why did the turtle cross the road?

manning (our resident animal lover) was overjoyed at the turtle we found crossing the road - in the opposite direction of the water - but he was a little too scared to touch it. he held my free hand while i  carried the turtle back across the street and down the hill to the pond in our neighborhood.

even though i told him it wouldn't be there, he had me stop by the pond on our way home to see if it was still where we had left it. it was not. love.

my little buddy

manning loves being able to do whatever he wants. every day gets to be special - just for him. today he asked to build marshmallow structures like he had done at church a few weeks ago. he was still doing it when the kids got home too.

and then he helped me make dinner. such a big kid. love.

maddux' first morning at the bus stop

maddux would have done this yesterday if we had let him - ride the bus from the bus stop. he was super ready to go and we were outside pretty early. 

not going to lie, manning is sort of enjoying sending all of the kids off in the morning and having me all to himself. love.

mommy's (and daddy's) nightcap

this summer i have started having trouble sleeping through the night. this has been primarily due to nightmares and an unjustified fear of someone entering our house (we have an alarm system that i obsessively check).

i have been drinking "sleepytime" tea off and on for years - mainly for warmth at night - but then i took a chance on this "nighty night" tea because it was on sale. worth every penny of full price. i have never relaxed and fallen asleep so quickly in my entire life, i sleep through the night and wake rested. matt has even started drinking it too.

and here i am sharing. sleep well! love.

meeting mason's teacher

it might have been maddux' first day of school, but i was off to a parent infromation meeting with mason's teacher tonight. i don't think they could have paired him with a teacher who would be more perfect for him; she loves math, football and is soft spoken. 

tonight was an explanation of the curriculum and how to communicate with her. we were also given the opportunity to see some of their work. there were a lot of superheroes at mason's table group.

here's to a great school year! love.

and then there was one

manning and i are going to have to find a whole new groove as a twosome. we started with fries and a frosty. so far, so good. love.

first day of school - part two

first day of kindergarten! he is so very excited to go to school, ride the bus and to make new friends. really, there isn't anything he isn't looking forward to doing in kindergarten.

he picked strawberries and nutella on pancakes for his special breakfast (picking the breakfast went a lot easier when it was only one kid's special day). and then he wanted a ton of pictures documenting his first day. we had to start early to get some with madelyn.

i just love his pose. sort of like a fire-side chat.

he was a little sad to not have gotten a picture on the couch with madelyn too - like everybody else on their first day of kindergarten. that we took a family one last week was of no comfort and we sat for this partial one to please him. well, i don't know if "please" is the right word...

we were early, but there were lots of first day pictures to take at the school too.

paige and maddux ready to take on kindergarten

the principal greeting them by name at the door. mason was there too.

in his room and ready for a great day!

i have been saying that i won't be surprised to get a call from the principal on maddux' first day. our main concern was touching others (and kissing and hugging). and i was mostly joking. but my heart stopped when i did get a call from the principal today! seriously! thankfully, it wasn't about maddux and was instead about the pto. maddux had a great day. love.

the littles' first soccer game

the little boys were ready for their first game this week - manning was even happy to be there! unfortunately, they played at the same time as mason so i missed it but i snapped a few pictures with "coach dad" before they left mason's game for their field.

mason taking a turn as goalie.

we did make it back over in time to see them congratulate the other team on a good game.

it is great to see all of the boys having fun. love.

positive reinforcement

mason's teacher is ah-mazing at positive reinforcement! she doesn't miss any opportunity to love on her kids and even sends home hand written notes. such a gift for him - and us. love.

are you sure you didn't have any chocolate?

parent info night

tonight, i was finally given the chance to meet madelyn's teacher. i still hate that it isn't before the school year starts, but at least it isn't six weeks into the school year like it used to be. it was nice to meet her teachers and hear about the plans for the school year.

it is the second, repeat: second, day of school. how does she already have parts of a pencil that isn't one we bought her?!

we are looking forward to a great school year! love.

countdown to kindergarten

one of maddux' preschool buddies asked for a trip to the zoo with him as part of her countdown to kindergarten - and manning got (had) to come too.

it was a hot day, but we still had a great time. these two are really going to miss being in class together. they will meet up again for middle school. love.

gift with love

madelyn picked these earrings from her cousin, luke, for the first day of school. in fact, she has worn them the entire week! love.

(not) seeing red

we did it again - we all wore the same color! i didn't even notice until someone pointed it out to us at the library. oh well. great minds and all. love.

she loves us

madelyn left us a little love note before she left for school this morning. love.

first day of school - part one

back to school! two kids off to two schools this morning for their first day. we were a little off of our game because the start times aren't that close together and i wanted a picture of everyone dressed. everyone was a little giddy and silly, but we got a few decent ones.

and the excited 4th grader!

we all drove her over and walked her to the front door. and took a few more pictures. :)

madelyn loves, loves all of the fuss over her first day. she has been looking forward to the first day from the second she got off of the bus on the last day of school.

and then we loaded up and drove mason over to his first day of school. we were pretty early so it was a little more liesurely. although mason does not enjoy the photos and fuss even half as much as madelyn does.

wishing it was his first day and showing off his newest tooth loss - this morning! he was slightly overshadowed.

super excited to see his little friend, paige, who also wished that it was her first day. next week, friends.

they have made it so that we can at least walk the kids back on the first day now. dropping mason off was the first moment i ever met his teacher. we were the first ones there so i asked for a quick picture. then we had to get out of there because mason's desk was right in the doorway and we were blocking everyone else. he was pretty ready for school too.

it is nice to know that the kids are at great schools with good friends, but it will still be weird to be without them all day. love.