school

winter concert

We attended the girls’ school winter concert this evening. Again, these little ladies picked out matching dresses. I’ll be sad when they outgrow that, but for now I’m just lovin’ it. 
The concert started with a performance from the 4th grade band. They have only been playing for a few months. I was so impressed at how well they have progressed in such a short amount of time. 
Taking their bows. Annabelle is awfully cute with her trumpet. 
The upper classes joined together for a choir concert. The girls have been practicing their songs for quite some time and were really excited for us to hear them. 
See our sweet little 3rd grader on the far left…
Gwyneth was very, very serious about this performance. 
We snapped lots of pictures with friends after the performance. 
So happy to celebrate with these families.
Only one more day and then holiday break….

pancakes and skateboards

We got up early this morning to volunteer at a breakfast for the girls’ school. The girls served pancakes, sausage, and drinks to customers and were really, really excited about it. They had a blast with their friends. I loved watching them. It was worth getting up so flippin’ early on a Saturday! 
Breakfast crew
Keepin’ it real

After breakfast the girls both had friends over to play while B had a party at the Kitchen. Annabelle and Karsen rode around on her skateboard.

They had a birthday party that evening. Karsen was a cheerleader and Annabelle was “Sammy Skateboard”. They did a great job of getting in to character.

My goodness, Annabelle looks so much like her dad. A chip off the old block. 
Gwyneth and her friend, Nora

Ruby joined us for dinner. Gwyneth had a great time with her pal. 
The many faces of Gwyneth and Ruby: 

It was a full day, but so full of fun. 

trunk or treat

Tonight was the big night at school – TRUNK OR TREAT. 
I’m no fan of Halloween. Never have been, never will be. I do love that my girls still enjoy the dress up. They enjoy the cute, fun costumes instead of the blood and gore. (Did I mention that I HATE to be scared! Using the word hate here…) 
I do love Trunk or Treat at the girls’ school though. Their school is small and a great little community. The event is the perfect size with friends and families attending. It’s not overwhelming. Just a few cars, games, dancing, cake walk, pizza and cookies. 
B and I each decorated our cars and the girls got to run around all night with their friends. It was nearly 80 degrees for the festivities — what’s up Colorado? Where the heck is fall? If you skip right over fall and go straight to snowy winter I’m going to be T.O.’ed! 
Our little Tootsie Roll
Our Flapper Girl
Sweet Sisters:
the fringe is the best part of her costume:
trying to be a spooky tootsie roll. nice try, goofy girl: 
love this little tootsie roll:
man, this girl is 9 going on 19:
Ready to party: 
the trunk winner of the night: the kids love the twister theme and the costumes were so, so festive: 
the Ford family. Kylie is in Annabelle’s class:
Rare family photo and I love it. Our ttrunks were pretty boring simple. Mine was covered in webs and lots of spiders. B’s was pretty gross…bloody kitchen tools and body stumps. We’re going to step it up next year because the girls really want a theme. They have already started planning…
Annabelle’s friend Samantha hurt this leg and Annabelle has been happily helping her get around at school. She offers to carry her lunch, folders, musical instrument etc. Tonight she carried her bucket for her so they could both collect candy. 
Samantha’s family
Ready to trunk or treat:
Gwyneth and her friend Kat. How cute do they look???
B was generous with the candy, naturally making him very popular!!
Cars are ready. Bring on the trunk or treaters: 
Enjoying pizza and lemonade:
With their teacher Ms. Certain, who we absolutely love, love, love. She has been amazing for both of our girls:
Another shot of the 4th grade crew: 
The girls had a wonderful time with their friends. 
Tonight was declared the best trunk or treat ever. 
This picture is really dark and kind of a throw away but I love how Gwyneth stands out so bright white in her costume!
Back home the girls sorted and traded their Halloween candy…and then quickly hid it from us. Smart, smart girls! 

trumpet

Nothing like waiting ’til the last minute….
(did you know I am a procrastinator? I have tons of to do lists.  I let them get super long and load them with “due dates”.  Then I wait until the absolute last minute to complete every task. It’s quite deliberate, highly organized, prioritized procrastination….and it drives my husband absolutely mad. I’ve tried to change my ways, but I just can’t. I am who I am and it always gets done…)
So…. the night before band was to begin for Annabelle, I picked the girls up from swimming lessons after school and we headed off to the music store. (yep, we got the band information the last week of school before summer break. now that is some serious procrastination!) Annabelle had tried out many instruments at school and had her heart set on the trumpet. 
We found a great rent to own program where if she decides she doesn’t want to play after a year we can turn the trumpet in for another instrument. Those suckers are expensive. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. 
I love that she picked the trumpet. B and I both played as kids; although neither of us remembers much and were both horrible about practicing. 
This was my entertainment as I prepared dinner…

I think she really likes it. 

We found the furthest points in the house – my closet and the basement. With all the doors closed in between you can not hear the practicing. This requires sitting in the closet with the door closed, but something tells me I should get a nice little lounge chair and grab my books. Don’t get me wrong, I love that sweet, sweet sound of practice but converting my closet to a silent little reading nook may just happen….I will put it on my to do list.

first day of school: 4th and 3rd grade

We had a very full, wonderful summer but no matter how much fun it just seems to go by too quickly. It wasn’t easy and there was definitely bickering and tears (from all three of us!), but I will miss having these girls around and our adventures. 
The alarm went off this morning and Annabelle hopped right out of bed and Gwyneth asked for 5 more minutes. New school year, but some things stay the same (grumpy morning, G!). 
There wasn’t the usual drama, nervousness, anticipation of a new school year. I felt very at ease. The girls were calm too. We are really happy with their school and we have met their teacher and dropped of their supplies. We are prepared.  The girls picked out new backpacks and tennis shoes, but the uniforms take away those new school clothes jitters and planning. They both have their own styles. Annabelle is quite sporty and has some new kangaroos (which were my favorite sneakers when I was her age!). Gwyneth is sparkly from backpack to tennis shoes. 
I’m so proud of my little 3rd and 4th graders and know this is going to be a great year for them! 
4th grade. Wowsers!
3rd grader! The baby is growing up!
getting out the last of those summer wiggles…
Annabelle is obsessed with Emojis right now. She even got some brainy emoji earrings for today! 
Annabelle’s class has swimming today so it is right back in the routine and right back in the pool for them. She had to pack her swim gear and was feeling a bit weighed down. She will be back in her groove in no time. 
I worked frantically while the girls were at school…because, well, that’s what I’ve done all summer. I did my best to take advantage of every minute. To stay productive. To keep on task. To work when necessary. To make the most of my time with my girls. The only pace I seem to know is frantic and honestly, I like the hustle. 
I straightened up the house, worked through lunch and finished my daily “to do list”. Without distractions I was rather amazed at what I could get accomplished. At 1:00 I came upstairs from my office dungeon and saw this…

 No more little swim bags hanging by the door anxiously waiting to go to the pool. No backpacks eager to start school. Just Gwyneth’s little sparkly crocks. Her favorite shows of summer. She has to wear tennis shoes to school so these favorites had to be checked at the door.

And then I got sad. I missed my gals and I felt lonely. I missed the noise in the house. I missed the giggles and the crafts and the endless questions. I’m so proud of the independent, happy people that I’m helping to create, but today I missed them.

 I was nervous about pick up, because I was just so darn excited to see them and hear about their days. In the past, when I pick up they are exhausted and cranky and are typically complaining about something (the joys of being the mom, their comfortable place). Not today, they were all smiles and happiness. I heard things like:

“3rd grade is awesome!”
“This is going to be the best year ever!” 
“I love my teacher!”
“I can’t wait to do my homework!” (What????)
“Want to read a fairy tale with me?”

It made my heart happy and we stopped on the way home for some custard and a little 1st day celebration. I’m so hopeful for this year and what these girls are going to accomplish.

snow white and ice cream social

Summer is winding down. It seems to end as soon as it is getting started. We hosted our last summer cooking class today. We had a lovely visit from Snow White and made delicious caramel apples…that seemed like the better choice for insurance purposes; although the kids really wanted to make poison apples. I guess you can’t please ’em all. 
Annabelle stuck around for the caramel apples and then spent the day with her friend Olivia.
Their Grumpy Dwarf faces..
…and their Sleepy Dwarf faces…
We had a lot of great camps this summer. I enjoy being creative and menu planning and coming up with new themes. The classes are hard work but I love having the kids in the Kitchen. 
Tonight was the ice cream social at school where the girls got to see friends, meet their new teachers, and drop off their supplies. 
Annabelle is very excited about fourth grade. 

This is the first time Gwyneth has had the same teacher as Annabelle. She couldn’t be more thrilled. She loves Mrs. Certain and walked in the room likes she own the place.

Mrs.Certain has been so great to both these ladies. I can’t wait for another great year. 

Great opportunity to catch up with old friends. 
Happy girls

last day of school

The school year ended with a talent show. I was so proud of the girls for signing up and trying out for the show. They did their tap dance and were absolutely fantastic. It took a lot of courage to get up there and perform in front of their peers. I had a blast watching them and everyone else who participated. The show was about 2 hours and then it was time to say goodbye to school friends and say hello to summer! 
Rocking the stage: 
Goodbye 2nd and 3rd grade!
We jumped right into summer.  I don’t think it’s bad to be bored — in fact, I think its quite good. Some of our best moments come from boredom and imagination. 
I like to be busy though and I like to set goals. The girls and I love to create our summer bucket list (although I’m certain it gives the husband a great deal of anxiety). We created our list of places to go and things to do this summer and we got right to it. 
The girls enjoyed the freedom of summer and road bikes and hung out while waiting for their dad to get home from work. 
We took off for the aquarium where we had a snack and explored the exhibits. It was super crowded so I’m glad we snuck this one in early this summer. I’m sure we’ll back though – we have our season passes and these girls are suckers for a mermaid. 

crazy hair day

The last day of 2nd and 3rd grade and this is how I send them off into the world: 

The girls fully embraced crazy, hair day. They did this to themselves (minus the upside down braid in Annabelle’s hair – I may have had a small part in that).

They teased their hair and sure made a mess of it. 
And they absolutely loved it. They thought it was hilarious! 

pink and blue day

The last week of school has arrived! The girls couldn’t be more excited for summer. To keep their interest there seems to something fun planned everyday this week. We’re doing our best to keep up and enjoy the adventure!
Each class picked a color and the girls picked their close. Gwyneth’s class chose Blue and Annabelle’s class chose Pink. 
Annabelle was pink from head to toe
Gwyneth wanted to be “fancy”
Gwyneth’s class wrote books and today they shared them with the class. 
Her teacher planned a little party for the writers and invited all the parents.
Gwyneth was so brave and sweet and gave her book summary to the group. She’s so stinkin’ cute. 
She’s made some great friends at her new school. She has plenty of girl friends but when my camera comes out all the boys seem to gather around her. Oh boy!
Look at that face!
She received the “Skittles” award for her colorful ideas. 
I surprised Annabelle and took her out for lunch. I told her she could go anywhere….anywhere that she wanted. She chose Jack in the Box. I fear we may have failed this child. I don’t know where we went wrong. 

spring party: 3rd grade

I signed up to help with Annabelle’s spring party. One of the other parents took the reigns and planned everything….and it was fabulous. I arrived a bit early to help set up and brought some bottles of water. And that was it. The other parent did a great job planning food and games and activities. It was a fun party and I just got to enjoy the time with my girl. As the year comes to an end and feel increasingly busy, that’s all a momma can really ask for.
I can hardly believe this one will be in 4th grade. She still seems so little to me. There’s a big, beautiful personality in that little body. 
game time: