First day of Kindergarten!

I look at these pictures of Emma and realize how fast she is going to grow.  Time will continue to fly and before I know it she will be having her first day of Middle School. 

She has been waiting for this day for so long and I am very happy for her.  Finally, she is right where she wants to be.  I hope that she is ready to slow down for a little while now! 

Her first day went great.  It was a little easier because she has 2 little girls from our street that are in her class with her.  They all get to ride the bus together, play in class together, go to recess together  and come home together.  I have a feeling that they will be the best of friends by the end of the year!

First day of Third Grade!!!

 Wahooo!!! Stoked..Excited...Thrilled...

Austin couldn't have been happier to start school this morning.  He has his bag packed for weeks and was just waiting for the day to arrive.  

Just check out how grown up and handsome our oldest son is!

Mud Mountain Dam

So much has changed since our last outing to Mud Mountain Dam.  I has almost been exactly a year since we have come out here for a visit.  Mayla was so little back then.  Just look at how tiny she was...

compared to now...

We were very lucky that the Wagner's could join us this year.  It was really fun to watch the kids run, and play, and swing, and  hike. 

 

Shark tales

As I was laying in bed this morning trying to get a couple minutes of much needed sleep I hear the following conversation between Kevin and Kadin.

 "What happened to your elbow Kadin?"  Asked Kevin as he looked at a scab on Kadin's arm.

 "I fell.  In the water. And a shark bit me.  I told it not to.  But it did anyway."  Answered Kadin as if that is something that happens every day.

 The funny thing is that Kevin didn't continue listening after he said that he fell.  So after Kadin was done with his story Daddy didn't respond.  So as I'm in bed under the covers I start laughing.

 "What is so funny?" Asked Kevin

 "Did you just hear what Kadin just said?"  I respond.

"No, what?"

"He said he got bit by a shark..."

Kevin just started laughing

Soccer!

We signed Austin and Emma up for soccer a couple of months ago.  I didn't even ask them if they wanted to play...just assumed that they would.  When I told them that I had signed them up I had a bit of a mixed response. 

Austin was thrilled...Emma not so much.

I told her that she had to at least try and she got really upset.  Austin has spent the last couple of weeks trying to convince her how cool soccer is but no dice.  When she found out that today was her first practice she got just a little hysterical.  I know it sounds mean but I knew that she would love it once she tried it so I just told her that she didn't have a choice, she had to go and try it as least once.

Well, you tell me...do you think she loves it???

Yep, She certainly does!!!  Way to go EMMA!

This year is a little tricky with practices because Austin and Emma have their practices on the same night at the same time at different schools about 10 minutes apart.   Emma's is from 5:00 to 6:00 and Austin's is from 5:30 to 6:30.  We are fortunate because our friends the Finnestad's are on the same teams with us.  Josiah is on  Emma's team and James is on Austins.  That means that we can do some creative child swapping and get each child to the correct location at the correct times.  YEA! 

I was able to get to Austin's practice with about 10 minutes to spare.  It was great to see him playing but I was sad to miss so much of it.  Next time I will be able to spend more time at his practice but less at Emma's.  Bummer.

Meet the teacher

At the end of last year Austin was able to meet his teacher for third grade.   I love that their school makes it a priority for the kids to know who their next teacher is and where the class is located before they leave for summer break.  They don't have to spend the summer worried about what to expect or be scared on the first day of school because they don't know where their class room is.

Austin is thrilled with the teacher he has this year and he is excited because he gets to move up to Building B.  Building A is for kindergartners through second grade and Building B is for the big kids, third grade through fifth grade.  Once he is in sixth grade he will be moving up to middle school.  Scary, and not something I'm ready to think about yet. He is halfway done with elementary school already!

The school opened up it's doors today for all of the students and their parents to come in and meet the teacher.  Austin was excited to show me his class room and it was nice to get to meet his teacher.  She is very kind and I think it will be a great year for him.  I was able to get a couple of pictures of him in the class room but he is getting too old and shy to get a picture with his teacher.  Oh well, maybe later this year...

 Emma was lucky to have been able to meet her teacher in the past too.  She has the same teacher that Austin had for Kindergarten.  Emma was thrilled because the teacher remembered her from a couple of years ago when she was visiting Austin. 

At lease she isn't too big to get a picture with her teacher!