Misc Pictures

Our first trip to the Denver IKEA. Maggie did this pose with every sign she was close to:

When we visited the Utah IKEA last year Maggie found this stuffed carrot. She begged and begged me to buy it for her and I flat refused. When she found the same carrot here in Denver I broke and let her have it. She is in love with that silly carrot!

Maggie has homework now. Crazy! Caroline likes to feel like she does too so I sit them both at the table and real and fake homework. It's so sweet.

When I pulled out the Fall/Halloween tote for decorating Maggie found the box of old clown costumes my mom had made for me (and my brother and sister). She loved them and if they hadn't been way too big she would have been a clown this year! It was just DARLING seeing her in the same outfit I had worn so many years ago!

In fact, here is the original 3 wearing their brand spanking new clown costumes all those years ago. Randy, me, Ellen. Aren't we CUTE?:

At one of our twice weekly playdates I let the girls get out the make-up. Maggie had posted a sign in our front window weeks earlier that read "Maggie's Make-Up Shop" so I felt it was time. Two of the girls were very hesitant and careful with the application. Reagan and Maggie chose a different approach:

One day, after our visit to the Rec Center, we decided to walk around the nearby bike path. It was such a beautiful, sunny day and we had no where to be (rare). Maggie found a caterpillar and seemed truly excited until right after I snapped this picture and she suddenly got incredibly creeped out by the little creature:

I quiet moment of coloring:

We Skyped with my mom and sisters. The kids went nuts over that:

A New Normal

Since starting school I feel like we've made giant leap into another world. A scheduled one! I've become used to the freedom of taking my kids and going where I want to when I want to. A short half day of kindergarten every weekday has been a hard adjustment for all of us.

We still do some of the same, familiar things like Discovery Days. They are making rock buddies in this pic:

I have a few pictures of the Julie/Meredith visit. Here they are on Pearl Street in Boulder:

We made Chan Luu bracelets the whole time the girls were here (Julie came prepared with a tutorial that had us visiting bead stores multiple times). Maggie was asked to model one. She chose to do so with Merediths sunglasses on:

A sort of new thing to go along with our new school year. Dancenastics. I couldn't give up on Maggie dancing but she really wanted to do gymnastics too. Luckily we found a place that offers both in one class--Dancenastics. We say it with "flair" every time we do say it.

We now deal with homework assignments. This particular one required a family photo. This was the chosen one:

Our annual Stake Carnival at Thompson Park:
Park day:

We've also developed a bit of a routine with Wednesday Lunch with friends. The moms hand over their phone for the sake of chat time and this is what comes of it. I also have loads of video they take. Pretty funny.

Although I sometimes still resent our new busy schedule I'm really loving the new adventure we've been on.

Erin's Birthday Party

Shortly after we started kindergarten Maggie's best buddy from preschool had a birthday party at our local kiddie pool. Erin and Maggie were so close I was kind of sad to see them split for grade school.

Since my girls aren't much for swimming they spent a lot of the party doing this:

When the party was almost over Maggie decided to brave "the deep end" (which from the picture you can tell was oh so deep!). I documented the momentous occasion.

Julie and Meredith Come to Visit

Right after Maggie started kindergarten we were lucky enough to get a visit from my sister Julie and her oh-so-lovely daughter Meredith (or Mer-dif if you're two). I usually take very few pictures when I'm around Julie because I know she'll be snapping away. Then I make her give me all the good for my blog. Thanks Julie for helping me out!

This picture is for my mom. Can you see how much they loved getting the book. They can now quote it from memory. It's funny to hear them chant, "Oh, I love to cook, I love to bake, I guess I'll make an acorn cake!".

Maggie wearing her fabulous "princess hair" courtesy of cousin Mer:

Maggie showing off the (tiny) caterpillar on her right hand:

Caroline thinks she's showing the camera a caterpillar. There was actually nothing in her hands:

The girls with Julie:

Meredith doing chalk art with the girls:

Meredith came with the adorable princess dresses for the girls. She is a seamstress extraordinaire and we feel lucky to have some Mer originals. These are now the go-to dress ups.

While we had family in town Patrick and I took a couple of hours to have dinner sans children. It was lovely! Thanks girls for watching MY girls.

I have a few pictures from my own camera which will have to come in another post or this one would be even longer than it is.

Maggie's First Day of Kindergarten!

There was much sadness and a few tears from mommy. Maggie was absolutely apathetic the whole time. No excitement leading up to the big day and pretty even and mellow the day of. But...that's Maggie.
Her teacher is Mrs Sundt and she is one of only 5 girls in her class.

Caroline was none too happy about leaving Maggie at school.
Afterward we celebrated with a date to Red Robin.

She's now an old pro. She loves school, she loves her teacher and seems to be generally happy with the whole school situation.
We still get little to no response when we ask about what she did, who she played with, etc. But, again, that's Maggie. And we love her!

Wrapping Up Summer...*sob*

Daddy-O had a birthday:

We had playdates:

Always time to dress up. I like this picture specifically because it shows off those tiny legs:

I had a short but sweet trip to NYC with my friend Vicki. She was attending a tradeshow for her clothing line and I got to tag along as her assistant. We were very busy and had very little time to explore the city but I was able to eat some super tasty meals and catch a few minutes on Times Square.

When Maggie is away Caroline is sad and lonely:

Tee & Cakes. Cupcake happiness as usual.