Preschool

Where did my little Baylor go? She is getting so big and she is now in her words going to a "new preschool at a different house." Preschool is expensive around here and I looked up different options at the first of the year. The one that I'm having Baylor go to is someone in our stake and she runs the preschool out of her home. We visited it and Baylor didn't want to leave which was a good sign. I decided to have her be a drop-in. So when there is an absence in one of the classes, I get a text and the teacher asks if I would like Baylor to go to it and I just pay for the classes she attends. She is older for her age so I'm not too worried academically but more the social part and getting used to being away from mom for a few hours and getting over separation anxiety. I also didn't want too much of a schedule with a new baby and this allows me to accept times that work for me and my schedule and I don't feel so tied down and not quite as busy. We are looking forward to this new step and Baylor is super excited about it.

Here is all about Baylor as a Preschooler:

Favorite Color: Pink

Favorite Food: Eggs & Toast & Chicken Crescents

Favorite Treat: Brownie

Favorite Thing We Did This Summer: When Grandma & Poppy Came to Visit, Baby Being Born, and the Beach

One Thing I Love: Blankies & Little Girl (McCall)

What I Want To Be When I Grow Up: A Mom So I Can Cook All the Dinners & Lunches

The day we took these pictures, Baylor was excited to have her turn taking back to school pictures but she was also acting weird with them so a lot of the pictures she didn't want to show her teeth when she smiled and was making weird poses. Oh well! Fitting for her at this stage though. :)

Oh how I love these two! Paige has been the best extra teacher to Baylor and the playhouse in the backyard has been a school so Baylor is extra ready for preschool.

I had a very quiet couple of hours. I had to get a few things from Walmart and the trip was quick especially since I only had one kid with me verse all three. Then most of the time I sat on the couch with a sleeping baby on me while I did some scripture study and watched the Don't Miss This Video for this week's Come Follow Me. It went by quick and I felt like I was in and out of the car a lot with both Paige and Baylor's school pick up and drop offs. It was a really good day and they both had great first days.

When I dropped Baylor off, I could tell she was a little hesitant. She had a tight grip on my hand but let the teacher take her hand and lead her into the house. No tears or anything. I think going to primary at church has helped this process and I know she will do great. I know she will be quiet but hopefully with time she will open up more and her teacher and classmates can see the fun, silly side of Baylor. She was all smiles when I picked her up and looked so cute with a necklace and crown that she made for her first day. She was quite talkative afterwards and I got quite a bit of details out of her which was nice compared to Paige where getting the details out of her is a struggle. She loved the playground and the time she got to play outside and loved the pink car that she got to ride. She told me all about making her bead necklace and how they each got their own little jar of beads and that other kids spilled theirs and it was a mess but she was extra careful and didn't spill any of hers. :) She told me that her teacher taught them a new song but she couldn't remember it and that her teacher had a Pete the Cat stuffed animal which she thought was pretty cool. She also told me that for snack time they all had to wash their hands and they got fruit snacks and goldfish and that she ate all her fruit snacks but only a few goldfish. I loved listening to her talk away and she asked if she could go the next day. It will probably be long waits for her between classes but I'm so glad that she loves it and I know it will be a great experience for her and prepare her a little  more for kindergarten.

Happy first official day of preschool and the start of your school experiences Baylor! I'm excited to see you grow and learn!

5th Grade

How in the world is she in 5th grade!?! She is quite extraordinary and I'm so grateful that I get a front row seat in watching her grow into the most incredible young lady.

Here is all about Paige as a 5th grader:

Favorite Colors: Teal, Lavender, Yellow, & Coral

Favorite Food: Fettucine Alfredo & Chicken Noodle Soup

Favorite Treat: Brownie

Favorite Thing We Did This Summer: Have a Baby Sister & Going to the Beach

One Thing I Love: My Family & Blankies

What I Want To Be When I Grow Up: Preschool Teacher

I LOVE these pictures with the hat. They turned out so cute!!!

Paige was supposed to start school on August 25th but due to a teacher strike they started two weeks late and their official start date became September 8th. We'll see how it affects the end of the year and I'm sad that our summer will be cut into but I'm excited for Paige in this new school year. It's always an exciting time of new learning, new growth, and this year she has a brand new teacher. I hope this year goes better than last and I was really worried about how the first day would go with all the anxiety from last year. The summer was a much needed break and I feel that we have a new girl on our hands that is so brave. There were a few tears as I dropped her off at school but overall it went much better than I expected it to. Afterwards she was all smiles and loved her first day back. She is excited to be back with friends, learn new things, and is extra excited that she gets to do orchestra this year. Baylor also happened to start preschool on the same day and my next post will be all about her new school year. I'm so excited to see the growth in both of them and I'm extra grateful for McCall to keep me company when they are both gone. I love all three of my girls so much!!!

Here's to a new year Paige! I love you so much and I know your teacher will love you. You will do great things this year and I'm excited to be along for the ride.

Letter Z

We got to our last letter for Baylor's letter preschool activities! It got broken up a bit with visitors but we got it done.

Letter Z- uppercase and lowercase tracing

Then she made a jacket with a zipper.

The next day our focus was zig zag. She first did cutting practice on zig zags that I drew on index cards. Then she put together zig zag puzzles with numbers and stars.

Our last day was all about the zoo and zoo animals. She first did a zebra dot to dot and then she colored zoo animals and created her own zoo on a paper. 

She is excited to go to "real" preschool and I'm excited to continue to watch her grow and learn!

August Doings

I always like to post about the little things that bring me happiness and joy. We really have to find happiness in the mundane moments of life because our lives are pretty full of mundane, everyday moments where especially for me it can feel like you are just going through the motions and sometimes you feel like you do the same things every day, but if we look for the little moments that bring a smile to our faces it can make life that much sweeter. 

The beginning of the month, my cousin, Mandy, and her daughter, Cora, came to visit. I haven't seen them in years and I'm so glad that she reached out to me when she was coming this way so we could catch up. We had dinner together and we took them out on the lake so they could kayak. They ended up needed to spend the night so we got a little extra time with them. The girls especially Baylor warmed up to them pretty quick and they were both happy to play with my girls.

Throughout the summer we did Ready, Set, Play for the city of Covington. We have done this for many years and love it. We do little activities at home and then go to local businesses to collect badges. We finished up last week and got the final prize which included a free kids meal to Chick Fil A, swim passes, a free Crumbl Cookie, a water bottle, and some other fun things.

We went to Covington's Kid Fest one Saturday. Nate had to work and so we went and saw him and spent a lot of time there- more than I planned since there was so many people but the girls had fun and Baylor even talked to a little girl when standing in line which is so unlike her. Paige sat in the police car, the girls got to go through the petting zoo, Paige held a lizard and pet a huge tortoise, we went on a train ride, and went through the vendors and collected some prizes.

Both my girls loves to draw and spend quite a bit of time doing arts and crafts. I really love the way Baylor draws people. It is the cutest thing.

Baylor drew the unicorn at church on the left and a portrait of Paige on the right. 

For my scripture study for Come Follow Me, I watch Don't Miss This to and it has been the best thing for me to add to my studies. I highly recommend watching or listening to them. They add such great insight and have helped me see the scriptures in a totally different way than I ever have. This past summer they had a summer of heroes that we did together as a family. Each week they had about 5 heroes from that week's reading. We would watch small increments of the video each day and the girls took turns taping the heroes on the door. I don't know how much Baylor got out of it but I felt that Paige enjoyed them and we all learned a little more about the Old Testament heroes that we had before. 

Paige did Baylor's hair one day and it was so cute even with the weird smile.

Baylor loves McCall's hands. She is constantly kissing, grabbing, and holding her hand and it is pretty cute though sometimes she can be a little rough.

Nate and usually Paige go to the messy store (Goodwill Outlet) almost every Friday. They love to go thrifting together and each find their own treasures and then they come home and we all sit down together to look over the treasures that they found. Baylor is very impatient with the showing and just wants to see what treasures they found her. They found a cute shrinky dink fairy set and the girls had fun doing them one night.

Paige calls McCall squirt and we had a Squirt bottle of soda and so she took the wrapping off and made this cute little card for McCall. Look close at the nutrition facts. :)

McCall and I went to church for the first time in August and I had three matching girls and it was the sweetest thing. I am so grateful for these three and that I get to be their mom!

I just love my baby snuggles. I could just kiss her cute cheeks and stare at her sweet face all day.

How did I get so lucky? They truly make my life more sweet and complete. I cannot imagine life without them.

August Adventures

We have done lots of fun things this August and the month went by too fast. I love these little adventures that we go on as a family. They make my soul so happy. I love the time spent with family while enjoying this beautiful world we live on.

One evening we took some fried chicken to Dash Point State Park. We enjoyed dinner with a view from our picnic blanket. Then I stayed under the sunbrella with McCall while Paige, Baylor, and Nate went out to the water. It was so sweet watching them and of course Baylor came back with her shorts soaking wet. The girls had fun chasing the waves and jumping over them and then they played in the sand for a little bit. It was a gorgeous summer evening.

Then we went to Brown's Point Lighthouse. There was an event going on so there was a crazy amount of people but we got to check off one of Baylor's summer bucket list items, watch the sunset. It was truly a beautiful setting and fun to sit on the rocks by the water watching the sun dip down beyond the horizon.

Another weekend, Paige wanted a play date with Addison. It has been a crazy summer and she hasn't seen her in a long time and it is much harder to see them since they moved. We decided to drive down to Bonney Lake and see their new house. Then Paige stayed at their house and played while the rest of us went to do some exploring. We first went and saw this waterfall. It was really pretty but you couldn't get very close to it which was a little disappointing.

We then went on this walk that was behind a neighborhood. It was a little weird to find. The boardwalk was really pretty and then it had lots of lots of stairs. Baylor loved all the stairs, Nate not so much.

Exploring the stream under the boardwalk before heading back to get Paige.

This past Saturday I decided that I wanted to go hike Asahel Curtis trail- it is one of my favorite hikes and we do it every year. We got there and it was closed for construction so we decided to drive to the other side of the freeway and hiked to Franklin Falls. It is another one of our family's favorite hikes and Paige and Baylor did great and hiked the whole thing. McCall was happy and slept the entire way in the front pack. It was pretty busy and there was quite a few people by the falls but it is always worth the hike to see the falls. It is such a pretty hike and I'm glad we did it.

Then we went to the Snoqualmie Tunnel and walked through a little bit of it before heading home. It was a fun family outing.