Taking Timber by storm

Mackenzie begins her 1st full week of school by riding the bus with her big brother & sister. She's in good hands, no doubt. I'm wondering if she'll fall asleep on the ride home like the others did. I'll find out in a few hours.

Transition day of K: Mackenzie's ready to ride carpool to school today. Her backpack is loaded with school supplies... she's SO excited.

Mackenzie exits the car on her 1st day of K... I'll miss you Mackenzie. How will I ever get all my work done without her help?

There she goes... not even looking back. I think that means she's prepared. Way to go MOM!

Thankgoodness for big sisters, huh? Caroline will walk her to class so I'm not late to my VT appointments. Scott had chorus practice at 8:15am, so he's already been at school for an hour. Can't wait to hear him perform.

Yea! They remembered to turn around so I could get a picture of Mackenzie as she enters the school for her 1st day of kindergarten.

Can Timber Drive Elementary handle 3 Truelove children? Sure hope so! Check out Mackenzie on her debut to Kindergarten. Scott had to be at school early for chorus practice, so Caroline was a GREAT big sister to walk Mackenzie to class as I had VT appointments starting at 9:15am. It's great to have a few things scheduled to keep me busy this first little while so I can adjust to an empty house. Peace & quiet is something I haven't had much of the last decade. I've got a friend from church coming to make salsa & pickles tomorrow, then I'm taking my sister-in-law to a dr. appointment on Monday as she can't drive due to foot surgery, plus I've got a Primary meeting 1 morning next week as well as my Meals on Wheels deliveries another day, so... where's all that FREE time I'm supposed to have now that the kids are all school-age? Hmmmm. I had a feeling things wouldn't come to a stand still, so it's no big shock, but this is a new chapter of my life and it's definitely exciting.

Back-to-School

Scott debuts his new glasses & Caroline gets a work-out as she carries a fully-loaded backpack. She was excited about buying school supplies this year... wanted to go after only being on summer break for 2 days. Goodness! I told her to enjoy her summer break while it lasted, as it was way too short this summer. But, the older kids are off to school and looking so grown to me. This morning Mackenzie said, "Scott is so excited for me to go to school with him." I know her big brother will look out for her. Caroline's classmate wrote "you have a beautiful sister" & while visiting the school for end-of-year activities, a little boy from church saw Mackenzie and came and gave her a big hug. That makes me feel good about sending her off.

I'm a BIG girl now!

While cleaning Mackenzie's room, we finally took down her life-size self-portrait from joy school.

She layed down beside it to see how much she's grown & was quite proud that all the fruits & veggies she's been eating are doing their job. Growing up too quick!

New addition to the family

A pet hermit crab named Rosie joined us at the end of our beach vacation this year. Mackenzie was SO excited to pick her out and name her. Now this is the type of pet I handle right now, so it worked for everyone. Yea! Notice her gold painted shell! She's even got a tatoo... a flower on her back. Hermit crabs these days.

Summer Fun

I took at least a dozen pictures of Eric helping Mackenzie jump "bumps" as she kept calling it. She could spend all day jumping in the waves, but I don't think Eric's arms would last. I had fun just watching her have fun. Too cute!

So, after wiping out while boogie boarding last summer, we were unsure if Caroline would attempt riding waves this summer. But... she was eager to give it another try. She had a blast. She did wipe out eventually and called it quits for the day. But, to our surprise, she went at it the very next day. Last summer, after 1 wipeout, she was done for the summer. She's growing up.

I love watching the kids play together and get along for hours at a time. A mother's dream come true.

Scott & Caroline have SO much fun together. I do hope Mackenzie will eventually age into the club. Right now, she can't hang with the boogie boarding. Maybe next summer will be her year.

Notice that the smart one in the family is wearing the sunglasses. The squinters have their sunglasses in the beach bag... not helping out so much, but in a minute, they'll be turned around playing in the sand/water, so it won't matter. Go play!

Cooling Off!

The kids had fun at the pool. Scott tried to dive through the hole in the tube. He almost drowned himself, but eventually was able to dive through the hole and do a flip around the tube. We had a contest to see who could do the most forward rolls in the water. He did 4, so I did 4. Then, he did 6. I dropped out of the competition because my nose was still burning from all the chlorine water than went up my nose from the 1st challenge. I showed Caroline how to do a hand stand in the water and she eventually mastered that. It was pretty funny to watch as she would kick her legs a lot trying to get them up. Mackenzie found some water mats to float on at the pool. She would just lay on her back and float around. Her swim lesson instructor would be proud. I think that mat gave her confidence to lay her head down while trying to back float. She smiled SO big and pretty as she was quite proud of herself for laying flat on her back in the water.

Caroline climbs the stairs to the waterslide. This is her 1st year doing it by herself.

As you can tell, Caroline enjoyed the water slide. It's awesome b/c it doesn't throw you off the tube as you enter the pool. So, here's Caroline floating along after a trip down the slide. She loved it! She did it over and over and over. I can't blame her. It's a lot of fun. Scott nicknamed her the Green Goblin b/c if she was at the pool, she had her green goggles and a green tube. Of course, the 1 time she couldn't find a green tube is the day I got a picture of her at the pool, but... I doubt we'll forget about the Green Goblin. It was easy to keep an eye on her at the pool for sure, which is a good thing b/c keeping up with 3 kids at the pool is a daunting task. One afternoon, Eric ran some errands while I took the kids to the pool. Another afternoon, Eric took the kids to the pool while I took an afternoon nap. I LOVE vacation.

BIG FOOT: Mackenzie thought it was SO much fun to have her feet buried in the sand.

Searching for SeaShells: Caroline searched for seashells one morning while the boys did some surf fishing. Mackenzie was too tired to make it out that early, so I stayed inside with her. Caroline found a partial sand dollar, which was quite exciting for her. We're going to make Sand Dollar Cookies because she just LOVES sand dollars.

I had lots of fun with the kids at the pool while on vacation. I LOVE the water slide. It's so much fun. I can't wait until the kids are a little older and we can go to a water park. I've NEVER been to a water park, besides the Great Wolf Lodge, so I look forward to getting to try out some big water slides in the future. But, for now, the water slide at the pool was a blast! During break at the pool, the kids would throw their torpedos in the deep end and I would dive for them. I had to wear goggles b/c of my contacts, but it was loads of fun. For years I've been sitting back with the baby or toddler, but now, I actually get to join in the fun. I'm starting to feel like I'm too old for it all, but... my dad still plays with the kids, so I figure I have no excuse not to join in. Good times!