The Lists

4 boxes of face tissue

2 containers of Clorox wipes

1 container of baby wipes

1 box of gallon Ziploc bags

1 box of Ziploc sandwich bags

24 Ticonderoga #2 pencils

1 spiral notebook

1 composition notebook

8 Expo dry erase markers

1 hand sanitizer with pump

2 pairs of Fiskars 5" scissors (blunt tip and pointed tip)

cap erasers

3 highlighters

1 box of Crayola classic color markers

1 8 color Crayola water color pack

24 Elmer's glue sticks

8 boxes of 24 count crayola crayons

2 bottles of Elmer's glue

Not to mention dress code clothes, backpacks, lunch boxes, and a thermos for each kid.

Between 2 kids... I think we have plenty of school supplies.

We are only down to hours until school starts. We're off to meet the teachers tonight and I don't think the kids could be more excited.

A Week Away

 Lily is my girl. She's my pal. My shopping companion, movie watching companion, play date. This past year while William was in school, I have been busy being with her. This summer has been so much fun having William home and I have been soaking up every minute, forcing the memories into my mind and the feelings into my heart. Next week, everything will change. We're on the brink of turning that last page in this chapter with both of my kids.

 Today was Lily's Kindergarten Orientation. We picked out what outfit she wanted to wear and layed it out last night. Every detail down to the pink jewel earrings and hello kitty necklace. She was so excited to wake up this morning and get ready to go. No fussing, which is a miracle. When we got to the school, we saw familiar faces from last year. And of course, Mrs. Saunders was so excited to see Miss Lily and talk to her about being in her class. We went into the library for the presentation and Lily was glued to me. When it came time for the Kindergarten students to leave, she held tight to me, not wanting to go. Oh, how I wanted to just let her stay with me, but I knew she needed to go. Mrs. Saunders grabbed her hand, and out she went to be evaluated while I stayed and listened to what was required over the next year.

When everything was finished, the kids all came back into the library, carrying a sucker. I spot Lily down the hallway with her head held high and a huge smile on her face. She met up with me, grabbed my hand, and couldn't wait to tell me what she did. Things changed in her confidence and I can feel in my bones that she is going to love school.

I'm proud of how brave this girl is. I just hope we can both keep our chins up next week!



Electricity Lesson

A couple of nights ago, we had a pretty bad storm and the electricity went out. Well, like anyone who has lived in the digital age for too long, we were trying to be creative with our time. The children didn't understand why they couldn't play the wii, why the fans weren't on, etc.

I was getting William's breakfast of champions (cereal) and I got the milk quickly out of the fridge. I told William that I hope that the electricity would come back on soon so all the food wouldn't go bad in the fridge. William said, "Is it because the light's out?"
Yes.
I explained to him why we need electricity in our fridge to keep the food cold. He understood and was eating his cereal. Then he looked at me and said,

"Mom, all we need to do is get a bunch of flashlights, turn them on and leave them in the fridge. They'll keep the food cold."

After I understood his line of thinking, it made me realize that maybe I didn't come across as clearly as I thought I had. So I corrected myself.

We did eventually get our power back on, the food didn't go bad. And I'm sure you heard Lily screaming from the rooftops, "JESUS TURNED THE ELECTRICITY BACK ON!" from miles around.

5678

 So Carrie realized that with her girls and my kids, the ages were 5, 6, 7, and 8. So, we made them t-shirts. And took pictures. Now, technically, at the end of their trip this wasn't to accurate. Raven turned 9 and had an awesome zebra birthday party.

 We made the shirts so they could wear them when we traveled to Memphis. We just bought shirts at Target, printed out numbers, cut them out, and painted the inside. Once we got down to Memphis Jamie asked us if we used bleach pens. No... But it would have been much easier with bleach pens. Maybe Tessa's wouldn't look like a thermometer... 

 Now, you know that Carrie also has Presley. She didn't exactly fit into our cutesy number theme, but who could ever forget her? I had to post some of these silly pictures. Miss Presley is a character.

I know that I said this before, but it was a BLAST having Carrie here. We did lots and made lots and stayed up way too late watching North and South. Nope, not the British love story. It's the classic Civil War North and South complete with Patrick Swayze as Orry Main. (Watch at least the first 2 discs. You will thank me.)  I got to laugh with Raven over Kid History, bug Tessa to the end of the earth, and play with/spoil Presley. All the while enjoying my kids playing with cousins they haven't seen in a year. Who could ask for more? All in all, it was awesome. I'm hoping that we'll be able to travel out west before this next summer. But, I am SOOO looking forward to next summer when Carrie visits again. 

Fourth Festivities

 Just like last year, we went to Marty's Fourth of July Party. We listened to my dad and his "band" (I add quotations because he always says he's not in a band) play some fun songs and listen to some original songs that my dad and Marty wrote.

 We had a blast listening to music,

 hanging out with the fam (like awesome Presley)(and awesome Carrie).

 The kids played in bounce houses, ran through the misting tent, and had ice cream and Popsicles.

 And to top it all off, we were able to see the Smyrna city fireworks. Can you tell that William was totally into them this year?

 The party was on the third, so on the night of the fourth, we may or may not have had fireworks in our backyard. Just saying. Carrie and I worked hard to get these bandanna skirts finished in time for the fourth of July. I am super pleased with how they turned out and am glad Carrie was up to making them.



The Month of June

 We have had a blast so far this summer. We've been super busy and we LOVED having family come to visit. Carrie and Nathan and their awesome girls Raven, Tessa, and Presley, all came to Tennessee from Utah. Carrie and the girls were able to stay for a month while Nathan went back to Utah for work. A month does seem like a long time, but it flew by too fast and I am so sad that it's already over. We had so much fun together. We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese.

 We went down to Memphis to see Jamie and Katie. It was fun to take a small "road trip" and to stay up late watching chick flicks with the gals.

 Jamie's boyfriend is a fireman. Pretty cool, right? So, we took the kids to the fire hall to look around and so that the Utahans could meet Brian. It was a lot of fun to see what a lot of the things do on the trucks.

 And my kids wanted to wear Brian's helmet. Yeah, that sucker is heavy and William's head wobbled trying to balance it!

 We went to Main Street Toy Company, which is owned by my cousin and looked at the cool, vintage toys they have there and spent way too much money!

 Of course we went to the zoo. All the kids rode on the train, even Presley who couldn't make up her mind. And even Tessa who said from the beginning she didn't want to. It was SUPER hot the day we went and after kids complaining and a heat rash appearing on Presley's legs.. it was time to go.

 Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to Toot's restaurant. I don't think I need to explain why the kids thought this was hilarious. But, they did keep saying that they "ate toots for lunch." Good times.

I have many more pictures of the haps that went on while Carrie and the girls were here, but I have to wait for my camera battery to charge.

The Fourth

Happy Fourth of July!!