August Episode 4 - Birthdays, Bowling and Brothers

Makenna is a stuffed animal nut! She may not be big on dolls, but she loves her stuffed friends. So it seemed fitting to bring her to build-a-bear as a surprise for her birthday. And she Loved it! She picked Rainbow dash, got her stuffed, put a heartbeat inside her and dressed her with a cape and fancy pink high heels!

 Grammy and Pa trying to prove their youthfulness by trying out Makenna's hula-hoop. Yeah, it didn't go quite as well as they were hoping for. It's always fun to have a good laugh at a birthday!

 We made sure to celebrate Grammy and her birthday as well! Got her some nice jewelry that Conner boy helped me pick out. 

 A few days later Rah Rah and her family got into town to celebrate Davids return from his mission. We were all there, anxiously waiting with our signs and balloons!!

 They say that they leave a boy and come back a man. And yes, they are right. 

 Makenna was in absolute heaven having Ding back. Those two have a cute little relationship. 

 The next day Sarah, Brooke, Kipper, Conner and I went down to the park to visit Papa for his 60th birthday. It was sad to imagine how we would have been celebrating with him had he been here with us in person, but you could feel his spirit there. And we sang him a nice birthday song and I know he heard it!

 For Makenna's party this year she wanted to wait until ding was home and her cousins were here. She picked her friend Kara to come with us and we all had a lot of fun playing a few games together. 

 All the little munchkins. For this many kids it was surprisingly smooth bowling.

 The big kids.

 Still lots of excitement over having our Ding back!!

 These boys right here are just going to be trouble together. You can tell! They both get the mischievous look in their eyes when they are together. I anticipate lots of great stories with these two together.

 Love my sweet little Brookie!

 It feels so good when your kid finds a friend that they do so well with and that is the kind of friend you will be happy to have your child grow up with. We love Kara!

 Happy 7th Birthday Sweetie!

 And last but not least was our dear Daddy's birthday! August is always a great month to celebrate!

 Kellen always loves to make people a present from himself. This year I had all the kids make a drawing for Daddy saying why they loved their daddy.

 43 years young!! Happy Birthday Daddy!

August - Episode 3 (Back To School!)

 Makenna Mae. 7 years old (well, just a few days shy of 7). In the 2nd grade. When I think of my memories from 2nd grade it amazes me that this little girl is really getting so big! Her teacher this year is Mrs. Velguth. Her personality is Very different from Makenna's 1st grade teacher (Mrs. Balough), so at first it was a bit of a rough transition (for Makenna and for Mom and Dad). But we have adjusted and gotten used to her and have really grown to like her. She does a good job and treats Makenna well. Makenna is learning so much. And this year she has finally really embraced reading and found a love for it!

 Kellen boy. 4 1/2 years old. In Transitional Kindergarten (also known as TK). It's his first year in Elementary School. TK is full day and a lot like Kindergarten. They are in the process of changing the Kindergarten admission age so that you have to be 5 on or before Sept 1st. So this year Kellen just barely missed the cut off. At first I did not like the idea of this. But I have quickly been reassured that this has been a great thing for him. He loves school and is learning SOOOO much. He will be So prepared for Kindergarten, I have no doubt that the will have a great start and be a big step ahead in class next year. He loves his teacher Mrs. Zarzan and feels like a big boy. He is already starting to sound out words and read by himself. So proud!

 Watching these 2 walking up to school together on the first day of school literally brought tears to my eyes. They are such sweet kids and becoming little people of their own.

 Makenna in her class on the first day of school...pink pencil box all loaded and ready to go!

 Kellen in his class on the first day of school. He was lucky enough to start the year with 2 friends already...Brett who he knew from pre-school and Joseph our new, awesome neighbors!

 Another baby leaving his mama....

 Daddy helping Kellen with his first day of school project.

 The nice part about having both Makenna and Kellen at school is that it has given Mommy and Conner some more one-on-one time together. It's always interesting to see how your child is when it's just you and them vs their behavior when they are with friends and siblings. Though Conner can be a wild child, he is actually very sweet, silly and sensitive when it's just him and you. I feel like the time we have had with just us and baby hanging out together has brought us even closer than we were before. I love this little boy and his silly, happy, funny little personality.

I see a great friendship for these two boys. So lucky to have each other!

 A few weeks later this little stud muffin started pre-school! It was one of those exciting and sad moments all at once. I know he is the type of kid that loves stimulation and loves to be social and that preschool will be a great thing for him. But it feels like I am starting to loose my little toddler. It is weird to have them away from you and not know what they are doing for a number of hours during their day. But he certainly looks big enough to be in preschool. It's always hardest on the mama.

 We LOVE Circle Preschool!!

Day 1 of Preschool went great! Day 2, 3, 4...those were a little harder. There were tears for a little while. He would get really sad when I left but they said he would calm down quickly. And then he made a few friends...Rawson and Murray, and things completely turned our. He started Asking to go to preschool! Happy little boy!

August - Episode 2

 When Makenna was 5(ish) she and Grammy went on a special date to the circus while it was in town. Makenna and Kellen have been asking when our family could go since then. So when it was back around this year we thought it would be a great "end of the summer" surprise for the kids. And boy were we right. The kids LOVED it. You can't tell by the pictures above (perhaps they were just overwhelmed and stunned by all the excitement around them), but they were in heaven!!

 Each kid got to pick a souvenir. Makenna - a white tiger in a pink bag. Kellen - a stick that has things that spin and light up with a dancing elephant on top. Conner - a sword (that boy and his weapons....)

 This picture of Kellen makes the whole trip worth it. Pure child happiness and amazement at it's finest! I tell you, things are fun to experience as kids....and they are even better to re-experience as an adult through your childs eyes.