1st Day of Kindegarten

The first day of Kindegarten!! 

I can hardly believe it. It was a rushed morning, even though I tried to be prepared and make it memorable. 

Chocolate chip, Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast. 

A note in the lunch box. 

Might be the only time all year that either of those things happen.

All decked out in new duds, except for his shoes. I think they're hand me downs from Lane. I scrubbed them with baby wipes on our way out!

He's such a cute kid. I love those freckles and that smile. 

Had to wake up brother and sister to get him to school on time... 7:45am. Yikes! 

(For the record, I only took him on his first day. Dad takes him now, on his way to work. Best. Thing. Ever! Soooo grateful that he does that for me.)

It was a flippin' mad house in that parking lot. I pulled in on the curb and didn't see his teacher where she said she'd be. So I rushed him inside, leaving the other two in the car, parked where a million signs said not to leave a car unattended. Whatayagonnado??! Snapped a picture with his teacher, gave him hugs and kisses and bolted out the door. Thank goodness for those two weeks of summer school he did! Because of that, he didn't seem nervous at all. As I rushed back to the car and drove away, it dawned on me that I didn't cry. Everything just happened so fast and he seemed happy and I was happy! I must be the Tin-man Mom. I really think this will be a good chapter for us. Fingers crossed!  

Mrs. McClure.

I like her. She is very even tempered. Not a cutesy type of Kindegarten teacher, but that's OK. From the little that I observed last year, she has excellent classroom management. I think she'll be good for Collin.

After school we went straight to JCPenny to pick out some new shoes. Then, as a special treat, we went to the water store for shaved ice. 2 seconds after this picture, Weston knocked his whole cup on the ground and then bawled hysterically. It ain't always what it seems!

I never thought that I'd put Weston in preschool at age 3, but he really wanted to go. So I signed him up for something called Parents Morning Out, or PMO, at the local Methodist church. He only goes on Tuesdays from 9-12. He LOVES it. They play with toys, do a craft, have a snack and play on the playground. It's just right.

On top of that, Brinn, Megan and I decided to do a little Joyschool, once a week. Only, we aren't following the actual Joyschool regimen. We're basically doing a letter a week with activities surrounding that letter. I did "B" this past Monday. We were "Bakers" and made "B"anana bread muffins. And ate them with "B"lueberries. We read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the "B"us and Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? We made two bumble bee crafts. I told them the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, with pictures, and then we worked on a coordinating worksheet that had them work on biggest and smallest. They also practiced tracing and writing the letter "B". It was so much fun and they all were so excited to do every activity! I'm so glad Weston has some cute friends to do this with and activities during the week now!

Summer fun craft kits

In May, when I was laid up with my back, I put together "Summer Fun" crafting kits. (Thanks to Megan, I didn't have to reinvent the wheel... just copy her!) Still, it took a lot of time. To me, the perfect craft takes me 5 min. to assemble and hours for them to entertain themselves with. Unfortunately, not many of these crafts fit that bill. Nonetheless, they were super stoked to pick a craft out of the box, as often as I'd tolerate. And lest you think I'm such a fantastic mom, and this post is all about me letting you know that- let me stop you right there. Their TV watching reached epic proportions this summer. This post represents a fraction of the time I actually spent doing something hands on with them. But I don't even care. I'm giving myself major props. And since this may never happen again, with any other summers, and or children, it's best that I document that the oldest two were so privileged. 

NEVER do this. Disaster. Like you couldn't tell. As if that rice is going to stay in the box. 

Paper mache?? 

Seriously. 

What was I thinking? 

Rookie Mom mistake.

This doesn't even show all the craft kits, since we didn't get through all of them. I figure Christmas vacation might be another good time to whip out the rest. Until then, peace out paint stains and glued together fingers. Leave the Xanax at the door.

Camping

A couple of weeks ago we finally went camping! Been meaning to do it all summer. It was Olive's first camping experience. She was a pro. Even after I forgot all her warm sleeping jammies, (Mom of the Year, right here) she still slept through the night like a rock. If only she was walking, a few less dirt clods might have been consumed! It was also a good trip because I slept through the night! Why are most camping nights so horrible? I wasn't cold, uncomfortable or woken up by children. We must have sprinkled our tent with magic dust. If only we had sprinkled it on the Kings camper. ;)

The Kings brought up a hammock. Geniuses.

It was the Valgardsons, Kings, Shaheens and us. Yay for awesome friends! The Shaheens made a kick a dinner. Obviously. All done in dutch ovens. We also busted out our dutch over for it's maiden voyage. I made homemade peach cobbler. Not too bad... a little soft. Then Travis spent half his life scraping out the leftovers the next morning. FYI, use tinfoil next time.

♪ Weston and Ruby, sitting on a tree... :) ♪

The sunset was GORGEOUS. We had a little rain, but nothing too bad. Spent the evening playing Psychiatrist and roasting strawberry marshmallows. *nose wrinkle* Stick with the originals.

We hung around most of the next day letting the kids and husbands play. ;) These muzzle loaders guns are ri-dic-a-lus. Sooo loud. 

Some parents buy their kids all the funnest toys. We make friends with those people. :)