Back to School

This year we have a first grader and a preschooler!

Lucy's first day of school was on August 25th. She did great! I was a bit worried about the whole day thing but she didn't seem tired at all. 

Later in the week she was a bit ornery but otherwise she adjusted wonderfully. She also had her first loose tooth on her first day of first grade. How cool is that?! 

Sammy, Eliza, and I walked her to school and Spencer came out to see us and take a couple of pictures. 

She was excited and got right in line. I had to ask her to get out of line and spend a few minutes with us! I'm so glad she loves school. :)

Sammy started preschool at Miss Margene's the following week, on Sept. 5th.

He was super nervous and super scared. To help him chill out a bit before we went in, I had him sit with me in the front seat and snuggle for a few minutes. I then tried to lighten the mood by pulling out my phone camera and trying to get him to smile.

I eventually got one out of him and we headed in.

It was actually really hard to leave him there. He kind of whimpered and want to cry but put on a brave face and let me go. That first day he didn't do anything but he was there and didn't cry.

 It took a few days of school and countless pep talks, but he eventually started to participate.

Getting to pick out his very own TMNT backpack helped too! He also has friends from the neighborhood in his class, so that helps.

He loves preschool now. My whole goal with sending my kiddos to preschool is to help them get over their anxiety and shyness. I love watching him learn and grow.

Everyday Moments August

 The last bit of summer! Spencer taught summer school in the morning for most of the summer and he actually had a week off in August. We made a point to spend some time playing as a family and finishing house projects.

Home Depot was a frequent stop for us in August. The kids love their new carts.

Eliza is transitioning from two naps to one. Some days that transition is more smooth than others!

We made a bunch of necklaces with fun beads Ashley passed on to us.

And played lots of play-dough.

We bought a month pass to the Taylorsville Pool for the last part of summer.

The kids loved it and we could really see them getting more used to the water.

Eliza loved the water but she liked walking around more.

There's nothing quite as fun as an empty box!

I took the kids down to the new children's museum at Thanksgiving Point. Sammy was ornery and hardly played at all.

Lucy had a fabulous time!

Ashley and I ran a 5k - the Color Run.

It was so much fun! As we ran, there were different stations set up where they sprayed color on you. This was us at the end of the race. (which we finished in 43 minutes - my best time so far. Hopefully the next will be even better.)

My dad, Patti, Trace, and Haley also ran it.

The sign says "jump if you're happy." This was a fun pic :)

Spencer and I went to the last Bees game of the season on a date. The seats were great, the weather was awesome, and it was nice to just sit and enjoy the actual baseball game.

Love the view from the stadium. :)

Dress up fun!

Family date out to eat, :)

The kids and I did the summer reading program at the library and one of the rewards was a free kid's meal at Applebees. 

We needed a cooking break so we treated ourselves. Now we're back in the swing of things. I'm happy for fall to be here but the laid back freedom of summer was so nice!

Eliza 15 Months

 Just looking at this little munchkin melts my heart!

Eliza at 15 months is a busy, happy, independent little girl.

She knows what she wants and is learning how to get it - mostly by pointing and grunting!

She loves granola bars, fruit, cereal, and basically anything sweet. Can you blame her?!

She still loves to suck her fingers and she has grown attached to her belly, which she also holds as a comfort.

At her 15 month check up she weighed 19 lbs 10 oz (8%) and was 26 inches tall (20%), so she is still our little runt. And we couldn't love her more! :)

Donut Falls

As summer came close to ending, we decided we needed to get up in the mountains so we headed up to Donut Falls.

Our kids are finally at a good age for hiking! Lucy and Sammy are both big enough and strong enough to do a short hike (this one was 1 1/2 miles round trip) and Eliza is still little enough to be in the carrier.

We had a great time taking turns "being point" and posing for pictures by the river.

It was beautiful weather and there were a lot of people there but not too many that we didn't get to have the trail to ourselves at times too.

The kids loved stopping on the rocks for snacks.

Family shot.

You can see the falls just behind Sammy's head in this picture. We didn't go any further because there were a ton of people at the top and it didn't feel safe taking the kids on all those rocks in the river.

Eliza was pretty happy in the carrier as long as either Spencer was moving or she had food. :)

We stopped on the way back down to have a picnic lunch.

There is something that makes eating on a blanket more fun! :)

And we couldn't leave without first playing a game of hide and seek!

This little cutie loved getting down and playing in the dirt!

Good bye summer! We'll miss you!