So proud...

The day i have been waiting for all summer finally arrived today. Our girl started Kindergarten today! I can not believe how grown up she has become. All of a sudden this summer she has matured and is really no longer a little kid. I woke up this morning at 6:15 and could not go back to sleep. It worked out well so i could make her lunch and get settled into the day. She woke up happy and ready to go. She is a morning person, like me, so it was not too hard to get her up, dressed and fed.

She wanted a picture with her brother, but he is not as much of a morning person, so that did not happen. We took a few pictures before the day started. I have heard of a lot of parents who take a picture the first and last day of school so kids can see how much they have grown. I want to do that with our kids. I think it will be fun!
So proud of my girl! :)

Walking to school. This will be the really nice thing about her going to school this year. We have driven to her preschool the past 2 years. Even though school starts earlier, it is so nice to walk and not drive! She was excited about heading out...

We timed it so we walked up and she lined up to head into class and then pretty much walked in. Well...we did not time it that way! The pictures took a little longer than expected and Critter was not quite as cooperative as normal. But...she was not late her first day! She was a little nervous and did not want to walk in the room. The teacher VERY intelligently had the parents wait outside and NOT come in the room. Hubby walked along Pumpkin and guided her into the room. Once she found her seat (we can see through the window looking into the courtyard of the school) she settled in and was fine.

At the end of her day, walking home. She was so cute walking out. She did not want to leave the class line to come to me. Her teacher had to tell her it was okay. It was cute. We could not get her to tell us much about her day until dinnertime. I had her pick dinner tonight, and she picked breakfast for dinner. That is what she got! With a full belly and some down time, she told me all about her day. She is now super excited about going back. That is really all I can ask!

Pumpkin, we are so proud of you! Hope you continue to love school and I can not wait to see what new adventures await you :)

Finally, the end of our vacation....

The reason behind our vacation....

My cousin got married! It was such an awesome reason for our family to get together. Like i have said, it has been 5 years since we have all been together. We are spread out from coast to coast, so a weekend bbq is not something we can easily to! It is nice to have another cousin married. Before July 3rd, I was the only one of my generation married! Crazy! It was such a beautiful ceremony and reception.
We had to get to the church early for pictures. My cousin and his bride decided to do ALL their pictures before the ceremony. I do have to say how sweet it was to see him carrying around her train, such sweet moments. There was time after the pictures and before the ceremony. That meant that Critter ran around! We actually got him to keep his tie on for the pictures and ceremony. :)

Pumpkin had the special job of helping hand out programs. She was quite nervous about this and caused quite the meltdown of not wanting to even go to the wedding! Luckily the other little boy who was helping was really excited. It became a game to them who could get someone the program first. Luckily us moms were there to keep them from tackling people at the door. Most people were sweet and took one from him and one from Pumpkin :)

We got to the reception first to help with putting rose petals on the tables, even though by the time we got there with the kids my aunts had finished! The kids had a blast running around the dance floor and dancing! So cute...

We tried to get some family pictures in before the bride and groom arrived. I have no idea about the shadow in front of hubby, but it works since he really does not like his picture up here anyway! I realized looking through the pictures that i am hunched over with horrible posture most of the time. I did not realize how much my back was hurting from carrying around an almost 40 pound Critter for days on end! I had to carry him a lot due to new people and getting scared! Too bad that is too hard to photo shop! :)

Not much funnier to a 2 year old than "cheer"s with your dad and spilling your water down your shirt!

Okay...anyone who knows Hubby knows he has a different sense of humor. My cousin and his bride did a money dance. Well....we don't know his bride really well...so who does Hubby dance with? Of course, my cousin. Well...not many people in the family have apparently seen this, even though it is fairly common place among our friends at their weddings! Then of course my uncle had to cut into their dance. It was the talk of the night!

Pumpkin finally got on the dance floor. She spent at least the first half of the reception sitting there, very sad. She finally got to dancing and had a blast! It took awhile until i found out why she took so long. She told me " Mommy, I could not dance at first. There were just too many people out there to dance the way I wanted to"

That is my girl! :)

I tried to get some dances in with my boy!

It was a great time. The kids (and adults) had so much fun! These are certainly memories we will carry with us forever!

Watch out for more emotional posts though....tomorrow Pumpkin finds out who her Kindergarten teacher is and then she starts her first day of Kindergarten on Monday!

A break from vacation pictures for a moment...

This girl had a big day today...

She got to go to her new elementary school (sobs) and do a Kindergarten Readiness Test. It is not to tell whether or not she will go to Kindergarten, but where she is at and to help the teacher have a base knowledge of the kids in class. She had a rough day yesterday stressing about it. Since it is a new school, and she does not know anyone yet...there is quite a bit of anxiety. She has been in tears about starting Kindergarten. She keeps saying she does not want to go. My heart is breaking for her.

So...I employed a little bit of parental bribery. I told her as long as she went to the testing today, talked with the teacher, and tried her best we would go to Build a Bear when it opened. She had saved money and we got a $10 certificate from them. She did great at the school. She was very timid when walking away from me with the teacher. By the time she came back she was happy and talking. The teacher said she is doing great and is slowing learning to read.
So...off to the store we went. She wandered around for quite awhile. She wanted a new bear and a new outfit, but did not have enough money. So, after much deliberation, she got a new friend.

Introducing...Chloe! She is so funny with her friends and their outfits. It is so important for us to teach her about budgeting and money. We figure if we can teach her now, it will be that much better for us as she gets older.

My heart is so not ready for these next steps these 2 are taking. I do not have any idea how I am going to handle her starting Kindergarten. Especially with her feeling nervous, I have to be really excited about it. Even, though my heart is breaking with each thought of the 26th. I did not do nearly as much with them as I had wanted for the summer. We have great memories, but there are never enough! She is growing into this amazing person. Each time I look at her, she amazes me even more. The love she holds in her heart could heal almost anyone!

Happy times my dear Pumpkin. We love you and are so proud of what you are doing and who you are!

More of our trip...

My parents, the kids and I were the first to arrive in Nebraska. It was really nice to get settled, go grocery shopping and let the kids explore. The first of my cousins to arrive was this guy...

He immediately made my kids day by asking if they wanted to go to the hotel room and have a pillow fight, which lead to horsey rides and pretty much kid chaos! He became a comfort for them the rest of the trip. I can not say how much it meant to me that both Pumpkin and Critter (or nicknamed Crash by this guy) felt comfortable with my crazy family. That is the thing with both kids. They can sometimes start off a little timid, but once they warm up and decide they love you...there is no looking back. Just today Pumpkin said she wanted to color a picture for the fun cousin who had a pillow fight with her...
The hotel had a small basketball court on the property. The nice thing with the later days is that after dinner most nights we would borrow the basketball from the front desk and the kids would play basketball with my dad! It was so much fun, and a great way to get end of the day energy out. The kids ended up staying on AZ time while we were there. They slept in until about 8:30 and went to bed around 10, which is their normal 6:30 wake up and 8 bedtime. It made for slightly long days there, but man has it made bedtime easier here!

My aunt and I took my kids, my cousin and one of my uncles to the Zoo on Friday. (Actually my uncle took us...I don't want to get in trouble with him if he reads this!) It was a small zoo, but perfect for the kids. They had an area to feed animals. The two bigger kids, Pumpkin and my cousin, wanted to feed the baby goats. Critter got to feed the huge llamas! He was so happy with himself!

There was also this really cool butterfly garden. When you walk in they spray some stuff on your finger which attracts the butterflies. It was so cute to watch the kids walk around the area with their fingers out trying to catch butterflies. All the kids got to hold at least one...

So...apparently my cousin is even crazier than I remembered. The morning of his wedding, he organized a softball game for friends and family. Of course, he played in it too! His new bride was upset...not because he played but because she couldn't! After the big kids played, Pumpkin and Critter tried to play too.

Pumpkin actually got a few hits. My cousin got a kick out of pitching to the kids. He did have to watch himself though...you never know where kids will hit the ball! :)

There is still so much more to remember. I have not even scratched the surface of stories. I am so thankful that Pumpkin is at an age where she will remember a lot of these stories. More stories to come still!

The Fourth...

We are back!

I realize that pretty much only family and friends read this blog....but still I did not want to publicly announce we would be out of town for 6 days. We went last Wed-Mon to Nebraska for my cousins wedding, which was also a family reunion. I had not seen a lot of my cousins and aunts/uncles in 5 years. They had not seen Pumpkin since she was 9 months old and had never met Critter. It was SO MUCH FUN! I have hundreds of photos I am still going through...so there will be MANY more posts coming.

My cousin got married on the 3rd and some family left on the 4th. So, we had a more low key (that of course is something said in perspective of my crazy loud family!) Fourth of July. What made it really awesome is the fact that fireworks are LEGAL in Nebraska. I am not talking about the little fireworks that you barely notice. I am talking huge, loud, smoky fireworks. Two of my uncles put on a show after the wedding back at the hotel. Then, one of them decided to do it again on the actual 4th. It was so neat. Everywhere you looked there were fireworks.

After dinner and before the fireworks we were just playing around in the parking lot...I know a little weird...but it was fun! The kids found a little frog. It became the goal to chase this frog into the field next to the hotel. Amazingly enough Critter did not step on it!
Waiting patiently for the fireworks just after finishing up smores. After being in the Valley for years on the 4th, it was amazing to be somewhere you needed PANTS outside in July! But....my kids were for sure the wimps of the bunch getting cold. :) In the middle there is my youngest cousin, he and my kids were inseparable the entire time. Poor Critter has been asking to play with him all week

These are the legal fireworks pretty much right above us....crazy!

Critter got scared during the loud booms. My other cousin, the little guys older brother, tried to comfort him. The kids loved playing with him as well. I am surprised he did not get tired of carrying them around in his arms, back or shoulders.

It was such an awesome 4th weekend. Like I said, i have a ton more pictures and stories to come. I had to start somewhere though, otherwise it would be 2 months from now and I would have nothing written!

My sweet boy...

I am a little behind on this post...but oh well!

A few weeks ago Pumpkin spent a few days at my moms house. I had big hopes for time with my boy, but he ended up feeling a little under the weather. We had different fun anyway. It was nice to be able to hang out with him, take care of him and just enjoy the sweet boy he is.

He was just goofing off in the bathtub making faces and just cracking me up. These pictures may not show it, but it was just funny! He kept saying "look at me" when he did things. He got to show off a little bit without his sister.

This was his "I'm Cute" face he kept making...It was so much fun spending some quality time with my boy!