First Day

I'm dying over these first day of school pictures.  Seriously the first day of school was so fun.  I was a little emotional, I won't lie, but after seeing the kids teachers my mind was set at ease and just knowing that they are in good hands makes a big difference.  

Meet my kindergartener, Claira.  She was so excited for the first day.  Her teacher gave her the bag of magic sparkle confetti with the poem about how to put in under your pillow so that you can sleep better and that she was doing the same so she could get a good night sleep and Claira thought it was the coolest thing ever.  She gave it to Pacen, Camry and Gentry so everyone could have a good night sleep.  I was nervous that she would be nervous but she seemed really ready to go which made me happy.

This was her favorite pose of the day.

I tried to make her switch it up a bit.  But come on...how cute is her outfit picked out all by herself?  For reals.  Cutest kindergartener.  

The big SECOND grader, Camry! 

 Camry has Ms. Carter this year.  The same teacher Pacen had and she was super happy about that.  She doesn't have a class full of her friends, but she has a few and so she was very comfortable in her new room.  And she and Than have matching colors which is always cute.   

 Can he really be in the FOURTH GRADE?!?!?!?  It kills me.  

 This picture taking thing is old hat for this stud.  

Of course I had to get in there and take some photos.  Although really I should have gotten more sleep because my eyes are looking haggard. 

 Oh man I miss these kids when they are at school.  

Oh they really do love each other after all.  

Walking to school.  

Buddies.  They found this toothbrush and thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. 

See?  :)

The girls.  No one has the same teacher this year which is a bummer.  But Connor and Pacen already had a meeting place planned out for recess.  

Dropping Claira off in her classroom.  It really is a magical classroom with tons of natural light and wonderful resources.   

The last moment before we left the room.  She really was so confident.  I love it! 

Dropping off Camry.  She's so stinkin cute.  I just love that little girl.  

And finally Pacen.  I get so worried about how he'll do in school and as we walked in his teacher, Mrs. Worthington, already memorized all of the kids names and had remembered my name from the brief moment we had met the day before.  I knew then that he was in good hands.  

Gentry made herself at home in the classrooms too.  

And then it was just me and these little mamas.  Not a bad way to spend your mornings I must say.  

We played a little babies and did some puzzles and it was just a fun, quiet morning.  

So maybe going back to school isn't such an awful thing after all. :)

We painted our house!

I really need to do a proper before and after of all of our yard work that we did last summer because our house has changed so much in the past year.  But this is just a before and after of our paint job.  

Here's the before:  

A light minty green that was just what it was when we bought it.  Very toothpaste-esqe.  

And here's the after!

I am obsessed with the change.  I just really love it and I feel like it just makes the whole house pop.  

And here is what Bret painted on the side of our house just for Than.  Don't worry...it's not permanent. :)  

Almost over.

The summer is almost over and I was telling Than tonight that I'm having a little bit of a depression over it.  I am like every other mom out there whose house is beyond unorganized after having kids home and playing all summer and whose kids are just getting louder and louder as the days go on and in those crazy moments I think, "Oh man, school cannot come soon enough!"  But really, I am so so so sad for summer to be over.  Tomorrow is a school night.  A SCHOOL NIGHT!  And I'm going to have three kids off to school.  THREE!  I'm getting very emotional about it especially when I think about my little Claira heading off to kindergarten.  She is so excited but also nervous and I'm so excited for her but also nervous.  Who will she become friends with?  Will she listen to her teacher?  Is she going to be the class clown like I've always thought or will she be more on the obedient side?  Will she be happy in her class?  Will she look forward to coming home each day?  I just want to bottle up who she is right now and store it because she's just so funny and happy and cute and crazy and I don't want it to change.
And then I worry about Pacen.  Fourth grade is getting to be an older kid.  School and homework gets to be a little harder and more demanding.  You have to be more independent and responsible.  He's going to have to stand up for what he believes in more and more as he gets older.  Have we prepared him enough to do that?  Does he really know that he is a son of God with amazing abilities and talents? The other night we were chatting before he was going to bed and he asked a question about being homeschooled.  I asked a few questions and he gave me a few answers and I really feel like what he was wanting is just more time at home.  Now he probably just wants to be able to play more but I'm okay with that too because it means that he's happy and feels safe and loved in the environment Than and I have created.  And that he loves his sisters and wants to spend more time with them.  I asked him who he would play with at recess and he said all excitedly, "Gentry and Maren!"  And he said, "And you would get to make lunch for me everyday.  How awesome would that be?!?"  Apparently me making a cold lunch and me making lunch at home are not the same. :)  I know that he'll be fine.  He's had some tutoring this summer with his third grade teacher and I really feel like it's been the best thing for him.  He's much more confident in math and I feel like he is really ready for fourth grade where I did not feel that at the beginning of the summer.  He is becoming just a really great boy.
And then there is my Camry girl.  She is funny because she is very bright but she's not a book worm.  She is a fabulous reader but she doesn't just love it.  She had a reading challenge with a pizza party as a reward if she read a certain number of words and recorded it and she read, but she didn't really record anything and when I asked her about the reward party, she didn't really seem too interested.  I guess that is a little like me.  I do love reading.  But I love a lot of other things a lot more.  And she is getting more and more into sports these days.  She's getting into the lovely habit (that I know comes from me!) of just wanting to wear work out clothes all the time.  Or just comfy clothes.  I can't blame the girl!  That's all I want to wear too, but I don't let her wear Pacen's big old t-shirts out of the house if we are going somewhere.  I did get her a cute little workout outfit and she wears it all the time.  Again, like mother, like daughter.  I did say she was rather bright.
We found out our teachers today.  I tried not to be disappointed, but I was.  I didn't love Pacen's second grade teacher and that is who Camry has now.  My main problem was that I didn't feel that she really paid any attention to Pacen.  She had a very difficult class and he seemed to fly under the radar because he was well behaved but I don't feel like he was actually doing a lot of learning but more just being quiet.  And she did not respond to emails that I sent and I really feel like Pacen had sort of a throw away year with her.  I hope the same doesn't happen for Camry.  I have decided that if I see any of the same behavior that I will say something to the principal because especially after having Mrs. Ghysels for Pacen's third grade year and seeing how attentive she was to Pacen's needs right away, I can just see the problems that happened in his second grade year.  But then I don't want to be 'that' parent either.  So I'm hoping for the best for camry.  One thing for her teacher is that she really is very sweet and kind which I'm sure Camry will love.
I know that this year will be great school year.  And I'm so looking forward to having time with my two little babies at home.  Maren and Gentry are becoming little buddies and both of their faces light up when they see each other.  It really is a special thing.  Gentry is amazed at everything that Maren does....Maren's AWAKE!  Maren's moving! Maren's so tired!  Literally Maren could sneeze and Gentry would be so happy for her.  And the feeling is mutual for Maren.  She thinks that Gentry is hilarious and gives her the biggest smiles.  We are going to have fun, the three of us.  I really can't wait for that, but I really can wait for homework and projects and schedules and making lunches.  I have a lot of goals for this year so we'll see if I can do it.  Here's to another school year!  Here we go.

Maren's sweaty head.

Maren has this quirky thing where she sweats like crazy when she sleeps and eats. Like when I get her up out of her crib there is a gigantic wet circle underneath her. It's so funny. And weird. :)

The overhead light is making it look a little funny but seriously, who sweats that much when they eat?? 

But really, I get her out of bed and kids her head and its all salty. Just had to be her own kind of original!  

 

A first for two.

Within the space of one email saying that he'd try to help out as an assistant coach for Claira's soccer team, he was all of a sudden the head coach.  What??!?!  In the words of one of my favorite you tube videos ,"Ain't nobody got time for that!"  But we figured we could somehow make it work since it was under 6 soccer and mostly people that we knew on the team. We've had two practices, both of which went over very well. May I introduce to you, coach Than of the Super Sparkles!!!  That the cutest team name ever. 

 

Yes he does have an extremely demanding work schedule and travels a ton, and he is young men's president  in our ward,  and he has five kids and he is doing half iron mans.....now he's a coach. 

But we are making it work for this little mama. 

She is like a soccer but these days. Like really obsessed. As soon as she got up she wanted to have her soccer clothes on and have  her cleats and shin guards out so she'd be ready. 

           

And she's so happy at practice. Like beaming with happy energy.  

Than is really great with the little girls too. Of course he is...everything he does turns out great. 

I'm technically the assistant coach and I'll be at all the practices and do what I can but I have all these other littles to hang out with too. It's a pretty good gig. 

 We are getting her all trained early. :)

 Claira is just like me in that she gets all red faced and sweaty when she's  working hard.  She was amazed and excited during her practice when she looked at me and said, "Mom, "I'm sweating!". Oh the joys of being four.  

 Woohoo for the super sparkles!  

That team name really is so appropriate for this sweet girl