Riverbend Farm for some pumpkin picking

We tried out a new pumpkin patch this year and I'd say it was pretty good.  The girls loved it and it was a great start to our fall festivities :)

Molly's birthday in Utah

We got to celebrate Molly's birthday with her birthday buddy, Freddie, in Utah! Andrew is chapter chair for the BYU alumni association in Charlotte and there was a conference he had to attend at BYU so we all tagged along.

One morning after dropping Andrew at his meetings we passed by the stadium and I couldn't help but stop and let the kids get out for some pictures :)

 
It was so fun to spend some down time with Emily, Freddie, Laura and Amy.  So crazy to think that I have 4 siblings in Utah.  While Andrew was at meetings the girls and I mainly hung at Emily's house and let all the girlies and Henry play.  Like usual, Emily was much better at documenting our time together so here's some of what we did together.

Emily was so nice to host a little bday party for Molly and Freddie.  Yummy food and good company! What more could you want?!

Time sure flies and now Molly is 2.  She is such a feisty little thing.  She talks so much and it seems like she knows so much more than the other two girls did at this age.  It probably has something to do with having two older sisters.  She loves watching Barbie life in the dreamhouse and Peppa Pig.  She could seriously watch either of those all day and she thinks the ipad is hers.  If it is anywhere in sight, she has to have it.  She is not a very good listener and usually responds most requests with "no way." Haha it started off being kind of funny but now I'm realizing it's not cute ;) She still seems like the baby but I've got to realize she's old enough to know better so we've been trying to discipline her a little bit more.  She LOVES chapstick.  If it is too quiet, I can usually find her in a corner or under a table smearing chapstick all over her face.  She also loves playing with makeup and picking out what she wants to wear.  Most mornings when I go in to get her from her crib she's taken her jammies off, but luckily still keeps her diaper on. She has to have her baby, her monkey, and her blankie to go to sleep.  Also in her crib is a minnie mouse and a hello kitty but if they aren't there she usually doesn't ask for them unless she is stalling.  She is such a smart little cookie.  Although I think it's more street smarts than book smarts because she still doesn't know her colors.  She loves dancing and singing with the big girls and even knows some words to songs.  While Eleanor is at school, Molly asks about her all day long and when she gets home from school Molly follows her around the rest of the afternoon.  They are cute little buddies.  She loves when I do train tracks with her, she loves playing with little peoples and their school bus.  She loves loading up purses and pushing around her stroller with her baby.  She is just such a fun little girl! We love her a lot!

Eleanor's first day of school!

Well the first day of school has come and gone.  Eleanor is officially a Kindergartener! Her school split up the Kindergarteners alphabetically by last name and had a small group go each day of the week so they could ease them into things, do some assessments in order to put together well rounded classrooms, and get them used to rules and routines in smaller groups. Eleanor's assigned day was Thursday.  We had done a trial run of getting ready for school each morning that week so she would feel more confident about her big day. She picked our her outfit the night before and was really excited to go. Thursday morning finally came and she had some hesitations about her outfit choice, so she tried a few more and finally settled on her butterfly shirt and rainbow tutu skirt!  She also insisted on two ponytails, just like the girl on the target commercial going to school :)

She was cool and calm and excited as can be.

 

 After we sent Eleanor off to school with dad, Molly was still asleep so Penelope was so excited we could paint. Just the two of us.  It was such a special moment with my poor little middle child ;)

I was feeling excited for Eleanor and not too emotional until Andrew sent me some pictures of him dropping her off.  She looked terrified! And I suddenly felt so nervous for her and wanted to run to her rescue.  But Andrew assured me she would be fine and the teacher walking her down the hall was super friendly. 

She made it home, safe and sound, on the school bus.  She told me she was nervous there were no seat belts on the bus so she held on really tight! As I watched her get off that school bus I almost didn't recognize her.  It was like she had grown up in just those 7 hours away from us.  I asked her about her day and tried to get some details out of her but she said she wanted to wait for dad so she'd only have to tell us once.  Smart girl. 

On Friday night all the Kindergarteners came back to school to find out who their teacher would be and to have a little bit of an orientation for parents. 

Eleanor's teacher is Ms. Archibald.  She is from England and has a lovely accent.  Luckily all that Peppa Pig Eleanor watches will come in handy and she'll be used to her teacher's accent ;)

Ms. Archibald and Eleanor

When we went up to Ms. Archibald to take a picture and introduce ourselves, she gave me a great big hug and in her lovely accent said something like, "Thank you so much for smiling at me! Even as teachers we get nervous meeting all the parents.  You were in the audience paying attention and smiling at me.  It was brilliant!" Maybe I'm just the eager beaver new kindergarten mom but I was excited to be there and listen to all that would be going on in Eleanor's classroom. And I even enjoyed filling out all that paperwork.  I know, I'm crazy.  

Eleanor and Teacher's Assistant, Mrs. Sumner, who has a nice thick southern accent.  Can't wait to hear which accent Eleanor will pick up.

It is so strange to have Eleanor away from us all day.  She has basically been right next to me everyday for the past 6 years.  I know it's so good for her to be at school and to learn, and be challenged, and have more opportunities to express her creativity, and learn more independence.  I'm not gonna lie, it has made life a little easier only having 2 kids at home.  When Eleanor is at home she is always coming up with new ideas and projects and games and activities she wants to do.  Which usually results in lots and lots of messes and things waaaaaaay out of place.  With just Penelope and Molly at home, things pretty much stay clean all day.  The only place they really play and make messes is in the playroom, which is fine by me!

Despite how happy I might sound about having a clean house, I really do miss having her around.  She is such a good helper, and so creative and I love to watch how her brain works.  It's sad to think that the phase of my life with having all my kids right next to me all the time is over.  This is just the beginning for us.  She started this year, Penelope will be next year, then it will be Molly, and the years will just continue to slip away from us!  Makes me kinda teary just thinking about it!  BUT I'm excited for all the new adventures that are ahead of her and all the friends she'll make and all that she'll learn and all the experiences she'll have!

**Note to self: after seeing the obviously better quality of real camera pictures compared to iphone pics, I propose we break out the real one more often!

Penelope is 4!

The day after Andrew and I got back from our getaway it was Penelope's birthday.  

We started the morning off with some donuts.  Yum!

While Andrew and I were in Florida on our getaway, Pam and Doug made cupcakes for Penelope's birthday.They let her pick out the cake, the frosting, the sprinkles, the wrappers and even the candles.  She loved them! They even let her help decorate them.  (Wish I would have gotten a better shot of them!)

Here she is opening her presents...

After we opened presents we headed out for Chuck E. Cheese.  It's not a birthday without CEC, right? :)

 

They had a much better time than it looks in this picture.  I think they were ready to dig into their lollipops!

Then it was off to dinnr at Sony's BBQ...

SO hard to believe my cute little Penelope is 4.  These last 4 years have flown by and at times been a blur.  I'm excited to have more one on one time with her now that Eleanor is in school.  She is so loving, kind, thoughtful, and has the most sincere prayers.  I'm lucky how patient she is.  It might be because she's the middle child she's had to learn how to wait, but something tells me it's just part of her sweet little personality.  She loves hugs and she loves cuddling. She can't go to sleep at night without a goodnight hug and kiss from everyone.  She loves clothes and makeup and is very particular about choosing the perfect outfit and accessories.  She is so bright and has a great memory. Just yesterday she was telling me how she "customized" her coloring page! She has her moments of frustration when someone messes up something she is working on. But all in all, she is very easy going.  I'm so glad our adorable, sweet, spunky, fun, Penelope is in our family.  I wouldn't want it any other way!