Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything here lately. The Fall and holiday season were SUPER busy with school, extracurriculars, Family celebrations and I had photo sessions just about every weekend which meant lots of editing throughout the week! It was a great Fall and Holiday season though. I'm actually kind of sad it's all over, but I am looking forward to the calm of the next couple months. I hate the cold, dark days of Winter, but there is something calming and quiet about them that I do enjoy. Our schedules are a little less hectic and photography slows down quite a bit during the colder months of Winter. It's a nice break right after the hustle and bustle of Fall and Christmas. 

I'm hoping maybe I can post a little more now that things have quieted down. Maybe a Friday re-cap once a week to at least keep this little space somewhat updated for us to look back on. That's always been my main reason for blogging anyways. So here's to a new year!! I'm praying its a great year full of love and laughter!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!!

One

My most exciting thing to share this week is that we bought a new SUV and we LOVE it. It's a 2020 Hyundai Palisade. It's a 7-seater and has all the bells and whistles! We were in the market for a bigger SUV now that the kids are getting older and will want to start bringing friends/cousins along and because both of our vehicles were getting older. We decided to trade in Jake's 2008 Dodge Dakota for the Palisade and keep the Equinox since it was newer (2012). Jake is driving the Equinox now and I'm driving the new Palisade, and I'm loving it!!

Two

Sunday night, Avery and I went to see JoJo Siwa in concert! It was Avery's first concert and she was SO excited!! We had a great time with some friends of ours. We ate dinner at The Fountain on Locust, (a cute old soda fountain restaurant near the Chaifetz Arena) and then it was off to the concert. There was so much sparkle, rainbows, unicorns, glitter and sequins. A little girls dream! There was also a lot of screaming, ha! It was really cute though. Avery did great until about the last half hour and then she started getting tired. I'm really glad we could go.

Three
Last week Avery did a two-day dance clinic with the High School Poms (aka Flyerettes.) It was after school and they practiced for 2 hours on Tuesday and Thursday to learn a dance that they were able to perform at half time at the "Pink Out" High School football game Friday night. It was so cute and so much fun to watch her perform in front of so many people. She and her friends were a little nervous, but they did great! I'm so proud of her and glad she had fun. It was fun to be there in all the excitement. The Flyers won the football game too, 48 to 0.

Four
Jackson had his first soccer game of the season this past Saturday! I just love watching him play soccer.

Five
We had our third annual neighborhood block party two weekends ago and it was so much fun, as always!!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday!!

Our September has been SO busy already and it doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. I hate to say it but a little part of me is kind of looking forward to January - March when things start to quiet down a little. Ha!

One

We had such a fun time camping over Labor Day weekend! It was the first time the kids had taken a float trip and the first time Avery had ever camped. 

Two

On Labor Day, we met my sister and her family and my parents at Six Flags for the day! We had a great time!

Three

Avery started a Hip Hop class last week at the dance studio she goes to. She and her best friend Ellie are taking the class together and they have so much fun!

Four

This past Saturday the town we live in had their annual parade and festival called Suncrest Fest! We had a really fun day there!!

Five

Some friends of ours recently moved to Texas but they're back in town this week for a wedding in their family.  So we planned a girls night Tuesday night for dinner and drinks. It was such a fun night.

Five on Friday

Happy Friday and Happy Labor Day Weekend!! 

One

We are planning on taking the kids camping and on a float trip this weekend. It will be their first time for both! We're going with some friends so it should be a fun time. We're just going Saturday and coming home Sunday and then Monday we're meeting my family at Six Flags for the day. :-)

Two

I snapped this picture of Jackson and Max sleeping one night earlier this week and it's just the sweetest. Max always starts out in Jackson's bed every night. ♥

Three

I recently ordered this dress for Avery and she and I are both anxiously awaiting it's arrival on our doorstep. She LOVES the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas so it will be perfect for her to wear to school the few weeks leading up to Halloween and maybe even into Christmas depending on if you think of it as a Christmas movie too. ;-) Knowing Avery, she'll want to wear it all year long.

Four

I recently finished reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It was SUCH a good book and I can't recommend it enough, but definitely have tissues nearby while reading it. There are multiple times in the book that you'll need them.

Five

After making lunches for 2 kids now for the last 2 weeks, I've searched around for ways to make that process a little easier. Avery eats a peanut butter sandwich every day and does not like the crust, of course. So I've been cutting it off with a knife. However, after a couple weeks of that I went straight to Amazon to find an easier way and found this handy tool. It cuts the crust off and seals the edges. It is supposed to be delivered tomorrow so I'm excited to try it and see how it works. I also ordered these sandwich containers a couple weeks ago to keep their sandwiches fresh and they've been working really well.

Have a great weekend!!!

Back to School: Second Grade & Kindergarten

Jackson and Avery went back to school on Thursday, August 15th. Jackson started 2nd Grade and Avery started Kindergarten!!! I can't even believe it. 

Two nights before school started, they had their "Meet the Teacher" night. Jackson ended up getting the teacher he was hoping for, Mrs. Burns, and we were so excited. He also has several friends in his class this year so that always makes it more fun.

 

They did Kindergarten a little bit differently this year. They called it "Switcheroo" and basically what they did was, for the first 7 days of school, Avery had a homeroom class that she started out in each day, but throughout the day they switched up the kids into different classrooms with different teachers and different friends to see how everyone would fit best in what class. It's a way to place the child where they think they'd best succeed. It worked out well I thought and Avery seemed to adjust great! This is something they do in a few other districts in our area and it's been working well for them. So for the "meet the teacher" night for Avery, she was able to meet all 5 of the Kindergarten teachers and check out all of their classrooms. Avery's home room teacher during "switcheroo" was Mrs. Turner, who is a new teacher to our school this year. She's from Georgia and has been teaching Kindergarten for a few years there and then moved here over the Summer.

 The night before school, we went through the nighttime routine with baths/showers, packing lunches, storytime and prayers for a great first day of school. They each had a special book to read to get them ready for the next day. :-)

 The next morning I had a special little breakfast for them. They love cinnamon rolls so I made them those and decorated the table for their first day of school. 

 Then we got ready for school and headed down to the bus stop.

(Avery's first day of school outfit was from Orange Poppy Boutique and I found Jackson's second grade shirt on Amazon here.)

Jackson and Avery in the bus line with their best buddies Andy and Ellie.

Avery was SO excited to ride the bus for the first time. She's been wanting to ride the bus with Jackson, Andy and Ellie for so long and was so excited to finally get to. The first thing she said that morning was, "I finally get to ride the bus for the first time!"

Once they were off on the bus, I did a couple things around the house and then met them up at school to walk them to their classrooms on the first day. I did the same thing on Jackson's first day of Kindergarten. :-)

Avery can't sit next to Ellie on the bus because you have to sit according to grades and Ellie is a grade above Avery, but as soon as they got off the bus, they gave each other a big hug like they hadn't seen each other in weeks. It was too cute!

 Ellie and Avery walking to their classrooms.

 After getting to school and getting to her classroom, each child had play-doh at their spot. :-) Avery LOVES play-doh so she was excited. She did so well on her first day and didn't seem nervous at all.

Both kids had a great first full week of school last week! Here's a couple pictures from school throughout the week.

Then last Friday, each of the kindergartners had a piece of paper in their take home binders saying which teacher they were placed with for the year and they had scratch-offs to reveal pictures of all the friends that would be in their class with them. It was so much fun to scratch off each picture. Avery ended up getting her home-room teacher Mrs. Turner and she was SO excited about this because she really liked her for those first 7 days. So yesterday was kind of like Avery's real first day of Kindergarten and they allowed us to walk the kids to their classrooms that day to take pictures with their teachers, etc. Here's Avery with her teacher Mrs. Turner.

National Dog Day

Happy National Dog Day!

We sure do love our sweet Max (aka Maxie Moo Moo). He's such a great dog! He just turned 9 years old this year and still acts like a puppy. He loves belly rubs, long naps on the couch, chasing squirrels, eating the crust off of Avery's peanut butter sandwich that I cut off for her lunch every day and he really just loves us! He's very protective of us and often sleeps in the hallway in between all of our bedrooms to make sure he's keeping us all safe. :-) He's the best dog and we love him so much! He's such an important part of our family and we couldn't ask for a better fur-baby.

Five on Friday

I've been really bad at blogging lately. So I thought I'd do a little 5 on Friday to try and catch back up some. :-)

One

The kids started back to school last Thursday, (Aug. 15th). They're both loving it so far! Jackson got the teacher he wanted and several of his friends are in his 2nd grade class. Avery started Kindergarten and she's loving it so far too. She said her first day was the best day ever and she was even sad over the weekend when she didn't have school! Ha!! This makes me so happy that they're both loving it.

Two

Avery started swim lessons last month and I can't believe how far she's come in such a short amount of time. She's being so brave and doing so well and I'm so proud of her!!

Three

Avery went to the cutest pony camp earlier this month before school started back up! She loved it and had so much fun!!

Four

On my last Monday off before the kids went back to school, I decided to take them to Six Flags for the day to enjoy Hurricane Harbor (the water park). I brought my mom along and we had a great day! It was a fun thing to do right before starting back to school.

Five

This past Sunday, Jackson and I went to a really cool event to see author Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants and Dogman) and get a signed copy of his latest Dog Man book (#7). We met up with a few of Jackson's friends from school and had such a great time! The boys also got a cape and got to take a picture with Dogman and Captain Underpants. The line to meet Dav Pilkey was FOREVER long so we decided not to do that, which was a little disappointing, but we had a great time anyways and as always, it's so much fun to spend some one on one time with either of my kids.

So that's what we've been up to lately. Just trying to have as much fun as we could before going back to the routine of school. I'm happy to say that our first full week of school has been a success! I think we're starting to get back into the routine and everyone seems to be adjusting well. :-)

I hope you all have a great weekend!!