Sissy goes to Kindergarten

Olivia started Kindergarten this year on August 21st, 2012.

Her teacher is Mrs. Shepherd and she was so excited!

 

Mrs. Shepherd has the room all decorated in a Madagascar theme.

It was very cute and Livi loved it.

She could not wait to get to school to see her PreK friends.

She was also a little bummed out that Lexi and her other best buds weren't in her class but she gets to see them at lunch and outside play time.

 

I did ok with the first day of Kindergarten for my youngest little rug rat.

Until her teacher had the kids bring a hershey's kiss to each of the parent's and mentioned The Kissing Hand.

Then, this momma that was doing ok, teared up a little.

I left her to line up with her class and to grow up in the blink of an eye.

 

 

 

 

Gnarly....right?

Brent is 30.
My cousin, Brent, and I have always been close. We spent lots of time together growing up.
We threw him an "80's Roller Rink" birthday party.
We had nachos and cheese, hot dogs, and all varieties of 80's candy.

I think everyone had a great time.

And I got to see another childhood friend, Megan!!

We spent tons of time together growing up and had so many good laughs.

 

 

I have more pictures that are on my camera. These were all phone pics.

I think everyone had a really good time.

I hope that it distracted Brent from the fact that he had a big birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

stepping out

This week is leading up to our family Gotcha Day. Our girls are getting so big and a wave of reality hit me today that Olivia is about at the age where we need to explain some things to her. Her sisters haven't needed too much of an explanation because they clearly remember the court house, the adoption, and unfortunately, everything that came before that.
I am reading a devotional about Faith. And it says "when we step out in faith, we are given a glimpse of the spiritual realm". I reflected on this and realized what a big step out Alex and I took five years ago. Wow.
I love my family. Am I often exhausted? Yes. Are my nerves frayed? Yes. Do I question my every parenting moves daily? Yes. But I wouldn't trade it for the world.
I can not wait to see the many other ways that I will be 'stepping out' with the time I have left on earth.

My girls are my world. And they are amazing.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."- Hebrews 11:1

The Polynesian Way

Our resort at Disney was amazing. Alex took care of booking everything and he did a pretty good job. We loved everything about the Polynesian.
There were marshmallow roasts on the "beach" every night along with a movie on the beach. There was also an electrical parade on the water that all of the resorts were able to see
we also had a decent view of the fireworks that Magic Kingdom shot at night. We had access to the ferry, monorail, and buses from there as well. It was very vintage and cultured. Everyone said "Aloha" every time they greeted us. We never did quite get used to that. It was beautiful and was a great investment.

Ohana

We had a dinner and a breakfast at the Ohana Restaurant in our resort. It was yum. All of the food came our family style and the kids played games and had a blast.
They had a coconut race and learned Polynesian words. Like " Shaka". And " Aloha". Makayla smiled at me after the waitress spoke to us and said ,"Momma, she just said " Ohio". " lol.

Epcot

Epcot was so much fun. And we didn't even see half of it. We used our phones to find character meet and greets through out the parks. That App came in very handy.
We also had my favorite meal at the Tangerine Cafe. It was Mediterranean and delicious!! We also saw Mary Poppins at Epcot, which was positively perfect in every way.
The Nemo ride was entertaining and our magical moment of the day happened at the aquarium following the ride. The girls had watched the dolphin trainer have the dolphins do tricks and were moving on to look at them swim in the underwater tunnel. The trainer comes up to our girls and asks if they want to have the dolphin do some tricks. Of course they did! They stood in front of the glass and did as the trainer told them. It was (can you guess?) AMAZING!
It was really got so we let the girls run around in the splash park. Olivia was too short to ride one of the rides so she and I waited in a meet and greet line for the characters. She laughed so hard at Pluto when he put her autograph right in front of his eyes to sign it.
We also ran into a celebrity while she was crossing the street. Belle. The girls ran straight to her and held her hands as she went to her autograph location. I was amazed at how they all stayed in character.
Stay Tuned!