SKB – Page 402

School update

September 15, 2016

First, happy birthday Keath!! Do you know how to play “happy birthday” on the cello yet?! Hope it’s a great one!

Second, Spencer and Maxwell have easily transitioned into the school routine. No problems at all!

school

Samantha hasn’t transitioned quite as easily. Let’s recap…

First day (Monday) she cried at drop off but got happy fairly quickly and really had a great day! Hooray!

first day

Second day (Wednesday) she sure looked cute in her red shoes…

second day

but she cried at drop off and, sadly, never really got happy. When I went to pick her up that day, the teacher just said she didn’t have a good day. She wouldn’t let Mrs. Laura put her down, she didn’t want to play on the playground, and she didn’t even eat her lunch. 🙁 They were honestly concerned she was sick. When I picked her up, she wasn’t even happy to see me – she actually started crying as if she was just so overwhelmed with it all and relieved I was there. My heart basically broke at that point.

We then had a full week off because of Labor Day so we went back on the following Wednesday after our Disney trip.

school

I told the teacher to please call me if she had a bad day again. 11:00 – I got the call. Mrs. Laura said that she wouldn’t let her put her down. She wasn’t crying but she wasn’t having fun. She didn’t say I had to pick her up early, but I did. No sense in leaving her up there if she’s not happy and taking too much of the teacher’s time away from the other kids.

I was pretty sad at this point. But, the only way to get to the other side was to go through it, so back to school we went on Monday of this week.

school

Despite that pouty face, she had a GREAT day! Hooray! I got a text from Mrs. Laura around 11:00 with these pics…

school

Look, Tootie has a friend! 🙂

school

She said she only cried for a few minutes at drop off and then got happy and played all day! We did take a paci for her and I think that helped even if she only used it a bit in the morning. I sure was happy to pick her up that day!

school

Wednesday of this week was even better.

school

Robert actually took her to school and there were NO TEARS!! and she didn’t even need her paci at all! Oh, my heart could just burst I was so happy for my sweet girl! Mrs. Laura sent me this picture…

school

I love that little girl. When I went to get her I snuck a picture before going in…

school

and when she saw me she came running up to give me the BIGGEST hug. Favorite part of my day right there! We then walked over to get Spencer and I think that’s Samantha’s favorite part of her day! When she sees Spencer she starts waving her little hand at him!

spencer

Now, I’m not expecting no tears at drop off again, but at least I know she can get happy and have fun at school. My sweet girl just needed a little time to adjust but she’s moving in the right direction! Hooray! Here’s to a great school year ahead!

She’s a mess

September 14, 2016

She’s a mess…but she’s my mess! 🙂

mess

I turned on the shower and stepped away for 2 second and this little mess got in in her pjs!

shower

Oh yes, she’s a mess. But I wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world.

baby

I love her so so so so much.

baby girl

See you tomorrow!

Trimmed up

September 13, 2016

Shaggy…

shaggy

and sharp!

sharp

Here’s Maxwell’s after…didn’t get a before and could only get one of him with these cat glasses on.

haircut

Baby didn’t get a hair cut but she sure had fun playing while we waited.

baby

ps – someone should tell her Chap Stick doesn’t go on her chin!

See you tomorrow!

Disney part 2

September 12, 2016

After a fun first day at Disney, we all slept great and, thankfully, no one fell out of bed! We were up bright and early because we had a breakfast reservation at The Crystal Palace for 9:15. We learned a little trick – if you have a breakfast reservation for 9:15 or earlier, you can get into the park early and go on and get in line to ride certain rides right when they open at 9:00 before you go to breakfast. If you get really lucky (like we did!) they might even start running the rides early! It’s also fun to be in the park when it’s virtually empty and we got the photog to snap the traditional castle picture…

castle

Thumbs up to a good day ahead! ha!

castle

GJ went walking around with the baby while the boys and I went straight for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We got there about 8:45 and they were already running the ride so we go to walk right on and ride!!

seven dwarfs

and then we go to walk right on and ride again!

disney

Woohoo! We then made our way over to breakfast but stopped off at Peter Pan as it was only a 10 minute wait. Perfect! We then met GJ and Samantha at The Crystal Palace for breakfast where we got to see Pooh and friends.

pooh

The kids didn’t care that much about Pooh but I would definitely do that breakfast again based on location and food! Maxwell then said he was really wanting to meet Mickey so we headed over to Main Street to greet the main mouse!

mickey

Maxwell walked right up and gave him a big hug! Spencer needed a little encouragement from brother to get close but he did and was happy to show Mickey that he had a picture of him on his shirt!

mickey

Love this pic of Maxwell giving Spence a little nudge! 🙂

mickey

Baby didn’t want to get close to that mouse!

mickey

Mickey was chatting with the boys and brought up something about a lion and that was all they needed to show off their roars! Mickey was so impressed he decided to roar with them!

mickey

Going to see Mickey wasn’t in our original plan but I’m so glad Maxwell asked to do it because it might have been my favorite part of the trip!

disney

After Mickey it was the Haunted House and then a quick stop off to see my childhood friend, Andee, who happened to be there that day with her crew! What fun!

andee in disney

We then rode Aladdin’s carpets…

aladdin

Managed to get a free Dole Whip pineapple ice cream…

ice cream

Got talked into buying 2 snakes…

snakes

and then rode the Pirates of the Caribbean before calling it a day!

disney

We loaded up at the hotel…

hotel

got dropped off at the airport….

airport

and, thankfully, had an uneventful flight home!

flight

Disney trips are always exhausting but always worth it! Thanks again for everything GJ and Daddo! See ya real soon!

Disney

September 9, 2016

After a fun day at Legoland, we made the quick drive over to Orlando and were happy to check into the Grand Floridian! There was a little hitch with our reservation and they didn’t give us connecting rooms which was far from ideal. Happily, they made it beyond right by giving us a 2 bedroom suite! Woohoo! It was the ideal setup for our crew and gave Robert a great place to watch the AL game that night! Roll Tide! While sorting out the room situation, Samantha was having a ball in the hotel lobby and even met a princess!

disney

Things were going great and, miracle, all kids had gone to bed early and were sleeping great…until 2:30am when I hear this thunk thud aaaaaaahhhhhh! Spencer fell out of bed and hit the nightstand WITH HIS MOUTH. There was plenty of screaming, blood, busted lips, and messed up teeth. Oh boy. What is it with me and mouth injuries?? We got him cleaned off and calmed down and back to bed. It then took me another hour to get Baby back to bed! The next morning, Spencer’s mouth was pretty swollen and I was able to text the dentist and get an antibiotic called in for him. Trying to avoid the dreaded gray tooth! Despite it all, Spencer was SUCH a trooper and ready for a day of fun at the Magic Kingdom – as we all were!

disney

Our first stop was Barnstormer and then we hit up Dumbo and Ariel…

dumbo

and the Teacups (which Samantha loved)…

teacup

really LOVED! 🙂

teacups

We then took a little frozen lemonade break. Refreshing in the scorching heat!

disney

It was then time for our Seven Dwarfs Mine Train fast passes…the best ride!

disney

Keeping up with Samantha in the park is a challenge. She either doesn’t want to be in the stroller and wants to be held, or doesn’t want to be left behind when her brothers get to ride rides! GJ nicely volunteered to take Samantha with her to pick up Spencer’s medicine and then hang out at the hotel. Robert and I got to enjoy the park with the boys for the rest of the day while baby got to have a relaxing “air conditioned” lunch!

disney

The boys and I had some lunch and then headed over to Splash Mountain. The wait was long but we decided to go for it. Spencer was SO excited that he was finally tall enough to ride!!

splash mountain