Kindergarten Update

We just got back Everly's school pictures for Kindergarten so I thought it would be good to do a little update. First of all, how cute is that picture?!? I take a lot of pictures so she obviously has a lot of practice but man I love that little gap toothed smile. It's perfect. HERE is her picture from preschool! I can't handle it! Kindergarten has been going doing pretty good this year. She goes to before school care called "Stingers Club" each morning and eats breakfast there and plays so I can still get into work by 7:30. She seems to like it and it works out well so Justin can pick her up from school. Sometimes she falls asleep on the way home because she is obviously working pretty hard. She is working on site words and starting to read a little. She tends to write some numbers backwards sometimes but other than that, most of her worksheets come back with happy faces and very few errors. We will have parent teacher conferences at the end of next month so we will really get a better idea of how she is doing. Sometimes she is a little tired in the morning, but she never complains about going to school so that has got to be a good sign!

Craft Day: Soccer Mom Edition

We are fully into Everly playing soccer now. She has practices on Wednesdays and games on Saturdays. It has been going pretty well but it can be a little stressful to watch for me. I am naturally competitive and she's just not very aggressive yet. Trying to be patient, but it can be hard! She is having lots of fun though. In a couple of weeks it is our turn to bring after game snacks. I picked up some snacks and juice boxes but also wanted to make some matching hair ties for the girls. Nothing too crazy, but something simple the girls could have and would match each other. I picked up some ribbons in their team colors at the craft store and some hair ties and my sister helped me tie them on while I burned the edges to keep them from fraying. They are very simple but the girls are so small so I didn't want anything big and elaborate that would be a distraction. I think the girls will like them. I already caught Everly putting hers in her hair the other night.

very cheap

simple but cute!

Weekend in Review

Our weekend, once again, involved lots of soccer! Shocker! It started Friday night with a trip to see my sister's soccer game at GCU. It is finally fall and was a nice cool night. I took the girls by myself so Justin could go run or go to the gym and he ended up watching TV the whole time! Not what I would have done with my alone time, but hey, to each their own. The girls were also very good for me. They usually are it's just Aspen is in a stage which is a bit high maintenance which often means one of us doesn't see much of the game but she was great and sat on my lap most of the time. We picked up smoothies on the way as well which they liked and it's probably better for us than milkshakes. Saturday morning I got up and went hiking with my mom and sister and brought Minnie. The weather was actually cool when it started. Minnie is a pretty good hiker and it was nice to take her out because I haven't in a long time. Everly had a soccer game on Saturday and then we went to church and had a quiet dinner at home. Sunday we did some cleaning and football watching before going to my sister's for dinner. Not a crazy busy weekend, but good to catch up a bit before we go to Disneyland on Sunday!

Of course they got their faces painted.

They gave out free vuvuzelas!

Aspen was not interested in the photo shoot.


Herbie came too!

pumpkin smoothie and shopping with my buddy

sunday night snapchatting

and a little pedicure to end the night

Family Photos 2016

We got our pictures back from our family photo session a couple of weeks ago up in Flagstaff. I like to take pictures of this time of year because it is around the girl's birthdays and so we get to capture their growth each year. Also, doing pictures this early allows me to knock out my Christmas Cards early each year. I still love our pictures from last year with my friend Jamie. (here). Aspen was actually pretty difficult last year and was about the same this year. I think we still got great pictures but man I hope next year she does better. Everly of course, was a champ. We took these pictures with Julia Romano Photography and it was a great, quick process. I am so glad we decided to take these up in Flagstaff because it was such a nice change of scenery. I have already turned these into a photobook from Shutterfly and can't wait to order our Christmas cards, too. Here are some of my favorites:

Happy Birthday Baby Aspen!

Last Friday was Aspen's 2nd birthday. She is so much fun and so cute despite the fact that she is definitely starting to show some terrible two behaviors. With Everly, she was fine at two and more of a threenager so we will see if it is different with Aspen. I had the day off Friday so after dropping Everly off at school, I took Aspen on some errands and let her play at the mall. It was fun to have some one on one time with her. She is still so tiny I can wear her but also now eating at the big girl table at daycare so it's a little sad that our baby is growing up. On Friday night, we had a little Sesame Street family party at home and it went really well. My dad happened to be in town as well as one of Justin's Aunts and Uncles so that was really cool that they could make it. We kept things really simple with the party and got pizza and salads from Costco but my sister did help me decorate some cookie monster cupcakes. They turned out pretty cute. We didn't even buy Aspen anything because we are going to Disneyland in less than 2 weeks so I am sure we will spoil her there. Plus, she got plenty of gifts from our family so she is set! We love you baby Aspen and hope you had a great 2nd birthday!

 

Of course, birthday girl had her own special cake.

Aspen really liked this cheap Party City backdrop. She can name all of the characters!

Mae Mae eating cupcakes and Aspen with her Elmos.