Little Lady

She's 16 months, but she might as well be going on 16 years. My little Chloe is growing up and I'm not sure I'm okay with that. Last week I told her it was time to go bye-bye. She darted up the stairs and descended with a pink purse over one arm and a pink bracelet on the other. She is definitely a princess.

First Day of School

You know that commercial that shows the dad shopping for school supplies with the music "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" playing in the background? Well, that's how I felt by the time school started this year. I have really been struggling with the fact that my little Jackson is starting kindergarten (especially here in Texas where kindergarten is a full day). But I have to admit that our last week of summer changed all of that for me. We had lots of rain so we couldn't go to the pool and it seemed that the dreary weather brought out the worst in all of us. The kids fought constantly and I wasn't exactly cheery myself.

And then Monday came and Kelsie ventured off to the new and wonderful world of 3rd grade. Jackson and I went to kindergarten orientation and spent one last afternoon hanging out together. And everything seemed to go back to normal. We just needed a little structure in our lives.

Jackson's first full day of school was Tuesday. It was a crazy morning, trying to get 2 kids dressed, fed, and ready, but somehow we got them both there on time. As much as I hate to admit it, I think I will have to start waking up earlier. (Yuck!) I had these grandiose dreams of getting so much done while the kids were in school and I wasn't nearly as productive as I hoped for, but I did get a chance to clean the house and have a couple of hours to myself while Chloe slept. I didn't turn the tv or the radio on all day, I just enjoyed the peace. By the time 3:00 rolled around I was so anxious to hear every detail of Jackson's day. I wanted to know who he sat by, what he did, who he played with at recess, what his favorite part of the day was, and on and on. And when I picked him up and asked him how his first day was, all he said was "Fun! Can I go play now?" I think I missed him more than he missed me.

Violated

Sadly, my computer has contracted a virus. I feel so frustrated and, well, violated! The particular virus that my computer has is worse when I am online, so even checking my e-mail has become an ordeal, thus no posts on the blog.

We decided after weighing all of our options, that it just might be time to buy a new computer. I was a little hesitant because it's a big purchase that I wasn't exactly planning on, but it arrived today and I have to say it is totally worth every penny!

Look for updates and pics from our trip soon.

He Passed!

Yesterday was a good day. After 4 weeks and 4 days of waiting, Wally finally got his CPA results and..... he passed! All those long hours spent studying, large amounts of caffeine consumed, and slightly stressed-out (I hesitate to say grumpy) moments were worth it. Okay, the last two apply to me. We celebrated by taking the kids to Ritzy's for dinner. It's a fun little restaurant with great salads, sandwiches, and ice cream and best of all, the kids eat FREE! We spent some much needed family time together, totally relaxed, just laughing and enjoying being together. And then back home to study for the next test. I know I'm supposed to have joy in the journey, but when this whole CPA journey is over, I will rejoice!

Aloha!

There are lots of benefits to living in an HOA. The grounds are always well-kept, we have community facilities such as swimming pools, and every few months we have neighborhood events. On June 7, our HOA hosted the first annual Tahitian Luau. We stopped by and had an awesome time! They brought in giant inflatable water slides, a big sand pile, Polynesian dancers, and dinner! Jackson thought he was in heaven playing on the mountain of sand and probably would have stayed there forever, had we not dragged him home. Chloe also loved the sand. She found a shovel and parked herself at the bottom of the pile. She graciously picked out all of the garbage and handed it to me after tasting it first, of course. Kelsie is getting to that too-cool-to-hang-out-with-mom-and-dad stage of her life and spent the evening with her friends. Since when did the teenage years begin at 8? The night ended with a performance by a group of Polynesian dancers. I enjoyed it right up until they started to look for volunteers to join them. All of Kelsie's friends went up and did the Hula and I was encouraging her to join them. "Come on, it will be fun!" I told her. And then when they wanted adult volunteers, I was out of there. I averted my eyes, shrunk down, and did my best to be invisible. "Aren't you going up there?" she asked me. And then I was faced with a dilemma. Do I set my pride aside and show my daughter that it's okay to go outside of your comfort zone, or do I flee? Yep, I fled. No sense in making a fool of myself in front of all my neighbors! All in all, we had a great time and will definitely go back next year.

No More Papers, No More Books....

Summertime. It's the time of year that kids live for and parents endure. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having Kelsie and Jackson at home, it's just that too much togetherness lends itself to disagreements. So while Kelsie and Jackson were celebrating, I was gearing up. I must admit that Kels and Jack had a great kick-off to summer with lots of fun end-of-year activities. Pre-school ended the last week of May with the main event being a graduation ceremony. The wind was a force to be reckoned with that evening and the kids had to hold their graduation caps to keep them from blowing away. The kids sang some songs, we snapped some photos, had some cake and celebrated the end of a very fun year.

Kelsie's last week of school seemed to drag on forever. Last year, the kids were out before Memorial Day. This year we finished on June 5. Unfortunately for Kelsie, I was finished before she was, which became apparent one morning as she packed up her backpack and saw the unfinished homework from the day before. Oops! We just forgot that she still had to actually work in school. Her end of year party was outside and HOT, but the kids had lots of fun.

Memorial Day Weekend

We began celebrating Memorial Day weekend on Thursday, May 22 at about 4:30 p.m. That's when Wally finished the second of four parts of the CPA exam. He studied non-stop for 13 weeks leading up to that test and we were all happy to finally have a relaxed Dad. I am happy to say that I made it through this last test with only one or two utter and complete breakdowns. I've decided that the emotional breakdowns are a good sign. It means we still need him around!


We spent the entire weekend just playing. On Friday morning, we got up and went out to IHOP for breakfast. After that we did some shopping and then went to the pool. The kids had so much fun! Kelsie is really coming along and can swim with no floaties. She has overcome her fear of jumping off the side and even comes up with tricky moves. Jackson LOVES the water. He can swim, but I prefer him to wear the little arm floaties when we're in the big pool. I wasn't sure how Chloe would react to the pool, since our pool water isn't heated. (In the heat of the summer, the water temperature is really warm, but at the beginning of the season, it takes your breath away when you jump in!) Chloe loved the water! In fact, she loved the water so much she was making me nervous. We couldn't find our little baby innertube, so Wally and I just took turns holding her. She was kicking her legs and trying to push us away. She really just wanted to swim by herself! After a couple of hours, we had to pull the kids out of the pool, because Wally and I were starting to burn (my skin hasn't seen the sun in years!) We grabbed some dinner and a couple of movies from RedBox (our new favorite!) and had the best day!


On Saturday, I started off the day by doing my long run. Long for me is probably just a warm up for most folks, but I'm slowly working my way up to a 10K. I am now up to about 5 miles on Saturdays and 3-3.5 mile runs during the week. I have found that I really enjoy running and actually look forward to it! We'll see how much running I do when the morning lows are in the 90's, but for now, it's my escape! We spent Saturday catching up on housework, yardwork, grocery shopping, etc. We bought some new pool toys for the kids and a floatie for Chloe and then headed to the pool to try it all out. Another awesome day!


Sunday was business as usual, and by the time Monday rolled around we had a mountain of laundry, sunburned shoulders, and a lot to catch up on. The kids spent the day playing with friends, while I caught up on Relief Society stuff and planned our last week of preschool. (YEAH!) Wally and I were both missing our families and all of those traditions that are part of our lives, but we wouldn't trade this chapter in our lives for anything!