First Day Of Kindergarten..."MOM IT WAS AWESOME"

Tavin started Kindergarten on Friday and he was so ready for it! When we went to meet his teacher the week before, she gave us a special note to open the night before the first day of school. It was special confetti that you sprinkled under your pillow and over your bed so that you would sleep well and have good dreams about school for the next day. He was all about sprinkling the magic confetti EVERYWHERE-he even woke up with it in his hair. Katie thought it was awesome too and got to put some under her pillow-she said it was magic fairy dust.

 His Aunt Chrissy and his cousins Madison and Brendon have not started school yet so they got up bright and early to come over and see him off on his first day. They brought him special chocolate cereal-which we don't have at our house-and a new first day outfit. He looked so handsome.

 Grandma and Grandpa also came to walk him to school-it is just down the street from our house. He was happy to have them there. Can you tell he is excited!

 First day of school lucky kiss from Grandma

 Superheroes back pack

 East Lake Elementary School-here comes Tavin!

 Him and his very proud parents

 His teacher-Ms. Sperry-She is new this year and seems to have a lot of good ideas/very organized. I have great hopes for her and think she will be a perfect teacher for Tavin. Chrissy mentioned she looks like she is straight out of High School-but I am glad to get someone who is excited and energetic about teaching.

 Waiting -lining up for class

Getting a last kiss goodbye and an "I love you Tavin Boy!" from mom. I know he will do great-I have no worries whatsoever. It is mommy who was sad to see him go-just because it means he is growing older-time is passing-time that I will never relive again. I was happy he still thought it was cool for me to give him a kiss though-he even blew me one right before he went inside. It helped my heart to be OK:) When I picked him up-I don't think he stopped talking from the minute he got to me until we walked in the door at home. He was so very excited to tell me that his school has it's own library! And that he made a book in class. He also told me they do this cool thing where his teacher says 1, 2, 3-eyes on me! And then he and his classmates get to say: 1,2,3 eyes on you! :) And of course he made a friend with the girl that sits next to him. He said he liked her because she made monkey sounds with him when they were taping a picture of a monkey on the books they made in class! And so it begins-the long road of education-I don't think he really knows what he has gotten himself into;) One day I will have to remind him that he wanted to go to school and loved being there-but until that day comes-I will enjoy watching him jump for joy when he gets to go.

Arts and Crafts...What We Do to Stay Out of the Heat

 As I mentioned before, there have been quite a few days that the weather has been super hot! In the 100's. On days we aren't swimming, going to the library, playing at Mcdonalds play place, or doing some other indoor activity around town, we do artsy stuff!:) I love that my kids like to create and I had to share some of the things they thought up, made, and given me as gifts. These are some of the best gifts a mother could ask for! Above is a love bracelet that Tavin created for me. He cut the paper, measured it to my wrist, drew the hearts and then taped it to me. He was very proud of it and super happy that I wore it the whole day-even to the store:) I loved it!

 Katie loves her cousin Madison-they have to stick together with all the boys in our family-Olivia will be joining their girls club quite soon-and one thing they do when they are together is make pretty pictures-or in this case-"mixed media" collages and art:) Madison asked if they could use some of my scraps from my scrapbooking paper-they must have been busy creating for at least an hour. These are the final pieces that now hang for all to see on my fridge. Katies is on the left and Madison's on the right. As you can see, Katie even had Maddi help her take some crayons to the page to add color and style:)

 Both my kids have hit the stage where they make little Alien-like people representing their family and friends. Tavin drew the above picture of me and him watching a movie together. The Black figures are us in the movie we are watching-we are superheros that protect the world-Tavin is the bigger one and he is fighting the bad guy...I am his mighty side kick-he explained all this to me after giving me the picture. I love that he drew me in my favorite color and him in his. He apologized for my arms being a little funny looking but I assured him that it was perfect-I even posed in the same position to show him it was indeed "quite normal" :)

 This picture is Katie's interpretation of our family and she informed me we are sitting in church:) Hers take on a jelly fish-like look. Guess which one I am....yep the red one:) I am not sure what is up with my tummy though....she has been obsessed with telling me that I am pregnant with her little brother-so maybe that is me pregnant. ( p.s. I am not pregnant:)

 Close up of Katie's collage so you can all see the details

I had to take a picture of this one because I think it is so sweet. Madison knows that Katie loves princesses so she created this poster to give to Katie to put over her bed in her room:) Katie loves it just as much as she loves Madison and shows everyone who comes over. Katie even prays that Madison will come play when it is her turn to say prayer at night. We sometimes do cheers right before we put them to bed and her's usually has something to do with loving Madison! I hope they stay the best of friends as they grow up.

In The Dog Days Of Summer

 Scout Hollow Falls: On the Fourth of July My sister Krisha and her cute family came with our family on a hike in the mountains of Utah. The boys seem to like hiking more this year and Katie only had a few break downs on the way up:) She was devastated when I told her she would have to go potty in the bushes cause there were no bathrooms. She only agreed to do it when I told her it would make the flowers happy! Krisha and I are determined to make hikers out of our families yet-we love it so they need to love it too:)

 I carried in our hiking pack-she took a little nap on the way down-this is her enjoying a little snack at the top. I loved listening to all the cooing and jabbering she did as we walked along. She has always loved being outside.

 The hikers that made it to the top:) Katie was playing in the dirt as usual and smudged it all over her face

 Cool little bridges along the hike-the kids liked this part

 Tavin, Katie, and Cousins took up a new hobby of finding, befriending, collecting, and returning Rollie Pollies this summer:) This is Katie's-she brought it in to show me and was mesmerized by it's ability to curl up in a ball when she touched it-acting like it was dead-and then undoing itself a little later-when he thought the coast was clear! Ahhh the wonders of the earth. I think he was lucky that he made it out of our  house alive-I kept having to remind her to hold it carefully in her hand or she would squish it.

 Olivia became a big fan of the swing this summer-whenever we go to the parks by our house-she points in their direction and insists on getting in to be pushed. She giggles the whole time! Daniel can really get her laughing.

 One night while I was at work, Daniel sent me this text....he informed me that the him and the kids were camping and roasting marshmallows.....in our play room:) They slept in the tent that night and ate smores they cooked over our stove. What a fun Daddy they have. We hope to take them camping for real before the weather changes again.

Since it has been so hot in Utah this summer-usually in the 100's,  we have enjoyed lots of ice cream. Livy thinks it is pretty yummy:)