Carter's first day of Kindergarten

Our little man started Kindergarten on Wednesday August 19th at Sonshine Christian School.  He was very excited about his first day.  I could hardly believe his was old enough to start school.  He seems so much smaller to me then Aubrey was but I think it's because he is my baby.  Starting his school career at Sonshine actually made me not nervous or sad about this big milestone I was actually pretty excited for it.  I had such a hard time with Aubrey starting school since it was all day and at such a big school with teachers I didn't know.  When March came and I need to register Carter for kindergarten I was already feeling the pain of anxiety in my stomach.   The day after I registered him ran into an acquittance at pick up at Peterson and she ask me if I had considered Sonshine for kindergarten.  I really feel like it was an answer to my prayers.  I had heard about the school through some other people and how it was a great school and only half day.  I didn't know they offered it back when Aubrey was starting and I think I was so wrapped up in the lottery of the school of choice I thought that was my only option back then.  Well Carter and I were invited to check out Sonshine later that week and we both feel in love at first sight! It was amazing they have young loving teachers, only 13 students (7 of which will go on to Peterson for 1st grade), adorable classroom, open door policy, a family feel and the biggest perk half day.  I was sold!! There is a tuition which was the only negative but with all that we get the monthly fee doesn't even phase me.  The acquittance soon became my friend and is actually the director of Sonshine.  She has a son Aubrey's age and another son Carter's age and so she has been a great a support to me.  We registered him there and haven't looked back.  It was a nice treat to have him start a couple days after Aubrey so we could get on a good schedule.  As you will see like Aubrey's post there are so many pictures I just couldn't resist his cute smile.

  

Is he just not the cutest guy ever?!?!

 I'm so happy I splurged this year and got both the kids backpacks at Pottery Barn.  They are great quality and look adorable!

We were so excited that daddy meet up with us for the first day drop off.

 What a great group of kids!!! 8 boys and 5 girls.

He was so proud of his locker

 Spencer yelled at me after this picture saying I have to step back and let him do it.  I guess you would call me a helicopter parent lol.

 We are so unbelievable happy with Sonshine.  I wish they had all the grades.  I love that Carter loves it so much.  It's neat for him to have his own special experience for Kindergarten.  I feel like being the second born it's easy to slip into the shadow of his sister so this has been a real treat to experience with just him.  He sits next to Roxy and Gabby.  He has 2 teachers Mrs. Milikan on Monday, Tuesday and every other Wednesday and Mrs. Allen (actually a friend of mine) every other Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  They love him! I have been told that he is an artist (Which I already knew :)! He loves to color and has always loved it.  When we see his work it truly is amazing for a 5 year old.  After we dropped him off I had a moment of tears in the car.  I just can't believe how fast time flies.  I remember when they were babies just like yesterday and I thought my days of cleaning dippers, wiping snot and stuck at home for long hours would never end and now we are in a whole different phase of life.  I'm trying to really treasure enjoy this time because it will pass too.  After my tear session I went and walked the mall and that was pretty amazing not having kids pulling on me, complaining about anything and everything or having to run to the bathroom a thousand times.  I felt pretty cool about this new freedom and like everyone said it would be noon before I knew it.  I was excited to go pick up my guy.  When I got there the teachers were saying good bye to the kids and said "Do I get a high five, fist pump or a hug?" Carter gave  two big hugs to his teachers.  I knew he had a great day.  He had lots of fun stories to tell.  He loves the behavior chart and is doing everything in his power to move up.  The higher you get the more gummy bears you get.  He is doing awesome at his letters and sounds and has already read a few Dick and Jane books.  He is loving math and is starting to understand adding and subtracting.  We are excited for this fun year!!! 

Aubrey's First day of 2nd Grade

Aubrey's first day of school was Monday August 17, 2015.  She was very excited to go back to see her friends and to be a big 2nd grader this year.  It does seem to get easier each year for me.  I love the excitement for them even though deep down I wish I could be selfish and keep them home forever. I'm really trying to understand that I need to let them fly away from the nest a few hours a day and experience school and life without me, which is very hard.  I have felt more comfort as the years go by because I love the school and because I have a wonderful relationship with all the staff members and feel welcome to come on campus anytime.  

 Surprisingly I was able to get up before school started and set up the house for the kids to celebrate the first day.

 Since Aubrey started on Monday and Carter didn't start until Wednesday Aubrey picked pink pancakes for breakfast that day.

The next few pictures all look a lot a like. 

 I just had too many favorites and I want them all for my memories.

We had to be at the school 40 minutes before it started to pass out the tissue packets to the Kindergarten parents.  That was stressful!! We arrived super early and sure enough it was already super hard to find a parking space.  We had to park 2 blocks away and I probably looked like a crazy mom running with a box and my 2 kids trailing behind holding baskets full of tissues.  We finally made it to the Multi Purpose Room.  The MPR is the cafeteria and that is where you need to drop off your kindergartner.  It brought back lots of memories of when Aubrey was starting.  I really hate the way they do drop off for those little guys and made me even more happy with the decision for Carter to go to Sonshine.  I can't understand why they don't allow the parents to walk their little child to the class room.  You can in all the other grades just not kindergarten????  It really makes the parents have an uneasy feeling and the kids look so sad just sitting there waiting.  It did make me feel good that I got to pass out the tissues because all the parents were so grateful and it put a smile on their faces.  The first day is so rough and I was happy that I could maybe make it a little easier even if it was just a tissue packages.  My kids were troopers! Mostly Aubrey she was so excited to be at school and probably wanted nothing more then to go play outside but she stuck by my side because she knew I wanted to take pictures and stay with her.  Finally the bell rang and the kids and I left the MPR and we walked Aubrey to her class.  

We ran into her friend Selena on the way.  They are so happy to be together again this year.  

 Then we were greeted by Aubrey's teacher Mrs. Haar and she invited us in.  Like I said Kindergarten was so strange and I think in away scared me a little.  I always think I have to just drop off and leave but I was pleasantly surprised that Mrs. Haar seems a lot like Ms. Buttrey and invited us to stay as long as we wanted.  Well of course Mr. Carter decided that he had to use the restroom and was scramming that we need to leave!! I would have stayed a lot longer but I couldn't so I snapped these shots before we left.  I love my girl!!!!

 After his bathroom break! geez!!! We made it over to Target to do some shopping and pick out a back to school prize for both kids.  We got Aubrey this adorable little animal family and Carter picked out this Lego set that he has wanted for a long time with the Sandman.

 It was fun having that day with my little guy.  We built his Lego set, played, read his favorite books and just had a day about him.  The time finally came to pick up Aubrey.  Why is it that the first day of school is like the hottest day ever?! Well actually here in Merced the whole first month!! My boss who lives right around the corner from the school has offered his pool to us when ever we want it so this was a day to use it after we picked her up!!! 

Aubrey's first day went great!!! She loved her class and her teacher.  She is super excited about the punch card.  After 20 punches you get to pick a prize such as a no homework pass, sitting in the teachers desk for a day, or no shoes in the class room.  I'm excited to get to know Mrs. Haar this year.  She is older then her teacher last year.  She actually has a couple grand kids at Peterson.  I have been very blessed to have Kendall's mom, Amy behind the scenes of the school since she is a teacher there.  She has the ability to pick teachers for her kids and has always made sure Kendall and Aubrey are together with who she feels is the best teacher in that grade.  When last year was coming to an end I asked her who our girls would have for the next year and she told Mrs. Haar.  I got mixed reviews from some other moms and I started to really stress out.  I was worried it would be like kindergarten though Ms. Stapp was the best teacher she had a hard time working with parents and she made it a very hard year for me.  So like any crazy, over protected, too involved mom would do I went and meet Mrs. Haar last year and I really liked her.  Since I'm on the PTC board now I can probably pick teachers so I went and checked out the most sought out teacher for 2nd grade and I wasn't that impressed so I went with Amy's and my gut (after meeting her) and we went for Mrs. Haar.  She is so much fun with the kids.  She reads the best stories and does all the voices different.  She has so much teacher experience like over 30 years! She is loving, artistic, and loves parent volunteers.  I started working the class room the 2nd week of school and just love it.  I leared not to always listen to other parents and to just go and check it out for yourself.  I think this is going to be a great year for Aubrey (and me too!)

Our Summer days coming to an end!

Well after we got back from vacation the count down was already on for school to start.  It was hard to believe we only had a week and half left.  Summer is just so much fun!!  

We definitely ended it with a bang!

Art, art and art!!!

 We love our craft time!! This Particular day we did some face painting.  I wanted butterflies and flowers they wanted scary zombies??? (they got the idea from the darn package)

Saturday August 8th we meet up with Spencer's friend from Jr. High, Kris and his son Aidan at Gilroy Gardens for the day.

 Aidan is right in between Aubrey and Carter he is 6 and is starting the 1st grade this year.  They all got along really good.  I was amazed with how tall he is! He was taller than Aubrey and she is tall for her age.  As you can see I think she was a little smitten by him lol!

 They still fit in the fish ride.

 It was a really fun day and nice to do a family outing together.

Monday that week Nana and came down to baby sit so I could go to work.  She had fun playing and taking them to McDonald's for lunch.  The rest of the week we just relaxed and enjoyed having the time at home.  Playing, crafting, bike ridding and having some friends over.

 Wednesday August 12th was Kindergarten meet the teacher night at Sonshine.  It was super cute and really got us excited for the upcoming week when school was starting.

 Thursday Kendall came over to play and then had a sleep over at our house.  They had a dance party, sundaes for dessert and watched movies.

 Friday August 14 we got to go down to Peterson and see the class lists.  These two were so excited to get Mrs. Haar together.  They have been together since preschool and it really makes me happy they get to be together again this year.  Also her good friend Selena is in the same class again and another little boy she has been with since kindergarten.  It's going to be a great year!!

 After that we headed over to Alex's house for his 5th birthday party.  It was a Turbo themed party and it was adorable.

 Carter has found a friend that likes Happy cars as much as him!

 The turbo snail races were the cutest!

 That night was our back to school shopping trip in Modesto with Nana and Titi.  Aubrey and I were so excited to have a girls night.  We took the red car so that she could watch a movie in the car but we ended up talking the whole way there and back and didn't watch a movie at all.  Aubrey is so much fun to be with.  She is super in to Build A Bear Workshop right now.  Between clothing stores we stopped there to wash Lilly and get her a new outfit.  She also picked out this cute carrier for her.   

 After some shopping we had dinner at Bj's so yummy!! and then did some more shopping.

 I love all these ladies so much!!

 We all always have a great time together.  I love that Aubrey is growing up and becoming one of us.  She has the cutest stories to tell and just is so much fun.

 On our way home we decided we needed something sweet so we did a pit stop in Turlock and then did a late night run to Target .

 Saturday Aubrey had a birthday party at Selena's.  She loved this water slide and is bagging to have it at her party.  Not to sure how that will work since her birthday is in February.

 Sunday we had church and then it was crunch time to get ready for the first day of school the next day.  Like I have said before I'm the Vice President of the PTC.  One idea I had to get more members is to have a boohoo yahoo breakfast for the new kinder parents.  My friend in Arizona told me her daughters school did it and I loved the idea.  It would be a great way to get all the kindergarten parents informed about the school, meet other parents and hopefully get them to join the PTC.  My board wasn't to sure about doing a whole breakfast since it was a new idea so we opted to just pass out a gift the first day of school.  We decided on tissue packets and I made a cute label for them:

The kids helped me attach the label to 100 tissue packets.

 Then the kids did a back to school fashion show for us that evening.

Well Summer 2015 you were wonderful!! We loved all the adventures and fun we had.  We are excited what the next few months have in store for us with all the holidays and school fun but we will miss our lazy days by the pool for sure!