternally grateful that I have gotten to spend so much time at home with her.  Avery is such an amazing girl who is truly one of the most caring and gentle-hearted people I have ever met, and she loves school and I have not a doubt in my mind that she will do wonderfully.  I'm not scared of her going to school.  Not one bit.  She is going to excel in all aspects.  It's just the fact that she is getting bigger and I have to let her go a little bit.  That is hard for this Mommy, and probably every Mommy, to do.
In the words of Avery we are all "a lot a bit excited and just a teeny bit nervous."  Tomorrow is going to be a very big day for everyone that will change our normal routines forever and we just pray for peace and bravery as we embark upon our new journey.

Look how much we've grown!

The picture on the left is the first day of Pre-K 3s, and the picture on the right is the first day of Pre-K.

Good luck tomorrow Avery K!  You are going to have an amazing first day of Kindergarden and Mommy and Daddy can't wait for you to come home and tell us all about it.  We love you!

Soaking Up Every Last Drop

I have been feeling the impending doom of the school year all week long!  I knew it was coming but it really did sneak up on me.  We tried to squeeze in as much fun stuff as we could this week before the crazy schedule of the school year begins on Monday.

We tried out a new JumpZone place and the girls had a blast and we got to meet some of our sweet friends there to play.






Then we had a super fun night Thursday night at Avery's meet the teacher night!
Doesn't she look so grown up?  I blame it on the big-girl hair cut ;-)


We have been looking forward to this night for a while now since it signifies the beginning of Avery's kindergarden year.  They posted the class list a few hours early, but we arrived about 15 minutes early and found out Avery's classroom assignment.


She is is a class with about 18-20 other students and her teacher seems so nice!  She is a young, sweet girl who has been teaching for 4 years and appears to have a real true love for it.  We are grateful for a good teacher and are excited to get to know her much better throughout the year.  Avery liked looking around her new class and meeting her new teacher, and we poked around the school a little just checking it all out.



Afterwards I got to take Avery to a special Mommy-Avery dinner where I gave her a little gift from Mommy and Daddy.  We got her a little sparkly pencil bag with a few cutesy school supplies in it to her her get even more excited about the school year.  She did say she was "just a little nervous because its all really new, but most of all very excited."  Sweet girl ;-)
I love when I get to have one-on-one time with my kiddos and just shed all my love and attention on them.  Avery and I had a pretty good chat about Kindergarden, meeting new friends, and about what to expect.  I just know she is going to do amazing and I can't wait for her to begin such an amazing journey.


Friday we met up with some friends at the pool and had such a fun morning just swimming, feeding the fish in the pond, and just playing.  I am definitely going to miss slow summer mornings spent at the pool!


Then I treated the girls to a movie on Friday night.  We went to see Despicable Me 2 and I let them order whatever they wanted from the sack bar- 2 blue Icee and a popcorn ;-)





This week has gone really fast but I feel like we lived it up and feel a little more ready to start school tomorrow!  I am a bundle of nervous excitement and anxiety for Avery tomorrow but I know she will handle it all with grace and courage like she always does.  One more day of summer left!

Super Aunt Alli

Not that she isn't always a super aunt but for the past week Alli has been Super Aunt Alli to the rescue and I am SO grateful!  On Tuesday she kindly obliged Gracyn when Gracyn requested her presence at gymnastics class, which just so happens to be at 9AM in the morning. I'm not sure that many teachers on their very last week of summer vacation would wake up at 7:30AM just to go to a 2 year olds' gymnastics class, but Allison most certainly did.  She got to go out there and be Gracyn's adult helper for this class, which Gracyn was so excited about, and so was I, seeing as how I am about 7 1/2 months pregnant!  And after gymnastics was over she soooooo very kindly offered to watch the girls so I could go run some errands all alone.  If that is not the definition of peace and serenity for a Mommy then I don't know what is.









And then on Wednesday when I called her in a panic that my best friend Lisa had unexpectedly gone into labor and I "really really needed to get to the hospital so I could snuggle and smell the new baby" not only did my sweet sister not laugh in my face but she showed up at 8AM on Thursday to set me free on my baby-smelling mission.  Best sister ever.  Best aunt ever.  Best friend ever.




Thank you Allison for all your help this week!  You are a true lifesaver and I love you more than words could ever say!  Lovesssssss you!

Hair Today....

I'm sure at the ages of 5 and 2 1/2 that getting your hair cut should be a pretty common occurance but unfortunately for my kids their Mom thinks that she can cut hair just as good as the pros, which is very untrue.  Avery used to have bangs for a really long time so I got really used to trimming her hair myself.  And trimming her straight-as-a-board, super-thin hair has always been pretty easy, but Gracyn has a lot more texture and curl to her hair so I decided to give in and actually take them somewhere to get their hair trimmed.  And I guess the place to do that is Sweet and Sassy, a girly-girl boutique that specializes in young girl hair cuts.  My girls ate up every second of this girl mecca.

The before picture

Gracyn sat really still (possibly because we skipped her nap today and she was about to fall asleep) and listened really well.  We just did a little trim with her because I am petrified of the day when we cut off all her curls, so we are taking it little by little.


Avery has been looking forward to this for weeks.  Poor deprived 5 year old has never had her hair cut professionally so this was a big deal.  About a week ago she told me she wanted to cut her hair "really really short" and proceeded to show me a level about even with her chin.  I am definitely not opposed to that length, however about 2 years ago when I cut her hair about chin-length I heard over and over and over again how her hair was "NOT like Rapunzel's anymore" and that she wanted it to be very long.  So ever since then we have been growing it out.  So I was skeptical to cut it too short, however I was in total agreement that we definitely needed to take some length off of her hair.  Her hair is just too thin and fine to be very long because it just gets stringy.  So we went for it and cut off about 4 inches.


And here are the after pictures.  Double success!  Gracyn's looks almost the same and still has the precious curl and Avery's is short, cute and manageable!  Perfect!

Just Ask Gracyn- 2 years 9 months

I have asked Avery these same questions over the years so I thought it was time for Gracyn to get in on the action. I directly asked her every question as its listed and these are exact answers, word for word. Pretty hilarious and adorably sweet. Love this girl.

What is your name: "Gracyn"
How old are you: "Two" (holds up 3 fingers)
What's your favorite animal: "ummm a sheep"
What is your favorite color: "pink"
Who is your best friend: "Avery."
What do you want to be when you are all grown up: "Olivia, but just for Halloween. When I grow up I be like Mommy"
What is your favorite movie: "Rapunzel"
What is your favorite book: "Baa Baa Black Sheep"
What makes you happy: "When somebody makes me happy"
What makes you sad: "When somebody screams at me"
What is your favorite food to eat: "Ice Cream"
What is your favorite song to sing: "ABCD"
What is your favorite game to play: "Hide and Seek"
Where does Daddy work: "At football"
Where does Mommy work: "I don't know."

Dolph-Fans

This is the year the Dolphins are going to bring it home.  We are ready for it.  Big time!











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Week in Review

Happy Friday!!!!

This week seemed incredibly long to me.  Probably because Matt has been gone for most of it, but also because I am anxiously waiting on the Burgess baby to get here (any day now Madelyn....).

Avery had Kindergarden Readiness Camp all this week with a phenomenal Kinder teacher at her old school.  We pretty much move like this in the morning.........



so the camp this week reminded me how much we need to be whipped into shape before the alarming arrival time for Avery's kindergarden at 7:50!  Yikes!  Not sure how we are ever going to make it anywhere on time next year.  But Avery loved camp.  It seemed like they had a good time "re-visiting" their letter, numbers and all the other things they forgot over the summer.  Plus it helped that Campbell was in the same class as her.  Thats always an added bonus for Avery.

I think another reason this week felt long was because it is SO hot.  Seriously what are you supposed to do with kids (and their pregnant mother) all day when it is 105 degrees outside?


Ice cream was definitely on the schedule.  But other than that I was fresh out of cheap, cool, indoor activities.  So we mostly just invited friends over and played out the afternoons in the wonderful air-conditioning.


I mean, do other peoples kids sit like this?  I honestly did not pose them. I walked in from my room Wednesday morning to find them watching cartoons just like this.  Its the cutest thing in the world and I can't get enough of how sweet and loving they are together.  I am going to pull these pictures out and ponder over them when they are 13 and 15 and fighting like crazy teenage hellions.

On Thursday I came down with a terrible case of allergies and/or small summer cold and felt horrible all day.  Gracyn dressed up "to mawke you feel bettew" like this........


and sang me some soothing "call me maybe."It did actually make me feel a littler better.

Luckily by Friday I was still sneezing but feeling a little less like I wanted to rip my eyeballs out so Gracyn and I ran a bunch of errands- oil change, grocery store, looking for kids left handed scissors.  The last one was unsuccessful.  Do those exist?  Avery's Kindergarden camp teacher recommended them for her since she (and Gracyn) are both lefties but I looked everywhere and can't find them.  Guess I will have to order online and pay more for shipping than the actual scissors cost.
Once we got home I told Gracyn I wanted to change into comfy clothes and she said she agreed.  Then she came downstairs in this...........


I'm sure it was very comfy.  Sequins usually are.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Cousin Week!

Jessica and Chase were so kind and trusting that they let me bring Emersyn home for a week after our Midland trip.  I feel so honored and we had the best time.


The girls got along so great and it was so neat to see them creating such fun memories that they will keep forever.  We had a fun-filled week with friendship bracelet making, trips to the beach, movie expeditions, fashion photo shoots (pics to come), and lots and lots of time playing new games.


Emersyn was such a big girl and handled being away from her parents for 5 nights like such a big girl.


















We all had such a great time and miss her so much already!