The First Day of School: Sniff, Sniff, Hooray!

Aaah, the mix of emotions that come with the first day of school. My sweet Maddie started first grade today and I’m not quite sure how I feel. She, of course, was thrilled and elated and couldn’t wait to get started on the year. Dropping her off was bitter sweet—I am so proud of her and ready for her to succeed, but she’s also my baby and it’s hard to let her go! Maddie is in a Spanish Immersion program at her school, and will spend half of her day learning in Spanish and half in English. The program requires the Spanish teachers to speak Spanish only to their students, and consequently their parents, when in the presence of the students. Maddie’s teacher greeted us in Spanish and I was so relieved when Maddie could understand and answer her. I managed to squeak out an “Hola” and a “Gracias” and that’s pretty much it. We got her all settled in at her desk and it was time to go. Poor Paige thought she was going to stay for school too, and started bawling (in English…so all the other Mom’s could understand). Chad did his best to make her feel better, but her little heart was broken. Paigey and I both cried as we walked home. We’ll console ourselves later with a trip to Hobby Lobby, and we’ll be just fine. ☺


















All settled in and ready for a great year!


















She sat like this in the garage for 20 minutes after we got home...poor thing!

End of Summer Bummer

I love the idea of the endless summer, but I have to say the person who coined this phrase never had a two year old…in a cast…in AUGUST! Our summer activities have come to a screeching, whiplash-worthy halt. And it’s a real bummer. No more swim days with the cousins, no more Lagoon, or boating, no more bike rides or Roy aquatic center, sprinklers or anything water-related. No raspberry shake in Bear Lake this weekend (sniff, sniff). We are only 4 days in and I’m already about to loose my mind. I am mourning the loss of those last 2 weeks of summer. Those weeks where you cram your days full of all your favorite summer activities just before school starts. I’ll say it again: It’s a real bummer. Now that I have that off my chest, and I’ve had my 5 minute pity party, I will say, (despite my previous rant) that I am a person who firmly believes that every cloud has a silver lining. And I have found a few silver linings in this little rain cloud. For starters, I decided to treat myself to a new stroller, which is always fun (Maddie refers to the new stroller as “the wheelchair” and insists on pushing "the wheelchair" wherever we go… so cute) Secondly, I get to dress Paige in cute little skirts EVERY DAY! The next is probably my favorite. Paige’s inability to scale the shelves in my pantry has seriously cut down on her snacking, which means that she has eaten three healthy meals a day since she broke her leg. I feel this is nothing short of a victory for me, and reinforces my feeling that I need to get a lock on my pantry (you’ll read about that one when it happens). I guess I could stop buying junk food, but what fun is that? Finally, I have found that having Paige wear one shoe is quite nice-- because in my world, that’s usually all we can find anyway! ☺







Swimming or no swimming, they're cute little stinkers!

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed...or the Trampoline

The late-night visit to the emergency room is a rite of passage for every parent, and thankfully, one that we have never experienced before. That is, until last Saturday night. Following an unfortunate (and quite mild) trampoline incident, Chad and I ended up in the ER with our little Paige. After hours of waiting, a set of x-rays, and a syringe of some magical pink potion, we were sent home and told to watch her for a few days. Because we were visiting the ER on a Saturday night, the radiologist who reads the x-rays was backed up. Our ER doc assured us there was no break in her leg, and if the radiologist did see anything they would contact us the next day. After a restless and LONG night, Paige woke up and still wasn’t able to stand or put any weight on her leg. A couple of hours later, the phone rang, and sure enough, it was the hospital telling us that the radiologist had found a small fracture in her tibia. So we were off to the hospital for the second time in just over 12 hours. This time her poor little leg was bandaged up and we were told to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon. She has been such a brave little thing. It’s been a hoot to listen to her tell her friends and neighbors (with one hand on her hip and the other extended and pointing to her cast) “My weg is bwroken” followed up with “but do you want to go Wagoon?” (she’s a big fan of Lagoon right now and wants to share the fun with everyone, cast or no cast) She is such a sweet little thing. I know she will heal quickly and be back to climbing in the pantry in no time.



Waiting in the ER...not so happy!



40 minutes after the magic pink syringe...Ahhh Tylenol. Thanks for being my friend that night!




ER Take 2





Poor Baby! A picture is worth a thousand words! The look says it all!



All smiles!



Resting Comfortably?!

Hello! Welcome to by blog. I actually created this blog back in 2008, and it has been sadly neglcted in cyberspace since then. I finally decided to get going simply because I see my little girls getting older and I don't want to miss or forget a moment. Okay, maybe I would like to forget a few moments...but not many! I wish I could push the pause button and have my little girls stay this age forever, but because I know that's not possible, I want them to have a record of all the fun, silly, great things we have done as a family, so here we go! I don't know if anyone will read it (which is strangely comforting) but it's something I've been thinking about for a very long time time....since 2008 to be exact. Don't expect anything too exciting, we are terribly boring, but I know I'll have fun! So here we go!