welcome back, school year! we missed you.

Oh man, my kids love school. Stuart has been counting down the days till Kindergarten since the day Whitney started school a year ago. He hit the ground running and hasn't looked back. A week or two in, he brought home a folder of his school work and excitedly sat me down at the table to show me. As he cracked the folder open ceremoniously, he hesitated and looked very seriously at me and said, "Now, this is quality work, mom." Got it. I'm ready.

Whitney loves 1st grade even more than Kindergarten, if that's possible. Almost every day, she comes home from school with some anecdote about her hilarious teacher that's so funny she can barely speak. Whitney has fully embraced her female identity these days. Everyday she dresses in some variation of pink and purple frilly skirts and bedazzled shirts with flowers or kitties or ponies. She spends all of her creative time drawing unicorns. I love that she spent her first few years into dinosaurs and Spiderman, but I also love this new age of rock 'n roll princess.

Spencer wasted no time taking over as king of the castle. The first day of school, he immediately took over Whitney's computer chair throne, then climbed onto the couch in the late morning and announced that he would like a movie with popcorn and cookies and chocolate milk. How do you say no to that? We're four weeks in and he still insists that we pack him a lunch in his lunch box everyday with the big kids', and then zip it into his back pack which he takes EVERYWHERE: the grocery store, the jogging stroller, the park, the library, etc. 

best. summer. ever.

Its a good thing I stink at remembering to take my camera places with me or this would be a long post. We had such a fun, busy summer that we didn't want to waste one minute looking back or blogging till we literally slid head-long into the figurative home plate of the "quote-unquote" school year, dusty and bruised. Literally. (see Meriam-Webster for the actual, effectual--a.k.a. ineffectual--definition of literally.)

At very long last, we parted ways with the purple neon. She proved to be the source of many miracles in our 12 years together. I couldn't stand to be there to watch them tow her away. Even Rob cried a little with me when he came to tell me that the deed was done.

Stuey celebrated his 5th birthday with a Mario Party, complete with a Pin the Shell on the Yoshi game and a King Boo pinata. Aunt Kristina gracefully talked me down from murdering King Boo just before we finally finished covering him in a million little pieces of tissue paper. And then we forgot to take a picture before he was destroyed. Curses!

Our cul-de-sac threw a block party complete with a splashy bounce-house and a tour of a fire truck.

We tried to be dog owners again, but it just isn't in my cards. (She followed me home on a run, so we spent a week trying to find her owner. Alas, after no one came to claim her, and she pooped and peed on the carpet repeatedly, nibbled a hole in it, got a flea, and drove the neighbors bonkers with her repeated escapes from the yard, I realized why no one came to claim her and sent her off to the shelter.)

We had 2 successful rounds of swim-lessons. The older kids both swam confidently all summer long without any help. It was AWESOME!

Woke up one morning to the entire kitchen covered in every blanket in the house. (Weighted down by porcelain bowls. Can't foresee any problems with that...)

Played restaurant. Over. And over. And over again. Upstairs. With food. Over carpet. In the bedroom. It makes them so happy though.

Enjoyed visits from Aunt Kristina, Rob's parents, and the Hatch family this summer. This is all the cousins doing synchronized cannon balls. They spanned in age from 4-14 and they all played so happily together! We also spent a day at Sea World and saw the Alamo. Yep. Forgot my camera...and the fact that I have one built into my phone.

We spent the occasional lazy day at the lake with cousins or friends, digging in the sand, throwing rocks off the pier and splashing in the water. 

And we auto-filled every other day of sweltery summer with a trip to the swimming pool. 

Sigh... SO MUCH FUN. So glad its over. Literally. Like, not in the figurative sense.

all I want for Christmas...

 This is technically her fourth lost tooth, but its her first front tooth (and boy, was the baby tooth looking skeewampus, so we're glad to have it gone.) She was so excited to post the pictures for grandmas and grandpas to see.

I'm sure by Christmas we'll be singing the whole song.

what we've been up to

Spencer recently turned 2. Just like his older siblings, cake does not interest him. He specifically requested donuts for his birthday cake. 

I love this outfit he's put together.

I also love this outfit that Whitney's put together. This is her daily ensemble lately. Glittery t-shirt, frilly skirt over funky leggings, messenger bag, and sunglasses come headband.

We decorated eggs for easter. 

We had a muppet movie night in sleeping bags.

Spence recently spent 2 weeks in a cast unnecessarily. But, I assure you, he made the most of the situation.

And Stu lost his first tooth! He was so excited to get his first visit from the tooth fairy and subsequent trip to the Dollar Store. Since then, he asked me how much it costs to bounce on the giant bungee sling at the mall. When I told him it was an exorbitant $4, he gasped excitedly, "I only have to lose 4 teeth?!" I thought about suggesting plasma donation, but he'll discover that soon enough.

just stuff

We've had lots of beautiful weather this month. We spend hours everyday riding bikes and scooters in the cul-de-sac. This fine day pictured here, we had a pistachio picnic. Spencer has recently fallen in love with Stuart's old winter coat which is too small and, I suspect, too warm on an 80 degree day. Whitney had the right idea and sat in the shade.

She never leaves home without a tutu. 

They love playing with the kids down the street. Stuey and Joey are inseparable despite a 3 year age difference.

My 3 little princesses can't handle eating a frozen gogurt without a napkin wrapped around it to keep their hands from getting cold. Spencer has recently begun insisting that I tape the napkin in place so that it doesn't shift. I've attempted to stage a resistance but they fight me back every time. 

Stuart, my little people pleaser, found a happy alternative for both of us. We've recently discovered that you can check out hand puppets from the library, and he loves to have his dog feed him a gogurt.

Spencer has adopted a "Teetle" (turtle) and "Hooper" (the hampster from PBS Kids).

This is a class project Whitney did for Valentine's Day. If you can't read it, it says, " My mom loves me and why because mom always says I love you. Edmond is in love [with me] I know because Connor told me." She does not lack confidence, my Whitney.

christmas in february

For those of you requesting "new" pictures, this is the newest I've got. Conveniently though, I still haven't posted any Christmas pictures yet, so here ya go!

That is seriously all I've got. They're reading the Night Before Christmas in their Christmas pj's. (We didn't even bother buying a jammie shirt for Stu this time around. It would have been flushing money down the toitie. He's pushing his train across the carpet as I type, in "naked pecs" as he calls them.)

And here's a cute little painting I did from someone else's genius again. (This is from a book called Lapin Plays Possum. The illustrator is Scott Cook. I love his stuff. Obviously. Maybe this year I'll paint something of my own.)