Brooke has decided it’s time to decorate for Halloween and she has taken matters into her own hands. Last night she used chalk to decorate our front steps. Should you choose to visit us your bravery may be tested.
You’ll find a footprint:
A bone:
The cutest…er…I mean SCARIEST Frankenstein I’ve ever seen:
Some bugs:
And this picture from bottom to top is broken glass, a skeleton head, a rat, and a knife stabbing a heart(!!!) (should I be worried?!):
If you make it through that gauntlet there’s a big BOO waiting for you:
Caroline has been DYING to start kindergarten. All through the summer she’d ask me how many days until kindergarten. I’d answer and she’d groan, “Nooooo! That’s toooo looooooong!” while Brooke simultaneously moaned, “Nooooo! That’s toooooo soooooooon!”
Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on who you talk to) the days and weeks passed and the first day of school was upon us.
My cute kindergartner:
My super second-grader:
Ready to scooter to school:
I got to attend kindergarten orientation with Caroline.
The kindergartners had their first day of school and then were off for the next two days so the teachers could test them all individually. Oh cruel world! FINALLY the testing days ended and Caroline was able to start for real. She has loved school and I love having her in school. She happily tells me about what they did during the day and greets me with new words and phrases that she’s learned in French. I can also catch her singing songs and repeating school rules to Brooke and Spencer. Brooke hasn’t been one to volunteer much about what happens during school so the insight I’m gaining now is wonderful. It’s also fun because Caroline will say something such as a French word or a song she learned in music class and Brooke will jump in telling her the correct pronunciation or will start singing along so I’m finally able to glimpse a bit of what Brooke’s learned also.
I know I’ve mentioned before how much Caroline simply adores Madison. Have I told you that last year when she went to preschool she would come home and while cuddling Madison she’d say, “There, there. It’s okay. Mama’s home now.” Once I asked Caroline if she realizes that I’M actually Madison’s mom. She gave me a quizzical look and matter-of-factly stated, “No, she’s my baby.”
Another time Dallas took the big kids camping while I stayed behind with Madison. When they returned, Caroline immediately asked where Madison was. I responded that she was napping. Caroline visually crumpled and said almost in a panic, “No! I need to give her a hug!” She just missed her baby so much that delaying their reunion even further was almost too much for her.
All of this is to say I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at what happened when I went to pick her up after her first real day of school. I stood at the gate with a big smile and open arms ready to give her a huge hug and hear all about her day. She hardly glanced at me. Instead, her eyes locked on Madison in her stroller. She ran right past me mumbling, “Baby! Baby!” and then stooped down to give Madison a hug that lasted a good minute at least. Every day since then it’s the same story. I get bypassed and Madison gets her hugs every time. I’m so glad Madison has a “mom” who loves her so much.
One day the girls were playing and I heard Brooke say to Caroline, “So, now do you understand that school isn’t fun?” Despite her insistence that school’s the worst, Brooke seems to be enjoying herself as much as the situation allows. A few days in she came home from school and announced, “I have a new BFF.” Cute. I don’t know the girl at all but I hope it’s a good friendship. I also hope this year is a good one for the girls. I think we have a promising start. Let’s keep the positive momentum going!
Oh my goodness, folks. I have done a horrible job documenting what we’ve done this summer. Blame the blog book; it sucked up all my time. Let’s do a quick catch-up post.
Madison celebrated her first Fourth of July in style complete with a glow stick crown and patriotic outfit:
We all had fun watching the city fireworks show:
I enrolled Brooke and Caroline in a craft class through the city to keep us busy for a couple of weeks during the summer. They loved it.
This little guy’s head was full of grass seeds. We watered him and watched his hair grow. Then Brooke got to give him haircuts:
Brooke did this one on her own at home:
We thought her little Perler bead people were so cute:
Spencer was proud of his Perler bead creation:
We went to a parade. I have a great idea! How about if we take a family picture with no kids looking at the camera? Done.
Grandma joined us for the parade:
Good thing, too! She got Madison to sleep:
We went to a Real Salt Lake game. The kids looked so cute waiting for Dallas to catch up to us after parking the car:
Our team lost.
But we got ice cream after, so we’ll count that as a win:
We had a family dinner at my aunt and uncle’s house. The chickens were as entertaining as ever:
My cousins from out of state were visiting and Brooke and Caroline had the best time playing with them:
Madison started doing this funny thing where she’d pucker up and poke her tongue out of her mouth. Shortly after this we noticed a little white spot on her gums. Teeth! Then we waited a month for the “teeth” to emerge and they never did and the white spot is now gone.
Madison started doing this other funny thing where she’d grab her foot, pull it close to her mouth, and suck on her toes:
What’s that you say? It’s not unusual for babies to suck on their toes? All of your babies did that? Well, excuse me. I’ve never had a baby do this. It seems my and Dallas’s extreme inflexibility has rubbed off on most of our offspring and they were never able to get their feet anywhere near their mouths.
Our neighborhood had its annual summer barbecue and fireworks show. Dallas exiled our children to the outer regions of the park when the sparklers came out. He’s permanently scarred (literally and figuratively) from when his sister jammed a sparkler into his hand and now forbids the children from getting near them. I think they were secretly happy to have an excuse not to participate. They are a little nervous around those things anyway.
A family in our neighborhood organizes a bike ride/breakfast that we love to participate in every year:
And that is a basic summary of what we have done the past couple of months. It’s hard to believe the summer is almost over and fall is just around the corner!
I remember finding a picture of both Brooke and Caroline on their tummies at about 3 months of age wearing the same pink striped sleeper. I knew I wanted to photograph Madison in the same outfit and pose. Here are all three babies. Can you tell who is who?
What the heck – we’ll throw Spencer into the mix also:
That was so much fun, let’s do another one. When I was in the hospital after having Brooke, Dallas took a picture of me holding Brooke up to my chest. I loved that picture so much that I made him recreate that picture each time I had a baby. Can you identify the baby?
