First day of school! First day of school!

 Usually summer flies by and I can't believe that it is time to start school again. However this summer has been so ridiculously hot and since I haven't been able to travel the summer has dragged and I think that all of us were actually really ready for school to start.  Hunter is in 3rd now and Ave is in 1st.  It sort of kills me because it feels like I was just writing about Hunter starting first grade and now Ave is already there.  Hunter was very excited to get the teacher he had been hoping to get and talked to her extensively at meet the teacher night about the unit they are going to start soon on rocks and minerals.  We could tell within five minutes that it was going to be a great fit.

 We had been really hoping that Avery was going to get the teacher that Hunter had in first grade and when we saw the list she was so bummed that she not only didn't get her but she didn't have any ward friends in her class or Claire or Sophia.  Most of the kids from the ward got the teacher she was hoping to get and she was so bummed.  I was worried because she got not only a new teacher but a first year teacher.  Now no offensive against first year teachers because I am a teacher but I really felt that Ave needed an experienced teacher this year.  I am trying to be positive and open and Ms. Harris seems really nice and enthusiastic but it has been hard when I really wanted a different experience for Ave this year.  She is really excited to get to do millipedes this fall like Hunter did in first grade, and I think this year they are going to try to take three field trips which is great.  So it is back to things like this..... daily classroom behavior charts.  Ave may have come home with a non smiley face day on the first week due to talking out of turn :( here we go again.  My kids are so awesome in every way they just LOVE to talk and have a hard time turning off their chatterboxes.  Too social sometimes.  

 This year picking out school clothes was really fun for me with Ave.  It is always interesting to me to see what things she picks out. It is almost always bold colors and styles.  She insisted on getting a shirt that had a really cute lace scarf attached to it.  Sure it is 114* outside the first week of school and yet she reealllly wants to wear her new scarf.  Not to mention she loves her new jeggings and tries to wear them with everything.

 Shoes are always the biggest back to school subject at this house.  Hunter again decided that he really "needed" a pair of DC's and mom and dad were excited when we found some at Ross for half the price of what they normally cost.  Shoe shopping with Avery is never anything short of entertaining.  We took her into the store and told her that she needed to pick out some practical cute tennis shoes for school.  She headed down the aisle and within two minutes she came over announcing she had found them.  We looked down and saw her wearing gold, strappy sandals with rhinestones up the foot a slight heel and they zipped up the back.  Not to mention the name of these shoes was like Aztec gold kitten sandal??  I'm sorry but it is a little weird to me to buy my six year old shoes with the word kitten anywhere in the description unless it literally is the fuzzy with whiskers kind.  What else could we do but look at each other and laugh at our little shoe diva. "Those are adorable Ave but not quite what we are looking for" again we told her what we were there for and highly emphasized the words tennis shoe and practical.  Off she went only to return in a pair of peek-a-boo toe jean wedge heels.  Oh boy.  Again Ave, adorable but not quite it.  Time for intervention.  Deke and I saw this cute grey and hot pink pair and that they were super cute.  Ave's thought, "Yeah they are good but they don't have any sparkles or girly stuff on them."  However after giving her three options she settled on them as her choice with the agreement that we would go back in a couple of weeks and find a more "fun" pair of school shoes.  However it won't be the wedge heels for the playground even if she can run in them.  

 First day they as always in the beginning were up at the crack of dawn anxious to go.  Talking excitedly about all the things they couldn't wait to do and who they were excited to see.

 As we took pictures of them and got them ready to head to the bus, Emma was less than enthused.  We had been talking to her about it for a couple of weeks but it still didn't matter when the time came she did not want them to go and there of course was tears.  She gets so lonely without them and really misses them during the day.  When they got home that first day she flew across the house arms spread wide and kept hugging and hugging them and saying "Hunter and Avery, I missed you!!!"

 School has been in for three weeks now and she still hates it every morning when they leave.  The other morning she was literally on Ave's heels and headed out the door right behind them.  "Bye Mom, I going to preschool" she was telling me waving and headed out in her pjs.  When I smiled and went over and took her by the hand and reminded her for the millionth time that she is only two and can't go to preschool until she is three or four she insisted, "No Mom, I go preschool today."  I waved bye to Hunter and Ave and guided her back inside where we discussed it again.  "Do you understand?" I asked her as I hugged her and tried to help her settle down and choose and activity.  She said yes but I know better and undoubtedly around 7:55am tomorrow I guarantee we will be having the same discussion.

 I am excited for the school year, it feels nice to be getting back into the groove of somewhat of a schedule again.  I think that this is going to be a really fun year for the kids.  I am excited to see what kinds of fun things the year will hold.

Cast signing

The aunties were in town which is pretty much a HUGE thing at our house.  They are pretty much my kids favorite people along with their grandmas and grandpas.  They came over and did something well pretty wonderful for me that I will blog about soon.  While they were here for the day we decided to have everyone sign Emma's cast.  Emma and Aunt Kimbre :)

So out came the markers and people started taking turns finding their spots and making their marks.

Emma with Aunt Mar.....

Big sister Avery excited to get in on the action.....

Grandma taking a turn.....

Aunt Brenn and Wilbs.....

Emma having Grandpa sign it ......

After everyone left she kept pointing at each signature and asking me whose it was and talking about the drawings on her cast.  The next day she woke up and could tell me which person signed where.  We were shocked.  If you ask her, "Where did Grandpa sign?" she will point right where it is or Uncle Alec's or daddy's.  She knows the exact signature or drawing of each person it is really cute.  She has also been showing people when we are out and about and starts telling them which name is from who.  It was really a fun little thing to do and I thought it was kind of special to get to happen to have them here to do it.  Emma you are starting to see but really you don't have any idea yet what an amazing family you have and how much they love you.  You are really lucky little miss, we all are :) :)

Bolt, Savannah, Chloe and Ellie Pig

 Left to right... Bolt, Savannah and Ellie Pig :) :) Grandma Tobar came into town for a week and surprised the kids.  She came over and told them she was taking them somewhere for a surprise for their birthdays.  We headed over to San Tan Mall to the build a bear workshop so that they could each make their own stuffed animal.  Hunter had done it when he was little but Eden, Avery and Emma never had.  They were so excited.  Grandma told them they could each pick an animal to stuff and get one outfit and pair of shoes.  So began the searching for the right pet.

Hunter chose a really soft German Sheppard....

Eden chose this cute chocolate brown puppy....

I loved this pink piglet that Emma finally decided on....

It was definitely no surprise to anyone when Ave chose a pink Hello Kitty....

Let the stuffing begin.........

I thought Emma would be afraid of the machine since it was a little loud but she actually really like getting to step on the peddle and put the stuffing in her pig.

After each kid stuffed their animal then they each chose a heart to put inside their animal before it got stitched up.

Emma putting in her little heart....

Giving their animals a "bath" to wash away all the extra fuzzies that were hanging out on them.

Then it was off to decide among the hundreds of choices of combinations what outfits to wear and what shoes to choose.  Heaven help us I thought when I saw all the shoes and realized we may never get Avery out of there.  She right away had snagged three different clothing combinations and a pile full of shoes and had headed to an animal "dressing area" to start putting it together.

Emma went straight over and picked up a Tangled Princess dress for her pig and said "this one"  we put it on the pig and it looked adorable.  There was so many choices I kept bringing over different options for her to see and holding them side by side but nope, she picked out the Tangled dress every time.  Again no surprise.  Then with her decision quickly made to her satisfaction she sat and waited at the computer for the two older girls to continue trying on different options.

After muuuuuuch deliberation Avery as always impressed me with the ensemble that she came up with that of course was both trendy, something she would want to wear herself and totally matched the kitty. I LOVED the shoes she chose in a nice coral color to accent the outfit.  I love you kid.

Hunter decided to go with a Darth Vader costume for his dog and Eden chose a bright rainbow colored butterfly costume that had light up wings for her puppy.

Then we sat at the computers and made them each a birth certificate where the kids got to give them their names.  Hunter decided on Bolt, Eden liked Chloe, Avery chose Savannah and Emma named hers Ellie Pig.  They each got put in a little house box and were ready to take home.  The kids had so much fun, we spent a couple of hours there and they were all really excited about the animals they had made. They came home and played with them and colored their "houses" and have been enjoying them ever since.  It was a fun birthday surprise with Grandma and fun for them to get to do it with Eden as well.