First Day of Kindergarten!

It almost seems like for the last year, I’ve been living Groundhog Day.  Everyday waking up just waiting and waiting for Hadden to be old enough for Kindergarten.  Hadden is a VERY inquisitive kid, plus most of his friends started school last year and have been telling him how great it is ever since.  He was ready in every sense.  So, without further adieu…

Mr. Kindergartener

Mr. Kindergartener, with The Ham

I think the photoshoot was nearly done here.

So proud!  I didn’t cry, though.  Chris thought for sure I would.  I’m just so proud of this amazingly smart kid!

His teacher suggested we take him to school so his first time on the bus would be coming home with just Kindergarteners.  So, when we got to school, all his friends and neighbors were getting off the bus and going into the school.  Hadden got a big high-five from his buddy Noah and then they dashed off.  (We were chopped liver by this point, believe me).  Their backpacks are reflective and they were so excited to be in school together that they moved quick!

Outside his classroom is a “Welcome to Kindergarten” sign.  We tried to give him a hug and tell him goodbye, but he was sooooo excited that he ran right into his room.  We had to insist on the hug and then he went right to work and was done needing us at all.  It was short, and tearless!

 

Calla waited patiently for the bus to bring him home.  It was 20 minutes late, but finally…

There he was!  He, Madi, and Mason (the twins who live next door) were all sharing a seat and peeking over it to see us waiting.  They were the last 3 on the bus.  It was so cute.  

He was just so proud and excited, but also trying to be a big kid and keep a straight face, hence the totally weird expression in the above photo.  I think the bus may have been at least equally exciting as the actual school day, but he did say his favorite time was storytime.  Good kid! 

Summer Days

Here are a few things we have been up to lately (sorry they’re all cell phone camera shots):

Making and eating THIS chocolate sauce.  So yummy!

And so messy! 

Calla loves marshmallows!

Notice the yellow plant in the background?  Calla picked some flowers and made her own garden.  Then, she watered it with the watering can.  What a cutie!

 

So proud of her handiwork.

Hiking with Grandma and a broken leg.

 

Riding the Frog Hopper with Mikenna.

Cousin fun! 

 

Taking the new trailer

To Bear Lake.

 

Dressing up as princess war plane dudes!

 

More cousin fun.  Hadden was so proud of himself that he wasn’t in this picture.  Notice the swing to the left is missing?  He was going so high he went out of the frame and thought that was so cool.

Now he’s back.

 

Cooling off with popsicles.

Having absolutely no fashion sense and still being cute!

Winning fabulous chef suits at the store Christmas party

 

Hiking like the biggest kids ever,

and making it all the way to the end!

 

Eating a well deserved lunch!

OK, so Calla rode most of the way in this.  Thank goodness for the Chariot!

 

Proud hikers.  I can’t believe summer is winding down.  Here’s to a few more fun-filled weeks!

Happy Birthday Calla!

It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 years since Calla was born!  I still feel like she’s my baby, but she assures me she’s big now.  She likes to say, “I’m a big girl now, Mommy, because I eat salad.” 

We had 2 parties.  One with family on Sunday night and one with a few friends today.  She wanted a Thomas Party, which was awesome.  Since we’d done one for Hadden a few years ago, we just repeated most of the same activities! 

There was…

Lots of cousin play on Sunday

  Thomas stories and train tracks with friends

Pin the nose on Thomas

A visit from “Sir Topham Hatt”!  Calla honestly had no idea who was playing Sir Topham Hatt.  She ran over and started hugging my leg in her shy way.  Her friend Eli, who is also very familiar with Chris, ran and hid behind me.  It was honestly hilarious!

Presents

and more presents

and more presents

fun on the swingset afterwards.  (somehow I have no pictures of the decorating of traincar cupcakes.  I believe the reason for this is that all adult hands were wiping frosting from many sticky hands, arms, lets, shirts, etc. while said activity was occurring.)

Playing with all the toys afterwards

A trip to the “zoo” with Grandma

And finally, a “two year old moment.”  Why would anyone ever want to wash their hands?  I guess she wasn’t technically three until 11 p.m., so she had to have one last (ha, ha) tantrum beforehand. 

We are so glad this beautiful, loving girl is part of our family!  Happy Birthday, Calla!

Broken

Poor Calla. She really knows how to do things all the way. On Monday she broke her ankle! She was on the neighbor's trampoline and was instructed to get out if the big girls got in (I realize the irony of me being the "rule" parent with the casted kid). I ran inside for a minute and when I came back out the mom neighbor was telling the big girls to stop jumping so Calla could get out. Apparently they had gotten in and she was making her way out. Well, they didn't wait, one of them did a flip and landed right on/next to Calla. Poor girl! She cried for about an hour and spent the rest of the afternoon at the insta-care. They told us it wasn't broken, but it turns out the radiologist found a break (and some torn ligaments), so off to the orthopaedic we went. She now gets to wear a lovely black walking boot cast for the next six weeks. Poor, poor girl.

Here she is in her splint (they don't actually stock walking boot casts in her size, so we spent a few days with the splint waiting for the cast). By the way, isn't that dress lovely? She insisted on wearing it this day and got lots of comments on it. Thanks Grandma JaDene!
Daddy brought home some very cute balloons with super-long strings so she could sit on the floor and reach them.
To say that Hadden is having a hard time not being the center of attention would be putting it entirely too mildly. Oh, high-energy Hadden!
Here's the boot she got today. It's called a "Wee Walker." Isn't that so depressing! My kids are grounded from trampolines indefinitely. Now I really am the meanest mom on the block!