First Day of School

Woohoo for the First Day of School!!!

 Tyson knows the routine and is pretty chill about the whole thing.  He's a second grader for goodness sake :) (That's what he tells me when I try to hug and love him and call him my baby)

 Taylor is a stress case (I don't know where she got it from).  She spent the entire morning stressing about EVERYTHING!

 She reported when she got home that the first day was horrible.  A boy poked her in the eye and cut in front of her in line.  This same boy did not follow the rules of going down the slide.  I also forgot to pack her a snack (because I forgot to read the 5 pages of stuff her teacher handed me at open house) so she didn't have a snack for snack time and had to sit there while everyone else ate.  Maybe her stress was warranted :)

 Hayden was so excited to ride on a real school bus and even though she can't speak very well she some how rubbed it in her brother and sister's face all morning.  She also had at least 3 full scale melt downs before going to school.  Maybe I should have thought twice about afternoon school.

 She had a good day at school and received a smiley face on her daily note.

 For breakfast the kids had the super amazing Jimmy Dean egg, cheese, & sausage croissants.  They were very excited and then all they ate was the sausage.  Sorry Jimmy Dean :(

 Since Tyson is such a big kid now I decided we should start the year off right with him making his own lunch.  I know I am such a mean Mom not to make lunch on the first day.

 He did great, what a good kid!

 Hayden went on her first school bus ride and loved it.

 Even the rain couldn't  dampen the thrill of a first bus ride.  I guess all the excitement wore our little Hay Hay out, she fell dead asleep on the bus ride home and had to be woken up to get out.  Adorable :)

Crazy first day!  Hayden's bus was very late because it broke down.  Rain and nasty weather.  I have figured out two different carpools so I only have to go to the school once a day.  I pick 7 kids up every afternoon which was very hairy today, but I know it will get better.  I can't complain when some people have to go to the school up to 5 times because of staggered start times.  Here's hoping all the bugs get worked out soon.  Yeah for school!!!

Football

Tyson has started his first tackle football season!

 We had quite a bit of drama over here on Friday.  We got a call that even though we signed up and paid our money months ago.  The team has been practicing since July and we needed to buy all of the gear and get to practice that night from 6pm-8pm and then again on Saturday from 8am-11am.  The people were so rude and horrible on the phone, they told me I should go to "the doc shop, somewhere on Lindell and Sahra" to buy all the gear.  Google didn't come up with any results, the yellow and white pages had nothing about a doc shop.  So off I blindly drove with 4 kids in tow.

I got to the corner of Sahara and Lindell and started panicking until I drove a little farther and saw a store called the "Jock Shop". (I honestly asked her the name 3 times)  They had a sign out front saying, "We sell football gear".  We went in with fingers crossed and found this amazing guy who measured Tyson and fitted him with everything he will need.  Tyson didn't stop smiling the whole time we were there.  He is so excited!  I think if it hadn't been for this amazing salesman I would have told Tyson sorry, but we aren't going to do football this time.  I was a bit overwhelmed but this guy made it all so easy. (Not cheap, but easy :)

 The problem with demanding all the gear and telling us about a practice that night was that I had plans already and was babysitting.  I called a good friend and she took him over for practice Friday night until I could get there.  Turns out the football team he is on is actually 4 teams.  The Ducks have 4 divisions and all the kids who are in the 4 divisions who are returning have been practicing since July.  The first game isn't until September 21st and Ty will have weeks of practice.  Also they aren't even practicing with full gear yet.  Tyson is just so excited he wants to wear his helmet all through practice.  (I could actually kill the lady who called me)

 These are pictures of his second practice.  I thought he would go to these 2 and 3 hour practices and tell me it's not for him but he loves it so far. And even though I am furious at the lady who called and at the company who don't run things very smoothly, I was thinking I am glad we didn't have to give up July and most of August sitting in the heat practicing.

 This is Tyson's favorite part of practice he tells me.  He loves to run and hit the coaches.  He is all boy :)

 He is working on backward running and he really hates this crab crawling they have to do.  He told me I should buy him some gloves so it doesn't hurt his hands.  I told him the coach isn't going to wait for you to put on gloves, he'd probably make you run laps just for trying.

 Tyson is scared to make the coach mad.  He doesn't want to run extra laps :)  One kid moved the coach's cone and got a lap. 

 He is dying to wear his gear and padded pants.  Such a goof!

This is our life this fall, 4 practices a week and somehow we are also going to fit church soccer in too.  Can you believe they don't practice on Thursday nights?  Of all the luck :)  Yeah for football!!

Earrings

The other day we were at the mall and I decided to get the little girls ears pierced.

 I was thinking about it for a while and Jason was with me so we did it.

 I don't know if Hayden knew what was going on.  She just liked being the center of attention and loved the bear she got to hold.

 They wrote the dots on her ear and then called a gal over to do both at once.  Thank goodness!!

 They told her to look at my nose but she just pointed to her own nose.

 The girl is so hardcore she didn't even make a peep!!  Her eyes got a little misty and she told the girl, "You hurt my ear!"

 She did fine with the cleaning and forgave the girl pretty quickly.

 The worst part was, right before we got out of the mall she pulled one out!  We had to go back to Claire's and they had to repierce it.  She did cry for a second on that one.  Only Hayden would need to get her ear pierced twice in one day.  She is the most prone to accidents person I have ever met!

 Next up was Ry Ry.  She was already pass nap time so she was not a happy camper.

 I had to hold her legs in between my legs, hold her arms down with one arm and hold her head still with my other arm.  Stressful!

 She lost her mind and screamed and screamed. I am such a mean Mom, I know :(

 Aren't they adorable though?!?

 She'll forgive me when she's older.

Girls are so fun!!!

Taylor Anne at 5

Taylor had her birthday in July and I am just barely getting around to talking about my #1 girl.  Taylor and I have a very hard relationship.  In her head she thinks she can only love one parent.  I don't know where this came from but she goes out of her way to tell me how much she only loves her Dad.  She only draws pictures for him, she wants to be with him all the time, and wants to be just like him.  In an attempt to better our relationship we went on our first Mommy/daughter date.  We went to get pedicures and went shopping at our favorite Target.

 At 5:
Taylor loves to draw and be creative.  She tells everyone she is an artist.  It's adorable!
She picks out her clothes every day and is VERY particular in what she wears.  She also likes to pick out clothes for the little girls.
Taylor is shoe, chapstick, and purse obsessed.  I don't know how I got these girly girls but all three of them are the same in that regard.
She is so smart!  If she meets you once she knows your name and something about you.  She is a people person.

 Taylor is going to do so well in Kindergarten.  She is so close to reading by herself!
She still has major hair issues and doesn't like to do anything other than a side braid or have her hair down. I drives me batty!
Taylor loves to swim and is doing so well learning to swim under water.
She follows her brother everywhere and is his #1 fan.  I will find her hilariously laughing at his dumbest joke.

 Taylor still has asthma issues but hasn't had any major problems in months.  She is on a nightly Singular that has really helped calm down her allergies which are the trigger for her attacks.  Fingers crossed that she is growing out of her asthma issues.
She is a big helper to me.  She loves to help paint when I am doing my projects. She also helps a ton with the little girls.

 Taylor and Hayden have a love/hate relationship.  One minute they will be having so much fun playing together and the next they are brawling. 
Taylor's favorite color is pink and her favorite gift to get is make up.  Sadly make up is outlawed in our house.  Our upstairs carpet will never be the same after she got a makeup box for her birthday.
Taylor is the best liar I know, maybe even better than me.  She can look at you straight face and tell you an absolute lie. It is a skill which will serve her well later in life :)
She is a great eater and has no real food hang ups.  We are blessed with good eaters.

Her favorite food is chicken nuggets and her favorite restaurant is Macayos where she will eat a ton of TCT's.
Taylor still is not the best at the movie theater but is getting better each time.  She does not like to sit and watch TV shows either, she likes to be actively doing something.
She is still learning how to ride her bike without training wheels, not quite there yet :)
Taylor is our beautiful, smart, sassy, amazing girl!  We are so lucky to have her in our family!!!

Last Swim Lessons

We had our last session of swim lessons at Silver Mesa Rec Center.

 Tyson did excellent and passed all of his tests.  The underwater swimming.

 And floating.

 Ryan can't wait till it's her turn :)

 Taylor did great and loved playing the game where they get the rings.

 Hayden still does not like to go under the water.

 This is as far as she'll go.

 Hayden is also not quite getting the kicking while holding on to the wall.

 She likes to cheat.

 The teacher took her down the slide and she was done.  Hayden is not a fan of the slide.

 Taylor loves the slide and would go down it over and over if she could.

 Tyson was being such a weirdo and slowing himself down that his teacher got him and made him go fast down the slide.  So funny.

Even though they forget everything each year I am so grateful that the kids love to go to swim lessons.  It makes the summer so fun!