Remember Us?

So.. It's been a few months since I've posted! What have we been up to? A LOT! But I figured it might be best to start with the now and do a full update later.

First of all, this past week was crazy! I was able to finish making William and Lily's costume in time for the Trunk or Treat last Saturday and could breathe a little easier after that.

Last night, we went Trick or Treating in Jennifer and Kyle's neighborhood! My kids had so much fun going around with their cousins Zachary and Savannah.

 

Lily was a black cat/cat woman.

 She sure loved dressing up in her outfit and MAN, did she ever fit the part. This costume transformed her! She's got the cat poses down.

 William was the Green Ninja from Ninjago.

 He was a little apprehensive about wearing his mask, but he came around to it. He just didn't want people laughing at him. William loved the rest of his costume and he was very proud when people knew who he was and asked "Where's Lord Garmadon?" When taking pictures, he kept doing ninja moves, not poses. I know their blurry, but I couldn't help but share these little delights!

 

Halloween was a lot of fun and William and Lily are already putting their minds to work deciding what they want to be next year!

It Begins

 Last night was the school's Meet and Greet the Teacher night. We already knew the teachers that William and Lily were having, so we made them treats for a Welcome Back to School!/I'm So Glad You're My Teacher! kind of thing. When I decide to do something like this, Matthew ALWAYS says, "Oh.. you're one of THOSE moms.." Well, whatever. Appreciation is appreciation people. So, I made the teachers cake pops and the kids decorated them. They had so much fun and the treats were a big hit.

Today starts the days of all days! School.

This morning, we woke up bright and early to get ready. No one complained. We got dressed, teeth brushed, shoes tied, and breakfast eaten all in perfect time. We were out the door right at 7. Yes, school doesn't start until 8, but first days are the worst traffic-wise.

We took the annual first day pictures..

 And Lily was excited to participate this year..

 But these pictures melt my heart. (They had to make sure they were showing off their lunch boxes!)

William remembered where his new classroom was. It's a straight shot all the way down the hallway from the front doors. One of the last in the hallway. He knew the drill already. He put his backpack in his locker, lunchbox on top, and sat at his desk. Yep, DESK. This is new for him and he was excited to have his own desk instead of a table. This morning, while I was tucking in his shirt, he told me that he was so excited to meet his new friends. I have no doubt he'll have new friends in no time.

After we gave William and hug and a kiss, Lily and I grabbed hands and walked to the Kindergarten hallway. Lily's class is at the end of the hallway too. The Ladybug Room. Lily has been looking forward to being in the Ladybug Room and was excited to put her ladybug name tag on her school shirt this morning. We were the first in the room. She remembered where her locker and her seat was. She put her backpack and lunch box up and sat down to play with the play-doh. She is at the blue table and thought it was neat that William sat at the same table! But before you knew it, who showed up?

 Lily is SO excited to have her cousin Taylor in her class. AND they sit right next to each other. After they got situated and started playing, I was old news and cramping her style. I gave her a hug and kiss, wished her a happy 1st day of school, and I walked out of the school leaving my 2 kiddies in the hands of two amazing teachers. I'm very excited to volunteer in both of the kid's classes.

So, How am I doing with all of this? Well, I am okay. See, I think that while the school thinks they're slowly adjusting the kids into school, they're really doing me a favor. Today is only a half day. That's only a little over 3 hours of them gone. That's practically nothing, which I think is the reason I haven't cried today. I'll be leaving in just a little while to pick them up. And something else I've learned about myself is that I cry all the way leading up to the first day of school and then by the time the first day rolls around, my eyes are dried out.

But, Monday is the first full day for both of them. I won't know what to do all day. Will my eyes still be dry? No promises. 

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.