Brooklyn Starts Preschool

.....for real this time!

We finally finished jumping through all the hoops to get all the testing and what not done, so Brookie began preschool Monday morning.

She qualified for the preschool program through the school district because of her speech and language. She scored very high in her developmental areas but she not so well in the speech areas.

She was excited to go to school Monday morning. Her daddy packed her a lunch just like he did for everyone else so she didn't feel left out (even tho she doesn't eat lunch at school). She thought it was awesome and she ate it as soon as she got in the car after school.

She went right in and hung her backpack and jacket up and then kissed me and said "Bye bye, mommy."

I'm glad that she likes it. It has made it so much easier. She is really a mommy's girl so I was concerned about how she'd deal with leaving her mommy, but she did great.

Next week she'll start riding the bus like the other kids and I'm sure she's going to love that!!!

Our New Dog

I was over at my aunt Jean's house the other day and I had never seen her dog, Sonny, before. They had him for about a year (yeah, I know, I need to visit more often) and when I saw him I fell in love. I don't know why, but I was instantly in love. Jokingly, I asked her if she wanted to trade Sonny for our dog Jackson. She looked at her husband and said, "Sure."

We worked out all the details and we traded dogs! Kinda funny but it has been a perfect fit for both of us! Sonny has such a great disposition. He is awesome with the kids, doesn't poo in the house, doesn't bark, doesn't run away, can catch a ball and loves to play. Jackson loves his new home and Jean and Rick are training him and say he is already a much better dog.

Labor Day Parade

This year the kids and I made a last minute decision to join my parents and my sister in Sun Valley for Labor Day. Every year they have a Wagon Days celebration with a wagon parade (no motorized vehicles) and a car auction which my dad LOVES. While my dad was drooling over classic cars at the auction, the rest of us went to the parade. My niece Reagan marched in it but I was having some camera issues and so I didn't get a picture of her snapped in time. Sorry, Reagan!

Everyone was just a little goofy, if you couldn't tell!

While all of the "floats" in this parade are pretty cool, nothing tops the finale. This is, I think 6 wagons long, and pulled by 20 mules. It has a difficult time making the turn down the main street every year but they do it somehow. It is very impressive!

After the parade, we went to this little lake and had a picnic with grandma and then did a tiny bit of shopping (Sun Valley has a great second-hand store!) and met up with everyone at the car show. It was a great day. Everyone had a lot of fun. Especially Lisa! She got a new Range Rover at the auction!!

*disclaimer* My lovely 3rd child got ahold of my camera and broke the lens cover. Thus the pretty black smear in all of the pictures. I was so upset! The last 3 cameras we've had have all been put to rest because the lens broke! Bryan came to my rescue and bent this part back enough that it stays out of the picture and I can still use the camera...therefore I don't have to give Brooklyn away like I had initially threatened. Yay for daddy!

Brooklyn's First Day of School?

I took Brooklyn in to do an evaluation with a speech therapist to see if she would qualify for the preschool program through the public school system. The therapist said she would figure it all up and then call me with the results. A few days later the secretary at the preschool called me and set up the bus route and told me school started at 8:45 Tuesday morning.

I was so sad to have my little Brookie leave to go to school!! She is such a mommy's girl I wasn't sure how she would handle it, especially having to get on the bus and leave her mommy behind! The bus never showed so I took her to school. The room was filled with little kids and they were playing with toys. She happily hung her backpack up in her cubby, with her name on it, and began playing. Then the director came in and said "Oh I can't have Brooklyn here yet! I still need to do my assessment and set up an IEP." Ummm....huh? Apparently there was a communication problem within the preschool. I then had to take my daughter, who was now happy to be leaving her mommy, away from all the new toys and kids and go back home. Talk about traumatizing your 3 year old!! She didn't want to go but she reluctantly went along and was easily bribed with a trip to Target to forget about it all.

We have since done the assessment and the IEP will be this week so I am assuming (I probably shouldn't do that!) that she will start school next week. I think I will verify it with the director before we try to go again!! The good news is that she is very happy to be leaving her mommy behind to go to "my school". Poor mommy. :(

The New School Year

This is actually the 3rd day of school because my camera was missing for the first 2 days.

Logan loves his 1st grade teacher. He is starting to read and he wrote his first sentence on his own the other day at home. It said "The bol is on the desk." He was so proud, and so was I. He loves to take his own lunch to school with him! He would eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day if it were up to him, he thinks it's great! I love the money it saves me too! ;)
Alexis' 3rd grade teacher is new to teaching this year. So far it seems to be going well. Alexis loves school and she seems to really like her teacher too.

A few days before school started the kids got new hair cuts. Alexis decided to get an A-line hair cut. The stylist was afraid to cut it because her hair had gotten so long! Alexis was very positive that is what she wanted so she put it in a ponytail and cut it all off!! She donated it to Locks of Love and Alexis was very happy to do that!! She has such a huge heart! Her new hair cut is adorable and so easy to manage, she really loves it.

New Coupon Blog

OK, so I've had lots of questions about couponing and what sites to look at and what's on sale this week....SOOOOOO.....I started a new coupon blog. That way those of you who could care less, don't have to see all the coupon garbage! But for those of you who are interested, head on over and FOLLOW ME! The new blog is a work in progress but at least it's up and running. There will be lots more fun stuff to come as well!!

Thru Logan's Eyes

Logan: "Mom, I like Brooklyn."

Me: "You do?"

Logan: "Yeah because look what she gave me." (shows me a stack of Pokemon cards)

Me: "That was nice of her!"

Logan: "Yeah, I think God will like her."


:0)

(I'm pretty sure he's right, I think He will like Logan too!)