School's Out!

We had a few Last Days of School around here this week, and they came just in time. Because I'm done with get-ups and homework and assignments and bring-this and don't-forget and everything that goes with being a school parent. It's summer time!

Today was Ailey's last day of school and I decided I wanted to compare the girls with their first-days last fall. So here they are last September just before heading off to preschool and 2nd grade.

 

I know for a fact they have been growing like weeds. Especially Marin and Silje. Their clothes have been shrinking at an alarming rate lately. Luckily the weather is warmer and the sleeves and pants are shorter, so no one should notice.

 

Here they are today after we got Ailey off the bus. So excited!

And now, since I have neglected this blog since way back last October -- Halloween to be exact -- I'm going to do a little catch-up. We've been doing a lot of the routine -- school, play, Girl Scouts (Ailey and me), gymnastics (Marin and Silje), golfing (Andy) -- and a little bit of the not-routine. So here's the last seven months in 60 seconds (give or take, depending on how much you skim).

With all of our trees in the backyard, which still number large despite cutting several down over the last few years, jumping in the leaves is a fun pastime that lasts at least a month. The girls just love burying themselves in a pile ... of stinky, dirty, damp, rotten leaves.

I believe FIVE teeth have fallen out in the past year. Which would explain all the lisping and Tooth Fairy talk. Ailey lost two last fall and has now lost all eight of her front teeth. Next week she is getting an Expander put in her mouth to help reshape her upper set of teeth. A precursor to braces later on. Yay.

Silje surprised us all and lost two teeth last November. At 4 1/2 years old. What?! I actually took her to the dentist because I was afraid something was wrong. However, her last set of pictures showed that her permanent teeth were indeed pushing their way up and there was nothing to worry about. Talk about growing up too fast. (The fifth tooth comes out below....)

We had some fun around Christmas, first with a trip downtown Seattle to see all the lights and activities going on there. Grandma Sue and Grandpa Tony were with us for a fun new tradition.

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mark took us to the Lights of Christmas again this year, this time with cousins Luke and Sam.

They were quite the conspicuous bunch! Here they couldn't be bothered to smile for the camera as their mouths were full of fresh donuts. Yum.

Marin and Silje had their preschool Christmas program. They sang beautifully, of course. (They're in the back row.) I'm going to miss these programs.

With Mrs. Crossen after the Christmas program.

In January we went a bit east to try to see the bald eagles. We were at the end of their visiting time, so we only saw two across the river, but it was a fun hike on a beautiful day anyway.

Marin and Silje turned FIVE in January with a bunch of friends at Jump Planet. They were so excited to get a friend-party at last!

We went to the assembly at Ailey's school when she received her reading medallion. She was a super reader all year and got an Outstanding Reader Award at the end of the year too!

Silje took a fall onto a toy block one morning. The gash looked bad enough that I took her to the walk-in clinic to have it checked. Her nose wasn't broken, but she ended up with glue stiches, some lovely tape in the middle of her face for several days, and now a crescent-shaped scar. Since Silje is always trying to run faster than her feet I'm just grateful that this is the worst of it in her first five years of life!

We only had one short snowfall this year. In March. Luckily it wasn't enough to cause school to close, though we did have to use alternate bus routes. But it was just enough to pull out the snow gear for a day and have a little fun throwing snowballs and rolling around in it. Cousins Luke and Sam came to visit that day.

Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday, Ailey!

We celebrated Ailey's golden birthday -- she turned 8 on the 8th -- with an all yellow/gold party!

Snow in March was countered by 80-plus degrees in May. We even pulled out the sprinkler and popsicles, though I did keep reminding the girls that this probably wouldn't happen again for another few months.

 

Marin was feeling left out with all her sisters' Tooth Fairy visits. I kept telling her that Silje lost hers REALLY early and that it would likely be another couple of years before she lost one. Poor girl, she was just not having that. So just a few weeks ago she went and lost one too. She kept saying her tooth was loose, and I kept thinking she was wishful-thinking. But sure enough, it loosened up and fell out and let me tell you ... she was SO STINKING EXCITED.

 

I mentioned at the beginning that there were a few last-days this past week. The first was on Tuesday when Marin and Silje had their last day of preschool in their classrooms. On the way out the door I realized how glad I was that we were spending their official last day at the beach on Wednesday, because it was all I could do to not get teary right there. We spent four of the last five years in Mrs. Crossen's classroom. I spent three of those years on the preschool board and this past year helping to operate the espresso stand. It's definitely a second home.

Thankfully, we saw Mrs. Crossen and Mrs. Roth at the beach the next day. (Thankfully, the forecasted rain didn't show up.) We spent the morning searching the tide pools, playing with friends on the playground, taking pictures, and promising to keep in touch. It made for a nice way to say goodbye.

And now on to summer. First for a week off of everything. We might go pick some strawberries, visit the zoo or the museum, catch up on sleep and laundry. Then the girls will be in Bible School for a week before we make a trip back to Minnesota. Ailey is going to two Girl Scout camps in July and August, and Marin and Silje are going to do a sports camp later in August. Otherwise, we're hoping for some nice weather and plenty of down time before heading into Kindergarten and 3rd grade in September. Hopefully there will be enough down time that I can keep up with this blog a little better. :)

Happy Summer!

Happy Halloween!



Halloween isn't just a one night party with kids in the house. A couple of trips to the pumpkin patch, some pumpkin muffins made, and several opportunities for the girls to dress up in their costumes -- that was our October.

 

Marin and Silje had a field trip to The Farm to pick out their pumpkins earlier in the month. We went back later in the month with Ailey and Andy too and ended up having a beautiful, if cold, day to walk through the pumpkins.

Ailey helped me make our first batch of pumpkin muffins. Yummm....

Our first Halloween party was at our church this past weekend - it's a huge Harvest Bash with trunk-or-treating in the parking lot, carnival games, food, and lots of fun for the girls. Here we have Jessie the Cowgirl (from Toy Story), Dorothy after her trip to Oz, and Izzy the pirate (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates).

Andy was in Portland for this party (and the one the next morning). But gone are the days when I couldn't imagine taking all three girls to a party like this by myself. We did well and had a great time. We even met up with my sister and her boys (Luke and Sam, the train conductors) for a photo op.

I enjoy carving the pumpkins, and the girls are slowly getting more into it. They each chose their own carving designs again this year, and Marin and Silje decided it was OK to get their hands slimy and helped pick the seeds out for later baking. One of these days I'm figuring they will lose their girly squeamishness and actually dig into a pumpkin! (Marin DID help dig out some pulp. There's hope for her.)

Silje drew her hearts, Ailey drew the face. Marin wanted a Husky on hers, but I talked her into a W for Washington Huskies instead since I couldn't draw the Husky on such a small pumpkin. We then flipped the W on the back of her pumpkin to also make an M for Marin. (Here you just see the M, of course.)

 

We had our Halloween night fun with Parker and Levi. Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner followed by costumes and trick-or treating around the neighborhood. Here are Dorothy, a tarantula, Darth Vader, Izzy and Jessie. Lots of fun!



 



Happy Halloween!

Fund Run

Ailey's school Fund Run was this morning. It's her school's PTA fundraiser, in place of magazine or wrapping paper sales. They collect pledges and then run for 15 minutes on the big day.

 

This is the first time Marin and Silje and I have gone to watch (mostly because the last two years I've balked at the idea of herding two potential trouble-makers in a large crowd of kids). It was a lot of fun to watch the 2nd graders speed around the field. And it was very dusty thanks to western Washington's no rain policy of the last several months.

 

Here is Ailey on one of her laps. The girl likes to run!

Ailey's class with Freddie Fund Run.

So excited! It's a half-day of school today, the sun is shining, so Ailey has lots to be happy about. :)

First Day ... No Biggie

Marin and Silje had their first day of preschool today. Their second year of preschool, with the same teacher, same classroom, and some of the same classmates.

 

Apparently three months away from school didn't mean much, because drop-off went as usual. They remembered to give me a hug and a kiss then walked straight into class without a glance back.

 

My own post-drop-off behavior went as usual as well, walking away from the classroom with maybe just a slight hesitation in my steps as I wondered "Did that really just go that smoothly?" It did. Pick-up: as usual, with the additional time added to introduce me to their new friends and say a million good-byes.

 

Silje and Marin excited about their first day!

Ailey gets in on the excitement before we take her to the bus.

Silje and her preschool backpack.

Marin and her backpack ready to go.

 

Next year will be a new kind of usual to get used to. But honestly, they will have watched Ailey get on the bus for three years by then so I probably shouldn't expect any emotional outbursts ... from them at least. :)



Ailey's First Day of 2nd Grade



Today is Ailey's first day of 2nd grade. Despite some nerves leading up to today, she got on the bus excited for school. We went to her classroom and met her teacher yesterday, got all her school supplies put away in her new desk. She even gets to sit next to someone she knows from last year. (With five 2nd grade classrooms to split the kids into there were surprisingly few familiar names on her class list!)

 

The school-morning routine was surprisingly familiar to all of us despite 2 1/2 months away from it. The girls all got up and ready and out the door cheerily. While I know that is mostly novelty causing the smooth morning, and the more difficult mornings are yet to come, I appreciate it nonetheless.

 

Marin and Silje start preschool next week. They go back to the same teacher and classroom three days a week and are looking forward to it. (Me too!)

 

Official first day of school picture

Waiting at the bus stop

Hopping on

Happy unofficial beginning of fall!