We have had some technical difficulties on my end, so the lack of blogging is not due to lack of time/interest. To catch things up, I’ll do monthly blogs to get us to the new year. What great timing! New year, new start to blogging!

 

October Adventures:

Time for flu shots!! The only way I can get them to go (peacefully!) is to promise an ice cream treat afterwards!

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Next we hit the Pumpkin patch for a little face painting, maze wandering, and pumpkin picking!

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And finally, Halloween! The girls were police officers and Scotty and I were criminals.

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Who would you say won the pumpkin carving contest?

 

17-Sep-2016 10:24
 

This past weekend we went camping in Palomar Mountain!! Legit camping. I’m talking tents, sleeping bags, food by way of campfire, bring everything you could possibly need because you are 4000+ feet up in the mountains camping. There was technically a shower, but we didn’t use it. Okay, well I didn’t use it, but some people did. I felt like it was too much work. So I figured it was a better idea to go all weekend without brushing my hair, washing my hands with soap, or washing off Friday’s make-up. So when I say we went camping, we REALLY went camping!! We honestly had such an amazing time! I haven’t been camping since I was in high school. And that was camping on a lake in the dessert. Not quite too rough! But this time, it was perfect. We hiked. We fish. We went off-roading in the jeep. We drove to higher points and enjoyed the sunset. We laughed. We watched the kids experience nature at its best. One of the great things about being so high up- NO SERVICE! We were off the grid. Since no one got cell service, we hardly ever knew where our phones were. The pictures are limited and totally candid. We tried to get them to pose, but getting 8 kids (including a baby who cried NOT ONCE, and slept almost all the way through the night BOTH nights!) to look in the same direction at the same time was a near miss every time!! Thanks Sargent’s, Deneau’s, and Sievers for an AWESOME first camping trip!

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09-Sep-2016 17:36
 

Well folks, Kayden has lost her THIRD tooth! They seem to be just falling out of her face!! She lost her first tooth in May, her second tooth in August, and now her third tooth in September. I can blame thank attribute this lost tooth (prematurely I think!) to the trampoline accident where Scotty bounced her so high that her knee met her tooth and her tooth pointed backwards for a few days. I noticed the tooth start to change pigment slightly, and then it quickly thereafter became loose. In the past day or two she was really having a hard time eating and complaining about it being so lose. Luckily, when it came time for the tooth to come out, she was at Mimi and Grampy’s!! Apparently she is a big wuss like me and Grampy had to help the tooth came off from the thread it was hanging by. My beautiful child who has the most perfect smile is losing her baby teeth at an alarming rate! Let’s hope the rest stay put for just a little longer. I don’t want to believe my little girl is growing up.

May:

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Of course she lost her first tooth when Scotty was out of town!! All three girls were running around the house screaming because it was so gross! She lost tooth #1 while brushing her teeth before school. She honestly was super proud and excited…. as were we all after the screaming stopped!

August:

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Tooth #2 was the victim of the ‘ol apple!

 

30-Aug-2016 08:17
 

Kloey just finished her FIRST week in Pre-K!! She has been not-so-patiently waiting for her day to shine. Her day to make new friends. Her day to have her own teacher. And, most importantly, her day to go to school just like her big sister!! The morning started off great. Everyone woke up early from excitement (it was so cute to see Kayden be excited for Kloey!). The morning routine is down and everyone was ready to walk out the door on time to drop Kayden off first. On our way to school Kloey was giddy and just so excited for school. She raced to the front door from the car and up the stairs to her classroom. Once the door opened and we walked through, everything changed. It’s like she realized, ‘Oh wait a minute. I’m staying here, but she’s not!” Her little lips quivered, her eyes welled up, and she reached up to me to pick her up. My heart started to get heavy, which was my sign to get the heck out of there! I am a mom, but I am also a teacher. I know that the longer mom sticks around, the harder it is for the kid to adjust and move on and move forward. Ms Ashley, her teacher, quickly picked Kloey up and brought her to the front of the carpet so she could be next to her until she felt better. At pick up I learned that Kloey had a GREAT day and made some new friends. The same pattern of excitement turned realization mommy is leaving happened again today (day 2 of 2), but I know she recovered quickly because her reaction to me leaving wasn’t quite as dramatic as day 1.

30-Aug-2016 19:12
 

Kloey, my big girl, you are on your way to becoming something great. You will make friends, learn a ton, grow as a person, and continue to make the world better because you are here to make us all laugh! Your teacher says you are shy. I tell her to wait for it, because once you get more comfortable, you are going to run the show! She’ll see!!

Ice cream celebration of the first day of school. Seems to be coming our little tradition.

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22-Aug-2016 07:45
 

The time has *FINALLY* come!! It’s time for summer to end and the kiddos to head back to the classroom. We had a wonderful summer, but everyone was starting to feel like it was time to get back into a groove. Today Kayden started her new school- Innovation Centre in Encinitas. She had already met her teachers (Mrs. Erika & Ms Clark), toured her classroom, met a few class mates, played on the playground, and met the director and some other staff. So today she was beyond ready to go. Even though Kayden was one of the new kids on campus, she came in almost as a celebrity. Her Auntie Jen is kind of a big deal on campus, so there were A LOT of watchful eyes on her today. Jen updated me throughout the day with how well Kayden was adjusting. It definitely eased my fears that she might be sitting in a corner crying because she missed her loving mother so. Nope, not a chance! She was running around the playground, doing art projects, meeting new friends, and blossoming into something beautiful.

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We are beyond excited that her BF Buddy (better start calling him Eli!) is in Kayden’s class. Literally, the minute she saw him this morning her demeanor changed. She loosened her white knuckle grip on my hand, and started to become chatty with Buddy Eli. She was ready!! We got in line and waited for the teachers to lead their new class to their new classroom. With a little extra hand to help one foot go in front of the other, they were off and never looked back. One of the first things she said to me when she got in the car after school (after she declared she was hungry!) was ‘I can’t wait to go back to school tomorrow!!” I couldn’t have wished for a better first day for either of us!!

22-Aug-2016 08:24
 

And as a final note, we ended our summer with a bang! Happy Birthday TO ME!! We had a great family day riding the train, going to lunch, playing on the beach, swimming, laughing, relaxing- all things that make my heart the happiest!!

21-Aug-2016 16:16