Kindergarten.

Today is bittersweet.  I am so excited for Landon to start his school journey and I know that his first year will be filled with tons of new friends, fun, and learning.  At the same time I am having a hard time.  My little baby boy who has grown into a energetic, fun-loving, sweet big boy is not all mine anymore.  I have to share him with the world 5 days a week and I don't like it.  I feel like it was literally just yesterday when I was bringing him home from the hospital.  Where has the last almost 6 years gone?

Landon is ready for school, it is clearly just me that is not.  So, I tucked all those feelings in my back pocket this morning and we had an exciting, great time getting ready for school and venturing off to the bus stop for the first time!  Jill and her family were still here which made this transition a lot easier for me.

I had to wake Landon up at about 6:15.  He usually sleeps until closer to 8 so this is how we started out.

Me: Landon, it's time to get up and get ready for school.

Landon: NO NO NO.  IT IS TOO EARLY MOMMY, NO.

Eating breakfast a few minutes later...

Me: Keep eating buddy so we have time to get ready and walk down to the bus stop.

Landon: But MOM, why do I have to go to school in the middle of the night?!!?!?

After he ate a little and woke up, Landon started to get excited about his first day of school and was not nervous at all.  I packed him a lunch that he chose: PB & J (because a grilled cheese would get soggy), carrots, and an apple.  I stuck some chips in for him but thought it was cute he asked for a very healthy lunch!

Kenzie and Kadence wanted to pose with big brother before we left.  I think they will miss him almost as much as I will!

 Off to the bus stop we all went.  It is just down at the end of our road which is nice.

Landon was beyond excited when we got to the bus stop and his neighborhood friends were there, too!  Chloe and Axel are both starting Kindergarten this year as well.

Deni, Chloe, Axel, and Landon.  These kids have been playing a ton together ALL summer.  It was much easier for me to let Landon ride the bus knowing he had 3 good friends by his side (one who was in 2nd grade and would watch out for him.)

So grown up.  What a smile.  Love him so much.

 Once I found out Chloe and Axel's moms were heading over to the Kindergarten center to make sure the kids arrived safely and to grab some pictures, I went as well!  They have to take a bus to the elementary school and then get on a different one to head to the Kindergarten center, so I was a little worried.  I wanted to follow him but didn't want to be that mom, so I was elated when I found out it wasn't that abnormal!  I left the girls home with Uncle Curt and Jill and I hopped in the car and headed over.  We beat Landon there, but he made it safely and was just fine!  His and Chloe's class rooms are right across from each other so they can walk all the way there together from the bus.  Landon found his class room and I snapped a quick picture of him and Mrs. Spanier.  She is so sweet I am glad she is his teacher.

One last picture before I left my boy for the day.  He was pretty quiet in his class so he may have been a little nervous.  I'm sure before long he had made friends and forgot about is Momma! I can not wait until 3 when he gets off the bus.

So here I am, with a few quiet moments to blog.  Kenzie is sleeping and I think Kadence is already getting bored without her brother.  This could be a long day. :)

Watertown Camping.

We took a long weekend and met Ryan's parents in Watertown to do some camping.  Ryan's Uncle Pat has a permanent camp site on the lake and his Aunt Shari has a lake home nearby.  It was a little chillier weather than normal mid-August, but we had a blast.  We stayed in Gary and Sue's camper, which is more like a small apartment!  It was nice to have a shower and plenty of space.

 Like usual I didn't take my camera out near enough.  I did snap a few pictures of the kids playing on the beach one morning.  They had a ton of fun on the beach and on Uncle Pat's Jet Ski's.  They both thought that was pretty neat! Kenzie was generally happy to be outside and actual slept pretty well in the camper-just not enough!

 On Saturday, Ryan, Landon, and I were able to go fishing with a co-worker and buddy of Ryan's who lives in Watertown.  We had so much fun and caught SO many fish.

Landon was a good little fisherman and reeled a ton of fish in on his own.  He wasn't real eager to touch the fish but we did get him to throw a couple of the little ones back in the lake!

We caught our limit in about an hour which was great!  Ryan's buddy was kind enough to fillet all of our Walleye so we could take it home and enjoy it!

 Apparently Landon was tired from all of the fishing!  He conked out in about 3 minutes in the car.  We were so thankful we were able to go fishing!  Hopefully, we can do some more fishing next summer, so fun!

Kadence and Kenzie stayed back at the campground and played with everyone.  As you can imagine, the two of them would not have made for a very enjoyable fishing experience.  Hopefully we can all go when they get a little bit older.  The girls didn't think they were missing out on anything!  They got to stay and play with everyone and were there when Jack and Holly arrived.  Miss Kadence had a blast playing with Livy and I just thought the two of them in their pink striped swimsuits was just adorable.

What an enjoyable weekend of camping.  It was such a great way to end our "summer" and get ready for school to start in just one short week.  Thanks to Gary and Sue for a wonderful weekend!

Flag Football.

Our little guy started flag football this year!  He has been looking forward to this all summer long.  Landon always wants to play football with Ryan and loves to watch it and talk about it as well.  He has practices every Tuesday and Thursday evening for the remainder of August and then starts games Saturday's in September.  I was impressed with his coaches as they had them working on drills and teaching football fundamentals right away.  There are Kindergartner's and First grader's on his team so Landon looks sort of little out there!  I hope he has a TON of fun this fall!  I can't wait for his first game!  I am not sure who is more excited Landon or Ryan...

Princess Bride.

I had found a really neat idea on Pinterest (I know) that I want to do with my girls.  It was suggested to take a picture of your girls at about age 3-4 in your wedding dress and have it framed at their wedding (in a long LONG time).  So, I took my dress out of preservation (I think it'll be worth it) and we headed to the back yard for a quick photo shoot.  My kids never cooperate with me when I want to take their pictures (SO frustrating).  Although my end product is almost never what my vision was, I think we did get a few cute ones! She's so beautiful.

My neighbors probably thought I was half crazy and they might be right.  Love this little lady so much!

Getting Ready...

My little Kindergartener is getting ready for school!  He will start school two weeks from today and he is getting very excited.  Aunty bought him some adorable (of course) school clothes and we stocked up on his school supplies yesterday.  I was astonished to learn we would spend over 100 dollars on school supplies alone!  Besides his lunch box the only non-communal item was his pencil box.  That is just crazy!  For example, we had to buy 18 glue sticks (18!) 4 boxes of markers, 3 boxes of crayons and the list of multiples goes on and on!  I guess we should start saving for next year when we'll have two in school!  Landon was so cute helping me find everything and picking things out.  He was having a great time and I think his excitement for school was just growing and growing!  We go next week for his back to school night and also meet with his teacher for 45 minutes.  I can't believe how fast they grow up!

Only in Fargo...

They are starting to build behind our neighbors houses and the kids have found the mound of dirt.  I don't know how you prevent kids from playing on a giant mound of dirt, they think it is SO fun!  The day after they first found the pile of dirt, they were sledding down the hill with the neighbor girls Giana and Kaylynn.  It was pretty entertaining to watch and little miss Kenzie wished she could have been in on the fun.  On a side note, I am exhausted of the noise of building.  ALL day long.

Gone to the Farm.

We sent Landon and Kadence to Grandma and Papa's for a few days and although it is so terribly hard for me to let them go I think was good for everyone.  They have been asking to go for a long time and I know they are having a blast.  Although I have enjoyed my time with Kenzie, I can not wait for them to get home tomorrow.

I have had  a good couple days with this little munchkin.  I think she was enjoying the extra attention and quiet house!  Unfortunately, she has had a little cold so she needed a little more TLC.  Fortunately, I had the time...

I was able to give her tons and tons of snuggles and we even napped just like this on the couch!  I don't remember the last time that has happened.

I just love all 3 of my munchkins SO much!  They are my world and I love it.  Can't wait to all be back together tomorrow!!