'Twas the Weekend Before School Starts

And at our house... mom is feeling a bit of a broken heart!

Yikes! It's really happening... my1st baby is leaving me for FULL-DAY kindergarten, in 36 short hours. I'm still trying to get over the hours... so I'll vent just this once... Who, might I ask, decided that it was a good idea for elementary students to start school at 7:45 a.m.? Do you know what time our bus pick-up will be? I'll tell you... 6:58! Gulp. Madisen. Fed. Teeth brushed. Clothed. Lunch packed. Smiling. And on the sidewalk at 6:55. We are all in for a bit of a schedule adjustment around here. Bedtime will be promptly at 7:00 p.m. Which means early dinner, no more evening bike rides with the neighbors, etc., etc., etc. Sigh. Growing up can be tough.

So we kept it pretty low key this weekend and just hung together.

*Yesterday we met the teacher and toured the school. More on the teacher later, but WOW what a school! The library/computer lab made us stop in our tracks. It was the latest and greatest technology. The sinks for the bathrooms are in the hall... I'm sure to minimize bathroom bullies, or something. The structure & organization of the administration puts my mind at ease. The staff was friendly and personable. There will be PE every day plus rotating music, art x2, computers, and library which will be a welcome relief to a young child. Mind you, this doesn't make sending my oldest daughter to off any easier, but I know she'll be learning important things. And I think she's excited. When we were walking around the school, she was between Bill and I holding our hands, she looked up at me and said, so matter of factly, "I'm going to be here all by myself. Without you." I tried hard not to cry.

*After dinner we read a few stories and played a gut-busting round of 'telephone'. Caitlyn certainly brings a unique dimension to those kinds of games. (You know, "I spy with my little eye something green it's the grass!" And in the telephone game she would whisper her sentence in my ear, and then almost immediately say it out loud for everyone to hear. You just had to be there.)

*Today we ran a few last minute school errands and just enjoyed being home working on a few projects together.

*But I let the tears flow tonight as we read this book:
As we were reading I asked her if she was feeling brave or a little scared. She smiled back at me and stated, "Brave".

Here's hoping that we're both brave on Monday.

P.S. I really am excited. Just a little sentimental about the milestone!

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

I clicked onto lds.org tonight and found this beautiful video. And felt touched by it's message. It's certainly worth 3 minutes of your time.
Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

To Grandmother's House We Go

After the beach, we (my mom, my sister Tiff, and I) loaded the kids up and drove to Utah to spend 2 weeks with my family. We made a short detour in Vegas to see my friend Jenn's newest addition and have a swim break. My camera was packed deeply somewhere, so there is no photo-documentation of this stop.

While in UT we:
**Had a Loveridge family home evening picnic... complete with Minute to Win It games & home made ice cream in Ziplock bags. (I was THRILLED to see all of my cousins, their spouses, and kids, except Aimee, because Nathan was leaving on his mission the next week. It will be YEARS before we all get together again. And I have such fond memories with these cousins. Also since we live so far away I miss out on other things they do together throughout the year like Stadium of Fire, Lake Powell, annual picnics, and birthday parties.)

**Had a Dodds family picnic where we welcomed MacKenzie home from her mission.
**Visited with Great Grandpa Loveridge- twice! Once at his store and once at my mom's house. My girls just love him! And so do I. I grew up working for him, so we have a special bond. I'm grateful that my girls have taken to him so well, even though our time with him is limited.

**Attended the theater, as mentioned earlier.

**Spent an afternoon at the Church History Museum. This is a requirement for us each time we visit my mom. It's my girls' favorite.
**Spent a day touring downtown... a post of it's own coming soon.

Beach Day

We spent the day after Disneyland relaxing at the beach. It was wonderful to be together, hearing the waves crash, wading our feet in, and watching the kids play in the sand. Sadly, the beach is known to be a bit gloomy in June (yes... I'm SUPER behind!) so it was chilly.

The kids were out in their jammies... they just couldn't wait to enjoy the giant sand box.

Check out Brooklyn's smile. Grandpa had her squeeling with delight as they jumped the waves!

Madisen was helping Eric fill and dump the trucks.

Caden and Caitlyn were in heaven!!

She loves the sun, sand, and surf almost as much as the rest of us.

Oh, and she loves here daddy!