September Fun

Ready for Dance class! She is taking Jazz and Tap this year. I am taking tap too but you get no pictures of me! :)
Ronan's third birthday party. It was lots of fun!
The parking lot for their bikes. Too cute
The great cake that Auntie B made. she and uncle Todd know how to throw a party!
Please! Mommy help me! She is dressing me up!

The dressing up continues in this video.

We have had a fun month with lots of new and exciting things going on and there is one more coming up this next week. Madalyn is going on a trip with her Nan and Papa. I am going to meet them in Spokane on Wednesday and then they will go home to Washington and then fly off to Disneyland. This is a big deal for a couple of reasons one being just going to Disneyland for the first time and the other is that she has never been away from us for this long before. I think she will do great because she is really excited and because of where she will be - How can you NOT have fun at Disneyland? So, I am praying that she does not get too homesick and just has a great time. I so wish I could be there to experience it with her but my mom says that she will take lots of pictures (and video, Mom?) We are hoping that when Connor is Madalyn's age we can afford to take them both and go as a family but it is not financially possible for us to go right now. My Mom and Dad are planning on taking all of their grand kids at some time and wanted Madalyn to experience the Princesses before she is totally out of that phase which we are at the tail end of now. So, all of that to say I am excited for her and thank you Nan and Papa for taking her and giving her such a fun experience. I am praying all goes well and I know she is going to LOVE it! It will be kind of weird but also nice to have one child for five days. The one that has two naps each day! :)

Our days have been filled with getting used to our new routine now that we have school every afternoon. It takes some good time management skills for Connor to get two good naps before we have to take sister to school and go pick her up. Good thing time management is one of my strengths! NOT! lol We have done pretty well and I am really loving the new schedule.

We took a family trip to Medicine Hat for Ronan's third birthday party and it was a lot of fun. Especially in our new van! :) Bonnie and Todd threw a great party with lots of fun and creative ideas and we got to see grandma and grandpa and great-grandpa Reynolds which was a nice treat too!

I better go try and get some stuff done before the day is gone!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today has been a really great day! Madalyn's first day of kindergarten I would say was a roaring success! We had a good morning preparing for the big afternoon and she was the 2nd one to arrive and I am hoping we can make this a habit instead of rushing so we are not late. :) Madalyn went in and hung up her backpack and put on her inside shoes and then hugged me and said that I could go. I was shocked but started to leave (as more kids and parents start to arrive) but then she got a little nervous and would not let me go and started crying. She has a very sweet teacher who came over and talked to her and then took her to look at something so I left. I knew she would love it if she would just stay and give it a try. When I went to pick her up she is so happy and on cloud nine telling me everything about her day. She said, "I love school"! I asked her what her favorite part of the day was and she said when she got to frost, decorate and eat a bear cookie. She also told me about a puppy puppet that made her smile when she was sad and then the puppet (she said a name I can't remember) asked her at the end of the day if she liked her day at school she said yes. She said her teacher is really nice and she really likes her. I asked her if they learned any rules she said hers was listen to the teacher. She must have raised her hand and said that or something. On the way home she told me that she did not want me to leave because she did not know that her teacher was going to stay there and she did not want to be alone in the class in case her teacher went camping or something. Funny girl! Never really know what is going on in that little mind of hers. We came home and I started dinner(her fav - taco salad) and she got to play outside a little bit with her friends. Daddy came home and we had dinner and then we all went for a treat to Dairy Queen. It was a fun and memorable first day of school. Memorable too because Daddy came home with a nice (and big) surprise! See picture below.
On the front porch ready to go
New backpack
Walking big sister to school
Her very sweet teacher
Having ice cream with Daddy and Connor
Ice Cream
Our big surprise that Daddy brought home. Yay! We LOVE it!

Side note: Malcolm did not just go out and buy a van today. Getting this van has been in the works we just did not know when it would happen and I had no idea it would happen today. So it was a fun surprise!

Meeting Her Teacher

We had a great morning meeting Madalyn's teacher and seeing her classroom. I really like her teacher and think it is going to be a great start to her school career. I didn't get a picture of her with her teacher but I will be sure to get one on Thursday(her first official day). I got to look at the class list and we found out that a little girl she liked to play with (and another little boy)who were on her soccer team are both in her class and then a little girl from her preschool last year. Madalyn was excited to hear that they were in her class too. I have always wanted to be really involved and a part of things when my kids started school so I bit the bullet and signed up to be the Special Event Co-ordinator. This is stepping outside of my comfort zone but I know I will be happy I did it later. I always think that some other mom could do a much better job than I could (which is probably true) but no one else had signed up yet so now they are stuck with me. When I was growing up I think I would have been called the Room Mom. I have to make sure we have enough food and things for any parties throughout the year and volunteers for field trips. I am giving myself an anxiety attack just thinking about it because sometimes I don't feel like the most organized person in the world but I know that I CAN do this! I will be praying a lot that the Lord will guide me through this and I can meet some people and make some friends along the way. I will update again on Thursday.

Walking to the school
Sitting in her assigned seat
She really liked the puppets and puppet show station
Out in front of her school. She really did not want me to take a picture.