The beginning of the end...

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have been dreading this very day for over a year now.  I did not want my baby starting Kindergarten.  Once school starts, the time just flies by and before you know it I'll be sending my baby to college.  And if she's anything like I was, she'll never be moving back home!  I know, I know, I sound pretty dramatic...but this is how I honestly feel.  I do have to say that the day wasn't a 'sobbing-chocolate ice-cream eating-crazy psycho mom-drama queen-tissue using-lazy on the couch-soap opera watching-depressed' kind of day.  I kept very busy and maybe that's how I was able to keep my composure.  I even got the wood blinds dusted (my least favorite chore) and the patio power washed.  I might actually have a clean house all the time...but probably not.  

We live just a couple of blocks away from school this year, which is a HUGE bonus!  I walked all the kids to school and stayed strong, but the walk home was pretty lonely and sad.  Just seeing them walk thru those doors in a brand new school, with a bunch of strangers made me a nervous wreck.  I was SO happy when that bell rang at 3:45 and my babies all came out of their first day of school with smiles on their faces.  Phew....HUGE sigh of relief.  

KJ is NOT the kind of kid to wear his heart on his sleeve.  When asked how he's doing, he is always 'fine'.  I have to pry to get anything out of him.  But I could tell that he didn't have the best day ever.  He said it was hard not to have any friends to play with at recess but he promised that tomorrow he'll be brave and ask some kids to play.  He recognized a couple of friends from church at school and one kid in his class is also in the same Scout troop as him, so that was good.  He said everyone was really nice and I think he'll end up liking his teacher, they share a love for Harry Potter.  I still can't believe how grown up he is.  I had to force a few pictures out of him.  But he'll be glad one day that I'm a shutterbug, at least I hope he will.  I love my sweet, kind hearted, smart, thoughtful, compassionate, shy, little/big guy.  I know he'll have a fantastic year!  

My little Jackie boy had his best first day yet!  I was MOST worried about him this year.  New transitions can be rough for him, but today he just seemed to roll with the punches and he seemed to fit right in!  He ran out of school and the first thing he said was "Mom, I had a GREEN day!"  Yay for green days.  Jack already knows a few friends in his class and I think that was huge in him not being so anxious today.  His teacher seems exceptional and very organized which is good for Jack!  I have a good feeling about Jack and his progress this year.  I know he's ready to make some good friends.  I know once the kids get to know him, they will fall in love with his fun, unique, quirky, inquisitive personality. 

And last, but certainly not least is my best friend and princess Olivia!  She has been very excited and was VERY ready to be in school.  She's my social butterfly and didn't have once ounce of nervousness today.  It's a good thing too, because it helped me knowing that she was confident and anxious to start her schooling!  She already has a handful of 'best friends'.  This little girl is going places.  She's got that magnetic, sweet, just the right amount of spunk in her personality that draws everyone near to her.  She's never met anyone she doesn't like. 

As I walked her to school, she held my index finger.  And she counted 1...2...3... Every time she gets to three she gets to twirl around.  It's just something we've been doing for years now.  I realized at that moment that she'll always be my little girl.  She brings magic and innocence and girly-ness to my life. 

Before the bell rang she asked if we could do our secret handshake.  She was worried that I would be sad.  That's when I knew I had to show her my smile and wish her luck as she waved goodbye.  She was the one wanting me to be brave.  What a sweetheart.

And just look at her, she's stinkin' adorable.  I sure love my baby.  

Since we all survived we decided to go get pizza and ice cream to celebrate! 

Here's to a great 2012-2013 school year!  Watch out world, the Howard kids are ready to take over!

Viva Las Vegas...

It's the night (technically the morning of) before the little ones start school and I'm the one too nervous to sleep.  It's the same feeling I used to get every year before I, myself, started school.  My nerves kick in and I get all worry-wart-ish.  What better way to forget about my anxiety than to type away and look at pictures of my fabulous weekend in Vegas.  I got home last night just in time to get ready for the new school year.  It was just the perfect little adult only get-a-way that I needed to be refreshed and ready for the new year.  I went from smoke clouds in the casinos to the smoke clouds of Boise.  Man, this has been one nasty fire season for the Western US.  Reality really kicked in when I started my car to head home and the Muppet's Soundtrack was blasting on the radio.  

Yep, my kid-free vacation was officially over!  

It is 'back to life...back to reality'.  *I know you just sang that song in your head, didn't you?!*  

I've finally convinced myself that these types of quick weekend get-a-ways are crucial to my sanity.  Laugh all you want, it's the truth.  I was one step away from the loony bin.  No lie.  

I forgot to get my camera out of my luggage the whole first day and I WASN'T going back to the hotel when there was so much to see and do in Vegas.  My phone battery was also dead, so I don't have any proof of our first day and night there.  Let's just say, I should have worn my comfy heels.  I started the trip off with blisters on my big toes, not good.  By the end of the night we had walked so much I went to the store just to buy a pair of comfy flip flops.  :)   We saw the Blue Man Group.  I'm not quite sure how the show has been playing so long.  I was really underwhelmed.  It was loud and a bit obnoxious and I really didn't see the humor.  But who knows, maybe it was because I was tired?  It is pretty hard to find a show I don't enjoy.  I am usually easy to please, but I thought it was a waste of time and money.  :)  Next time we'll see something a little different.  

Anyway... we ate lots of yummy food... saw lots of crazy stuff... ran in to some old friends from Bend on the strip (small world)... walked a lot... People watched... sweat a lot... met people at a work party... danced... shopped or rather window shopped at ridiculously expensive stores... laughed a lot... and slept very few hours.  It was a success!  I think Vegas should be a yearly trip!  We crammed a lot in, but still didn't get to do everything we had wanted.  

Here are some of our Vegas Daytime pictures...

Here is Vegas at night...

Wish me luck tomorrow sending ALL 3 KIDS TO SCHOOL, I'm gonna need it.  

Summer Shenanigans...

Once again, I find myself sitting down to blog stunned that another whole month has passed.  Really...where does the time go?  We have 10 days left of summer vacation.  boo-hoo.  And in that ten days we have company coming and I have a trip to Las Vegas so it'll be jam-packed once again.  I thought I had better get my buns in gear and post some pictures of a few things we found ourselves doing over the past few weeks.  Before I get too far behind and it's time for back to school pictures.  

Do you remember 'CliffsNotes' from your school days?  The quick-read and must know facts of a piece of literature you were supposed to read and 'forgot' until the last minute?  That's how this will be...the Howard 'CliffsNotes' of the past month.

Here it goes:

The Olympics this year robbed us of two weeks of free time.  Every chance we had, we were glued to the television!  I think this year more than ever.  Everyone at home was in to the Olympics this year.  I let the kids stay up much too late watching Michael Phelps, Bolt and the Fab 5 win gold medals, just to name a few.  It was a great year for the USA.  Olivia in particular LOVED the gymnastics.  She sat in awe of those ladies.  Isn't she adorable? 

We made some NEW friends here!  They invited us to come and play at a new park and splash pad.  I got talked in to doing a news interview for the local news about the park and safety of the splash pad.  I didn't get a chance to watch it on the news, but I'm sure I sounded scatter-brained because that's how I felt with each new question the guy asked me!  We are glad to slowly be making some new friends. The kids have really missed their Colorado friends this summer.  Once school starts, they'll have plenty of new friends!

One day the kids wanted to do some face painting.  It was actually pretty fun and a little scary all rolled in to one.  Jack painted his and quickly wanted it washed off before we were able to take a picture of all of us.  Any time any sort of art is involved, my kids are happy.  

Last week there was the Perseids meteor shower!  If you know anything about KJ, you would know that this is right up his alley.  My future astronaut.  He had his trusty telescope (from Grandma and Grandpa Howard) out and was so interested in watching the night sky put on a show!  Unfortunately, we are having some wildfires here and the sky wasn't as clear as we would have liked.  We did see a few 'shooting stars' and we made a fun 2 nights out of it.  We had originally added camping to our summer bucket list and just never had the chance to go this summer so we decided to make the best of it and pitch the tent in the backyard during the 2 night meteor shower.  The kids liked this almost as much as 'real' camping.  I liked that we could run inside when it was time to brush teeth or go potty.  Pretty convenient.  We left the cover off the top of the tent so we could see the stars as we fell asleep.  It was a memorable time!  

And what's camping without smores?  We have a microwave smores kit that makes pretty darn good smores.  We also added some oreo's to the smores (kids idea) and it was pretty tasty.

The most consistent and regular summer activity we did was walk to this splash park a couple of blocks away.  Almost every night after dinner we walk down there and let the kids splash around and get some energy out before bedtime.  

K, mom's, here's a tip for you:  If your kids are anything like mine, you will find them spending more time in front of a TV screen than you'd like.  Go to a bike shop and ask them for their extra bike frame boxes.  Let your kids go wild decorating their own 'houses'.  My kids spent a whole day doing this.  They were pretty creative adding chimneys and sky lights and mail boxes.  This was a fun and free activity.  

ROARING SPRINGS!!!!  This was all three kids #1 bucket list item for the summer.  We went yesterday and they had a BLAST!!!  We were there til the park closed.  They didn't want to leave one minute earlier.  

Jack comes up with the wackiest outfits almost every day.  I think he'll either be a really really poor dresser or some famous fashion designer someday.  Hey, if he can someday buy me a ranch like Ralph Lauren's, I'll be as happy as a clam.  Until school starts, I'll let him be as creative as he wants.  :)  Who doesn't love skinny legs with short shorts and cowboy boots?

One day we met some of our old friends from Colorado Springs who recently just moved here too!  We were so excited to see them again!  We spent the day at the river!  We met up with some friends and left with a new friend.  Meet Bubba, KJ's temporary pet.  He even made it a boat to play on.  Ha!  

He's no longer a pet, we let him go free!  I no longer have an ugly crawdad in my bath tub.  Eww. 

I have a new cousin!!  Troy and Katie had their baby!  Dax....he's adorable!

Next week we can add two more cousins...Tawni is having her twin girls Thursday! 

KJ was able to go mountain biking with my dad and was so proud to finish two whole 'junkyard' laps!  Pretty tough little guy.  My dad said he was bright red by the end.  KJ said his legs were wobbly and he could hardly stand up.  Either way, I'm glad he was able to have some 'boy time' and get some exercise while he was at it!  

I think I hit most of the highlights, or at least the ones I took pictures of!  

Here's to the last ten days of freedom....