August Wrap up

August has been full of a lot of firsts at our house. I keep meaning to upload pictures to go along with this, but that hasn't happened yet. Instead, I will just list them out.

1. I took two kids on an airplane by myself.


2. We flew to GA for a family reunion where my kids met many 2nd cousins, aunts, and uncles they haven't met before, along with 1st cousins, aunts, and uncles we don't see much.


3. BG started liking the pool. She will now jump in from the side all by herself. She will also go down kiddie slides. This is a far cry from last summer where she screamed if we weren't holding her.


4. Blanche's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. She can now say Emma (cousin), grandma, buckle, milk, ball, all done, shoes, and diaper in addition to her other words.


5. BG lost her first tooth! She pulled it out herself at daycare and lost it in the grass before we even hit the car. We left the tooth fairy a note who graciously still left a dollar.


6. BG lost her 2nd tooth only a few weeks later. We pulled it out in the morning before school and put it in a "safe" place. By the time bedtime rolled around, it had been dropped down the sink. Not playing with a tooth that came out of your own mouth is too much to resist. It's just too exciting. The tooth fairy still left a dollar with a note saying "Don't loose the next one!"


7. BG started Kindergarten. She loves it.


8. There are so many mosquitoes this summer. We were sitting outside the other day and I told BG that if she saw one on her, she should slap it to kill it. Not 2 minutes later a mosquito landed on Blanche's cheek. BG did as instructed and slapped her little sister in the face. I was laughing so hard while trying to console a startled toddler.


9. BG cut her own hair. Really short. Right up front. It's not quite the scalp cut many kids do, but it's not pretty. Luckily it's a small lock of hair that I can hide if I part her hair deep enough. Not much else to do but let it grow out.


10. I started studying for the GRE. Sadly, this is far from a first. I've already taken this graduate test once, along with the GMAT. I've started studying countless times. I figure that at least the test is good for 5 years if I don't go back to school soon. And yes, the first time I took it was over 5 years ago.


11. We took the training wheels off BG's bike. She is still working on riding on her own, but getting pretty good at it.


12. We bought another car. We have, on average, bought a car every summer since we've been married. That's a lot of cars. We are planning on keeping this one longer (assuming it doesn't keep breaking down like the last one). We are going on 3 years for my car, so that's an improvement.

Whew. Now you know why I haven't uploaded pictures. This post could easily be broken out into 10 different posts if I have the pictures to accompany them. This is also the reason why I haven't been around so much.

First Day of School

BG started Kindergarten yesterday. She is going to a school that requires a uniform and she looked so cute all dressed up. She was really excited about starting school. In fact, she has been looking forward to starting school since she was three. She has known that she had to be 5 to go to the "big school".

I have been doing really well with her starting school. I figured it wouldn't be too difficult on the first day because it it pretty much our usual schedule- getting up, dropping her off and going to work. I asked her on the way to school if she wanted me to walk her into her class or take her through the drive through drop off. She was insistent on going through the drop off and walking in herself. I was fine all morning, I was fine driving to school, I was fine until she hopped out of the car. Then I started crying. I pulled myself together because there was a line of other parents waiting to drop off their kids behind me.




My baby is growing up! She now has homework and is supposed to read to me 20 minutes a day. Her homework for the first day of school was a worksheet with pictures and letters. She had to circle the first letter (of what the picture was), write in the middle sound and underline the last sound. She did great and got them all correct.

Oh my! She's Adorable!

I have a hard time getting a good picture of Blanche. Not because she's not adorable or anything, because obviously she is. But because I can't seem to capture her personality in a still image. It might have something to do with the fact that she is always in motion, always on the move. But also, I think she kind of shuts down when the camera comes out. Many of the pictures I have of her are a blank stare and not the beautiful smile she has.

I happen to get this shot this summer and am really loving it. I feel like it shows off her personality and happiness so much better than others I have. Yes, she is chewing on a pen, but she's happy doing it! Any tips on how to get better candid, happy shots?

Dog Days

Duncan stays in the back yard during the day. On days that I'm home, I will often let him come in for a few hours at at time, especially when it's so hot outside.

On one of my days at home, I walked by the window to see this.
I guess he thought the deck chairs looks more comfortable than the floor. I just had to laugh. What kind of dog hangs out on deck furniture?
Apparently mine does.