First day of school!

Today marked the first day of school for Brooklyn and Bella. Brooklyn started 2nd grade and Bella started kindergarten. The girls laid their clothes out the night before, and got quickly dressed and scarfed some breakfast so they could get out the door as soon as possible. We dropped Brieyn off at daycare and were on our way! Brooklyn rode the bus to school, like she has done for the past 2 years, and was so excited to go! Bella only had orientation today, so we went from 1:00 to 2:30, the kids got to do an activity and hear stories, while the parents learned about what they would be doing all year long! I have to say...when we were walking in to school, I asked Bella if she wanted to hold my hand...and she said no. Oh man, I was crushed, but in the same breath so proud that she is getting so grown up! She found her locker, mailbox, and desk, and got right to work on the project "the kissing hand" that Mrs. B had asked the kids to do. When the entire class was sitting on the carpet listening to a story, I was watching her wondering where the past 5.5 years had gone. She looked so confident sitting there, while I was anxious for it to be done so I could take her home with me and enjoy her just a bit more before she starts "full time" school on Friday!! Brooklyn, you will do amazing in 2nd grade, and Bella, I can't wait to watch you learn and learn and learn!!

Sweet baby face!

Could it be?! Bradyn is already almost 3.5 months! It really does pass way too quickly, even though there were those times when she was brand new I really did think that "if only she were older" she wouldn't have colic, sleep better, etc. There are also days where I look at her and think, please stop growing up so fast, I want you to be my baby forever!! She is amazing, and fits in well with the rest of the clan. She has been rolling over from tummy to back since 8 weeks, is really really close to rolling from back to tummy, sleeps in her OWN bed (our doctor will be SO pleased at her next checkup!), smiles and giggles like crazy, and is just plain sweet! She comes with me to work, which is both a blessing and a huge challenge at the same time. She has perfected the art of sucking her thumb, which she does anytime she has the chance. And I'm thankful because the thumb probably buys me more sleep than I realize!!

Home projects

Let the demolition begin!

What will eventually be a closet

Door after

Door before

Here is the latest on our home remodeling projects. When we bought an older home, we were excited to update it, and the projects are never ending! It has been so fun to watch how our home has changed since we first bought it. In the past couple of weeks, Derek has re-stained the front door, and has started the basement bedroom project. The room in the basement was originally intended for Brooklyn, and after she spent about 5 minutes down there, she decided she wanted to sleep upstairs with her sisters! So when the room is finished, it will most likely be inhabited by Aunt Kelsi, who has tentative plans to come to WSU in a year. If she doesn't, Brooklyn just may change her mind. Thank you Derek, for all your hard work in making our house a home!!!

My continuous quest for organization

Those of you with large families, and even not-so-large families probably can relate to this. In our household, where both parents work, baby comes with me to the office, and kids are in various activities, organization is a MUST to maintain what little sanity we can. As we close in on the first day of school, life will become even more crazy with afterschool activities lasting until early evening, by the time we get to our house its a quick meal, baths, and bedtime for the kiddos. I am always searching for ways to become more organized, some are successful, others... not so much. Meals are probably #1 on the list, I do most of my cooking on Sundays, so we have meal choices all week long. On my continuous quest for organization, in a perfect world we would get out of the house in the morning easily, and end the day without 100 renditions of "I have to go potty", "1 more drink!", "She's TOUCHING me!" :). In the meantime, I will settle for what we've got, and keeping searching for helpful ideas on making life run a little more smoothly.

Family picture time

We decided it was time to take some family pictures, since the last "real" family picture we took was when it was just us 2 and Brooklyn. A friend, Laurel Hale, took them and did a great job. For more of her photography, visit http://www.laurelhalephotography.com/!

Beautiful Hay, Washington

Me and Bradyn

Aunt Jeannine

Great Grandma Henley

Brooklyn, Bella, Caroline

Brieyn

Last weekend we spent Saturday at Derek's aunt Jeannine's house in Hay, Washington. Cousins Pat, JJ, Caroline, and new baby Victoria were there from Boise, as well as Danny, Great-Grandma Henley, Nana, Papa, Dionne, and Cole. The girls had a blast and enjoyed playing in the pool (bought just for the occasion!), riding on Derek's motorcycle (that made me nervous!), riding Sobe (Cole's horse), and eating lots of yummy food. We don't get to Hay very often but when we do everyone ends up having tons of fun. The girls enjoyed playing with Caroline, and we had fun visiting and catching up with family.