1st week of school - that's a wrap! - and PICTURES!

Well, we have survived the first week of school... barely.  The kids are tired.  The kids are crabby.  The kids are emotional.  UGH.
And Cora doesn't feel well.  She's got a terrible cold/cough.  It's so irritating... she was healthy all summer, and then the first week of school she gets sick because kids are gross and germs are everywhere. Frustrating.

So... we will fight on and hope she can rest a little this weekend, even though we are jamming a lot of crap into the 3 day weekend.

Moving on - picture preview from Katie!  OHMYGOSH - I love them. 

 
 

 
 

 

She acts fine!!  But has an awful cough.

Weekend - & Cora's Ears Pierced!

Friday:
We stayed in...  played outside, had supper at home.  The kids were tired from their 1st day of school. 

Saturday:
Ryan had to be at an all day church meeting... so the kids and I hung out.  Did this and that in the morning, then Mike & JeanAnn came to take them out to lunch (mostly for Cora's birthday). While they did that, I did some errands on my own...  a very quick 2 hours unfortunately!  Got back to the house - sis opened presents, and then we just hung out the rest of the afternoon.  Ryan got home about 4ish...  

Kids got their pictures taken by Katie... so we did that for about an hour downtown, and I can't wait to see them!  Oh my gosh... so freaking cute.  I have cute kids!  :)

Then back out west... and we went over to Mike & Holly's for pizza...  and that's about it.  The kids got owly (tired), so we were home about 9ish.  But overall nice day. 

Sunday:
We had church in the park Sunday morning... a brisk, August morning! We were all a little chilly, but felt good too.  We enjoyed a short service, kids played and we ate too...  really nice morning. 

Then Cora decided she wanted her ears pierced!!  (This is seriously only because Landry got hers done on Saturday!!!)  But whatever works - we've been mentioning it for awhile now, but she's always said no!  Sunday afternoon she was ready... and her and I went!  She was nervous... she cried... then she smiled!!   and they are adorable!

Fun gift from Grandma

The Watne girls went on a little girls weekend... love this pic!

Some of the kids at church!

Cora - First day of 1st Grade

Here we go.  1st grade - again, crazy to think that!
I pray for a good year... a good year of knowing her boundaries with friends, learning more and having fun!

 
 

 

Kayson - First day of 5th Grade

First day of 5th grade equals last year at Maple Grove Elementary! 
WOW.

K was happy, excited and handsome this morning. 

Last day of SUMMER!

I've spent nearly a week with the kids... and I have survived.  I mean, we've had our moments...  but overall, it's been good.  We've kept busy, we've also had down time too.  I still can't be a stay home mom - but I tell you what - I definitely am not looking forward to going back to work!

Today we hung out in the morning...  then we met up with Hummel's and Daughtery's for lunch - kids and Moms.  It was good.  Kids and I did a quick errand... then back home.  K did the PS4 for enough time... and Cora and Olivia played a long time.  They painted, played dolls... and laughed.  I love that Olivia - she is so kind and just puts up with Cora's bossyiness.  ha. 

It's been a good day...  ready for a new school year to start, but also sad to see it start again.  

Kayson - 5th Grade Open House

This is our last Elementary Open House for Mr. K.  CRAZY!!

We met his 5th Grade teacher - Mrs. Scheetz.  Again, like Cora's teacher... and any of the teachers - she seems very nice, and was very excited for school to start!  (Hope that lasts!!)  5th graders seem hard to me!  ha. 

Kayson has a couple good friends in his class (Blake and Caleb for sure), plus a few others...  He was thrilled about that... and I hope it goes well.  

He got all settled, and we took a picture... and literally, that was it.  I guess it gets faster and faster as they get older... 

I can't believe this is happening!!!

Cora - 1st Grade Open House

And just like that... we are at Open House night!

Cora has Miss Miller for 1st grade.  She honestly seems like the nicest, soft spoken teacher ever.  ha.  We were actually able to visit with Miss Miller for a good while (as we were the last ones there).  Again, seems very nice... and funny to find out that she knows about Cora.  ha.  Meaning - those teachers talk, and she knows about the girls with the last name of Taylor.  (Meaning - Maddie from last year).  Oh boy.  I mean, I am not dumb - I know those teachers talk...  so she's fully aware of our chatty Cora.  So... I just hope 1st grade goes a little better than Kindergarten.  I hope that Cora has learned her boundaries with friends... and being bossy... etc.  

She has her own desk, which was exciting for her... and a locker this year!  It's big time!!

Cora's 7th Birthday

SEVEN!!!
Unbelievable. 

She's amazing. 
She's beautiful.
She's feisty. 
She's smart. 
She's caring.
She's confident.
She's funny.

I love this girl so damn much.  I remember not knowing what I would do with a little girl...  and some days I still don't know.  But she challenges me to figure it out...and I hope I'm doing something right with her. 


We had a good day...  relaxed in the morning.  Then we met Sarah, Andrew & Caleb (& Hud) at an aquatic center for the afternoon.  There were some ups and downs to that, but overall - good.  We were exhausted afterwards!

Our evening was playing and singing and making loom band bracelets, which was fun. 

Love you so much CORA MAY DAY.

End of the Summer get away - KC Great Wolf Lodge

We decided to take the kiddos away for a couple days...  kind of as a 'end of the summer' get away.  I still can't believe they start school in less than a week!!

We headed to KC Saturday morning... took our time getting there.  Our room wasn't quite ready, so we walked around Legend's for a little bit, grabbed lunch... then there we were - already in the hotel/resort and in the water!

Lots of fun and the kids really enjoyed themselves.  

Sunday, the kids slept in... like til 8:30, it was amazing.  We actually all slept pretty well.  There were some storms that came through, but the kids slept through them.  Sunday was the day of water - we literally were at the pools/waterpark all day.  We took a short break for lunch, and that was it!  We played hard.  We took advantage of the outdoor pool, the weather was amazing... so we enjoyed that.  By the afternoon, the kids did get owly - with each other mostly... but then they shook it off.  They can be BFFs, then hate each other the next minute.  Typical siblings!  But overall, it was a good day. 

Sunday night we ended up going back to the Legend's area - and met Todd, Jennifer and their kiddos at Dave & Busters.  We were glad they were free...  so we ate, then played the arcade games there.  The kids had a blast, and it was fun to visit with the other Taylor's for a bit.  It was a nice evening. 

Then Monday, again - the kids slept til about 8:40!  Ryan took them down to the waterpark again for about an hour or so...  then we got packed up and headed out.  

We walked around Cabela's for a little bit...  just to see all the things there.  Then we drove through St. Joe and visited Aunt Maagie for about 30 minutes...  

The drive home was nice... pretty quiet.  I was pooped!  

Now... home... laundry is pretty much done... all is settled... and we are prepping for miss things 7th birthday tomorrow.  I can't believe it!

Picture overload!!

Those smiles!!!

Ice cream treat!