First Day of School

The girls woke up on their own before their alarm clock went off. They were so excited!

They love their new backpacks and lunch boxes that Halbogi bought for them.

 

A little sassy pose. 

Kyle wanted some camera time too! The girls gave him a big hug -- boy are they going to miss each other!

It was finally time to head to school. Notice both girls had to carry their own backpacks. Daddy has a rule that he only carries Kindergarteners' backpacks. There are no kindergarteners here!

A quick picture on the Mockingbird bench before heading into school. 

Again, Kyle wanted some camera time. He asked for a picture with Daddy. 

We dropped off Makena in her classroom. She was greeted by her teacher, Miss O'hearn. This is Miss O'hearn's first year of teaching! 

Then we dropped off Karis at Mrs. Ruth's classroom. 

It was a great feeling knowing that both girls were excited for their first day. We left feeling good about dropping them off. On the way out, Kyle got a donut from the Kindergarten Boo Hoo breakfast. It pays to know the PTO president who snuck him in to get one!

And then we walked home and spent the rest of the day with this guy! Two more weeks before he starts Pre-K. 

And That's A Wrap!

What a great summer! It definitely went by too fast. 

I usually spend a good amount of time planning activities, making goals and buying crafts before summer vacation hits. This year, I didn't do any of that and I think this has been one of the easiest summers so far! The kids just played with each other and came up with some great ways to spend their days. At the beginning of summer, the girls did nothing but play with Legos. I'm always amazed at the things they create and it's so much fun watching them build and play. Kyle found ways to play with them but after a few weeks of nothing but Legos, I would often hear him say, "Why do you guys ALWAYS play with Legos?" He was definitely ready to move on to something else. 

The highlight of the summer, as always, is swimming. We house sat and dog sat for friends who have pools, we went to swimming parties and we swam with friends at their houses. We definitely got a lot of swim time in. At the beginning of the summer, Makena got rid of her swim vest and started swimming almost immediately. Her swimming came a long way over the summer months. Kyle spent a little bit of time this summer in the water without a floatie and even with his head under water (thanks to the girls for letting him wear their goggles and for waving to him in the water!). He will definitely learn to swim next year. 

Here are some more highlights of our summer vacation

We met some of Makena's friends to paint pottery

Cow Appreciation Day

We celebrated the 4th of July with friends

Makena wanted to learn how to make coffee for me!

We got to meet some firefighters at Dairy Queen. Who knew firemen eat ice cream too?!

Lazy days

Getting Kyle ready for PreK in the Fall

Best friends playing at The Tubes

Enjoying a warm summer night with friends and water balloons

Karis was so excited to find the kid version of my devotional at the bookstore.  We did our devotionals together each night. 

Hanging out with these goofballs who don't know how to drink out of a water fountain. They were soaked and left a big puddle of water at the water fountain!

I'm definitely going to miss these days together. School starts tomorrow!

Getting Ready for a New School Year

Leading up to the first day of school, there is always a lot of talk in our house about the first day of school outfits, nail polish, backpacks, lunch boxes, etc. This year was no different. However, in the midst of the excitement, I wanted to check in on the girls to see how they were feeling about the first day of school and if they were nervous at all. Last year, Karis was nervous to start the new school year and of course, Makena was too. So on Sunday afternoon. I asked Karis, "So, how are you feeling about tomorrow?" She looked up from her book and said, "What's tomorrow?"  I guess I didn't need to worry about her being nervous!

Before I took the girls to get their annual hair cuts at the salon, we talked about what each girl wanted. Makena definitely wanted to keep her hair long and get bangs. Karis wanted her hair short like mine. 

Karis got her hair cut first and after seeing how cute it was, Makena wanted the same thing! I had to convince Makena to keep her hair a a little longer since she has a lot more hair than Karis that's thicker and curlier.  She was a bit sad, but in the end, they were both happy with their new cut. 

That night, we went to school for Meet the Teacher night. The girls met their teachers, saw their new classrooms and some old friends. These are two of Makena's good friends from her class last year. 

After the girls saw all their new school supplies, they're excitement reached a whole new level! The next day and every day after, Makena kept saying, "I want school to start tomorrow!"