Kick-Off Party!

Did you think I meant football?  I'm talking about Fall.  One of my favorite times of year.  The cooler temperatures, the warmer food, the decorating, the decreasing amount of yardwork... One big kick off party to the real prize, Christmas season!  I really should be working on my many Christmas projects since I always have a goal of being 100% ready for Christmas by Thanksgiving, (a goal I typically reach by the way) but I have so many cute pictures to show off I just had to blog instead!

We are having a great Fall!  Starting off with ANOTHER weekend in McCall.  This times we took the kiddos and met some cousins and grandparents up there as well.  It was wonderful!

Yes, this is going to be a picture intensive post!  The week after our trip to McCall, we headed down to my mom's house when the girls had a couple days off from school.  As always, we had a great time.  The girls love helping my mom in the kitchen, and we had some seriously yummy food!

We also had a great FHE with our good friends, the Dunns, at the pumpkin patch.  It is tradition to go with them, and it gets more fun every year.  Only hitch this year was Jen and I couldn't get on the hayride in time since we were chasing our babies around.  So there we stood in the dirt watching as our families rode off into the sunset, literally.  Neither of us had any money, so we couldn't even sit down and enjoy some hot cider.  I was just relieved that Todd made it in time since the girls got on there really quick.  There is NO way my anxiety could have handled that!

Yes, Todd and I are now the proud owners of a parent leash.  Ty loved it and it was much easier than trying to maneuver a stroller around the pumpkin patch all night.  Definitely will be using it alot in the future. 

And aren't you just dieing over how cute my girls are dressed?  :)

Romantic Getaway?

Remember back in August when Todd and I took the kids to McCall?  Of course my blog post was all about how wonderful it was.... But we did have one really bad experience...

The HOTEL!

I swore I would NEVER go back!  They granted the people before us a late check out, didn't tell us, were super rude and unapologetic, and we ended up checking in almost FOUR hours after check in time.  However, combine all that with a whiny customer (me) and a nice manager, and voila, you get a free night to use at another visit.  

So I swallowed my pride, and allowed us to stay at this dreaded hotel one more time.  :)  We instantly decided it would be fun to go without kids.  But then we went ahead and invited Tom and Emily anyway! 

Now alot of people thought we were really weird to invite friends to come with us.  (Maybe they were jealous...)  But you have to understand the dynamic we have with these crazy kids.  It was still a romantic get away with nice meals and quality time with eachother.  Tom and Em didn't cramp our style at all.

I have always wanted to eat at one of the restaurants overlooking the lake.  The food was delish, and the view was awesome.  We did have to move inside before the food came though.  Brr...

Here I was planning to put some super cute pics of Emily and me wearing our skinny jeans and boots.  So why aren't the pictures here?  Because my blog is being lame and won't upload vertical pictures all of the sudden.  This has caused me much heartache all week, as we looked soooo cute!

I guess these will have to do...

Saturday we spent our time riding our bikes around Ponderosa.  It was amazing.  Soooo quiet, sooo beautiful, sooo kidless.  It is my new favorite spot on the planet, and I can't wait to take the kiddos riding here this weekend.

Even though this picture looks lame, I am posting it anyways!  It was my idea to pretend to be jumping off the dock and take a picture of it.  It was going to be a hilarious part of this post.  But alas, it is a sideways view that doesn't do the picture much justice.  PITY. PARTY.  Is anyone else have this problem with Blogger?

It felt great to be able to take our time and enjoy some views along the way. 

 

Todd found this heart-shaped rock and sweetly presented it to me.  :)   See, I told you it was a still a romantic weekend. 

Letting Go....

When Bronwyn was about one year old, I would dream of the day that she would start going to school.  I would tell myself that I could survive the next few years with the knowledge that she would be in school in a handful of years.  But during that handful of years I have learned to deal with the ups and downs of motherhood, and now that she is in school, I'm having a hard time with it!

Don't get me wrong, I love having her out of the house in the afternoon.  Bronwyn hasn't napped in years, so afternoons have been a struggle since the rest of us want to nap.  But sending a child to school is so much more than just a 3 hour break in the afternoon.  It's letting go.  It's trusting that you have given your child the tools they will need to behave, make friends, learn, and not get lost.  It is nervewracking for a control freak like me.  I suddenly feel so left out of her life.  And while I know she is ready to start having parts of her life that don't include me, I'm not ready for it!

But I didn't have a choice, so I sent her off to her first day of kindergarten!  She was beaming!

This tradition was in the paper and I loved it!  Each year I plan to take her picture with a sign saying what she wants to be when she grows up.  Bronwyn has alot of interests, and claims she is going to do "all the jobs".  Which is pretty much true if she decides to be a mom.  :)

She got a little nervous once she was inside the classroom.  But when I picked her up at the end of the day she was all smiles.  I actually love picking her up from school because she always looks so happy to see me.  It makes my day!

After I reluctantly forced myself out of the classroom, I headed over to the "Boo hoo Breakfast", put on by the PTA.  But when I got there it was more of a celebratory gathering for the other moms.  So I quickly had to compose myself.  But it wasn't just my fault!  Bronwyn's teacher gave us all a poem entitled "Poem for the First Day of School". It reads:

I wonder what you're doing right now,
and if everyone is treating you kind.

I hope that there is a special person, 
a nice friend that you can find.

I wonder if the teacher knows 
just how special you are to me,

and if the brightness of your heart
is something she can see.  

I wonder if you are thinking about me 
and if you need a hug.

I already miss the sound of your voice 
and how you give my leg a tug.

I wonder if you could possibly understand 
how hard it is for me to let you grow.

On this day know that my heart breaks, 
for this is the first step in letting my baby go.

How could I not cry? 

My mom always had chocolate chip cookies waiting for us after the first day of school, so I couldn't resist whipping some up while Bronwyn was in class.

Magsy can't wait to go back to preschool next week!  Here she is with an awesome castle she designed.  :)

Now my days are filled with dreams of this little guy starting school.  He sure keeps me on my toes!  As crazy as he makes me, I already know he will be leaving me way too soon!

Thanks, Mom!

When it comes right down to it, the only you person I can always count on is my mom.  In fact, I can't remember a time ever in my life that either of my parents let me down.  They were at every concert, recital, performance I ever participated in.  And now that I am a mom, it seems like I need my mom more than ever.  Even though I am a  responsible adult functioning in society, I have desperately needed her to take care of me through my early years of motherhood!  She has been there for every birth, every major illness, and has even been around for almost every time I have gotten the uncontrollable urge to clean out every closet in the house!

Most recently, she spent over a week at our house running "GRANDMA CAMP" while Todd and I took our trip to the West coast.  We came home to a house filled with arts, crafts, prizes, treats, and of course, HUGE smiles from our kiddos.  They had a blast!

I seriously can't thank my mom enough!  Look at how adored she is!

Hil and C also spent a day in Boise on their back to Texas.  We had a great time enjoying the kids and the outdoors.  My kids were all pretty sad when the party was over!

We are now trying to switch gears from Summer to school! 

Day 1: Seattle and Port Angeles

(For the small number of you who like to stay completely up to date with my life, I have done a whopping 5 blog posts today.  So keep scrolling down until you get it all.)

A trip without kids has been long overdue for Todd and me.  As in, we haven't taken one since becoming parents.  So when we found out Hil and C would be spending some time along the western coast, we invited ourselves along.  We just showed up and they had it all figured out.  It. Was. Awesome!

We arrived in Seattle in the early afternoon, and our first stop was the EMP (experience music project).

We had a lot of fun trying out all the demo rooms.  The highlight was pretending to be a band on their simulated stage.  I was laughing and smiling so hard, my cheeks hurt for several minutes after!  :)

Next on the agenda was heading downtown to find a NON-kid friendly restaurant to eat at.  :)  Oh the joys of eating a meal without children.  After dinner, we boarded the ferry and headed to our home base of Port Angeles.  You know...  where Bella and Edward had their first date!