First Day of School!

I wasn't sure the kids had it in them to wake up early, but they did! And the first week of school went off with success... The only problem is that Aven REALLY wants to ride the bus... Declan really seems to like school and his teacher, so that's great! And the girls LOVE school... They basically pop out of bed asking to go to school. Soooooo different than how Declan was when he was their age :-)

Here are some pictures from the first day... Clockwise: Declan, Bria, Aven & Stevie

L to R: Declan, Bria, Stevie & Aven

L to R: Stevie, Aven, Bria

What Happened to Summer?

I feel like my lack of blogging should have been due to all the things we accomplished this summer... but unfortunately it's not as the kids return to school tomorrow and the summer was filled with a lot of heat and very little checked off our "to do" list... But here's what did happen this summer: Declan turned 7, he is swimming like a fish, he's playing baseball like a stud, he met some best friends who I think he will be friends with forever, he bugged his sisters to death, he decided he liked bananas, then decided he didn't, he tried broccoli for the first time and liked it (but only cold), he picked up boxing and loves it (and throws a mean hook), Stevie turned into our best talker and is using ~10 word sentences, Stevie pooped and peed on the potty (but she's not fully trained), Aven turned into a tomboy but still prefers to wear heals, Bria became an artist who's work I'm sure will be on an exhibit one day, Bria and Aven can "swim" by themselves with their wings on, Stevie is terrified of any body of water besides the bath, all the girls learned how to ride their bikes and push the pedals by themselves (for short periods of time), the girls went to their first movie, the girls have almost given up naps, Declan went to WI to see all his grandparents, the whole family went to Chattanooga (with the girls first hotel stay) and realized we've been to way cooler Children's Museums in our prior lives, the girls and I went to the Atlanta Aquarium with their Aunties and loved it, we had a lot of visitors this summer and then it was all over and we all are returning to normal starting tomorrow.

Declan is going into 1st grade and his teacher is Mrs. Jones - we've heard good and not so good things about her, but one of Declan's besties had her (who is just like Declan) and he loved her, so we have our fingers crossed. The girls are starting 5 day a week preschool at their school from last year - half days, but we are excited for them! They LOVE school and their teachers (Mrs Deb, Mrs Tammy, Mrs Winnie and Mrs Tiffany) and they love them. Declan will continue with Baseball, Hockey, Boxing and Parkour and we are trying to find time to fit in Gymnastics for the girls again as well as playdates with their bestie, Maycie.

Here are some photos from the summer, in no particular order since I need to go try and get Declan to fall asleep since 6:30 AM is going to come early!!!

Aven at Declan's birthday party decided to get into someone's sun screen and us A LOT of it...

All the sisters of the boys at Declan's party... Princesses!

Princess Parade...

Declan, Andy and his bestie (and their dad)

7 year old!

Bria and Aven getting down in the tub waiting for Stevie to poo on the potty...

Per my earlier comment - I'm convinced the reason they don't consistently go on the potty is because they always have an audience and they hate it!

Bria swimming in the pool

Me and the kiddos

L to R: Aven, Bria and Stevie

Silly kids and Declan trying not to break a smile...

Tennessee Aquarium...

Me and Bria

This is how the girls slept (in my bed) in their very first hotel stay... I wasn't all that comfortable. But I'm sure Andy and Declan were great in their bed ;)

The girls at their very first movie - Minions. They loved it!

Me and the girls (Aven, Stevie and Bria)

Oh and Aven gave herself a haircut...

Declan at 1st grade orientation...

The girls with their bestie Maycie...

Declan with his bestie Kayden and Breckin (who are the big brothers of Maycie)

Final summer night of ice cream...

The girls at Declan's birthday party photo booth

Aven

Maycie

Party was awesome (and exhausting!)

Chapter Closed...

This past week it was Declan's last day of Kindergarten... So hard to believe that the year is over already and hard to believe he is going to be in 1st grade next year. We loved his teacher this year and hope he has someone just as great next year! The girls also wrapped up their first year of pre-school and we are excited because next year they get to go 5 days a week for 1/2 days... With the same teachers and at the same school - Andy clearly can't wait and we are both excited about the opportunity for them to catch up in all things. So all and all, with the move down here last summer, the year has been a great one. Now just gearing up for the summer filled with summer camps for Declan and spending some good quality family time together.

Here are a few pictures from the end of school and the end of year school program... Aven with Declan's painting...

Stevie, Aven, Declan and friend Maycie...

Aven was very upset because Declan took "her" picture... And Declan with his buds Kayden and Breckin

Declan in his class for a Mother's day event...

And next to his picture of me (I'm on his right with the big hoop yellow earnings)

Declan and me at his "fake birthday" a few weeks ago because he has a summer birthday...

Declan on graduation day where he got the "friendliest" award - couldn't be prouder!

The girls at their end of year party...

Declan and his 2 buds and our neighbors Kayden and Breckin... Such sweet boys and they have a sister who's the girls age - match made in heaven!

Besides the end of year festivities, we are also starting to have spotty naps (this is what happens when they don't get them) and starting potty training (more on that later).

Bria scaling the shelves in the pantry - these girls have gotten out of control with what they want and when they want it!

Stevie was the first to go pee (and poop) on the potty - she's always been #1 :-)

Girls in the box!

Auntie Em and our friend Justin are visiting for the weekend and we've had so much fun! I wish they could stay forever... Here's the girls and their Auntie...

Declan is currently obsessed with baseball... I mean play every day kind of baseball, dreaming about it, thinking about it and wanting to do anything as long as it involves baseball... Andy and him went to the Braves vs Brewers game yesterday and he was totally engaged the whole time and it went into extra innings... And he got 5 autographs!

Mr. Justin and Dec...

And we invested in this awesome water slide / bounce house... So awesome and days of fun this weekend!

Bria made me take this picture.

Aven and Justin jamming to the music...

The downside of potty training is that when you have an older boy, they all think they pee standing up (hence Bria trying to pee on her sister) and they use random things (i.e. bucket) to pretend poop in and think it's hilarious... Note, there was no poo or pee involved in this instance...

Thank goodness we have privacy in our yard b/c these crazy girls are naked at least 80% of the time...

And then there was Stevie... Note the socks :-)

Such an awesome memorial day weekend with great weather, great people and a fun time... Wish they were all like that!