Let's Go Bring Back Summer!!

I can't say the word "summer" without using an Olaf voice. Thanks, Frozen.

But we are officially there! Liam flew through first grade and I can't believe it's over already and he's heading to second grade in just a few weeks. What is happening to time?! I'm a sucker for comparing photos so here is Liam on the last day of school followed by Liam on the first day of school. It's obviously been a year of tooth loss and growing pains. He is also now reading books way beyond his grade level (and enjoying them!) And I couldn't be prouder.

Another difference is that Liam really didn't want to take a picture with his wild sister even if he didn't mind a few months ago.

That little girl is heading to preschool in the Fall and I don't know what I'm going to do with myself.

In the meantime we plan on making the most of our summer and keeping cool as best we can.

Did you know Brygit turned 4 three months ago?

Oh, hey! Let's pretend I've been blogging regularly for these past few months and that this is just a reminder that my little girl had a huge milestone back in February that I totally blogged about within an adequate time frame.

In reality, let me say that life has simply been getting away from me. Liam is looking at the last 5 weeks of first grade and his upcoming first piano recital, Brygit is looking at pre-school registration, and I'm looking at a complete blur. I volunteer at the school, take care of my family, use every opportunity to spend a day at Disneyland and don't get me started on how many books I have sitting on my shelf begging to be read. But, tonight, I blog.

Months before Brygit's birthday she spotted this ice cream cake at the grocery store. She had been begging us to buy it for her and, as her birthday approached, she ended up fashioning her entire birthday party off of this cake (that didn't taste very good). But we celebrated her fourth year with a Hello Kitty ice cream party. Below are some pictures from the fun day. Note that in the last 2 pictures she is utilizing some of her favorite gifts-the baby that cries and the cotton candy maker. She is one lucky girl and we feel so lucky to have her.

Liam is 6! (And has been for a while)

 

Hello, hello! I'm not even going to pretend I tried to blog over the past few weeks. I just honestly haven't. Every now and then I think I might but I just don't. For some reason, October has finally given me the itch. I decorated my house for fall, bought ridiculous amounts of festive candy and have already bought a couple pumpkins. Somehow, that makes me feel like blogging. So, let's go back a bit. Way back to August when this little guy turned 6! Six, people! It wasn't an easy one for me, that's for sure. But we celebrated anyway! Liam got to open an early present from us since he went through his first week of school with no tears. He didn't cry, but I did. I didn't get a present.

 

 

Then, on the day of his actual birthday we ate in the trolly at the Old Spaghetti Factory as requested.

 

And opened more presents.

 

That weekend we had family over for a Minecraft themed birthday party. If your six year old son has ever requested such a thing, you should know that there are no Minecraft party supplies so you will be going it alone. Paul was in charge of the cake and, if you're a Minecraft fan, you'll notice that its pretty darn accurate and adorable. Complete with a lava pit, waterfall, and candle "torches."

 

On my end, I used a lot of Sharpie.

 

And Liam was in charge of the welcome sign for the door.

 

He ate pizza, opened gifts and then got to be the "caller" for Minecraft Bingo (one of his favorite things to do).

 

Having a six year old is definitely a different world. There's a lot of homework and a ton of video game playing followed by a lot of homework nagging and video game nagging from me. And then there's at night, just before bed when I read to him until my throat hurts and he's begging for just one more chapter. Then I say goodnight and I hear him call through the dark, "I love you. See you tomorrow!" And all I hear is my sweet little baby. Six years old or not, he's still just my baby.

A Comprehensive Post about Everything

 

 

Hello there! Liam had his first day of school today so I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and throw a bunch of pictures from our summer out there since I completely neglected to do so the past few weeks. But first, can I just say that starting school is ROUGH. I can't be alone in that opinion, can I? I just want Liam to be at home with me all day. I mean, I don't, but I do. School was not something, as a new parent, I anticipated to cause so much stress, but, really, I've had a much harder time with this than Liam has. I have been having "first day" dreams all week. You know the ones where he forgets to wear pants or he's an hour late the first day. Then I smile all morning and make him be brave only for me to head home and burst into tears in front of the kitchen sink. I might have done better if we never got a summer break.

 

Which brings me back to our summer break. It was much too short but a ton of fun. I'll start with the Fourth of July since that is what was still on my camera card. We swam and ate with family as is tradition then watched an amazing firework show put on by the local church. We missed Paul but we had a blast.

 

And from this point forward, all pictures will be from my iphone.

 

This picture was taken on the very first day of summer when Liam had his adenoids removed and tubes put into his ears to finally drain them. He had been hard of hearing ever since an ear infection in February so it was something that had to be done and we were waiting for school to be out to do it. I really shouldn't be complaining about the first day of school because I can't even go into the trauma of watching your kid wake up from anesthesia when they don't know where they are and they are upset and hurting and the doctors won't let you in until they are calmed down. Pure torture.

 

Luckily, he healed up very quickly and we got our summer started. I made every attempt possible to keep Liam interested in reading over the summer. We attended several special events at our local library,

 

I had Liam read to me while "Superman"ing on my feet,

 

and we visited the school library to take quizzes on the books he read while Brygit pretended to be a police dispatcher.

 

We swam a lot.

 

And sun bathed.

 

We went to the movies a couple of times.

 

And to the splash pad,

 

the park

 

and a family train ride down to Olvera Street.

 

Topped off with a trip to the beach.

 

I'm sad it's over but I'm also very much looking forward to helping Liam learn everything a First Grader knows. Plus, this must mean that Fall is on its way, right? Eventually? At some point?

3rd birthday pictures

I finally got around to taking Brygit's picture to commemorate her third birthday. I usually either take the kids to a portrait studio or I just take them to the park with my camera just to have something to hang in the hall and hand out to the grandparents. I put Brygit in her new Easter dress and she put on the blue headband and grabbed her purse on the way out. We went to the park and did a 5 minute photo shoot before changing into play clothes and heading to the playground.

The above photo is the one I'll be printing I think. And the one below is a picture of her doing a "sashe." She just started taking a Ballet and Tap class so I'm going to have to take more photos of her once she gets her tutu and tap shoes.