First Day/Last Day 2016

FINALLY!  The last day of school is here!  Cooper had a great year in first grade, and Penny did awesome in kindergarten!  Both of them grew a lot, learned A LOT, and changed a little. Bring on summer, second grade and first grade!

First Day of School, August 24, 2015

Last Day of School, June 2, 2016.

Wrapping it Up in May

I wish I could keep up the former frequency of blog posts, but I just find that harder and harder to do as the kids get older and their activities increase.  As the school year comes to an end (Five more days!!!), so do a lot of the extracurriculars.  (Soccer, Dance, Cub Scouts, and Girl Scouts...all DONE until the fall.) The last month has gone fast, so that must mean we are having fun.  We are, but we are also looking forward to the less structured, carefree days of summer.  Hopefully then I can find time to continue documenting these three growing up!  A few things of note from the last month:

Penny and her fellow Daisy Girl Scout sold enough cookies to earn a trip to the zoo.  They also got to ride the train, the carousel, go in the butterfly house, and have ice cream!  Penny had so much fun! Also, in her first year in Girl Scouts she earned all her Daisy petals!  One more year of Daisies before becoming a Brownie!

Cooper had a big year in Cub Scouts!  He loved it!  Also, Daddy was the den leader this year which really made it an awesome experience for him.  Cooper earned his Tiger badge and Daddy got to be the one to pin it on!

And then this little bundle of sweetness.  Ellie is now two and a half and she just keeps growing and changing!  She talks a blue streak now and we just love listening to that sweet voice!  She is finishing up her first year at preschool, which she loves.  On Mondays and Fridays, the days she doesn't go to school, she asks to go and cries when I have to tell her it isn't a school day!  

We did manage to sneak in some lake time with all the goings-on around here!

October.

For us, October was defined by these moments, places, and faces!

Little Ellie LOVES school and is really coming into her own.  She can and will say just about anything and wants to be right in the middle of everything going on...in this case, sidewalk chalk and hamming for the camera.

Penny, sidewalk chalk, and Violet Sparkle.
This budding artist LOVES to draw and color.  Just give her a medium.  The driveway is perfect!

Mom got to visit the fire station with both Cooper and Penny's classes.

Penny was Student of the Month!  (For the entirety of kindergarten, for the whole month!) Cooper  was a little bit jealous until we saw that he made the newspaper front page for his trip to the fire station.  

We had an early dismissal day that we spent in San Antonio with Ma-mas, Pa-Pa, and Uncle Clint. (Happy Birthday Ma-mas!) Of course we visited Brackenridge Park and rode the train.  We then took the three to a fancy restaurant for dinner and they were so good!  (That was a nail biter!)

Mom's birthday was rainy but it was perfect thanks to this view, family in town, ALL DAY football watching, hot soup, and gourmet cupcakes.

The pirate, the lion, and Sleeping Beauty.
This year for Halloween we enjoyed a visit from Nonnie!  She went with us to trick-or-treat and it was so much fun! 

First Day of School 2015!

Cooper and Penny's first day of school!  Penny is in Kindergarten and Cooper is in First Grade!  All went smoothly for our first day.  Cooper was a little apprehensive but ok.  Penny was super excited!  As soon as she put on her new dress with matching headband, socks and shoes, she was all smiles and silliness and ready for kindergarten!

Parents are allowed to walk their little ones to class on the first day.  Cooper perked up when he saw some of  his friends from last year.

Mama was so sad to drop this one off on her first day!  Luckily Penny was thrilled that the teacher had set out purple play-doh for her and wasn't sad or scared at all! How can we be here with her already?  It just doesn't seem that long ago that we were here:

Penny, one day old.

And, a few outtakes from our picture taking session...

He's being silly, but I love how she's looking at him.

Being minions...

School Year Parting Shots

Penny and Daddy after her end of year performance at preschool.

Penny during the performance...Who's in charge here?

My little school year buddy.  Ellie is glad to have her big brother and sister home!

Mama got to go on Cooper's end of year field trip to the San Antonio zoo with him! 

Over the moon because he got to ride the Brackenridge Park train!

Summer fun posts coming up next!

Summer is Here!

Another school year has blown by!  After what seemed like a looooong May, the last day of school finally arrived!  We are so ready for summer we could hardly stand it!  Goodbye waking up to an alarm, homework, and keeping up with who needs what on which day!  (Can you tell Mama is excited for the loosening of the routine?)  On Wednesday, Penny's last day of school, we got to attend both Penny and Cooper's school performances.  Penny sang sweet songs with her classmates...it was so sweet that this mother got just a little choked up.  Later that day we got to watch Cooper perform a parody of "Summer Nights" which was hysterical.  Afterwards we got to back to his classroom so that he could read us the book that HE wrote about camels.  On Thursday, Cooper's last day of school, we got to pick him up early and we celebrated with Daddy by having lunch out!  All in all, it has been a great start to our favorite time of year!

Penny on the first day of Pre-K...our funny little spitfire!

Penny, on her last day of Pre-K!  She has grown up so much! Several months back we weren't sure about sending her to kindergarten.  It seems obvious now that this little lady is ready!

Cooper, on the first day of Kindergarten.

Cooper on the last day of Kindergarten!  It's hard to swallow that we now have a 1st grader!

Through Late Fall 2015

Starting in November, our controlled chaotic household leans more toward chaotic.  Holidays, family, school activities and more dominate our days.  Life over the last few weeks...

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast.

We spent a weekend in Dallas so Mama could attend a baby shower.  Mama, Daddy, and Cooper went to "ICE!", a hotel convention room cooled to four degrees and full of big ice sculptures.  It was spectacular! (The caboose Daddy is standing on here is made completely of ice.)  Penny and Ellie hung out with Ma-Mas and Pa-Pa; they weren't interested in being cold...or the community parkas.

Our hotel was a winter wonderland and the kids got to see Santa.

We were thankful to spend our first Thanksgiving in Boerne with the Kirks. 

The cousins were here for five days over Thanksgiving!

We've spent many cool evenings outside with both family and friends.

We took a day trip to the ranch for Pa-pa's cousins' annual Christmas party.

All of us are enjoying our new pets (and future egg producers).  Say hello to Elsa, Zoe, Maia, Peanut, Cocoa, and Peck.  These girls spent a little over a week in our garage but are now adjusted to life in the coop. They love to be let out into the run in the morning and are starting to see us as friends.

We spent half a weekend in Buda for a 1st Birthday Party.

We are ready for Christmas and the rest of the year (I think)!  Next up, one baby girl turns one, Cooper and Penny can stop asking, "how many minutes 'til Christmas," and of course the New Year.  Happy Holidays!