more happenings

 Evelyn can't wait to play outside after she gets up from her nap.  She gets so excited to watch
Carter and Audrey come home from school.

 Sidewalk chalk is one of her favorite outdoor toys.  She's always covered in it by the time we go in.

 Shortly after school started ballet was back in session.  Audrey is at the age where it's starting to get more serious but she's still is liking it. Ballet and tap are now separate hour long classes.  Audrey chose to just do ballet so she could continue taking gymnastics.

 Evelyn is potty trained!  She did really well with it and doesn't have a problem staying dry when out and about.  Grandma Debbie got her a certificate for her accomplishment.

 She didn't want to smile for a picture with it.  She either hid behind it or looked at it.

This is as good as it got.  Stinker!

Mini Cooper

 We let Evelyn have her birthday present early.  As much fun as it would have been to put a big red bow on it, there was just no way to hide that big, heavy box.  She could not wait to drive it!  I took it outside to let her drive around while we waited for Carter & Audrey to come home.

The kids jumped it when they got home.  It was cute to watch them drive around together.

 That face!

 After getting their pjs on, they still had to go back outside to drive some more. 

I'm 2!

 Evelyn is still getting the hang of steering.  She let Audrey have a turn driving.  Evey still pushed the pedal.

These girls are having too much fun with this car :)

First day of school

 August 15th was the first day of school this year!  Not only was it earlier but it was a Friday.  I think that is the worst day to go back to school.  Anyway, the kids were excited to start.  I made them a K and 3 pancake for breakfast.

 They wanted a picture together

 My kindergartner and third grader

 My monkey is already in third grade!  He's getting so big!

 I don't think she could have been any more excited to finally get to go to Kindergarten.  Her excitement made it easier to hold off on the emotions until she was on the bus.

 Playing in the driveway while waiting for the bus.

 They were being so cute!

 Audrey's only sign of nerves was when the bus pulled up and opened the door.  She glanced back at me with a nervous look on her face.  Thank goodness Carter is on the bus with her and she was ok following him on.  I didn't think I would get emotional since I've been down this road before with Carter.  Boy was I wrong!  Chuck called to see how it went when I got back in the house and I lost it.  I was always one of those people that thought it was so funny that parents cried on the first day of Kindergarten and said I wouldn't be one of those.  Ha!  Never say never.  It certainly didn't help that Evelyn missed them terribly.  I can't even tell you how many times she asked for them that day :(

 Don't get me wrong.  I enjoyed having the one on one time with Evelyn.  We had all sorts of fun together that day.  Including one of her favorites, nail painting.

We also practiced holding 2 fingers up for her up coming birthday.

I of course knew she was in good hands.  We absolutely love their school and teachers and we have a fabulous bus driver.  Both Carter and Audrey came running off the bus all smiles and wanting to tell me all about their day.

DGS open house

 Kindergarten had their open house before the rest of the school.  Audrey was so excited to finally see her classroom!

 There was a paper for her to fill out at her seat.  The parents went to the cafeteria for a meeting while the kindergartners toured the school and a school bus.

 Let's have a super year!  The school's theme this year is superheros.

 I let Carter and Audrey pick where they wanted to have their last lunch with me.  No surprise, they picked Sugar.

 After lunch I let them pick out a special treat.  Carter picked out these cute school themed cut out cookies.

 It was Carter's turn to have his open house.  It's hard to believe he's in third grade already!  He is a big kid on campus as he has moved to the other side of the building (3rd, 4th & 5th grades).

 He was mailed a coded message from his teacher before the open house that he needed to decode.  His classroom was set up with different challenges.  Here he is making his way through the laser maze.

Once he organized his supplies at his desk and completed the missions we were able to go home.  He told me he was excited and ready for school to start.  He actually said he missed it!

End of summer

 We enjoyed the last bit of our summer.  School seems to start earlier and earlier every year.  This year the first day was August 15th!  

 Audrey had fun making big bubbles with the bubble gun.

 Evelyn got an early birthday present from Grandma & Grandpa.  She loves her new tricycle and we love that we can help push and steer with the handles.

 Silly girl always asks for "eyes" when the kids play with wikki stix.

We let the kids stay up late one last time (on a week day) before school started.  We had a family movie night in the theater room.  The kids chose to watch Lady and the Tramp and ate tons of popcorn.

Grandma Debbie visits

 Grandma Debbie came to visit for a long weekend.  Diva Evelyn ready to go to the Riverfront Museum.

 The special exhibit was Ripley's Believe it or Not!  The kids had been wanting to see it.

 Carter was excited that Bumble Bee was part of the exhibit.

 Carter's face is too funny in this one

 Audrey's idea of playing with Evelyn in the toddler area ;)

 The giant peg boards are always a hit.

 It was a nice day out so we stopped at Emack and Bolio's for some ice cream.

 Grandma worked with Audrey on riding a bike without training wheels.  She's apprehensive about it but I think she's going to catch on sooner than Carter did.

 After dinner we played outside some more.  The kids played the bean bag game with Grandma.

Carter is always so serious when there is winning/losing involved.

More Farwell Reunion

 The next morning we all met up at the hotel Hillary and Amy were staying at.  The kids swam and had fun hanging out together.  Having the dads along allowed us moms to actually sit and chat without interruption.

 Amelia is Evelyn's buddy.  Evelyn always goes to her and Amelia is so sweet.

 All 9 kiddos lined up in order

Left to right: Evelyn-2, Emerson-4, Audrey-5, Maelle-6, Claire-6, Drew-7, Carter-8, Gabe-8 and Amelia-9

 Being silly

 They always group hug before we leave

 I love this bunch of kiddos

 My girls-Mel, Hillary, Amy & me

 Now that the kids are getting older we have started to talk about a moms only reunion.  We'll see if we can make that happen with everyone's busy schedules.

 We had to copy the kids.

With the kids being up so late the night before and all the activity, I thought we were going to have a nice, quiet drive home.  This is what happened instead!  I love my crazy munchkins :)