Picture Day!

Picture day 2012 started out as a disaster. I bought her this dress a while back and thought it would be cute for picture day and Samantha could not wait to wear it. That is until the morning of picture day. We had gone out the night before for new shoes to match and everything all for her to just throw a fit while getting dressed. She wanted to wear a fancy, poufy dress and I said no. She said all the girls were going to wear that. At 7:05 am, there I was, ironing a poufy dress. I was so mad. Finally she gave in because we were running really late. At the end of the day, she was happy with her outfit and said she would have been embarrassed in the poufy one because no one was wearing a fancy dress.

The drama has begun...

We're already slackin' it!

It's about 9:15 and I was getting the kids ready for bed and Samantha tells me she forgot to do her homework. Oh no! Thankfully, it's kinder and cutting and pasting takes about 5 minutes.

Of course Matt wanted in on the pictures too. I had him practice faces other than his squishy trademark smile and this is what I got.

All done!

Trying to make extra effort to keep his eyes open and smile. Now we have to work on the smile.

Homework already!

She came home with a homework folder on the first day of school. I have to read her a book every night, which I love and there are also small assignments here and there like practice counting to 20, cutting and pasting, and of course, practicing her name. She got frustrated towards the end, but she is really getting the hang of printing out her name and forming the letters properly.

Matt wanted in on the homework as well, so he sat next to us and cut paper. I tried to catch him in the act, but as soon as he sees a camera...cheese!

No more Pacifiers!!!!

I can't believe I didn't blog about this either...no more pacis for Matt!!! He finally gave it up sometime early August 2012. That's right, at 2 years and 4 months we are done! He pretty much did it on his own. I bought him a 2 pack of babies (As he refers to them) and within a few days he had chewed holes through the nipples and soon realized they were useless. I bought a backup pack just in case I ran into one of those nights where he really needed it to sleep. I bought latex ones that taste like a balloon hoping he would think they were gross, but lo and behold we never needed them :)

First Day of Kindergarten

I totally forgot to write about Samantha's first day of school. She had a great first day...no tears :) She loves her teacher, Ms. Craven. She has been a kindergarten teacher at that same school for over ten years, so I am really comfortable with leaving Samantha there. We are already about to start the third week of school and she has received a good behavior reward. (Now, if only she can act the same way at home.)

She Survived her First Bus Trip!

Samantha really wanted to ride the bus, so I drove her to school today and let her ride the bus home. My stomach was in knots all day wondering if she would make it home okay. School gets out at 2:45 and her bus was set to arrive down the street from our house at 3:05. So of course we left the house at 2:45  to go wait for her. We get to the stop at 2:47. And it's 98 degrees outside. Plus the bus was a little late due to first days and everyone getting into a routine and the bus driver getting to know which kid goes to which parent.

Matt was crazy running into everyone's yard and picking their flowers. I don't know what is more stressful: waiting in line in my car for an hour with a screaming Matt to get Sammy from parent pick up, or making sure Matt doesn't dart out into the street.

Of course we brought Sydney. If she sees you leave the house on foot, she better be going with you. She will get so sad and depressed thinking she missed out on a walk opportunity.

It's funny because she hates walking in the street, so at least she keeps Matt on the sidewalk.

Waiting...

There she is!!!! She made it and LOVED it!

She wants to ride the bus to school in the morning now too. It gets to the stop at 6:45. That's way too early for me, but if it means I just have to roll out of bed, get SAmmy ready and run down the street, then hey, it's worth it! Plus, I met a mom who's son is in another kinder class and he rides the bus with his sister who's in 3rd grade and she said she'll walk Sammy to her table in the morning. That was my one concern: How will she know where to go in the morning if I'm not there to drop her off?

Overall, I was highly impressed with the bus experience. 

She's so grown up and independent. I'm going to go cry my eyes out now.

Buccees!!!

My mom, Kassandra, the kids and I decided to head out to San Marcos to do some outlet shopping. Big Mistake. We went on a Sunday and it was tax free weekend. We literally drove into the parking lot, tried to get into one store and bailed. It was awful. So on our way back home we decided to stop at Bucceess in New Braunfels. It is a HUGE gas station. Google it. It's ridiculous. The store inside is pretty neat and the kids loved the toy section. Matt bought a bedazzled triceratops :(
Then we went across the street to Target and then to Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt. It was so good that we scoped out another frozen yogurt place on Monday. Both times I got cheesecake yogurt with oreo mix ins. Yum! Sammy ate a little bit and Matt refused all together. Maybe someday I can get my kids on board so I can visit the frozen yogurt bars more often.