13

My girl turns 13 tomorrow.  13!!!!  How did that happen?

The other day in church, I was supposed to be paying attention and wasn't. Well, I was...until the Pastor starting talking about taking his daughter to college 100 miles away. Then, I started thinking I only have 5 years with Emily.  What?  Then, my eyes filled up with tears and I had no clue what he was talking about anymore. I was spiraling down a rabbit hole of how I can only have 5 years left with my girl at home?  NOOOOO!!!  

I like my kids at this age. They are fun and still like David and I. I wish I could freeze time right here because this is my favorite time. I pray that I'll make that same statement next year and the year after and the year after.  I guess that's what life is all about, finding the sweet spots and enjoying the days we have.  Living in the present.  Oh yeah, that's what the Pastors talk was about!!!  See, I was paying attention.

Anyway, this past weekend, she had a traveling birthday party with the Fab 4 as we call them. Emily is a grade higher than the other 3 girls, but they are all going to the same Jr. High this year and I think they are loving it!  

First up for the traveling party...Steph (Alissa's Mom) took them to Olive Garden.  

The got their own table and a free dessert!  The zeppoli's from Olive Garden are SO good.  

Then, Steph brought them all over here.  They tie-dyed shirts and had a sleepover.

We made them waffles, bacon, sausage and peaches for breakfast!  Everyone must eat peaches if they come to our house!  :)

Their shirts all turned out cute!

Then, Dakri picked them up and they headed out shopping.

These girls all love Ross, which I love because it doesn't break the bank!

Em got a super cute backpack purse and some shirts.

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Here they are in the dressing room trying on their new clothes.

Then, they went to Starbucks for cake pops and Frappuccinos!

It was a super fun 24 hours!  And tomorrow, we'll celebrate my girl turning 13. I remember her birth so vividly. Actually, I think I was in shock most the time. Like, holy moly, I'm going to be a mother. How did that happen?  But, she was born at night and came out bright eyed and curious.  After 13 years, when the sun goes down, she's still bright eyed and curious. Some things never change.  And, I'm so thankful for that. 

Around Our House

I can tell it's back to the grind as I have no time to write anything. So, this is what is consuming our time around our house.

Emily NEVER wanted me to braid her hair.  Until now. She's almost 13, and now she wants braids every day. Double braids, sideways braids, braids into pony tails. I wouldn't mind, but it takes a good 20 minutes in the morning.  I prefer the singe braid of any variety because it only takes half the time. This was her braid the other day. I'm thinking it's just a fad and soon curly natural hair will be in and we'll be golden! I won't hold my breath.

We are up to our ears in peaches. I'm not even kidding.  Our poor tree has been there for 10 years and nothing. This year, probably about 1,000 peaches. From one tree!  No joke. Several limbs have snapped from the weight. We had to get everyone out harvesting last weekend.

This was just a few. I call myself the peach fairy and put them in bags of 25 and deliver to all my neighbors.  I've made multiple deliveries. It's insane.

I finally just put out a few boxes for whoever might drive by. I also put it on Facebook and 2 friends came and got a box each. Sweet!

We're all taking turns getting sick. First Emily, then me, now Noah and Ben's throat is scratchy. Ugh, it's the third week of school.  I'm lucky I get to stay home with this sweet guy and let him rest when he has a fever.

And I guess that's about it. You know how it goes. This weekend, Emily is having a slumber party with her friends and Noah is taking his best bud out for a late birthday for Noah.  Should be fun!

8

Noah turned 8 today!  

He was born on 8/8, and he's 8.  

I'm thinking this will be a great year for him!

He woke up and I made him his favorite cinnamon rolls!

I did this thing for Ben and hid his presents, so Noah wanted that too.

So, while he was at school. I spent time writing little cards with clues on them.

The first clue requires he acts like a ninja to get in his room and find the next clue. 

I wrote little rhyming cards.

He was super excited.

Then, he had to run all around and find his presents.

Luckily David got home a little early because Noah couldn't wait to open presents.

He got to his cards first. Thank you to everyone who sent him a card. He loved them!

He only asked for 2 things for his birthday.  They were both video games.

I felt bad that he didn't have much to open, so I got him a box of his favorite candies too... candy corn, bubble gum, Andes mints, Hot Tamales, Milk Duds, Rolos.  Lots of sugar!

Then, we went to the pool.  Emily's friend Alissa has 2 little sisters. Noah is smack dab age wise in the middle of them. We joke all the time that he will marry one of them. We just don't know which one yet. We got to the pool and he thought they'd be there and they weren't.  He was so sad.

Then, they showed up and he had the biggest smile on his face.

Here's David throwing Noah and he's squirting Clara with a water gun.

Here's him and Clara both flying in the air after the Dad's threw them.

And this little cutie is Savannah.  How will he ever choose who to marry?  HA!

We had a yummy steak dinner, his favorite. Noah is not a cake person, so he asked for pumpkin cookies. I made him those last night as they taste better the next day and I think he's ate at least a dozen today.  

We usually do lovin' at night where we all pile in our bed and watch TV. But, we have a new thing where we put down a blanket and we all just watch the stars, looking for shooting stars and talk. So, Noah requested we do that for his birthday. 

It was a perfect ending to the day. 

He's so full of spunk and love. He tells me all the time how much he loves me. 

He loves cats, ice cream sandwiches and magic. 

We love him so much.

First Day of School

The first day of school was so simple and easy.  We got this.

Emily got up early and got ready for 8th grade. I'm so glad she's still not even interested in make up. A little lip gloss and she's off. She's in no hurry to grow up or look older.

Noah was looking sweet for his first day of third grade.

Noah gets to go on the big kid playground with Ben now, so he was super happy about that.

Here's Ben looking handsome for the first day of sixth grade. This will be his last year at this school, and he gets a little sad when he thinks about leaving this school.  But hopefully, Ben will be ready for bigger and better things. 

Noah walked through the door after school and passed out on the kitchen floor. He said the day was exhausting.  He makes me laugh.

We're looking forward to a great year!

End of Summer

How can it be that school starts in 3 days???? 

I feel like summer just started.  My kids aren't even driving me crazy yet. How can it be time to send them back to school?  The past week has been crazy busy getting ready for school.

I took Emily on a shopping spree. I hate when she makes these faces in pictures. But, I did that as a kid. Karma. Anyway, we had fun and got lots of nice things.

The kids went for their dentist appointment and Emily needed to get 2 teeth pulled. She had a cavity on one baby tooth and they didn't want that to ruin her permanent tooth. The other is causing her permanent tooth to totally go crooked. We've been watching it for a few years and it's not coming out. So, out the both came. She was so so nervous.  I'm not even kidding. She asked us about 100 questions.  She even watched youtube videos which probably did nothing to squelch her anxiety.

The numbing was a piece of cake.

She didn't feel one shot, but felt the other slightly.  Then, pop pop and both teeth were out.  Easy peasy. She regrets not doing it the week before at the cleaning because it was so easy.

They even gave her a balloon bouquet for being so brave.  HA!

She had registration at her jr. high. We got her locker all decorated. She was an old pro and found all her classes and we were out of there in 30 minutes.

Then, she stayed to help her friends with finding classes.  Her friends are all a grade below her and they are switching schools to go to Jr. High. Em is super excited to have them all with her.

Then, David and I had a date night to see John Mayer in Phoenix. It was so nice to get away with him for a few hours. We ate at his favorite place, Pino's. YUM!

Here we are at the concert.

The show was great! The things they do with a stage nowadays is fantastic.

Tonight was open house at Noah and Ben's school.  Noah got the same third grade teacher that Emily and Ben had. We like her a lot. And he's in class with his best friend, Collin, so life is good.

Ben got my favorite sixth grade teacher, but his best buddy is not in his class.  They've had the same class together since Kindergarten. I know he was a little bummed.  But, he can still hang with him at recess and what not.  Plus, it's probably a blessing in disguise as his friend is going to a different Jr. High next year. So, maybe this will make Ben find some new friends. Not that he needs a lot of friends, but it's hard when your one and only goes to another school in a year.  So, I think it's good for him.  Look at the seating...it's a new thing called flexible seating.

Ben actually has 3 teachers this year and his class switches for math, English and social studies/science.  This is one of the other classrooms.  The seating is so fun and David was headed right for the sofa!  

All in all, I think it will be another great year!