Scott has been doing so great in school. He made it through a full week of school and hasn't complained at all about being tired or having too long of a day or anything like that. He loves school and loves learning. My favorite part is that in kindergarten everybody is friends with everybody. Like after the first day of school he's already talking about all his friends...so cute! He loves all the classes he gets to do too like P.E, Art, Library, Music and Computers, but the highlight of each day is of course recess!

Hailey has had 3 days of preschool and comes out every time skipping to the car with excitement. So they were to bring a family picture for a project...so I go to pick her up on Thursday and the teacher tells me that the picture was to put in their cubbys and the teacher tells the kids that this family picture is to help them while they are away from home and this way when they get sad or homesick they can look at the picture. Well Hailey wouldn't let the teacher put her picture up because she said she didn't need it. She's like, "No I don't need that! I'm okay! This is fun!"

Her new thing is making "Cleopatra" hair out of her dress up skirts

Ari is enjoying her "3 hours with mom all to myself" twice a week. In fact she usually cries when we go to pick up Hailey from school. She loves her, she just has been enjoying her alone time for sure!

 Ari's favorite thing is dressing up and working in the kitchen. She usually has her oven mit on and the whole bit. I don't know where she gets it from- yeah I'm in the kitchen cooking a lot (and the phone too probably) but definitely  not the high heels part :)

AND she finally got enough hair to pigtails! (barely)

Cutest video ever- Scott has been super nice about sharing his wheels with the girls and they have been enjoying it for sure

Untitled from Nicole on Vimeo.

We made it through a full week and half of school and what can I say? I'm feeling a bit like Ari in this video :)

This was at dinner on Sunday night...

Untitled from Nicole on Vimeo.

I couldn't put her down for a nap because bedtime was in 2 hours, but I did lay her on a blanket in the living room where Scott and Hailey just couldn't resist the quiet sweet sleeping baby :)

I love the "night cam" on my cellphone which I use to check on the kids each night before I head to bed. It's always fun to see the weird positions they have gotten themselves into each night.

 You'll have to look on the floor on this one to see Hailey's little braided head

 My personal favorite from last night....How is this even possible? Scott is asleep standing off his bed- hilarious!



1st Days of School!

 Look who's in Kindergarten!
Scott started his first day of kindergarten yesterday....FULL day kindergarten!

He's been excited for this day all summer and it finally came

His teacher gave him a name tag to wear and everything

Here he is putting his things into his cubby by his classroom

  I dropped him off by the classroom door and he looked up at me with big worried eyes, so I walked him over to his desk :) Look how nervous he is! Cutest picture ever. FYI Kevin said that is NOT a nervous look, it's a "I'm a little unsure of this" look :)

I dropped him off around 8:20 and school got out at 3:30

Most of the questions I asked him were answered with, "Mmm..I don't remember" Then I asked him what his favorite thing was from the day and he said art class and then recess was his second favorite. They also sang a really fun bubble gum song and learned about the "recovery chair" that isn't a good thing. When Kevin asked him if his teacher was nice he said, "Yeah I guess so". Then Kevin said, "Did she pay a lot of attention to you?" he said, "Yeah...and she wants us to pay A LOT of attention to her too." I thought that was cute. I'm sure all day it was, "Listen to me, Look at me, Watch me" so to a kindergartner the teacher probably seems kinda needy LOL.

I decided the bus thing is not for a worry mom like me, so I'm going to take him and pick him up each day. On the way I asked him if he was wanting to ride the bus and he said, "No. They have too many rules like 'keep your hands to yourself' and 'don't be loud'" Apparently we don't have those rules in our car.

I had most of my breaking down last night and only cried for a minute when I got home. I worry a lot anyways, so now that someone else has my precious cargo for 7 hours a day I'm entitled to be a little mental. I wanted to go to his school during his lunch and check up on him but I refrained. :) My little guy is growing up!

Hailey started preschool today! She'll be going twice a week and was super excited.

 She was already doing her usual "I don't like my teacher" (before she even got to her first day there) and holding onto my leg

(a little blurry with my phone)

Then she got to find her cubby with her name tag

She was a bit unsure but I said, "Look Hailey you get to pick out an activity on the tables" and she looked over and said, "Bye Mom! See ya!" and waved bye

When I picked her up she talked my ear off all the way home and through lunch. She was in such a great mood and so excited

Arianna already doesn't know what to do with herself on the 2 days a week she gets Mom all to herself for 3 hours. Today wasn't much excitement as we had to go to her doctor checkup, but to her it was pretty cool to have all of Mom's attention. She didn't throw her usual tantrum/fit with the nurses trying to measure, weigh, etc. They had hope that maybe she turned a new leaf :)

22 pounds and 33 inches tall (about 25th percentile for weight and 75-90 for height)

After talking to her pediatrician about only like peaches, pears and crackers, cereal she thinks she has a texture problem that needs to be worked on with therapy. I had an inclination that was the case so I was suprised the doctor brought it up before I did. Like the only meat she will eat is turkey bacon which makes sense because of the cracker crunch texture :) We are going to work with her at home first and see how it goes trying different textures (like cotton ball, spongy, etc) on her tongue and mouth. Sounds fun right? :) If that doesn't work she can meet with an oral therapist (didn't even know there was such a thing!) But she's growing and keeping on track so that's great!

Growing Kids!

Last Hoo-Rah Before School Starts!

We have had a busy (and too hot) summer and didn't get a chance to go camping. Kevin worked beyond the kids bedtime last week and we just needed something to keep us busy so we had a camp out in our living room. It's a fairly new tent and I hadn't set it up by myself before, so I kind of underestimated how big it was going to be- it was a perfect fit barely! :)

 Arianna just LOVED the pet door LOL

 They played for 3 days and slept in it for 2 nights. GREAT entertainment!

 Art day. We even hooked up Ari's table so she could play along-it was her first time painting

 Hailey (my free spirit) doesn't believe in paint brushes. She thinks they limit her creativeness

 Scott prefers the less messy stamps

 Something funny about Ari is she thinks everything is lipstick. She is constantly putting using Kevin's deodorant as lipstick (I know-yuck) along with anything else including markers of every kind (even permanent one time) and now paints too

 Kevin took a much needed day off on Tuesday so we could go to the zoo and play with the kids before school started, plus the kids were begging me to see the new baby giraffe SJ (Stretch Junior)

Apparently almost getting eaten at the Animal Safari warmed Ari up to feeding animals, because she was going crazy feeding the animals and just couldn't stop laughing and smiling

They also got these "zoo keys" to keep around their necks. Each animal has a place to put your key to hear facts and a cute song. Super cute!

We are always missing random items around the house because Scott is always inventing things...like this bell he made with a drop light magnet, office pencil holder, magnet with a hook and a wrench hanging

Summer is over here in Missouri although the temperatures say otherwise

School starts today- pictures to come :)

Arianna is 18 months old!

 I'll fill in her stats next week after her appointment :)

Where do I even start? Ari is the cutest little thing in the world. She's definitely my little baby not just because she's the youngest....she's sensitive and has to figure things out on her own time (like eating). She loves to cuddle and she is just my little love bug. I just love this girl to pieces! Just over the last week or so her new favorite thing is dress up, especially if it involves shoes. She's constantly bringing me skirts to put on her

 and hats of all kinds

Once she puts them on they stay on for hours and you aren't allowed to touch them

 not even if you are just trying to move them out of her eyesight

These are her favorite church shoes that she wears always with everything and around the house

She loves to dance and do somersaults

She's running now and climbing up everything and loves rides of every kind (bikes, john deere and now the 4 wheeler)

She went to nursery for the first time last week!

She has always been a picky little thing and this last month she was down to just eating cereal, milk, yogurt, peaches, pears and crackers. I finally had to get really mean and cut out all milk and only give her the favorites above once a day. I just kept offering new things and if she didn't eat, then she would have to wait for the one meal that day where she got what she wanted. FINALLY after a hard week she's eating bananas, bread pieces (has to be homemade though), bacon, and as of today chicken nuggets! She even tried some spaghetti and meatballs but spit them out. Still it was a long way from her usual (gagging when she even touched spaghetti or any new food item). She even ate some texas sheet cake so maybe she'll actually eat some of her birthday cake next year. :) Oh she's a funny girl and that's why we love her!