Kindergarten!

Holly was ready and excited to start kindergarten well before preschool ended last year. This summer has consisted of many "how many days left" and "is it almost time for Kindergarten?" questions. Finally the day arrived, and she couldn't have been happier!

I took her to kindergarten and stayed for awhile while the teacher read "The Kissing Hand" to the parents and kids. We made a handprint paper and took pictures together. It was fun to watch her with the other kids.

As we were waiting for school to start, she hung out with these 4 girls from our neighborhood. This isn't even all the ones in kindergarten this year. We have such a fun group of kids in our area!

Here she is with a painted hand, getting ready to try out for Blue Man Group...I mean, getting ready to make her handprint paper. I can't express enough how excited she is for this year!

I took her in to her kindergarten evaluation yesterday, and she did great. Her teacher asked her to start at 1 and count as high as she could. By the time she got to 110, the teacher asked how high she could go. Holly paid no attention to her and kept on going. She stopped at 119. She did great on the reading portion, and once it was over her teacher told me she was "quite the math girl". She'll do great this year, I know it!

Preschool!

Brynne started preschool today. She has been so excited all summer. There are lots of little kids in our neighborhood her age, and several of them are in the same preschool as her. She said her favorite things were snack and recess. She also got to fingerpaint and learn songs. So happy for my little girl!

Sunday 10: I Can't Believe I Forgot My Camera

1. Such a busy week! It's a little weird getting back into the school groove, and we've hardly even started. Alli started Tuesday, and I think she's loving being back in school. She likes her teacher and is making new friends.
2. We've had a little drama already with a friend telling another friend -- who then told Alli -- that she hates Alli (I can't believe this starts so young...I had to remind Alli of a time last year when this same friend told Alli that she hated the other friend, and that it will blow over soon...probably did by the time she got home!) Drama part 2: Alli was standing by a boy in her p.e. class who she saw fall, hit his head on the pavement and have a seizure. She was seriously traumatized by that and had a hard time falling asleep that night.
3. We went to the zoo Tuesday night with Aunt Carla. Perfect weather, perfect crowds, perfect company. Plus the tiger peed on the window in front of us, and that was pretty funny.
4. Wednesday was spent running errands in the morning, then visits from the Gardners, Miji, and Cindy. That evening Miji and I took the kids to get pizza and snow cones.
5. Thursday I spent a lot of time working on my latest house project (should be done in a few days...pictures to come!). Ashlee and her boys came over for dinner that night!
6. Thursday night was Brynne's preschool open house. She is beyond excited to start preschool, wear her backpack, hang her stuff up on the hook with her name...everything. She.can't.wait.
7. Friday morning Alex and I dropped the younger kids off at Holly's to babysit while we went to a funeral for our friend's dad. I ran some errands with Holly that afternoon (and won a CD at the 93.3 booth set up outside Macey's!). Alex took Alli and Holly to play laser tag before dinner, and then I went out with Nancy, Ashlee, and Mary to see The Help (LOVED it!) and get frozen yogurt.
8. Saturday morning Alli had her first soccer game of the season. It's a big year now! The field is probably twice as big as last year, and they actually (sort of) play positions. Alli got to play goalie and I FORGOT my camera. Arg.
9. As soon as the game ended we hopped in the car and drove out to the boonies to meet up with the Gardners and Hunters to hike to Ruth Lake. We hung out at the lake for a bit, then hiked back out and drove to Lindsay's family cabin. The kids ran around outside, we played horseshoes, ate dinner and made s'mores, then the kids went to bed and the adults stayed up late talking. So much fun! This morning we got up, cleaned up the cabin, made breakfast and headed back out. The cabin was so much fun and it was nice to get out in nature for awhile!
10. We went to a farewell for a kid Alex coached, then raced back to our ward so I could be in nursery. The Gardners came over for dinner, and Alex's parents stopped by with ice cream for dessert. Busy, fun week, and we're gearing up for another one!

Brynne

Brynne says some funny stuff sometimes. Yesterday we went to the zoo. There was a monkey in the back of a room, just sleeping. Holly asked if the monkey was taking a nap and I said yes. Brynne, very nonchalantly, shrugged her shoulders and said "maybe he's dead" and kept on walking.

Her new favorite (or "fravrite") Primary song is The Wise Man and the Foolish Man. According to her the chorus goes "the rain came down and the flowers came up..." She's right, you know.

I taught her to yell "I'm stenchy!" from the bathroom whenever she poops. Yep, that makes me laugh.

Here are a couple more stories emailed to me from Mark while I was in California:

Brynne is, of course, Brynne. I noticed a green bag on the floor at our house that she picked up. Here's the conversation. "Oh you've got the green bag," said I. "It's our bag," said Brynne with a stern look. "Oh, so it is your bag." "No, it's our bag." "Yes, it's your bag," I tried to explain. "No, it's our bag." That could have gone on for a while.

In the car. "Brynne, you sure talk a lot." "Yes." "How come you talk so much?" "I have a voice." That she does. Now, those are fun. The next one is savant registry.

We went to Salem Pond to feed the ducks. The city was having a fair there and we walked past the band stand area to try to find ducks. No ducks. On the way back a young lady in western gear was up performing, singing a country song. We didn't stop but just walked past to the car. We got back in the car and drove away. About five minutes later Brynne started singing a song with lyrics about fireflies gathered together and put in a lantern and "I want to be the only one." I suddenly recalled that the song the western girl was singing had those exact words in it and the tune was about the same. She sang it over several times. I asked Alex if he'd ever heard the song and he hadn't. Maybe you've played that song, but, I don't think so. We asked her what fireflies and lanterns were and she didn't have a clue. I had a chill. That girl has something remarkable going on inside her.

That's my Brynne! And, as I tell her, I stinkin' love that girl.

Photos by the fabulous Holly Robinson

First Day of Second Grade!

I sent my little girl to 2nd Grade today! She's so old, and SO excited to start school again! She's been looking forward to this for weeks. She met her teacher yesterday and likes her a lot already (and so do I!) I can't wait to see what this year will bring!

My boys

Just soaking up the sun in the kiddie pool over the weekend...with matching farmers tans! I am one lucky lady!

Santa Rosa

I had the chance to fly to Santa Rosa with Tyson a couple weeks ago. The original plan was to be able to see my parents new kitchen, but with the delays that happened I left right after they started to put up the lower cabinets. But it was fun to be there and spend time with my parents and a couple siblings.

Tyson did great on the flights and was fun to travel with!

I was able to stop and visit my Bedstemor a couple times. Tyson charmed her, of course, and had fun playing with the wheels on her wheelchair.

We went swimming at my aunt and uncle's house Friday. Can I please just have a pool in my backyard?!

We went to the temple on Saturday so my parents could go to a sealing. I love the Oakland temple. It's so beautiful.

Tyson got along splendidly with the dogs. He let them play with him and he loved petting them.

He also got along splendidly with Cami, and he even let her hold him and play duck duck goose with him. He LOVED it.

Just kidding...

Lots of quality time with MorMor and FarFar!

Thanks for the fun trip, Parental Unit! It was fun shopping and swimming and getting frozen yogurt and just hanging out. Until next time!!

Family Reunion

We spent 2 days earlier this month with Liz's family for a really fun reunion. It started out in Spanish Fork where we ate lunch and went swimming at the reservoir.

Aunt Cindy helping the girls make sand cupcakes!

Everything is a hat these days.

That night we met at a park in Orem for some homemade Cafe Rio (um...YUM) and "Minute to Win It".

Alex trying to get penne pasta onto a spaghetti noodle.

Alli and Holly trying to get a cookie from their forehead to their mouths without using their hands.

The next day Alex took the older girls hiking to Stuart Falls. I stayed home with the little two and met up with them for lunch after. That evening we went up Provo Canyon for games and dinner. I was informed by Alex's cousin that Alex was in the field with a bunch of other people playing "find Alex's wedding ring". It flew off his finger while he was playing football. Luckily they found it!

I'm so lucky to have married into a great family, and that they all have great extended families! I love hanging out with Alex's cousins and siblings. It was a great weekend!

Summer Fun

Alli and Holly made tents to sleep in a couple weeks ago. The first night, I think they lasted about 3 minutes in the tents before they got too scared and slept in their beds. They managed to fight their fears and sleep in them the second night!


Brooke, Alli, and Holly put together an art gallery in our living room last month. My walls were covered with artwork that they spent time making that afternoon. So cute!

We hit up the Thanksgiving Point gardens on $2 Tuesday a couple weeks ago. GORGEOUS! I love this place.

My girls loved rolling down the hill while Tyson and I took the stroller trail down.

Can I please build my dream house right here?

We ran into our neighbors there, so we had Alli and Tanner take a picture together.

Tyson saying "woooah" to the gardens!

Fun With Grandpa!

Grandpa found Tyson's tickle spot!

Vegas

We went to Vegas with the Gardners about a month ago. We stayed at Jeff's sister's house while they were out of town. We spent the majority of our time there swimming and it was great.

Brooke, Holly, and Alli got into the dressups!

Brynne is a big chicken when it comes to the water. She spent every second of her swimming time in the hot tub part of this pool, which was only a couple feet deep. It makes it a lot easier to watch her this way!

Right before we headed back home, we were able to go to Alex's cousin Andrea's wedding reception. They had Cafe Rio cater it and it was sooo good. My girls each got to take a balloon back with them. It was fun to see Andrea in her wedding dress and the other family members that were there!

We drove as far as we could and tried to get a hotel in Cedar City, but there wasn't anything available. We quickly learned that it's hard to get a last minute hotel over Pioneer Day weekend in Utah. We ended up staying in Paragonah at an old hotel where EVERYTHING was painted pink. We stopped for church in Beaver, then stopped in Spanish Fork to have dinner with Mark and Liz.

Quick trip, but well worth it!