Cheer and Sully :)

So, in my last post I was trying to post these pictures, but Blogger crashed and it wouldn't let me.  So a new post has to be made but it's a short one!

If I love how cute she looks just going to practice, imagine how excited I’m gonna be at her first game when she’s in her official cheer uniform on that football field!📣😍 Her first game is THIS Saturday! I. Can't. Wait!

And, P.S.

Sully had his 2 1/2 year well-child check up this week and he just looked so cute in this little "gown" thing so I had to post! He hated it and had it yanked off as soon as I took this picture, haha! But he weighs 33 pounds (83%), is 36 1/2 inches tall (67%) and his head is 50 1/2 cm (79%).  So, all of his percentages have gone down a bit from his last few check-ups but he's still a big boy.  He's a crazy boy and the doctor told me he's a handful (duh). But man...he sure is cute! He can turn on the charm instantly and all is forgiven.... every single time.

P.P.S.  Blogger has been having issues for awhile now.  So forgive me for the weird colors and sizes of my fonts in all my recent blog posts. I can't seem to figure it all out but at least the content is getting posted!

First Day of School

Summer has come to an end.  No more sleeping in for 9 looooong months.  No more lazy days.  No more easy nights.  School's back and I'm a little bit depressed.  Yes, the freedom during the days is really nice.  But I already miss doing fun stuff with my kids.  I like the fact that I can get more done now that they are at school, but I don't like the homework at night, the fights to get dressed quickly when they wake up, the crying because of who-knows-what and just the crazy schedule that each school year brings.  But it's here and there's nothing I can do about it!  The good news is, my kids LOVE school. They have great teachers and are genuinely excited to be there.  So that's a blessing.  Sully misses his sisters though.  For 4 days now he has said (at least 10 times an hour) "where's Sissy?" And my answer is always the same, but he still asks.  He's also my messiest, busiest, most destructive kid.  So even though I only have one at home, my house isn't gonna be clean any time soon and it's still going to be loud all day everyday (except those blessed 2 hours of nap time).  But I only have 2 more years with him before he goes to Preschool so I'm gonna make them count!  Love that little Monster.  Even if he does physically abuse me ;-)

Anyway, We LOVE our teachers this year (Mrs. Bain for Lucy and Mrs. Sumler for Piper). We are so thankful to belong to a school that is VERY concerned with placing students in the best possible environment for their individual needs. Lucy’s teacher is soft-spoken and uber-organized, which is the environment her teacher from last year specified for her for this new year (she thrives in that setting). And Piper’s is the warm, hugs-for-everyone, enthusiastic type which also was requested for her by her teacher last year, for this year. Both teachers were handpicked for these girls and perfect for them and we are sooooo thankful to have them!📚✂️📝

But on August 17th, 2018, I definitely cried hard. I know Piper was in Pre-K last year, but it was only 3 hours a day- she didn’t eat lunch at school AND she had a little bathroom inside her classroom. I cried just as hard as I did when Lucy started kindergarten because I worried about them being in school ALL day-7 hours! 😥 I kept thinking "She’s gonna get so hungry and probably be SO tired too." Ugh! My heart was so sad.

Everyone said the first and last child starting school is the hardest for Moms but I was just as sad on this years' first day of school as I was 2 years ago.

I know she will love her teacher though. She walked into her classroom on the first day and jumped at the teacher and said “BOO!” Hahaha- it was so unexpected, it made me and her teacher laugh. I knew she'd have fun. But I still worried about the little things that I wouldn't be there to help her with. 

Lucy too. No snack time this year. They only do snack through the 1st grade. I just kept thinking about their tummy’s growling. I know that sounds dumb, but it’s all these little things that make me sad. We dropped Lucy off in her class first and my eyes teared up... then we dropped Piper off and I started to cry when we walked out of her class. When we walked back out of the school we had to pass Lucy’s class and she saw me crying. She waved and was happily coloring something. I smiled but I know I couldn’t hide that I’d been crying. I’m so emotional on the first day of school!

However, we are on day 4 and feeling good. The first 2 days I walked them to class. But day 3 they were on their own. They were ready and they told me after school that they found their classrooms easily.  Lucy told me last night that the school days have been going by fast for her because she's having so much fun and Piper just ADORES her teacher.  We love our school and are glad to be back!

After school, it was our annual "here's-a-slurpee-for-being-so-brave-at-school-now-tell-me-EVERYTHING" hour.  They had so many good things to tell me! :) :)

Now, look at these: I’ve got some real gems right here 😂 Kindergarten in 1992 vs. 2018 and 2nd grade in 1994 vs. 2018. I really miss perms and wearing clogs with socks😅. I also would like to point out that I vividly remember asking my Mom to make SURE the cat was in the picture (crazy cat lovers, unite✊🏼)🤣

It's gonna be a good year, you guys.... a really good year :)

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

We're back! What. A. Week! We went to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for a solid week and it was a busy, relaxing, fun, exciting, happy trip and was just good for my soul.  You know what I mean? The week was full of so much goodness. Long talks with people I needed to catch up with, multiple hikes through the mountains, swimming in lakes, riding horses, picking wildflowers, staying up late, spying on countless deer and turkeys, riding rollercoasters, good food and great company. I love visiting my family. There’s nothing better💙 

But, what vacation doesn't experience a few hiccups along the way?  The first hiccup was that Sully had a really bad ear infection.  It was so sad :(  He had a little fever before we left so we took him to Urgent Care in Oklahoma and they said his ears were perfectly fine.  Well, he had a fever for 5 days and was so sick and EXHAUSTED.  On the 5th day we took him back to Urgent Care (this time in Idaho) because obviously his little body couldn't fight whatever was in him on its own.  Turns out that his right ear was badly infected but it just hadn't shown up before we left for Idaho.  It was heartbreaking.  He was MISERABLE.  He had zero appetite and couldn't sleep for days.  He was so stopped up that at one point we thought he just had a gut sickness.  We bought him meds for that first but it didn't help....  Once we got some antibiotics in him, he slept for almost 36 hours straight.  It was amazing.  But it was also so sad because he's normally such a tough guy.  So to see him this mad/sad/irritable/tired for so many days just proved to me that he was really, really hurting.  Because of the infection, the first half of the week he wouldn't look at anyone or talk to anyone (except Shawn).  I was super bummed because my parents were only there for 2 days and they didn't get to see the REAL Sully. I'm thankful that he eventually got his meds so that the extended family could see his fun/silly/crazy side a little, but my Dad missed out on that.  That little boy is the best and I wanted everyone to get to see how awesome he is, but I can't help that he got an ear infection! :(

The other bumps in the road just had to do with tired little girls named Lucy and Piper.... The first half of the week they were AWESOME.  They were so well-behaved and so sweet!  Evvy was in town with Ninny and Baba and they all 3 played so well together.  It was great!  But, towards the end of the week, Piper threw a few major fits and her and Lucy had some fights.  I get so stressed when they scream and cry in other people's houses! (So does Shawn).  They weren't bad the entire time, but definitely not nearly as well behaved as they were at the beginning of the week. However, BOTH travel days with them were WONDERFUL.  They were the world's best fliers!!!

Other than those little bumps, things were smooth sailing!  Nana and Pops took us to Silverwood and the girls said that it was the best day EVER!  They had SO much fun!  They were so incredibly well-behaved and happy all day long.  They understood why we had to wait in lines and they loved every single ride we went on.  I think Piper screamed the most on the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Scrambler.  Lucy screamed the most on the log ride- but in a good way :)  It was a crowded day so we didn't get to ride everything, but even Sully LOVED the rides!  He was so cute in them! He kept saying "hi Daddy!" every single time he would see Shawn during his rides and he laughed and had so much fun! That was his first time ever going on rides in his life! We all had such a good day!  We ended the day at the water park and left happy!

During the week we hiked parts of Tubbs twice to get to a little beach area to swim, I jumped off a big rock, Piper jumped off a little rock, we went to McEuwen Park twice, City Beach once and one night we even went out to Sherene's to ride horses and 4wheelers and the girls found chicken eggs in the coop.  It was a beautiful night! Perfect in every way!  The whole week was fabulous.  My heart misses my Coeur d'Alene family in ways I can never express.  It's the most comforting feeling in the entire world walking into Nana's house.  It's something that I can't explain.  But it feels like "home" in every sense of the word.  It's my favorite house in the world.  I hadn't been there in 4 years and I was missing it like crazy.  It felt SO GOOD to walk through those doors again. 

It was a gift to me that my parents drove up from Boise to spend the weekend with us.  I haven't seen my dad in a year, and haven't seen my Mom since January.   The kids loved seeing them too!  Sully, of course, wasn't too happy because of his ear, but the girls just love them so much and were ecstatic! It was great.  They took Lucy, Piper and Evvy to the movies (Christopher Robin) so that they could have a little day-date with them.  We all went to the lake later that day and then Sunday my dad had to leave early, but the rest of the extended family came over for "Sunday Dinner."  It was so awesome to see all my cousins and Aunts and Uncles again! It felt like no time has passed between all of us at all!  I was always so close to them growing up but when we moved back there 5 years ago and lived there for 10 months, I got even closer to them; I was an adult raising my kids, so our relationships evolved.  I missed them a LOT when we left for New Hampshire.  I really, really love my Smidt family.  They are some of the best people. 

All in all, the trip was fantastic.  It was just what my heart and soul needed!

And now are you ready to see a zillion pictures??? Here you go....

 

 

Now our trip is over and we are doing all the last minute things we need to get done before school next week. I can't BELIEVE Summer is over :(  It's depressing. I am NOT ready for school to start.... I'm just really not. 

Lucy has already started cheerleading (doesn't she look adorable?) and we only have a few days left of sweet, sweet Summer. The next few pictures were taken just days before CDA, and I felt like they were Blog worthy- a cheerleader is in our midst and my kids rode on a REAL Unicorn!!! All of Piper's dreams came true that day!!! It was the cutest!

I hope everyone enjoys the last of their Summer.  I just hate that it's over :(