Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Getting into the groove...

We are about 2 weeks into school and are settling into a nice routine. 

Early to bed, painfully early to rise. We were 4 days into the year when Maddie got her first reprimand for talking. She and Claire were talking "on the carpet" and got separated. I was laying with Maddie in bed and the conversation went like this:

Me: Maddie, have you gotten in trouble yet for talking?
Maddie (in the most offended voice she can muster): NO!!!! 
(silent pause)
Maddie: Well, one time. Today, actually. On carpet. Claire and I got separated.


I laughed so hard. Ms. Canady did let me know that Maddie and Claire's friendship is more matured than any other in the class (because they came in already friends) so they have been a little chatty. I actually had a call with the teacher tonight and she let me know Maddie was just a very social child. 

I have no idea where she gets it from...

But, other than that, we're full steam ahead for first grade. 

We had our back to school bash and had such a fun time.
Girl talk.


Sydney straight up tried to win a dance contest against a bunch of older kids. It was a riot. She didn't win (I'm actually not sure the judge could see her tiny body) but all of us parents got a kick out of her. 

Maddie, Rayne, Murphy and little sis.

There was a bubble car so there were bubbles everywhere!



We watched the solar eclipse! I went to school to help chaperone and mainly to make sure my child didn't go blind.

(Sydney's preschool covered the windows and didn't attempt to take the littles out, thank goodness.)

Maddie got invited to a great birthday party at the Mega Cavern. Tia came with us and we went up on the course with Madeline.


It was a blast. I can't wait to have Maddie's party there. We are going to wait at least another year though because we want Sydney to be big enough to do it.

Speaking of Syd...

There are three certain things in life. Death. Taxes. And Sydney getting croup when the weather changes. 

Poor little peach. I was up with her half the night with her terrible seal cough. We took a hot steam shower at 4 in the morning. We sat outside at 5 in the morning trying to breathe in cool air. Since there was no stridor, we didn't have to go the emergency room. We made it until 7 and got the first appointment at the pet's office. They gave her steroids and a sucker (the medicine is pretty nasty so it helps with the aftertaste.) There was a new nurse who just kept talking about how well behaved Sydney was because she sat still for all of the vital checks and took the medicine without complaining. Unfortunately, when you get croup 4 -5 times a year, you're used to the process. 

Sydney goes for her 4 year well check in 2 weeks and we will likely talk long term preventative planning. It's likely that she has asthma. While I really hope she doesn't, we'll manage if that's her diagnosis.

We continue with gymnastics. Girls are getting stronger and better at each element.

Sydney and I have resumed our CHik Fil A Friday lunches.

And my busy busy BUSY season is upon me for my travel job. I've got a ton of clients leaving in Sept and Oct for Disney so I'm headed to the post office pretty frequently the next few weeks!

Thursday, August 24, 2017

First Day of First Grade!

Just like that, we have a first grader!
 Maddie started first grade last Wednesday and is loving it so far! But let's back up.

We were able to meet her teacher, Ms Canady, the Monday before. We dropped off our supplies and saw the room. 

How cute was her little gift to the kiddos?


The day before school I took of work and we had some serious girl time. We did manicures and pedicures.

We jumped at House of Boom and had hibachi lunch. 

We met up with Hudson for ice cream. 

And then we got in bed early because we had a 6 AM wake-up! Maddie woke up pretty happy and was excited to see Lizzy at the bus stop. 




Chris and I drove to school and met the girls off the bus. 
 All smiles!

I just love these little gals. For the second year in a row, they grabbed hands and headed down the hall together. 

As for our littlest lady, Sydney is back to being the solo sister with nana on Monday and mommy on Friday.  She misses Maddie but she likes her 1x1 time too!

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

The End of Summer

Well, Maddie started First Grade today (which is a whole separate post, coming soon.) 

Which means our summer break is over. We literally squeezed in as much fun as we possibly could these last few weeks!

We finished our summer gymnastics session. Maddie is moving up to the next level for Fall. Sydney was already up a level (in a 4 - 5 year old class) so she's staying put. 

Maddie and I did our annual day at Holiday World with Hudson and Danielle. 
 We had a bonus guest this year - Kyle came along with!

The kids had a ton of fun!








We had more ice cream...I'm serious, I'm going on an ice cream hiatus STAT. 




We went to Chuck E Cheese with Brooke and Lizzy.
 Their favorite ride is a roller coaster simulator. They use a lot of their tokens here!


I'm seriously a dream for a sales person. I ordered our pizza and then "for $10 more" I could have Chuck E personally deliver a cookie cake to our table. Of course, I did it. I also am the only person who can spend $200 on an oil change because I do all of the add-ons. It drives Chris crazy! HAHA! 

We saw our cousins!

We had a movie night with Claire!

We had snow cones with Claire and Collin for our last summer weekend!

 Claire and Mads are in the same first grade class which might be a nightmare for their teacher. Ha! We've gotten to be good friends with their parents who live right behind us. They are re-doing their fence and plan to put a gate in for us, which is really nice and slightly hysterical. 

Collin is one year younger and has a sweet little crush on Maddie. He always try to be next to her. 

Sweet friends!

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Seagrove Summer Vacation 2017

We spent the last week in July in beautiful Seagrove, Florida! This was our first visit to Seagrove and we loved it!

Since we were going on a long road trip, we tried a new pillow for Madeline who always sleeps so uncomfortably in the car. 

It really worked.
Or not.

When we got to the house, the kids couldn't wait to get their feet in the sand!







And, then we went every day!













We had a lot of yummy food!

We had a lot of ice cream!


That was a mistake.

Chris completed a puzzle! 

We took lots of pictures!







Thank you, nana and grandpa, for a great family vacation!