Summer Vacation Ends, School Begins!

So since most retail stores consider it the end of summer and the beginning of fall, all the summer stuff is going on clearance. Well, lucky us for living in SoCal. We are going to have summery weather through October. We got this pool (nice sized at 12' X 30" - perfect for us) at a great price and we couldn't pass it up. So, up it went on the weekend and the kids have been playing in it every day since. I even ventured into it yesterday!

I thought it would be fitting to post a picture of them in their swim wear. Since it is an end of summer vacation post. This was them just before we all hopped in yesterday. I don't know how they can stand the water. I was freezing!

So along with the pool, they each got kickboards on sale. Kevin had his from last year, so really only the three youngers got them. Kaela is continuing to swim well. She taught herself last summer and can now swim underwater the length of our tiny pool. Kyle still refuses to get his face wet. He even dislikes baths and showers! lol Kenny is right in there, thinking she's swimming, but really all she is doing is bending over with the kickboard in front of her as she walks along the bottom. Kevin of course is all over the place in the water. He has always loved the water. He was less than 24 months old when he started submerging and kicking to propel through the water. Well, even though school started today, the pool is still up and they went in as soon as Kevin came home from school.

So here's some first day of school pictures...

Here is Kevin at home before we left. His clothes are to big, but his normal size is getting a hair small. I didn't want to have to buy him new clothes again in a few months, so I just went with the bigger size. He's so grown up!

So the one thing I worried about with Kevin and a new school was that he would have a hard time breaking into groups of kids that have already formed friendships from previous years. We are lucky in that Joshua, the son of my good girlfriend from high school, is in Kevin's class. Even though Joshua and Kevin haven't grown up seeing each other all the time, we have throughout the years had chances to see them at family parties. So, I told Kevin that Joshua would probably hang out with him, but in the off chance that Joshua didn't (because he was already familiar with his other friends), he could find other little kids to play with. All he had to do was ask.

So, as soon as I picked him up, Joshua and Kevin were near each other but weren't really acknowledging each other. So, of course, I asked Kevin if he played with Joshua today. "No, not really," Kevin says. So then I ask him who he played with, "No one." Kevin says. Hmmm. Not making for a good first day of school. I think to myself. So then, since Kevin really doesn't offer up any info without my prompting, I ask more questions. Who did you have lunch with? - Joshua. Did you play with Joshua at recess? - No. So, you had lunch with Joshua, but afterwards he just went and played with other kids? Kevin doesn't respond. Okay, so now I am feeling really bad for Kevin. How come you didn't play with anyone? - It was too hot. I sat in the shade. What did you do in the shade? - We talked. Who did you talk to? - Joshua. You were with Joshua? - Yeah. I thought you said you didn't play with Joshua? - I didn't. We sat in the shade and talked. We did Rock, Paper, Scissors and talked about what we did this summer. We did Rock Paper Scissors with Nicolas and some other boys too.

Point of story. So no, Kevin did not play with Joshua. They talked. They talked with a few other boys too. Kevin was not lonely and left out like he made it seem. I just didn't ask the right questions. *sigh*

So here's my Kaela. This picture is deceiving. She looks happy as she waves good bye on her way to her class. Her first day of Kindergarten. But here's what happened before this picture.

In the car Michaela says she is nervous about going to school. I reassure that everything is going to be just fine. So we get to school and as we all pour out of the car, she latches onto my hand. Ouch, she has a strong grip. The whole time we are walking, I am trying to walk with McKenna and Kyle holding my other hand. No one wants to let go, except McKenna, who is the one kid whose hand I want to hold! So we get to the inside of the school, and she is squeezing my hand harder. Didn't know she had it in her. She is also now somehow superglued to the side of my leg. So now we are where she is supposed to line up. Glued to my leg and my hand in a vise, I have carry/drag her to the end of the line. Her teacher suspects that Michaela might be having issues so she helps us to the end of the line, talking to Michaela and letting her know how much fun they will have. I give Michaela a big hug and a kiss. Then another hug and another. I am trying to slip away as the line in front of her starts to move. Finally she lets go, gives me a big smile and turns to follow the line. I snapped this picture as she turned back to say one last goodbye. Ah huh. She will go when *she* wants to.

So the kids both said they had fun their first day. Kevin already has a new best friend and Michaela was pleased that the songs she sang in class were ones she already knew from preschool. The traffic around their school is horrendous. There is a middle school right next door. So picture about 1600 kids getting released from school within a half hour of each other. About a third of them walk, bus or bike. The rest get picked up. The traffic around there lasts a good solid 45 minutes. We'll have to get used to that.

Well, off to bed. Good night!

School Starts in 3 Days!

Here's a pic of the kids after dinner today. I had wanted to get a picture of the boys to show off their new haircuts, but then of course the girls wanted to be in the picture. Well, to get these four to pose for a picture is not the easiest of tasks. I do all I can not to lose my cool. I envision this cute picture, but of course there is always someone making a funny face (usually Kevin), or someone trying too hard to smile (Kyle) or someone who acts like they just don't know what the heck I am talking about (McKenna). Michaela is usually the only one who knows what to do.

Anyway, my two oldest are off to school on Wednesday. It's really been a fun summer for them. I think Kyle is going to take the big kids gone especially hard because he does almost everything with Michaela. When Michaela doesn't want to play with him or just needs some alone time, Kyle gets very upset. McKenna is still at that stage when she doesn't always play with the other kids. Hopefully he falls into a routine to entertain himself when his big sister isn't around.

Packing is still going slow. We've been here just over four weeks now. Most of the boxes are still not unpacked. Oh well. Someday! I plan on working on my craft room today. Maybe I'll be able to get it done. On that note, I am headed to bed! Good night!

Still Slow Going

Well, we've been here for three weeks now. It doesn't really seem like it's been three weeks. We have been busy here. We got all new screens on all the windows that needed them (probably about 3/4 of ll the windows), then the windows were fixed (they didn't lock or slide well), then we got new sliding screens for our two sets of sliding glass doors to the patio, then we had three different plumbers come in and look at what needed to be done. The bathtub in the kids side of the house was sagging. As it turns out the floor was totally disintegrated and was perched precariously on a support beam of the house. Then there were problems with the sprinklers. Oh man, this poor house has seen better days. The dishwasher is only 5 years old and is caked with calcium deposits. I tried scrapping some of it off, but it didn't help. I think there is calcium buildup in the pipe. Oh well, there are a few other little things, but I guess I'll stop complaining. It really is a nice house. It just needed some TLC. We are definitely giving it that.

We aren't anywhere near being unpacked. I still can't fin half my kitchen stuff! Oh well, as long as it is done by the time school starts. School starts in two weeks!

So, I got a new phone. A Samsung Sync. I am having fun playing with it. It has a 2.0 MP camera and can play MP3s and videos. I took some pictures of the kids last week. The camera has built in frames that you can add to the picture. Here's what we did the other day...