Another school year behind us. So crazy. We have an 18 year old that is finished with school, unless she decides to go to college. We have a 15 year old headed into his Sophomore year of high school, a 13 year old headed into her Freshman year of high school. Then, we have two left in elementary school: our 10 year old entering 5th grade and our 7 year old baby, who is going into 2nd grade. And me? I am left with a lump in my throat. Time is passing too quickly.

We won’t get the older two kids’ report cards for a little while, though I have an idea of their grades already. McKenzie and Bailey brought theirs home today. Both are doing very well, and just for the fact that they even brought their cards home, says that they had no lost library books at the end of the school year. This is no small feat for my kids. I’m serious! LOL.

Bailey at the beginning of the school year:

Bailey at the end of the school year:

She has grown SO much this school year.

McKenzie at the beginning of the school year:

McKenzie at the end of the school year:

The page the yearbook is flipped open to is the first page in the book. She’s pictured with her group of friends, the one in yellow

As we start our break, I have all different kinds of thoughts running through my head. It seems like with the change of season, I always have these big ideas of what I need or want to do with the kids. What we should do with our Summer. What type of system we should come up with for fair computer turns. What types of rewards I can give the kids for keeping up with their responsibilities and being kind to each other. What new games I can teach them and make a daily routine out of. The list goes on….I tend to make a plan for a plan for a plan and then end up with nothing accomplished. I think this summer, I’m not going to plan anything new and exciting. Take things as they come. Enjoy the season. Enjoy our time off, our late evenings and late mornings. Encourage reading. Make time for quiet moments and some wild and crazy ones. Just be on Summer Break. Not everything needs a system. I don’t need 20 new ideas or systems to implement. I can stick with what I know… because what I know does seem to work. I’m excited! Bring on Summer — whatever it may bring

Ahhh… I can’t believe my BABY is 7. I don’t know how this happened, but I know it does not feel like she should be THIS OLD. My babies are growing up way too quickly. Sad…

Bailey went roller skating on Saturday with her BFF Alexus. We then took them to the movies to see “The Tooth Fairy”. Cute movie and Bailey had been begging to see it. She asked me a few days ago if I could do something for her birthday that would surprise her. Her examples were concert tickets for Taylor Swift or a vacation. LOL. I said we already have a big vacation planned and can’t do any big surprises. She understood and then said maybe we could go to a movie and see The Tooth Fairy. I decided that was a surprise I could pull off So they didn’t know about it until we pulled into the parking lot. She was very excited. It was a great day and she had her first sleepover with her BF also… hopefully it was a very memorable way to celebrate her 7th birthday!

Pics…

Bailey’s gorgeous birthday cake that Grandma Lisa made. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

My two little girls think they WANT glasses. They think they are so CUTE… and don’t really listen to me when I tell them how much they’d hate them! I’ve worn glasses since 5th grade and the 3 older kids all have my impaired vision also. Ashlyn is the only one that wears contacts (great for her! Wish I could!) I can’t even fathom what it would be like to wake up and be able to see everything perfectly without a cloud of fuzziness surrounding everything.

Anyway, without rambling on too much more… this is what two silly girls do while their big brother is getting an eye exam. They look pretty cute and all, but I am SO thankful for their beautifully perfect eyeballs!

The kids were able to purchase Valentines at school for the past week to have sent to their friends. Bailey came home all excited today because she got 3 of these Valentines today. I asked her who they were from.. one was from her BFF Lexi (this wasn’t a shocker, Bailey sent one to her too LOL). Another was from a boy named Michael (awww!!) and the third one was from… guess who… BAILEY!!! I asked her why she sent one to herself, and she said “BECAUSE I LOVE MYSELF, MOMMY!”. lol. Note: Teach my child to be a little more modest. I have to say I admire her confidence in herself. But… I really do think that she’s totally in love with herself!!

This is the last of the Valentines that came home in one piece. The other two she had the candy gone before she even walked in the door LOL.

Maybe one of these days we’ll have video to post also…. but here are pictures for now. This was McKenzie’s first time doin Cheer Camp. Bailey has done many. They both had a blast and it was really fun watching them practice together.

McKenzie finally got an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas. It’s topped her list for several years in a row now. I think she likes the idea of being able to make a treat, at any given time, without my help. I personally thought the Easy Bake Oven took more supervision and time from me, than say… a batch of chocolate chip cookies! Hopefully, now that we know how to work the thing, the process will go much quicker/smoother next time around. It was fun though! Both the girls made little ‘Smore cookies that smelled good! They both said they tasted great, so thumbs up all the way around.

CHECK! Another Christmas gift PLAYED WITH and put away. Woohoo!

Check out Kenzie’s eyes in this one…
The green sweatshirt totally makes her eyes look green!

Question: Why do they charge extra for an “adult lunch” if they give you the same size portion as a “child”? LOL.

David and I went to the Thanksgiving Feast at the two little girls’ school today. Small perk of David working a later shift… normally he’d have been working. And, I just took a couple of hours off. To see how excited McKenzie was that I surprised her by being there, was TOTALLY worth it. She was so excited. Made my heart smile.

Bailey’s lunch was at 11am. We were waiting for her class to come down from the classroom and David spied Miss Bailey a mile away…. I don’t think he saw her before she left for school, so he didn’t know what she was wearing, but he could tell it was her…. she was dancing her way to the cafeteria along the yellow line. When I say this girl doesn’t walk, she dances…. I am not kidding! Okay, there are times where she’s not dancing, but in that instance, she’s pretending to be a cat or a dog and on all fours. LOL. What a goofball!

Lunch was good, just like I remember from when I was in 1st grade! I gave my pie to Bailey… just ‘cuz I’m just a nice mommy, that’s why. Maybe because I knew I was going to get another one when we ate with Kenzie. LOL.

We then headed for the book fair where Bailey picked up and put down every book there I think… she finally settled on one and we headed back out to wait for McKenzie. She had an exciting day today, because she also got to go on a field trip to see the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory play.

David and I decided to eat again. LOL. We figured we could have just taken turns eating, but oh well. Really when all was said and done we’d felt like we’d gotten a full meal after we’d eaten 2. LOL. And I ate his pie… ‘cuz he’s a just a good hubby, that’s why.

McKenzie bought a couple of books and picked out one for her class to donate.

Miss Bailey had to decorate a turkey for school this week. She had crafts supplies from one end of the kitchen to the other. I watched her decorate it, but I didn’t do it for her…. she created this masterpiece ALL by herself. The only thing anyone helped her with was the hat, and that was Ashlyn’s idea. Just because little 6 year olds holding homemade turkeys are so darn cute, there are 3 pictures below all for your enjoyment

Mr. Turkey, up close and personal…