First Day!!!

August 20, 2009 was Elayna's first day of Pre-K! She was so excited for this day and had been waiting to go all week. We met her teacher Mrs. Talley the Monday before school and she was completely delightful! Elayna is very lucky to have such a great Pre-K teacher.

We decided (I decided) Elayna would go half day for at least the first semester of school. She still thinks she wants to go all day, but I know that once she does go all day she can never go back. So, I am holding out as long as I can.

The day was overwhelming for her. When I picked her up she started to cry and say that she missed me...and I must admit I was glad to see she is normal and that she needs me (even if it is just a little bit).

She then told me that multiple kids threw blocks at her head! I thought, "wow! how sad, she did not have a good first day of school. Arn't all kids supposed to have a great first day!?!" not so. After talking to her teacher the next day I learned that it was not plural KIDS it was 1 boy and it was an accident...he turned and bonked Elayna on the head ONCE...not multiple times...so maybe she is a little dramatic... It was a big deal to her...but now I understood completely and I was happy to know it was not a big deal.

Needless to say the SECOND day of school was much better!

Here she is watching cartoons all ready for school. That has been the only day she has been ready enough to watch tv before school.

It was raining out so we took a picture inside

Inside her classroom. This is her nervous smile.

One more picture. E playing before class begins

While Layna was at school Corbyn and I went to Hobby Lobby to browse with my good friend Tiffany. We didnt know what to do without our girls I guess because we spent almost the entire time at the store walking around. I picked up a little art project for Elayna & I to do that afternoon so she didnt feel like she was missing out by not going to full day school.

Is that bribery??? ...Well so what if it is ;)

Happy Birthday Jace & Bear Lake Family Reunion...Its LONG...

OKAY...here we go...IN July we took a trip to Bear Lake in Idaho for a family reunion. We took a detour to Rexburg to see my sister and her little family for Jace's 1st Birthday.

We began the trip with Daylight donuts and various dollar store toys to entertain the kids, thanks to Grandma Patty who kept pulling new things out to keep them happy.Corbyn enjoying the ride so far...(first 15 mins of the trip)

My cousin Rachel was the stowaway and we were so happy to have her in our car. ONE she entertained the kids (which is the biggest one) and TWO she had fun & hip music on her Iphone to save us from listening to daddy's the whole way!!

This is when we got to the pretty parts of Wyoming...We drove through mountains and Jackson Hole near Yellowstone National Park...It really was beautiful!

Finally we made it and had Jace's birthday party the next afternoon. The cake was sooo yummy. We couldn't stop eating it all weekend...

This is Jace enjoying his birthday cake. He is so very cute and loved the icing, don't we all...

We had a cook-out in their backyard for his birthday with Great-grandma Kennedy & Rachel who drove up from Texas and Oklahoma as well, my mom and dad, my brother Matt who is at BYU Provo and Chad's brother Brett and his wife, Alyssa.

The weather was Fabulous...Even if it was hot, you didn't sweat!! Its great!! Of course, I
dont sweat normally anyway, so it wasnt that big of a deal to meeee, but you know :)

This is Rachel, Corby and Great-Gma Kennedy posing for a shot...

This girl could swing all day. She loves to swing...now if only she could pump herself !

Brett, Alyssa & Chad...the hamburgers were soo good...

My brother, Matt!!! He's Fantastic, really!

My dad and sister! we had a good weekend...I wished it was longer

Grandma and Jace

Too much fun...no strength to walk...

Jace was trilled to open presents.

After the party we then left to drive to Bear Lake.

Back in the car...We one side of th family to join the other side...It was a 3 hour drive from Rexburg to Bear lake so not too bad and the kids slept almost the whole way.

This is the cabin we stayed in. It was great!

The cabin had a tree house that was of course a big hit with the kids. When we were not at the beach they were up there playing house & "cleaning." I walked onto the 4th step & felt dizzy so I never did see inside the tree house but it seemed just fabulous!

This is the view of the beach- Isnt it FAN-tastic! The water was more blue then I imagined.
I loved the water!

Another view of the water! Cannot get enough of it!

Elayna starting a sand castle.

We spent two days on the beach and the kids had a blast. We never saw a fish and the water was shallow for about 100 yards so no worries for the moms. The kids had free reign and had a blast.

Corbyn, the little ham! decided he would hang out with the ladies and sunbath!
haha He knows where the fun's at...

Corbyn was in his element for sure. If he can get dirty or wet or dirty and wet he is a happy boy.

Elayna and cousin Colton playin in the water

The first day, we finally got the girls to ride the tube. We went super slow but they had a great time.

Layna & I sportin' the shades

My good-lookin boys!

The second day, we got more daring...Chad skiied...It was the first time in 7 years & he did really well...He wiped out good too! but we didnt get that photo!


My niece, Nikki got me to try standing on the tube. It was fun and the leg work-out was much needed! She & I had so much fun trying to do tricks.

We finally got a family shot. We could stay on the boat all day. We loved it!
On the second day Elayna got the courage to ride the tube fast. I couldnt tell if she liked it or not but when we were finished she was like, WOW I rode the tube, fast, huh. She was pretty thrilled.

The night time view. Awesome!

Last night at Bear lake...so sad

The whole Caldwell group, minus one family who couldnt make it...Great family!

So sad to say goodbye! Cannot wait for the next family reunion.

Water,Two Naughty Kids & Jane Austen...

One fine sunny afternoon, with a book in hand, I took the kids out in the backyard to play...the sprinkler was already on (we were trying get the grass to grow!) & we were all in our bathing suits.

Desperately trying to get some sun on my legs, I plopped into the lawn chair & began reading...my summer read is Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice and (who could blame me) I got soo into my book that I lost track of time & all knowledge of what my children were up to...

I have no doubt who instigated this little charade but nevertheless both kids were completely covered in RED....Oklahoma....mud!!!

I took their pictures & then had the pleasure of hosing them off... They enjoyed that part as much as the mud.

It is really cute how they were painting each other! They didnt even look up when I left to get the camera.

No chance of grass this summer. We gave up after this!!!

It's hard to take pictures while hosing your kids off with the water hose!

It did worry me (after the fact) that so much was going on right in front of me & I, being so captivated by Jane of course, was oblivious to it all!..I'll have to work on that before they are teenagers!