Another day of firsts...

Katelyn had her first ballet class on Friday!  I was so proud of her...she went right in the door and had fun for a whole hour!  She even made a little friend in class already.  They were giggling and holding hands a lot.  She participated really well too.  Look for her in the Wizard of Oz this spring :)

Katelyn also had her first ever dentist appointment the same day.  And both kids had their first visit with a new pediatric dentist.  They LOVED it (as much as you can love a dentist's office I guess)! 

Dentist tricked him and pulled that tooth that he would not let anyone touch!  Thankfully he wasn't mad and still loves the new dentist!

They loved the treehouse slide INSIDE the waiting room!

Frozen yogurt with extra sugar to celebrate no cavities :)

First Grade and Three Year Old Preschool

I promise I'm going to go back and post about all of our summer fun, but it's September so I guess it's time to get back into the school routine!  Collin started 1st grade this year and Katelyn started three year old preschool.  Both are doing great so far, love their teachers, and love to learn!  They both amaze me with new knowledge every day!

Collin is really enjoying going to visit his kindergarten teachers in the mornings and has gotten to go and read to their classes a couple of times.  I'm so proud of him for this because I would have been too shy to do that at his age.  Or even now!  At home, he loves to read his chapter books (Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants) :)  He's also doing well in math and enjoying learning about the weather in science.  He also started the SEARCH program (gifted) this year so I'm hoping he does well with that challenge! 

Picking his desk at open house.

Ready for us to leave to he can get to work!  No tears this year!

After only 3 days of preschool, Katelyn is already talking to her teachers, so I'm thinking we're in for a great year.  I've already been told (for the third preschool year in a row) that she comes alive and is a different child in music.  She loves to sing and dance!  Just wait til they see her in chapel.  And thanks to Ms. Dayna giving her a chapel CD, she is so ready!  She is also now recognizing numbers 1-10, counting to 20, and recognizing most of her upper case letters. 

 We're off to a good start and hoping for a great year!

Make It Monday

Now that we're getting back into the swing of things since school started back, I figured I should post SOMETHING about our summer.  I was really excited to have so much time off from carpool, folders, and just schedules in general.  I thought 11 weeks would last forever.  It FLEW by.  I'll be honest though.  The kids fought constantly.  They drove me bananas.  I yelled.  But we DID have fun! 

At the start of summer, I found a "schedule" on pinterest (my type A personality wouldn't let me drop the schedule completely!) where each day of the week had a theme.  We used those daily themes to make a summer "bucket list".  I'm proud to say we marked almost all of the activities off of our list!  We didn't always do the right activity on the right day of the week, but I don't really think that matters...it was just a nice way to make our lists and keep us accountable for not sitting around all day playing video games or watching TV. 

So here's the first look into our summer...our Make It Mondays!  Or whatever day of the week we decided to do a craft :)

Memorial Day flags

Painting rocks.

Collin made this awesome caterpillar on Eric Carle day at the library.

4th of July Fireworks

Wild Kratts Creature Power Suits...Take 1.

Take 2.

Sewing kits from the craft store.

Well, there weren't 11 Monday photos, but we also made a few yummy things from recipes like brownies and popsicles!  Overall, Mondays were Fundays.  And pajama days :)

Our Kindergarten Graduate!

Collin's looking more like a first grader theses days, especially now that he's losing teeth and begging me to buy his booster seat every day.  (He's still in a carseat because his goes to 52" and he's 51".  Holding on to that one as long as I can!  Plus he's just so skinny I feel like it's safer.  I did tell him I would get it before first grade starts though!).  Anyway, I figured I should post the pictures from his kindergarten graduation and last day of school. 

Looking really worried because I told him I'd be there super early to get a good seat and he didn't see me.  I was on the front row, but he kept looking on the other side!!

And he spots us!

He couldn't wait to sing the songs for us and kept them all a secret until the big performance.

He said he wanted me to cry like I did at preschool!  (I didn't because he's got 5 more years here.  I'll save that for 5th grade.)

Ready to get his diploma!

Our graduate!

Always so serious!

Collin with Daddy and Mommy!

With Nanna and Aunt Kandace!

Our family.

The infamous Christmas Vacation photo.

Collin got the "Sweet Tarts" award for being such a sweet friend :)  So proud of him!

Couldn't have asked for a better teacher for our first year at Spout Springs!

Or a better helper!  Wishing her the best of luck next year with her own class!

Collin and his buddy Alex!

Such a big year.  He's changed so much!

 Congratulations little buddy!  We love you to the moon and back!