First Day of Kindergarten

The day finally came! This past week, Karis kept asking me how many more days until school. After I told her, her response was always, "I wish it was today." 

Hello Kitty is one of her favorites right now, so she chose a Hello Kitty backpack and lunch box. She also picked out a Hello Kitty t-shirt to wear. I thought for sure she would want to wear a dress, but she said she wants to wear a Hello Kitty shirt every day to school. 

I love this look on her face. It shows that right before I took it, she said, "Mom, you said one more picture. Can we go now?!"

We had a friend come over that morning to stay with Makena and Kyle so that it would be less hectic and we would make it to school on time. We walked Karis to the school which is just under a half mile. 

  

As we stepped onto the school grounds, Karis' pace slowed down a little bit. I could tell she was getting a little nervous. But she was fine once we got into the classroom. We helped her hang up her backpack and put her lunch box away. We said good-bye and then tried to hold back tears!

Ms. Carlton is her teacher this year. We have a few friends whose older kids had her and they all love her. This is Ms. Carlton's 24th year of teaching and she won the Teacher of the Year award last year. 

Karis' friend Makena who she met at the Future is Bright is also in her class. She is just as shy as Karis! We also met another sweet girl who lives down the street from us. We have been praying with and for Karis that she would make 2 or 3 good friends in her class, so we're excited to see how these friendships develop. 

And how do Makena and Kyle feel about Karis going to school? They're excited that they get to play with Karis' toys! 

The house felt so different when she was gone. I was filled with all kinds of emotions that day, but kept trying to snap out of it and spend time with the littles. Makena definitely missed playing with Karis. I felt much better after dinner when our home was back to "normal" and all three were together playing. It's going to take me awhile to get used to our new normal. 

Karis had a great first day of school. She said the only time she wanted to come home was during story time. I'm not sure why she didn't like that part of her day. She was most excited about the toys in her classroom (legos and My Little Pony). 

Getting ready for her second day of school was definitely different. She was much more talkative and silly during breakfast. Derek took her to school and said she ran most of the way. I guess the nerves are gone! 

Promotion Sunday at Church

Karis attended church service with us for the first time. At our church, we have childcare for preschoolers, but all other children attend the main service. The children's program is after the service. 

Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to having Karis in the service with us. I love our service and having uninterrupted time to worship and pray. But there was something special about worshipping with her. She enjoyed it and tried singing along. I loved hearing her sweet voice!

When we weren't singing or praying, she got to work on her designer sketchbook (she draws outfits onto girls using templates, colored pencils and stickers). It kept her quiet and busy!

Our pastor had all the kids come to the front of the sanctuary and then the parents surrounded them. He prayed for all of us and the upcoming school year. It was a great start to the week!

Little Riding Buddies

Now that Karis' legs are long enough to reach the foot pegs, Derek has been wanting to get her a helmet. Last Friday, he took Karis out on a lunch date and then went helmet shopping. Karis was excited to go for a ride. Me?... not so much. The last thing I wanted was for her to fall off and break her arm right before school started. Derek found a velcro strap so we could strap the girls to him. That made me feel a little better. He took them for a short ride around the neighborhood. 

Sweet moment!

Waiting for Daddy and Makena

 The little guy is still way too small but he cried almost the entire time the girls were on the bike. He wanted a turn so badly, so he got to get on the bike and take a few loops around the driveway.

Sweet Sisters

How did we get from this:

January 2012

to this??

August 2014

Karis starts Kindergarten next week and I'm going to miss watching the girls play together all day. I don't know who will miss Karis more, Makena or me! 

The End of Summer

Summer is already drawing to a close. There was a brief time in July when the summer felt long, but most of time, it felt like it was flying by. All in all, we had a great summer. 

Karis learned how to tie her shoes, improved her reading skills, learned about saving money and started tithing, and passed her first swim lesson. Makena improved her writing, she learned how to draw a heart (something she wanted to learn), dropped her naps, and no longer swims with a floatie (though she can't swim independently). Over the summer, the girls also did lots of chores to earn money to buy small stuffed animals. 

Kyle now plays alongside his sisters. He loves to copy them and follow their instructions. He will definitely miss having the girls around when school starts. 

I'm thankful that I am able to stay home with the kids. Some times are hard and I pray for more patience, but there are so many days that are filled with such sweet moments. The girls and I talk a lot about random things, usually in the car or during lunch. They often talk about heaven and ask what it will be like. I tell them we'll have new bodies and we won't ever get sick or need to take naps or eat or brush our teeth. Karis is a little concerned that there won't be any toys in heaven. She wants to go to heaven and then come back to make sure she'll like it. Makena is worried that she'll get cavities because we won't be flossing or brushing our teeth. These little minds are so entertaining!

Makena always wants to pray at dinner time. I love hearing her sweet voice thanking God for the food and for the good day and asking for "halbogi to feel better and for Aunt Stephanie's neck to feel better..." The girls always tell Derek and I how many times "to the moon and back" they love us. They say, "I love you to the moon and back, ten, fifteen, twenty-seven times" with the number always changing. 

I can't believe that when school starts, I'll have seven less hours with Karis each school day. The last week or so, we've been hanging out a lot at home and we have all been enjoying it. The girls use their imagination and play for hours on end. They all play really well together (compared to the beginning of summer!). 

Here are a few more photos from this past summer. 

Our church had a weekly story time where the kids sang songs, heard a Bible story and did a craft. Makena's classmates were usually there, so it was a fun time to also see friends. 

We met friends at our new local splash pad a few times. Here are a few photos of our time with some of Karis' classmates.

A friend at church owns a horse and invited the girls to go horseback riding. The girls got to see lots of horses and learn how to care for them.

Karis was the first to get on the horse. We didn't know it at the time, but the horse's back was hurting. The horse immediately tried to buck Karis off. Good thing Derek was by her side holding on to her. Karis did a great job and held on. After we gave the horse some time, Karis got back on. The horse did the same thing and again Karis held on. Karis actually enjoyed all the action and wasn't afraid at all.

We waited around until our friend could figure out what was going on with her horse. It was a hot day and the girls were a little disappointed. Once we realized that the horse was hurting, we called it a day. We'll definitely go back another day so that the girls can go horseback riding.

My roommate from LA came through town on their way to Atlanta. They stayed at our house and we got to catch up. The kids had a great time together and it was sad to see them go. 

Not pictured are our trips to the library, swimming, play dates, time at the park when there was a break in the heat, friends' birthdays, overnight out-of-towns guests, and our church's VBS. 

Summer Crafts

We spent a lot of time this summer (mainly at the beginning) doing crafts at home. I tried out some stuff I learned about on the Internet. Here are a few things the kids enjoyed. 

A raceway down the stairs

Making pet rocks with glitter paint and googly eyes

Pom pom shooters

Slime balls out of glitter glue and borax

  

And lastly, finger painting, coloring, stickers and perler beads.