New Years Goals

Today McKenna came home with a paper titled "My New Year's Wish"
The assignment to draw a picture of something she wished to happen in the New Year.



Her wish: "To go to My cusins"
Because: "its grat"
I- my wish came true, I would -eel: "happy"

Enough Said....

Coop Cleanup

ofp

When it comes to the chicken coop it evokes different reactions from the girls. Tyler is always more than happy to help clean the coop. McKenna on the other hand, struggles. It pry doesn't help that it's become a form of punishment to pay for things.

I snapped a few pictures mostly because she pretty much cleaned the whole thing (with the help from her dad) while holding her nose. It had been over a week since it had been cleaned, so I can't blame her.

McKenna's Teeth

She lost another one...or rather after a trip to the dentist McKenna came home with 2 less teeth. She's got her Dad's head which means small, and so her teeth were already getting a little crowded as the new ones were coming in. To help them grow a little straighter he yanked the 2 sides ones out. John went with her knowing our kids are braver when their dad is with them.

The report is that she was quite the little trooper, and she's quite excited for what the tooth fairy might have in store -or her. free Money is always appreciated.

1st Grade Field Trip: Spooner Farms

With McKenna in the 1st Grade I was a little worried about her feeling left out of going to the pumpkin patches with us. I was thrilled to find her school taking advantage of their new location by having the 1st Grade Field trip to Spooner Farms a few blocks down the street. I'm not complaining, I had a great time with the 1st Graders, despite the chilly weather.

A little presentation on the importance of Farms and the creatures that are supported by farms.

Sarah joined McKenna and I-a very fun and loving girl with a short attention span and a lot of energy. I'm sure many could pry the same thing about most 1st graders, including McKenna.

We got to ride a piggy pulled by a tractor to the Alice in Wonderland's pumpkin patch to pick the perfect pumpkin.

and then onto the rope maze-which was FULL of energy and people.

Then a few fun pictures.

We then had some hot cider and then McKenna wanted to find the pigs before we left.

A very fun day that I'm glad I got to be a part of.

Spiders...

McKenna's assignment at school was to make 3d spiders.

This is a good stretch for both of us as unless it involves food, so I rummaged through the drawer and found some clay from a few years ago and so we got to work molding it into spiders and this is what we made:`

Good job guys!

Tooth #2

Friday was a busy and fun day-without any school we spent the morning together and then paid a visit to Value Village and then to the Jackson's.

McKenna was thrilled to end her day in the loss of her 2nd tooth, by the hand of her lil brother Tate.

She put her tooth on the mantle in a hollow pumpkin to make things fun for the Tooth Fairy. We were ALL appalled to find the tooth still there in the morning. :) After thinking about it McKenna proposed the idea that the pumpkin was too big for the Tooth Fairy to open, so I quickly whipped up a little pillow that you hand on the doorknob of the bedroom door for the exchange.

All is well that ends well, McKenna was thrilled to have a new pillow and the tooth fairy didn't have any problems finding and taking McKenna's 2nd tooth.

Tyler is loving preschool! This is her new friend Payton during "recess".

In an effort to raise money the preschool put on a "trike-a-thon" fundraiser which included bike decorating, helmet fittings, gift baskets and a bake sale.

Martha Stewart started her new season this last week and I was in love with the Pie Pops and mini apple pies they made and decided to try them out.

The mini pies were made in muffin tins and turned out really well.

The pie pops were cute, but needed more filling in them.

Tate got himself a new helmet, but with his teeny head ended up with the smallest helmet they could find. He held remarkably still and loves his new hat. Tyler loved making a license plate and decorating the scooter. Then there was a bike parade around the park.

This is Tyler and our friend Kingston who is in her class.

I was thrilled to win a Mary Kaye Gift Basket-with some new things I've never tried before and have found I love.

McKenna was invited to Tierden's Pirate birthday party where she was given new Pirate attire. She had a great time at the party!

School Begins...for McKenna

1st Grade is finally here-I think the last couple of weeks have been a little painful for McKenna who couldn't start school soon enough. The new school, the teachers, the kids..."It's soooo hard to Wait" is what she would tell me every night as we tucked her in for bed when I would tell her the next day wasn't school yet. When I answered in the affirmative last night-there were squeals of delight.

Sadly with a dead phone I missed the morning photo, but was able to get her coming off the bus. She is commuting 45 minutes each morning and afternoon-longer than John drives to work. Fingers crossed that the new school is completed by next year this time.

She didn't have much to report for the 1st day. She came home happy but reported that she did have a hard time finding her classroom, but Mrs Thomson helped her and all was ok. I think she also said she sat by Marella on the bus, I think on the way home. I don't think she's shy of friends-which I remember being scared of this time last year. Oh how I'm thankful that time heals most wounds.

Labor Day Weekend

On the way home from Church on Sunday we told the kids that tomorrow (Monday) was a holiday. They got all excited and asked which one...our response: "a work holiday. It's labor day which means we celebrate our ability to work, so Daddy is going to stay home and we are going to take care of the house inside and out." They weren't exactly thrilled, but that is what we did on Monday. Well mostly John and I-the kids helped with the house and then were off to play. The girls mostly in their room with their Polly Pockets and Barbies and well Tate....he was everywhere. He refused a shirt and was basically our Lil Lost Boy, all covered in dirt.

Can you see what he found? A HUGE SLUG! He couldn't have been more enamored with it.

Daddy was a little antsy to get some projects started and so he worked on the sofet (sp?)

We let the chickens out and I discovered that they really liked the leftover mac'n cheese.

Shiver, Rainbow, Lollipop and GoldiLocks

(I've been working on knowing their names)

At 4:30 Dad came down the ladder and declared it was time for some fun so we headed to the DQ for Chocolate dipped Ice Cream Cones and then we made an impromptu visit to the Tom & Helga's and had a great evening with them. Their daughter and grand-daughter were there and the kids loved playing with Sage.

The topic of the night was McKenna's loose tooth that was literally hanging on by a thread. As we were leaving she showed John who quickly reached in, pulled it forward and it fell out. McKenna couldn't have been more surprised-she was so afraid it was going to hurt. Surprise quickly turned to anticipation and excitement for the big visit from the Tooth Fairy.

It was a fun day and night for all!!!

End of Aug-Sept 2

Recap of last week:

Lazy Monday-nice to have those every once in a while...

Tuesday: Adventures in a Babysitting. Watched a couple of sweet boys for the day. Had a great time with them.

Wednesday: Hiking.

We got together with Genny Phillips and TD Thornton and their kids. Despite the overcast sky we headed up to Naches Loop for a little hike. We drove the hour and a half and right before we got there we drove into a cloud, that didn't lift. Infact when we got out of the car the thermometer registered at 42 degrees. Needless to say we got out and then we got back in the car and headed down to warmer climates. We ended up doing a different hike-that went straight up. It didn't stop the girls at all-in fact Mya and Kinley ran up most of it quite impressively.

Thursday: Pt Defiance Zoo

Back to School Night at Maple Lawn's new location: McAlder

McKenna met Mrs Larson her 1st grade teacher, saw her classroom, and then we took a tour of the new school. It was a fun night for all.

Friday: Catch up-clean the house and hit the grocery store

Happy 7th Birthday McKenna!

McKenna P is 7 years Old! She's getting to be such a big girl-at 49" she's tall enough to get rid of the booster, but still a light weight at almost 40 lbs. She's still an early bird always rising at 7 am-She's sooo excited to start the 1st grade and asks everyday if school is starting. She loves to play Barbie's, PollyPockets, Littlest Pet Shop with Tyler but will take a break to play horses with Tate. She also likes to play her part at being the Mom both pretend and in real life. She also loves going to the Park and is a novice at the monkey bars and loves to swing. She has started using her imagination with her friends, playing Dragons and/or Snakes with the boys, although she usually ends up playing dead on the ground. She's pretty funny and loves to laugh, mostly with someone else. She's recently begun tackling the primary songs trying to learn them all and is doing pretty well. Her favorite songs are: I Love To See The Temple, Book of Mormon Stories, Katy Perry's "Fireworks" song, and she's just discovered Taylor Swift and likes her a lot. On our trip to Utah she recently discovered a new love for rollarblading and hopes to get some soon.

Since we had a "party" at the beach, we only invited a few of our local grandparents over to celebrate on her birthday with a little cake and ice cream.

She picked out the cake, flavor and all-and then funny enough didn't want any. Silly girl was too excited for presents to eat.

Isn't he cute? or maybe a bit gross-that's our Boy Tate!

Here's McKenna's collection from her birthday presents

PollyPockets, Necklaces, Barbie Clothes, and Prince Phillip, what more can a girl ask for?

Well she also got a pair of Rollarblades from us for her birthday and some wrist guards and pads from her Grandma Payne!

They are on about 6 hours each day-during mealtimes, in her pajamas, I think she likes them.

Happy Birthday McKenna!

We simply adore and LOVE You!