Preschool!

Brayden started Preschool today!!!!

I hope her school year is full of learning,

laughing,

counting,

playing,

coloring,

singing,

and growing!

Afterschool Special

On any given weekday at about 3:15pm, this is what you might see if you were to walk into our home...

Please allow me to make a few observations.

Kennan is, in fact, sucking on a tootsie roll pop while enjoying some popcorn. At the same time.

Grayson is staring at his sister, eying her popcorn with much curiosity. In fact, you could probably say he is coveting it. We will work on that 10 Commandment at another time.

And sweet, sassy Brayden is committing a HUGE fashion faux pas. I'm not going to tell her.

And no, it is not cold enough for tights.

Somedays...

Somedays I feel tired and want to crawl back in bed...

and then I see this face.

Somedays I am tired of being chauffeur and just want to stay home...

and then I turn around and see this.

Somedays I want to stay inside while the kids play outside...

and then I see this look of concentration and want to watch to see what he'll do next.

Somedays I am sick and tired of snotty noses and poopy diapers...

and then I see this and just have to laugh (and take a picture).

Somedays I feel like I can't wash one more dirty dish or cook one more dinner...

and then I see this man who loves me and will go to the ends of the earth for our family.

Somedays I don't want to answer one more question or hear one more whine...

and then she does this (posing behind her picture of a spider).

Somedays I am counting down the minutes (seconds) until bedtime...

and then I look out the window and see this.

Life really is good. And I am very blessed. Somedays I just have to remind myself of this.

Kindergarten Report

An interview with a kindergartener (is that a word?):

What was the best part of your day? Coloring a lion and drawing a picture of me. Then when we go to the 6 year old class we will draw another one to see how much we've changed.

Did you go to P.E.? Yes and we did two exercises. One daddy knows and the other is called a pancake. I'm going to show daddy when he gets home.

Did you go to music? Yes. It was boring. We sat on a line and then walked back and forth.

How was lunch? It was AWESOME! The beans were the brown ones.
Did you eat them? Well, no. But the pizza was good!

Tell me one word to describe your teacher: Nice.

Are you going to go back tomorrow? YES!

Before he left this morning he told us he would give 2 thumbs up if he had a great day, 2 thumbs down if it was bad, or 1 up and 1 down if it was just okay.

This was his rating:

Kindergarten!!!

Today our sweet, precious boy started kindergarten!
We had to wake him up this morning!

He walked in the door and never looked back!

Preschool: Here she comes!!!

Brayden has been ready to go to preschool since the day she realized that Kennan got to go and was having a little too much fun without her. For the last year, she has been talking about being snack friend and cross carrier, going to chapel and using the potties that are just her size. Last night was Discovery Night (like Meet the Teacher night) and she could hardly contain herself. She doesn't start school until the day after Labor Day...but this girl is ready!

"See mom? The potty and sink are just my size!"
I've never seen this girl so excited to wash her hands!

Listening to a story with her teacher and new friends.

This 5-year-old-big brother-almost-kindergartner went with us and enjoyed showing his sister her classroom. I think he really just wanted to go because he heard there would be cookies and lemonade.

And this little-brother-talking-up-a-storm-while-the-"principal"-was-talking is just thrilled that in just a few short weeks he is going to have mommy to all to himself! (For a 6 hours a week, but who's counting?)

If Grayson could talk...

I think this is what he would say...

"Really mom? I want the good stuff...like baby back ribs or a prime rib."

"This exersaucer is great fun. But I think mom puts me in it so I can't go anywhere."

"That's right! I am rolling over now! There's no stopping me!"

"Whenever we go outside mom puts this silly net over my bouncy seat. I'm not sure what it's really for, but when no one is looking I sometimes try to stick it in my mouth. And when mom comes to check on me I look real innocent, like this..."

"I'm really a 5 month old genius. I don't really need anyone to read this book to me but they do any way. Oh, and the pacifier? All the other 5 month olds do are doing it."

Pretty Princess

We celebrated Brayden's 3rd birthday last night with a princess party.

As you can see from this picture, there were a lot more princes at the party than princesses. For their sake, we kept the pink, girly, princessy stuff to a minimum!

Grayson got a kick out of his sister's new Barbie doll. I'm not sure what he thought was so funny!

And here's little brother giving big brother a karate chop kick. (Kennan was attempting to show me a few of Brayden's new dolls because she wouldn't.)

That first taste...

I think it's safe to say he wasn't a fan!

And just for fun...

Friday Flashback

We went to Galveston in August of 2008 and then again last week. As we were taking pictures on the beach this summer, I remembered this sweet picture we took in 2008.

So of course, I had Brayden reenact it this summer.

Pretty cute, huh?