First Week of School

The first week of school was FULL of activity! 

Allergy Shots!

Where Kaki wanted me to take a front and back picture of her blue sucker... Not sure what she was hoping for with the back pic, but she seemed pleased! :)

CHATTY! She came! 

We loved having Chatty here to play with us for a few days! She started her new adventure in Houston! We are thankful she will be just down the road.

The first week of school, Caden was ready at least 30 minutes early every day. Now, we are down to about 10 minutes early... which is fine by me. It creates a no stress environment in the mornings and I am thankful for that!

Chatty got to walk him to school... and give him some extra hair... :) HA!

And then she went with Kaki and I do get her haircut! :)

Pretty girl, with a fresh bob!

She had her hair washed in the sink for the first time... hilarious! It looks like her head is not connected to her body! Creepy and FUNNY!!

And so much for a hair cut because the next morning it was looking like this...

This hair has a mind of its very own! 

One day I spotted Caden from my kitchen window on the playground... it is very nice to catch glimpses of him throughout the day. Such a sweet advantage of this home! :)

Kaki's hair tamed... 

If only I could tame her... 

Kaki was ready for her Meet the Teacher night... Thursday night of the first week of school for Caden was her first night as a pre-k girl!

I laid her clothes out early that afternoon and she surprised us by coming out of her room completely dressed and ready to go! SO BIG!!

Excited about her new backpack!! :)

Meet the Teacher for Kaki is the beginning of another story... in short, where Kaki "met her teacher" on Thursday evening was not where she started school on Tuesday morning. Mother's intuition which I believe is the Holy Spirit, led us down another path and to a divine opportunity, landing Kaki in the place she should have been all along... but more on that later... :) 

Caden made it to Friday... his 5th day of Kindergarten and he thought a pic was in order! :)

And then we were off... to do our girl things...

Excited to surprise Caden with the BLING!!

And ready for a family THREE DAY holiday weekend!

A few things I want to remember about Caden and his first week of school:

He insisted on buying his lunch everyday. The first day of school he ate a Meatball Sub and came home with it all over his shirt and claimed it to be the best lunch he's ever had. He loved music and library time and couldn't believe they go to play with computers. He felt like a genius after the computer lab. He came home and announced, "I already learned how to work a computer!" After music (this was the third week) he said, "So mom, I learned to write music notes today, so I can pretty much become a song writer now..." Oh bless it... he wants to become a song writer... after he plays football at Baylor of course. Varied interests. He came home everyday with a new friend to talk about. His table... table #1 is the best in the class, obviously! :) He has done a great job keeping his clip on green and LOVES the ticket system! Positive behavior reinforcement works. He has learned syllables and math and prefers math so far. He loved going to the library and gets excited to take books home. He plays basketball and football at recess and has more of a tan than he ever has! In fact, last night we noticed a nasty heat rash on his back... school recess is for realz! :) He did the car pool line the third week of school and loved it. He refused before that. He walks in school by himself each morning like its no biggie. He loves PE and enjoys have a "Coach." He doesn't love homework... especially the way I make him do it. He approaches work with a fast and furious attitude and loathes it when I make him complete it to the BEST of his abilities and not just half-way. Having the right answer is not all of it... it's the following directions part too! :) It's going to be a battle... but I'm willing to fight it! :) He is noticing things that make us laugh... like the boy and girl drama. The things little minds think of is astounding! We have enjoyed watching him thrive and love everything about school. Our prayer is that he will always feel this way and will continue to be a kind friend, an obedient student, a hard worker and a kid with varied interests and talents! 

Caden's First Day of Kindergarten

Well, it came almost as fast as it went...

Caden's first day of Kindergarten!

He was ready. I was ready. Justin was ready. Kaki was ready.

Not that any of the rest of us mattered except for this brave, handsome boy.

We were ready early... so we did a little photo shoot with his desk!

And then with his cool, new, Baylor backpack.

 We got him from every angle... and with his sister...

And even with his Mommy... this was all I wanted for my birthday... a pick with my babies! One down... :)

And then we were off... Daddy walked with us to school on the first day... it was a family affair!

We made it with time to spare, so we snapped a few pics at his desk!

Gave him a hug and we were off...

I cried... oh yes I did... 

I had to ignore friends...

I made one cry when she saw my tears...

But then we went home... regrouped... and headed to a back to school party for mommies at a friend's house, went to a doctor's appt. and before we knew it it was time to go pick him back up...

Kaki straight from the bed to the stroller... nap times are hard on a little sister with a big brother in school!

There he is... His first day... in the BOOKS!

We are so proud of you, Cade-man and love you more than you'll ever be able to understand until you have a child of your own! To the moon, buddy!

Prep for Back to School

After vacation we hit the ground running...

It was time to get ready for BACK TO SCHOOL!

We had lots of visitors and packages arrive in our mail... with all sorts of fun to go around.

Nana came to visit and send off these cuties with a special balloon and cookie bouquet and their lunch boxes! And Kk sent a fun package home with us from vacation that included a few fun goodies to get us ready for the start of a new adventure the following week! 

Nothing says fun quite like Amelia Bedelia! The new ones are pretty cute too!

On Thursday night, Caden had meet the teacher... we were SO excited to get our phone call! It turned out to be a long few days of waiting though... Most of our friends got calls Tuesday afternoon... we got ours Thursday morning...  Mommy's penmanship failed on the registration forms and his teacher called the wrong number... so when we thought we weren't getting a call it was actually going to some other lucky family who got called by mistake... Which lead to a slight panic and few phone calls to the office, a firm email to the principal from Daddy and a few tears from Mommy. Unmet expectations... aren't those always hard to swallow?! But once we figured out what happened the teacher called and apologized and I of course said DO NOT BE SILLY... I AM THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE APOLOGIZING!! I will work on my penmanship... slow down... write slow... make your 7's, 7's and your 9's, 9's. Caden ended up in a great class with two of his friends from church and with a great veteran teacher who seemed VERY enthusiastic about her return to Kindergarten!

Phew! 

So that night... we were ready!

The nervous nelly start behind us... 

We were shiny and clean...

Even threw in an extra tooth brushing for good measure...

He posed himself for pictures... naturally... 

And just when he was really working the camera our babysitter popped over from next door and ruined his mojo... he was suddenly shy, awkward and embarrassed that he had been caught in the act of being cool! :)

We didn't get any pictures of Caden at Meet The Teacher but that was okay because it was a busy night. Lots of things to do and papers to read and instructions to follow. Mommy wanted to be sure she was thorough! Kindergarten isn't just a learning curve for the students but for the parents too! Whoo!

After meet the teacher we planned on staying out late for a celebratory dinner at one of our favorite Austin spots. We were celebrating back to school for both and my birthday. It was a fun night with all of us!

Kaki didn't got to the school with us. We left her with a sitter to be sure that we could focus and we are so glad we did... BUT we couldn't let her miss out on the dinner fun. After all she would be going to school for the first time too!

Ice cream all around...

And again the next day... when Caden and Kaki decided they were ready for the grown up flavor of mint chocolate chip while we were at the store... and they decided that it might go best in a sugar cone! Okay... done! 

Before we knew it, Saturday had arrived which also happened to be my 32nd birthday! The kids had a fun time shopping with Daddy that morning while I was getting my hairs did! They picked out the perfect cupcake and the perfect gift! It was a sweet day of celebrating!

Later that afternoon we celebrated another birthday ...

With bowling...

Nuggets... they loved bowling! This was the first time Kaki had been bowling and remembers it! :) She thought it was great fun!

That night we got them all tucked into bed and before I hit the bed myself I snuck back in to check on them... and I lingered a bit and snapped a pic, because there is truly nothing sweeter than sleeping babies... even though they aren't really babies anymore at all! :)

I couldn't find Kaki at first... this is a very normal occurrence!

Uncovered her... and snapped... flash... she knew it...BUSTED!

The next morning was promotion Sunday at church... all big, grown up and ready to move onto the next class... we now officially have no nursery kiddos... all pre-k hall! :) EEK!!!

Then...

Twas the night before school and not a sound in the house, but Caden's silly Mommy and Daddy blubbering about...

Yes...

YES, we did...

Both of us...

Kindergarten is the end of an era...

But the beginning of a new adventure...

Bittersweet tears.

And we're off...