First ballet class

I finally picked a dance school to send Maddie to and she started yesterday. There was only one other girl in the class that was supposed to be there (the other girls in the photo are older and just there for fun). She was so excited to be there and immediately started dancing around while watching herself in the mirror.

Once the class started Jackson didn't want to leave. I asked the teacher if he could stay and she said sure. They both did amazing! They were so focused and energetic and did everything they were instructed. The only reason I didn't sign Jackson up for lessons too was simply because of money. I'm strapping myself enough to get Maddie in. I told my mom how much he enjoyed it and she said she'd pay for him!

I got all of Maddie's clothes at target because it's so much cheaper than a dance store but the slippers are horrible. they aren't leather and look like old lady slippers. They also kept slipping off her feet and she had to keep pulling them back on. Since they were only 4.99 I think I'll splurge on the $18 leather ones.

Across from the school is this antique-y junk store. We were parked right in front of it so on the way to the car Jackson says "him's not talking". I look and see this creepy fake person in a wheelchair. They ended up thinking he was funny and let me take their picture with him.

First day of school

This past tuesday was the kids' first day of pre-school even if it was only for 45 minutes and I was in the classroom with them. They've been very excited for school all summer and were so happy to go on Tuesday. For some reason Jackson became grumpy as we were leaving so he wasn't very cooperative for pictures.

When we got to school Nana happened to be outside with her class so she was the first person to greet them at school. She said she was probably more excited that day then they were.

They had a great time and did NOT want to leave when it was time to go. On Thursday it was the first official day but it was still only an hour long. I pulled into the drop off line and the teachers were there to bring them right in. Jackson said "I want you to come in" (he's been SO attached to me lately). I said "OH, I have to go park the car" and that was enough for him to get out and go with the teacher. I didn't lie ;-)

They had a nice setup for the parents in one of the rooms with coffee and fruit etc. They figure if a child is going to have a complete meltdown the first day it's better if you're right in the building. So we all socialized. I saw some people I knew and met a lot of new people. I really enjoyed it. I did peak in their room a couple of times and they were doing just fine. I even heard Maddie boss Jackson around.

When it was almost time for the kids to be dismissed we all went back out to our cars and got in line again. When Jackson came out of the building he was yelling "MOMMY!!!" He ran up to me, hugged me and said so sadly, "I missed you!" They still didn't want to leave though. They've been dying to play on the playground at the school but they haven't done it yet so I took them to a different playground on the way home.

Next Tuesday they go for 1.5 hours and the following Thursday they go for the full 3 hours.

The school isn't that far away from our house but it's not just down the road either so rather than driving back and forth twice I'll be bringing my macbook and hanging out at the town library that is right next to the school. I can't wait to get some focused work done. I have a wedding album to design from a wedding I did last november! I just haven't had the time to concentrate on it without being interrupted by the zillion demands of my children.

Fair photos

You have no idea the drama that went into entering these photos. The trips back and forth to the store were awful. The frames you see below were my THIRD attempt at framing. I won't bore you all the details but it was a nightmare to find frames that fit into the size limit for the competition. If they didn't need to have a mat it would have been so much easier. My first attempts were too large, my second attempts had springy things on the back that they wouldn't accept so I had to scramble to reframe them again. All this made me second guess my black and white picture choice so I chose a different one and had them both reprinted in smaller sizes so I could freely frame them and not worry about them being too big overall.

While on display at the fair they are up for sale so it would be extra cool if someone bought them! What I entered this year is a different competition than I've done the past two years. This competition had so many entrants and the few photos I saw while I was dropping off were incredible so I'm not getting my hopes up for a ribbon this year.

Some videos

Jackson says packpack instead of backpack and pupcake instead of cupcake. And Maddie is just cute.

This one just makes me laugh.

Park

Chris was on vacation this week so one day we took the kids to Ipswich River Park where we knew there were bike paths for the kids to ride their bikes. We bought Maddie a pedal bike a few weeks ago and then were rained in for literally a week then just didn't get around to having her ride it. I really wanted to teach her that day. I held onto her neck like I did when I was teaching Jackson. It basically just gave her momentum and she was able to go on her own. Obviously at first she was very nervous and was very unsteady with the front wheel moving around a lot. She kept asking for the training wheels back on and I'd say "If you try it one more time I'll get the training wheels". She'd try one more time and she'd do better and I'd make a huge deal and you could tell she was so proud of herself cause she's have a huge smile on her face and we'd laugh. She asked for them a few times and was almost in tears but she totally got over it. Within 15 minutes she was riding great and even rode around a mile long circle path with me giving her a restart every once in a while but she rode the last 1/4 mile on one push. I was so proud of her!!

We stopped by Nana's house on the way home to show her. A neighbor was walking by and couldn't believe what she was seeing and asked how old she was.

Another day we went to another local playground. There aren't any bathrooms there so I had to take the kids to the woods to pee. Maddie's done this before so it was uneventful but Jackson has never stood up to pee before, nor has he ever gone anywhere but a potty or a diaper. I swear he thought I was leading him to a bathroom in the woods. He was so confused when I started taking his pants down. He did successfully pee but I almost fell over from laughing so hard when he exclaimed "It's like a sprinkler!!!"

We've been watching Kick Buttowski on Disney lately. They love it and so does Chris so he's been teaching them to do the hand gesture Kick does in the show.

Chris was telling Maddie that we were going to get ice cream on the way home.

We went back to the park again today after a lazy morning. We were going to attempt the beach but it was a little too chilly for that today. Jackson fell down and skinned his knee and wouldn't walk after that. We took a little trip to Target after the playground to get Maddie some stickers and a little notebook for her to put them in. Jackson didn't want stickers so he got a little car. We came home and hung out for a little while then my parents came to pick them up. We were going out to dinner with friends (I literally can't remember the last time we did that.) and we could have brought them but they are so badly behaved for us in restaurants. My parents go out to dinner every Friday night and I know they behave for them. So this way we all enjoyed ourselves. They're staying at my parents tonight so I'm actually going to get a full night's sleep AND get to sleep in. I feel like I won the lottery!

And with that I am officially caught up. Now I need to go catch up on my photo blog!

Labor day cookout

Our annual Labor day cookout was a ton of fun as usual. Courtney and Kristen both brought their baby fences and connected them for one large corral. It worked out very well and even the older kids liked being in it.

Our cousin's twins Gracie and Gavin were supposed to be bringing these beers to their dad but pretended to drink them on the way.

OK, dad's happy now that he has at least one of the beers.

Sophia had fun riding on her little atv. All the other kids had fun on it too.

Alyssa enjoying a bottle

Maddie being silly

Cousin Chase

Jill and Jackson. I can't believe Jill is a freshman in high school this year. She was 3 when I met her and it was probably at this very cookout.

Someone broke out the kites and the older kids attempted to fly them. They got frustrated and gave up so Maddie and Jackson wanted to try. I shortened the strings down and they just ran and ran and ran trying to get the kites in the air.

The only way Jill could get it to stay in the air was to spin around really fast and have the string about a foot long. But it made for a great photo!

Maddie and Jackson managed to get the kites to fly here and there.

Jackson was hugging Chase for some reason.

Then it was time for the egg toss. M&J didn't really play it. Maddie had already peed in her pants twice that day so I had no clothes to change her into if she got egg on her.

Kristin's house

Last Saturday we went to my friend Kristin's house in New Hampshire. They built their house in 2007 and this spring had a gorgeous in ground pool put in. Rachael and Brenda were there too. All the kids had a ball playing together and swimming! The water was SO warm.

Kristin was squishing Maddie.

All the kids minus Nichole who was away with her dad that weekend.

Not really sure how she managed to get ice cream in her eyelash!

Olivia missing her teeth!

Kristin's husband Marc has a harley. I've never been on a motorcycle but I've always wanted to ride one once just to see what it was like. He was thrilled to give me a ride and after I clarified that I meant on the bike he was happy to do that too.

I was really nervous at first. I felt like I was going to fall off. I just didn't feel secure. I was holding onto the back rest I was leaning against. I asked him if I could hold onto him and once I did that I felt SO much better. We just went cruising on back roads but at one point I peaked at the speedometer and we were going 50. I was giddy! When we got back Rachael wanted to go too.

When they got back the kids wanted to go :-) So he got out his three wheeler and gave them all turns riding.

Maddie was excited to go but Jackson didn't want to! But when Maddie drove by the driveway Jackson was there to wave to her.

Olivia and her daddy

The two red heads, Brenda and Maddie

We stayed until 9ish? I forget but it was late and the kids totally conked out on the hour ride home.