My Little Kindergartener!

Elena was excited about starting school.  Like jumping up-and-down and squealing excited.  She drew her teacher a picture (and even rolled it up and tied it with a ribbon) and gave it to her at the Open House.  She laid out her clothes and shoes the night before the first day and had her bag all packed and ready to go.

I only slept about 4 hours the night before.  I just lay there thinking about how much she was going to love it and going through my mental list to make sure that everything was ready. When I was teaching kindergarten, I could never sleep the night before the first day either.  New school years are so fun: new experiences, freshly sharpened pencils, new shoes, and crayons with perfect points.

Elena is in afternoon kindergarten and didn't have to catch the bus until almost 11.  It was a LONG morning for her, but she was as patient as she could be.  Dan was working nights that week, so we were both able to wave goodbye as the bus drove off.  The bus that picks her up midday is kindergarten only and it pulls up to the house (actually we have to walk one house away to the corner).  When school lets out, I drive over the school (about 1 mile away) with the boys and pick her up.  I am really happy with her school so far.  Good thing since this school is the reason that we live here and Dan has a 35 minute commute on a good traffic day.  There are excellent teachers and programs.  Starting in first grade, they have a partial Spanish immersion program. 

I was really worried that Kevin would be inconsolable after Elena left, but he did alright. He wants to go to school too.  Thank goodness PBS started a new show: "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" that week.  Elena's bus came and I got to say, "Okay, Kevin, let's go in and watch Daniel Tiger."  It really helped him with the transition actually.  He wore his new school shoes (they are just like Elena's - SAME SIZE even, but different colors) all day.  It made him feel special that he got new shoes too.  Kevin started his little story time preschool class at the library last week.

Needless to say, Elena had a great first day.  She loves school - especially center time.  She has several little friends in her class and has made friends on the bus too.  She has already gotten into trouble for excessive talking once - no big surprise there if you know her or her parents. ;) 

There are 2 Elena's in her class (so she'll be Elena D. all year) and 4 on her bus.  Ummm...oops!  Who knew that "Elena" would be so popular in 2012-13 kindergarten?  One of the girls named "Elena" on her bus lives just down the street. Have you met any other young Elenas?  I think the name popularity was something like #170 back in 2007.  Crazy.

10 Years

I'm happy to say that we had a perfect anniversary trip in August.  We chose our trip location based on what Groupon had to offer that was within driving distance.  I figured that if you live by the beach, you should vacation in the mountains, right?  Plus our budget is super limited and the price was right. :)  We went to beautiful Luray, Virginia!

The Mimslyn Inn - where we stayed

Wait, did I mention that we went without kids?!  It was our first time EVER getting away together without the hijos.  It was wonderful.  As the chef said during our anniversary dinner, "It's cheaper than alimony."  My parents were so awesome to come to our house and watch the kids for 3 days.

Day 1:  We left the kids with my parents and drove almost 4 hours together which was awesome.  We got to talk so much!  I had planned a surprise for Dan at 5pm (he hated being surprised, but I stayed strong and didn't tell him).  I had found this place where you could rent ATVs and drive in the mountains on different trails with a guide.  I had never done this before, but I had a blast!  I felt bad for Dan that he had to go so slow at the beginning because of me, but we definitely sped up after that and we both had a lot of fun.

 

The Guide and I.  Please notice how he has no helmet.  In his defense, we weren't doing anything that would have seemed difficult for him, but I still wish he would've worn one.  Before we started our, I noticed that he had his right forearm covered in some sort of medical wrap and asked about it.  He then took the wrap off and showed us the giant scar underneath.  During the winter, he was in a ATV accident so bad that his arm was hanging on only by some skin and had to be REATTACHED.  He also broke a leg bone or two and lost several teeth.  If I had experienced that kind of trauma, I think I would walk around with a helmet on all day everyday.

 

This is at the end and we are seriously muddy with wet feet.  I wanted to get at least one picture without the giant black helmets.  Don't we look tough? :)  We didn't get a lot of pictures because we were too busy having fun, but there were hills and mud holes and trails covered with large rocks.  It was great.

For dinner that night, we outside in front of an Italian pizza place across from our hotel where the garlic knots were amazing!  We ate all 12 of them in addition to pizza slices.

Day 2:  I stunk at sleeping in which was disappointing.  I was so looking forward to waking up LATE, but instead I woke up before 7 and spent the next two hours or so trying to fall back asleep.  After a yummy breakfast buffet at the fancy smancy restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel, we went to Luray Caverns.

 

 So handsome. I love him!

It was impossible to get a good picture of this with my camera, but to the naked eye, there was a perfect reflection of the ceiling on the pool below.  The caves were great, but it was interesting to see how much they are altered to accomodate tourism since they are privately owned rather than government protected.  There are so many natural beauties and wonders that we blessed to be able to enjoy on this awesome little planet.

There was a car museum next door to the caverns and we really enjoyed that - especially Dan. It was like "Jay's Garage brought to life.  I liked that we could take our time and read all the plaques since there weren't 3 kids with us.  Above is an amazing Rolls Royce and someone who would love to have it.

The museum had an older feel to it.  It obviously hadn't changed much over the last couple of decades, but it was definitely a good collection of things with wheels.

That afternoon we went swimming and were able to take a guilt free nap.  Heaven.  We've decided that we want a pool in our "someday" house.

I'm clearly not very good at getting my
arm out of the way when I take a self portrait.

For our anniversary dinner, we ate at an Inn down the street.  The photo near the top of the post - purple room -is at the inn.  Being the Gilmore Girls fan that I am, I thought it was super cool that were eating a nice dinner at a small inn.  The food was awesome (like Sookie's) and we were the only people who chose to eat inside (there were several families and couples eating at tables in the front lawn), so that made it seem extra special.  I should have taken pictures of the plates since all the food during the trip seemed to have made quite an impression on me. :)  The chef came out to say hi to everyone during dinner and was super friendly and chatty. I guess it's a small town thing to personally talk with all the guests?  He was nice and the food was really good.  I think we lucked out to stay in such a small town, but still have a tourist attraction (the caverns) and such good food. 

 Day 3:  I slept in until 10:30!!!  Fantastic.  We ate our breakfast on the front porch of the hotel and had a nice view.  After checkout, we walked up and down Main Street and window shopped at all the stores.  Most of them were antique stores, but there were other shops too.  It was a lot of fun.  The only thing I bought, I bartered the owner down to 55% of the asking price.  But, I wasn't trying to be stingy.  It was seriously what I was willing to pay.

 

We unfortunately didn't get to go to the movies because the movies and times were really limited, but when you see a pink movie theater, you have a take a picture, right?

Lunch before we left was great.  We had sandwiches in this cute cafe that used to be a hardware store (Like Luke's on Gilmore Girls!).  Dan fell in love with the cabinet in the background.  The picture only captured about half of it. It was HUGE and beautifully made with a million little drawers and shelves.  It was original to the hardware store and looked like something out of the 1930's.  So cool. 

We took this picture on the way home for Kevin.  We had to make a U turn to get a good pic of Mater on the side of the highway.  We were happy to see the kids and be home, but I wouldn't mind a trip like that again soon. :)

I feel incredibly blessed to be married and sealed to a good, hardworking man that I both love and like! 

Crazy July

I think that some of these things happened in June, but it is all running together now. Sorry for the MONSTER long post, but I have to get caught up somehow. I'm typing in a dark room while everyone is sleeping and I'm not going to stop until this is done. Later this week it's my goal to write about our anniversary trip and take interior pics of the house.
This is Dan with Jonah (on the left) and Bradley (on the right).  Since my friend Tiffany and I had a combined baby shower, the boys have lots of matching outfits.  We were recently out together and thought that we'd get a twin picture.

This summer, I got together with some of the girls that I have known (from church) since high school. Thanks for having us over, Tracy and Dana!  A few that live in the area weren't able to make it, but it was a fun night.  If my scanner was working right now, I could put up a 1999 Youth Conference picture next to this one and it would be so cool! Maybe later...

Some of the awesome ladies that I grew up with (most of these women were our church teachers at one time or another).

Kevin's birthday cake (aka my masterpiece). I was too cheap to buy a McQueen cake pan. :)

Kevin's party this year was awesome.  We invited some friends to have a picnic in the park with us.  We ate, played, smashed a pinata and had cake.  The weather was perfect and everyone had fun.

A Curious George exhibit was opening at the local children's museum, and Jonah wanted to dress appropriately.  They had a big, free party to celebrate with their members.

They had clowns make amazing balloon creations, some food, free ice cream, George was there, and there was face painting too.

Look!  Shelby and I had lunch together without any kids!  Well, unless you count the two babies asleep in their carseats behind us.  It was a great lunch though and it was so nice to be grownups and talk without any interruptions.  We usually only see each other when our kids get together for play dates.  She moved the next day.  She's only 3 hours away, so I know we'll be visiting, but I was sad to say goodbye again.

Someone's daddy bought her a $3 Disney princess makeup and hair accessory set at Ross on a date.  It came with fake nails with the princesses faces on them.  Of course, she thought this was super fancy!  I'm just grateful that she only wanted to parade around in fake nails for about 30 minutes. 

Jonah learned to roll over in July.  He now does push ups and gets into crawling position, but so far he can only scoot backwards.

My usually crazy little boy colored this rainbow cat so well!  He even wrote the "K" at the bottom by himself.  They give out a homework sheet each week at his library class.  He was so focused as he colored and very proud that it had one red eye and one green one: "Christmas color eyes."

 Cousins came to visit!!!  Keira was very interested in Jonah.

Kevin and Ari were playing the vacuum like a musical instrument during a game of "hide and seek".

 

In front of the aquarium:

Pretty Keira

This is as good as it gets with 5 kids 5 and under.  My brother's family crammed into my mom's house with us the last week that we were there.  It was wonderful to get to see them!

We were so sad to say goodbye and glad that they were able to come.  I wish that the timing of our move hadn't been the same week as their visit, but it was what it was.  Next time, we will have scheduled, relaxed, hang out time.

He likes his Johnny Jump Up. This is a picture in our new house.  Behind him is the hallway and in front is the carpet that's in the bedrooms.

I think that they look so much alike!

Erin and I have been best friends my whole life (well, since I was in kindergarten).  She lives in Norway now, but her parents are STILL across the street from my parents, so we get to hang out whenever she comes to visit.  She (and her husband Bami, a couple of their super nice friends, my dad, and 4 awesome missionaries) helped us to move.  We moved on a Thursday, so it was tough to find help from people who weren't working (Dan was working btw).

Look!  Interior pics of the house. Just two.  This is the boys room.  Kevin is still loving his tent, so it seems that we have lots of time to pick out some bunk beds.

It is so different having kids share a room.  It's working pretty well though.  Jonah is starting to sleep through the night and he now has a regular nap schedule, so that helps.

Tina came to visit!  Our first house guest was my friend Tina that I know from BYU.  She was on her way from Utah to be a fabulous kindergarten teacher in DC and stopped by for a couple of nights.  I am so excited to have her closer because we hadn't been keeping in touch as much as we should have over the past 8 years.  I love Tina and now I will get to see her more often.

We have so much fun together because we think a lot alike and have so many of the same interests.  Here she is posing with my kiddos at the aquarium. We also went to the beach.

I think that sums up the end of June and July.  Next, I'll have to write all about our anniversary trip and take house pictures.  Fun!

New House

In a couple of days, I'll do a 10th anniversary post (So excited!).  Here's a picture of our new rental real quick.  And my new minivan!  If you ever saw our house in NC, you can tell that this one is very similar.  There is a garage to the right in front of the van.  We love having a fenced-in backyard this time.  Also, half the garage is converted into a playroom which is fabulous for keeping toys out of the main part of the house.  We are enjoying it a lot.

School starts in two weeks and Elena is thrilled.  The school zone that we live in is great, so I'm thrilled.  Now that almost every box is unpacked, I'll get around to taking interior pictures soon.  The owners lived here right before us, so the house is in great shape.  As soon as we get the dishwasher fixed (It broke recently and I hate handwashing dishes!), everything will be peachy keen.

Moving Day!

...or at least it will be once my alarm goes off in 5 1/2 hours.  I didn't want to leave my 3 readers hanging (shout out to Rebecca, Melissa, and Tracy!), so I thought I would write a few quick lines about each member of the family.

July 4, 2012

Jonah is adorable, brilliant, and completely without a schedule (poor 3rd child), but still a happy and easy little 4 and a half month old.  He was 14 lbs, 14 ounces at his last checkup, so let's just say "He's 15 lbs."  He is pretty long for his age, so he's outgrowing all of his footie pajamas.  This is okay though because he usually wears just a onesie to bed since he has to be swaddled up tight each night to prevent the dreaded "rub my face with both hands until I wake myself up".  I have to hold him for naps or else he doesn't have them.  This was fun for a few weeks, but is practically impossible right now.  I've been waiting to sleep train him until he's in a real crib and out of our bedroom.  At least then I can turn on his mobile and leave the room and not feel like I am completely abandoning him.  Next week!

Not the best picture, but he still looks super cute

Kevin is the most adorable 3 year old ever.  He had a great birthday and I will have to put up lots of pictures soon since I made his cake and turned out pretty well.  I mean: I will have to put up pictures soon because Kevin is so amazing and fun! :)  He is a great kid and he tells us daily "I love you SO much" in the cutest voice you've ever heard.  Part of me will be very sad when he learns to correctly pronounce L, R, and TH.  One of my favorite phrases right now is. "Why can I not?"  I will also be sad when he realizes that he can shorten it to "Why not?"  He also gives sweet, wet kisses and has the most contagious laugh which becomes less contagious and more maniacal at times depending on sleep deprivation and his sugar intake.

She loved the wave pool at a nearby water park

Kevin loved the slushies the best

Elena is such a little lady and immensely helpful.  She is thoughtful and she really loves being independent (picking out her own clothes, taking showers, making her and Kevin's lunches while I feed Jonah, etc.).  We cannot believe how suddenly she is growing up.  Now that we have an address, I enrolled her in kindergarten, so we've been talking a lot about that.  She is half excited, half nervous.  She is a smart cookie and always keeps me on my toes.  I have NO doubt that she will love school.  It will also be nice for her to get her energy out at school because one of her favorite past times has become getting Kevin as riled up and silly as she can.  They then run around and chase each other until someone falls down and or cries.  You know - usual sibling stuff.

A picture with all 5 of us in it!

Dan has started his second year of residency.  Woot!  Woot!  He is working in the emergency department this month and he loves it.  It is definitely one of his faves.  We are happy that he is happy and that this month's weird schedule has allowed him several days off during the first two weeks of the month.  He, interestingly enough, is either working or on "jeopardy" (kind of like "at home call") for 9 nights in a row starting the night before our move (aka: tonight).  So, the timing of the move is not ideal, but we are excited and will make it work!

Where Kevin has slept ever since birthday.  Although now he sleeps on a toddler mattress inside his new tent.

I love this picture of E.  I know it's upside down, but I'm too tired to fix it now.

 There is nothing noteworthy going on with me.  I am just trying to set up utilities and finalize all the little details of the move.  In the morning I will drive a 17 foot UHaul for the first time, so that's interesting I guess.  I'm just eager to unpack and get settled, but I have no idea how long that will take.  The last time that I had to unpack all our belongings, Dan had the summer off to help and we didn't have kids yet.  This will be a little different.  Hopefully we'll be all set by the first week in August because that is when we get our first house guest!  My friend Tina (we had all our education classes together at BYU) is moving to DC and stopping to visit with us on her way.  I'm so excited!

He's too tired to continue to run around, but nothing can keep him from playing with the cars that he carries in his pockets everywhere.

I'll try my best to keep you 3 readers up to date on all our comings and goings over the next couple of crazy weeks. :)  It might make things easier that I will have my very own personal computer again soon instead of sharing with my mom, dad, or Dan like I have been for the last year.  I'm not sure what other fun things we'll have once again when we unpack 2 storage units of boxes and furniture this weekend.  It has been so long, I don't even remember some of it.  I'm sure that we'll have a sizable donation for Goodwill soon though!