Meet Charlotte

Anybody else get excited about bugs? Chad helped McKinley catch a praying mantis 2 or 3 weeks ago and I never knew a bug could be so loved. She exercises it, catches it food, made a fortress of a cage for it, and really just loves it. At one point Charlotte was looking sad and McKinley decided it would be best to release her into the wild. She cried and cried and ultimately we decided to make her a bigger enclosure. When she didn't perk up after that, Lilia caught a replacement Charlotte for her. Now we have a Scarlet Charlotte.

She obviously finds much joy in this bug.

And she is quite the monkey bug!

 

Last of the Firsts

This is our last "first day of preschool". Holy cow this mama is having mixed feelings all over the place! I'm so happy for all the growth and change my kids are doing. I'm proud of each one of them and the independence that they are growing into. But... I miss my babies! I had such good sleepers, and calm babies (most of the time) that I loved the infant stage. The toddler stage was a little hit and miss but the excitement and awe that emanates from them is something that just cannot be duplicated. And now begins the last preschool stage, the explosion of growth and learning while there is still a love for it. I've handled it just fine without a glance backward until 2 weeks ago. It all started when the kids went for their haircuts. Ms McKinley was debating between a trim and a bob and ultimately decided on a bob. I had no clue what I was getting myself in for. Talk about being hit by an emotional garbage truck! POW! 😂 I walked in with my sweet young baby and walked out with a sassy big kid. I kid you not. She is adorable in the bob but I'm dying that her pigtails are gone! Hair grows back. That isn't the issue. I'm just facing the reality of my last baby growing up and there are aspects of that- that are hard!

First day of preschool and this kid is so excited! So excited that she set her clothes out for it 2 days ago and tried to go each following morning. I hope she enjoys preschool. I'm excited for her. This kid already knows her ABCs, is practicing writing, and counts to 100. Those are kindergarten goals! But she wants friends and she loves to learn, so I think preschool will be good for her.

Teacher's favorite? Waddya think? LOL

She even got to take a picture with a celebrity on her bday! Modern-day Abe!

McKinley with Mrs. Fun, she didn't even hesitate to go with her and of course, jabbered to her the whole way up the drive.

Mrs Fun was also Lilia and Ebony's preschool teacher. Each year on the first day of school she gives a little gift bag to the parents thanking them for trusting her with their child. In the bag is a bag of herbal tea, a package of kleenex, a couple chocolate kisses, a cotton ball and an instruction sheet. The instruction sheet basically says "After you dry your tears, kick your feet back and relax with a cup of tea, squeeze the cotton ball to remind you of your soft child and have a kiss or two". 

When I went to pick McKinley up, she was beaming, had made a friend "halfway", and jabbered all about the rules. She told me about whisper bugs that you put in your mouth to quiet your voice and bubbles that you put in your mouth to be quiet,  how you have to stand on a circle, and wait your turn. She also told me all about the "naughty" boy who did none of these things. 😂

And then at the grocery store in a moment of insight beyond her years, she told me, "You know Mom, I'm not going to be cute forever". Well shoot kid. You sure? This getting big stuff is kinda over-rated!

 

A Step Back in Time

Why a step back in time you ask? Chad and I got to go out on the town as parents of TWO kids tonight. It was so easy! LOL. For realz. It was a nice and relaxed and fun evening.

When Lilia got invited to spend the day at the Eastern Idaho State Fair with a friend, and Jaedyn was babysitting all afternoon/evening we decided we wanted to do something too. So we went to Snake River Landing to take a walk down their beautiful and manicured trails. But to sweeten the deal, we first stopped at Love at First Bite and got some treats for everyone, including those of us not present tonight lest they think we forgot about them! Mmmm nothing sweetens the deal quite like chocolate. Except for maybe chocolate and caramel. And of course chocolate, caramel, and nuts! Someone, somewhere is sitting on quite the pile of dough for thinking that combination up!

We played...

and played...

and played!!!

The trail we chose circled a lake at the end. Beside the lake were 2 huge willows growing right next to each other creating a hollow and covered area. Walking under the drooping boughs was so reminiscent of my childhood. I loved wooded areas, and when young my favorite thing to do was play I was homeless and living in the outdoors. Maybe I read a few too many of The Boxcar Children? But I really did love it. The tree formed a perfect canopy overhead with a clearing underneath. There were large rocks with bowl shapes in them. My imagination, gone stagnant for quite a while, was going crazy tonight! What made me chuckle was when McKinley suggested we play a game where under the willows was our house. Yes! And the door opened to the lake, beautiful! And we could sleep under the stars. 

Ebony found some roses and asked if she could eat the petals. LOL

After our walk Chad took us to Mackenzie River Pizza for dinner. We had about a 25 min wait for food but with 2 kids it was nothing! Here McKinley is trying on her whiskers as she wears Ebony's roses in her hair. At the door there were signs posted stating the grill was closed due to lack of employees and that they are currently hiring for all positions. COVID has really created quite the situation as our government keeps sending out relief checks, people are deciding they can either make more, or make enough more easily so they are quitting their paying jobs and opting to stay at home living off of the handouts. It really is putting business owners in a bind. We've seen it occurring with our nursing staff at my office too. It is really hard to find people willing to work lately, and it is so sad!

Once we were seated, we had to wait about 40 minutes to get our food. Ebony made a comment about how long the lady (our waitress) was taking to bring us our food. Oh no girlie. She's one of the good ones. She's here working. We had a discussion about the signs at the door and how this was expected. How we need to be patient because though it seems easy to point fingers at the front line, the people we see struggling to keep up with the workload, the problem does not lie with them. 

When our food did come, we had a good laugh over the size of the "kid's meals" which were huge! Compared to Chad's flatbread pizza which was more of an appetizer size. So I shared my salad and chili, Ebony shared her pizza, and McKinley shared her fruit and fries. We all left feeling well fed and happy. And to top that off, chocolates were waiting in the car for us!

My favorite pic of the night right here. McKinley exchanged headdresses with Chad. Isn't he a great dad?! He's looking a little like Abraham Lincoln these days without his 'stache. But the swelling in his lip has almost completely resolved and the incisions are looking really good!

It was a fun evening. Nice to be out on the town and enjoying our little ones. We love and missed our big girls though!

 

First X Country Meet

Ms Jaedyn had her first Cross Country meet today. She ran the 2500 meter. It was located in Arco which is over an hour away. So I grabbed the girls on their walk home and we raced over to watch the race at 4. We got there with 10 minutes to spare! Jaedyn was headed to the starting line when we got there and the smile on her face when she saw us made it all worth it! She broke away from the group to come give us hugs and then ran to catch up to the others. 

Here are the cute cheerleaders as we waited to catch sight of big sis. Besides McKinley being mad that she wore her white shoes in the dirt (seriously, what 4 year old cares? LOL) they were all happy to be there!

And there she is! 

Post work out face in all it's glory. I could kiss this face! Actually, I'm pretty sure I did! 😘

Little miss got stung by a wasp right before Jaedyn came into view! She said he just flew toward her with his bum! Mean ol bug!