Aidan's First Day of Preschool

Today is Aidan's first day of preschool! He did not want me to take his picture before we headed out.

I will not look at you.

I will not look at you! Let's go!

I finally tricked him as he was headed to the car. I don't intend for all of these pictures to take place right outside of the garage, but it's just how it seems to happen around here. Doesn't he look so handsome! He has a new haircut (finally, I let that go this summer), and he picked out those tennis shoes himself a few weeks ago.

When we made it to his classroom I bent down, told him to have a wonderful day and that I'd see him after his nap. He nodded "yes", gave me two quick kisses, and then ran past the two parents in front of us (one with a crying boy resisting), and headed straight into the classroom to play. The teacher at the door said, "Hi Aidan! Bye Aidan!" It was pretty funny. I'm so glad he's excited about school. I think he's going to have a great day!

Aidan Meets His Teachers

This morning was "Meet the Teachers" at Aidan's pre-school. He is going to the same one Allison went to last year, so he walked in like he owned the joint.

This is the wild man these three women are about to love, getting ready in the bathtub. He popped off mermaid Barbie's tail fin and is using it like a dive-bombing plane.

He gave one of his teachers a huge hug when we walked in. Two of the three were moms for Allison's group last year, so he's familiar with them. I love that!

He ran around the room, checked it all out, and just started playing.

He even made a friend quickly, Grady. Grady shared one of his cars with Aidan, so he decided he was worth the time. It was very cute.

The teachers really talked about Tuesday's drop-off, the tears that will happen, what we need to tell our child before coming to school that day, etc. Honestly, I don't think it will be an issue for this little guy. He was annoyed with me when I said it was time to go after thirty minutes. Following in his sister's footsteps.

Allison's First Day of School

It's officially here. This morning Daddy and I took Allison to her first day of Kindergarten. Omie came up and stayed with Aidan so that all of our focus was on the scholar. We are very grateful for her visit! Allison was excited and ready. I kept my happy, strong face on and then completely lost it once we walked out of the school. I am going to miss her SO much. I am so glad that I've had these last three years home with her. Although it has been trying at times, it is absolutely priceless. She is such a sweet and loving little girl, and we are so proud of her independence and drive.

Walking in

Allison and Mommy

Ready to Learn!

We hope she has a wonderful day, and I agreed to let her ride the bus home. Only 2 more hours and 20 minutes.

What do you mean it's time to go?

Tonight was Allison's "Meet the Teacher" night. At 5:00 all four of us went to her school to meet her Kindergarten teacher and see her classroom. She really liked her desk!

After about thirty minutes of investigating the room, sitting in her desk (which Aidan really enjoyed also), and meeting Mrs. Burns, we told her it was time to go. Her response was, "What do you mean? Don't I stay to learn Kindergarten?" This comes after she informed me that she wants to ride the bus on the first day, not let Daddy and I take her. (She's not winning that battle.)

I'm so glad she's so excited and ready. There were kids there hanging on their parents, not talking to anyone, etc. Allison is somewhere in the middle. She's excited and ready, but when a boy in her class came up to her, put his hand out to shake her's, and excitedly said, "I'm M.J.!" She turned beet red and looked at Daddy. Tyler cracked me up because he said, "Allison, introduce yourself to this young man, shake his hand!" Then Tyler stuck out his hand, shook M.J.'s and said, "Hi M.J., I'm Tyler. I'm Allison's dad." M.J., with the confidence of a 40-year-old, said, "Hi Tyler!" I hope to hear more about this kid. It was pretty funny.

Last Hurrah Before School

Monday we headed down to Portland for the night. It was a quick, but fun visit.

Allison was fascinated by the cotton fields and packed cotton on the way down. We even saw a truck carrying cotton on the highway with it dropping some along the way. She wanted to know all about the process of cotton going from the field to the clothes she was wearing. Luckily her mother has been told this process repeatedly from the time she was young.

We stopped on the side of the road to pick some of the cotton the machines missed.


On Monday afternoon Omie and I took them to the Texas State Aquarium's Splash Park. They loved it!


Then, Tuesday morning they had their usual train set-up surprise waiting. Each night they are there Papa Fred makes a new train track for them to wake up to the following morning. It makes these two so happy.

Sunday Chefs

Last Sunday Allison and Aidan pitted cherries for a pork tenderloin sauce. Correction - Allison pitted, Aidan ate.

Aidan clapped each time she popped a seed out with the cherry pitter. Nothing like a little support to get the job done.

Din't Jinx Myself This Time

I told myself I was not going to share this until we had success. Monday we started 3-day potty training with Aidan again, and by yesterday afternoon he officially had it down! We have not had an accident for 24 hours now. We even made a run to HEB earlier this morning where he told me he needed to go, went, and made it back home. We are all very proud of this little guy, and I can tell he's also very proud of himself.

The Poms are Back

KYF Cheer has officially started again. This past week we had practice on Thursday and cheer camp today. She is still a Bronco, but we have moved to a squad for her age level. The football players and cheerleaders are all either Pre-K or Kinder. The coach is starting slowly with the basics, and it is so nice to see Allison excited, having fun, and understanding everything. She said, "Mommy, I'm having a blast!"

Today's Cheer Camp