First Day of Kindergarten

Alexander's first day was a success.  There was no crying.  He walked right in.  Unloaded his bag.  Sat down and began coloring.  Great first day!

A few pictures of his day.

I actually had to order him a bigger backpack.  We have the small backpack from Pottery Barn Kids (which would be perfect if they used a single regular folder!), however, his school is using 3-ring binders as parent/teacher conversations.  Ridiculous.  But, very well organized inside.  So, we ordered the large backpack because shoving the binder in the small backpack is pushing it's limits and won't last long.

Little sister wanted a photo too :)

These two.  I love them!

I wanted a picture with them too :)

We walked to school.  The traffic was crazy so I was thankful that we live close enough to walk!

He found his spot and that was our que to leave him there for the day.

While he was at school, the girls had a shopping day.  Oh my, how it was so much easier and less stressful not having Xander in tow.  

I was so excited to pick up my boy.  I got my pass to wait in the hall and I wanted to run down and give him a big hug when I saw his scared little face.  But waited.

He couldn't tell me anything about his day.  

Me:  What did you do today?

Xander: Nothing

Me: Did you do anything fun?

Xander: We didn't do anything fun 

Me: Did your teacher say anything today?

Xander:  No

I'm sure I'll hear all about his day in a few days.  For some reason, he's always talked about things a few days after it happens.  And when he does, he goes all out.

While Sterling and I were shopping, she picked out a stuffed animal for him.  A little husky dog that he's been wanting since July 30th (he saw it on our drive moving here).  He loved it.  Of course.  He loves all things cuddly.

Around 6pm, he was tired.  Beyond tired.  Exhausted.  It was meltdown mode over everything.  I had to remind myself that this was a big change for him so I gave him extra snuggles and tried to remain calm.  Hopefully it will get better once he gets used to a full day of learning.

A great start to the new school year!

Have a great day!

Lately

Good morning!  Today is a BIG day around here.  I'm up extra early.  Didn't sleep at all last night.  My big boy Alexander is starting Kindergarten this morning and he's ready and excited!  I'm ready and nervous that I forgot to give pack him something.  Schools really don't do well at preparing first time parents sending their kids off to a full day of school.  How do I even drop him off?!  Do I get a pass and walk him all the way to his classroom?  Do I drop him off at the front door and hope he finds his way?!  Oh boy.  It's going to be an interesting start to the year.

Lately,

I'm obsessed with this candle from Bath and Body Works.  It may not be September yet, but I've had the smell of pumpkin spice for a week.  So ready for hoodies and chilly nights!

We finished the living room.  I'm at a loss at what to do with the mantle/fireplace area.  I've already taken all that down and replaced it with our Mr. Skins collection from Yankee Candle.  I think I'm going to keep the mantle seasonal?  I didn't feel the picture looked right there (too small and it's a 16x20).

We kicked the kids outside one afternoon to ride their 4-wheeler's. 

The next day as Nick and I were putting the basement area together, we set up the pool right outside the door so we could work and keep an eye on those rambunctious kids.  It worked perfectly.  They played for three hours!

Towards the end of them playing, Xander starting putting his head under the (grass filled) water.  Big thing here!  This boy HATES water on his face!

We couldn't end our day without an injury.  Somehow Sterling's big toenail was half off and bleeding everywhere.  I convinced her she needed to lay on her bed to give her toe a break.  Really, so she would take a break!  Ha!

Hoodies and chilly nights?  Why not Christmas movies too?!

Thursday night we had Kindergarten open house.  

So handsome.  So ready!

After the open house, Sterling and I ran some errands and came across an ice cream truck.  Sure, why not have a Tweety Bird ice cream?!

Xander also put his first big boy puzzle together all by himself!  He's always done the puzzles with bigger pieces, but he's moving on to the regular sized puzzles.

After showers we played Giggle Wiggle.  Sterling's mastered it and is quick!  She loves it and wants to play everyday.

We had a lot of very ripe bananas so I made our favorite banana muffins.  So yummy and moist!

The kids have really been big helpers around the house since moving here.   As we were sweeping up the kitchen after dinner, Xander was dancing around the broom and the top of the stick stuck him in the eye pretty hard.  I was SO worried he'd have a black eye on his first day of school.  But, he won't!

Nick and I played 5 second rule.  You have to name three things in less than 5 seconds.  I think to much so this was a challenge for me.  Nick, he spit things out quick!

Story time just got easier!  We love to read in this house, but since moving here, it's taken a back burner.  The kids loved this.  And I was able to put away things that had been waiting to get put away.   

 

Sterling and I are going shopping today.  We need to get a few stands and decor items.  She hates shopping so this shall be interesting!

Have a great day!

Settling In

Now that we have our stuff, we are trying to get settled into our new house and routines.  We haven't found the right routine yet to get into, but we will.  This week our goal is to figure that out so we can start it next week.  Next week is our last week of summer before Xander heads to Kindergarten!  I can't believe how fast this summer went!

My mom left us on the 6th.  We were so lucky to have her with us, help us, and keep us company.  She was much appreciated having around.

Our stuff arrived on the 8th.  Finally.  It was supposed to arrive on the 2nd, but that didn't happen.  #militarylife #hurryupandwait

We got really lucky and the day was a cool one.  Ever since, it's been miserably hot!

The kids entertaining the men

My soon to be office/craft space.  It's a work in progress.  I still don't have it done, but I do have most of it cleared out.  Hopefully soon.

As I was unloading boxes daily, the kids would entertain themselves pretty well, for the most part, in their new toy room.

One night Xander set up a bunch of his animals in the crevices of his top bunk.  We're actually going to take the top bunk down.  We don't have a mattress for it since we gave the one to Sterling's bed set.  But, it will be much easier to access his bed without the darn top on.

Nick went to MS to visit his mom for 4 days.  From Thursday morning to Monday night {late!} it was just the kids and I.  I'm still not comfortable in the house.  It's pretty large and every noise threw me off.  I took a recent thread on Facebook and used it.  Have you ever seen the one to use wasp spray to deter intruders?  Well, I put it next to my bed, lid off and ready for me to spray.  Ha!  Not even joking.  It'll spray 27 feet so the crazy person wouldn't have a chance to get close.  Oh, and I had the kids sleep in my bed. #truthbetold

They kids have also been creating masterpieces with this magnetic board.  

We've had a hot week.   So hot that when you step outside it's hard to breathe.  Just plain gross out!  We hit up Chick-fil-A to escape the heat and burn off some energy.   #muchneeded

I finally had my counters looking decent.  Every day I'd unload boxes and stuff the counters full of stuff.  At the end of each night, I'd clear them off.  It's nice walking down to a clean kitchen first thing in the morning.

Who doesn't love sliding down steps on their bottoms?!  I know I did!

A sight that I could get used to.  Xander loves Nick, but he's a momma's boy, so this is a sight that is not seen much.  So when I saw it, I had to document it.

After unloading my kitchen boxes, I came across the set I purchased before leaving Nebraska.  I bought these to put smoothies for Sterling when she was at camp.  I made smoothies and froze them to go with her lunch.  Yesterday, I put in some applesauce.  They love them!  It took probably less than 10 minutes to fill 10 and about $0.51 to make.  It doesn't save me much money, only $.70 from buying the box of Mott's pouches.  But, it didn't take long and I bought two more jars of applesauce to make more. 

Enjoying a tea party with their babies

This weekend we have plans of clearing all of the boxes from the main floor and upstairs.  We also want to get our exercise equipment up.  I could benefit from a little exercise.

This weekend is my last weekend free from school.  It's my second to last class and a research class.  So it will not be easy.  

There's a lot to do and a lot of changes coming.

Heading East

On Friday, the 29th of July, we started our journey east to our new home in Virginia.

We drove for 6 hours, so it was a nice quick drive to our first stop.  We ran into some heavy rain, unfortunately, but, my mom is fearless when it comes to driving and weather.

We woke up the next morning, enjoyed (or not so much) some breakfast and began our LONG dreaded day of driving.  It was about 10 hours with stops and dinner.  Sterling said she wasn't tired, but I found her holding her eye lids open.  Too funny!

We had the largest hotel room ever.  We stayed at Home2 Suites and we loved it!  No swimming on this day because we didn't arrive until later, so they played with their barbies and ken.

Sunday morning we were ready to get to VA.  We were only 5 hours away so we were excited to be done.

Welcome to our new home

The kids stole my phone and went around the house taking a million pictures of each other.

We enjoyed crackle barrel games and the food :)

Family affair in the hot tub.  They don't wear the floaties anymore.  They were scared the first time going without them.  No fear.

The AC in our upstairs was out for the first 4 days of our arrival, but after a new system was put in, the kids slept in their rooms for the first time.  And slept great!

We went paddle boating before my mom left.  It was a lot of fun.

Mom is too good for safety first :)

You can find these three in the hot tub almost every day

We went over to Xander's school and played at the park.  They loved all the different playgrounds they had!

Sibling night in the tent

One more post and I'll be caught up.