First Day of School 2013-2014

And just like that, BAM!, summer is over and school has begun! School started on August 20th and because I had already started working, all the first day rituals and photography responsibilities fell to Chris.

Tyler started the 10th grade and is officially at the High School now. Unfortunately, this is also the year they decided to eliminate bus service. We tried to fight it but lost. Bummer.

Lauren is now an 8th grader and is so happy not to be a "Sevy" anymore. Luckily she still gets to ride a bus...which she really hates because everyone is sooo immature now! :0)

McKenna is a 5th grader and has Mr. Crandall. We are super excited because he is one of the best teachers EVER! Side Note - He has been teaching for 34 years and used to teach some of these kids parents!

 

Brooklynn is in the 2nd grade this year with Mrs. Almberg who is an amazing teacher and all of our kids have had her. After this year she can quit if she wants to. I'm out of kids!

And, it wasn't my first day at work but I guess I had to have a picture taken too...thanks a lot KT! This year I am working at the front desk at McKenna and Brooklynn's school. It's perfect and I love working there. I love our school and everyone I get to work with.

One thing I really do miss though now that I am working is my morning walks. I don't get to walk the girls to school and get my daily exercise in. I miss the socializing time with friends too. Roxy doesn't get walked either and she really misses it.

 

Our traditional shot with McKenna and her friends. 

 

(L-R: Morgan, Katelin & McKenna)

 

McKenna and Brooklynn.

Last Day of School!

This year flew by. No, really, it FLEW by! It seemed like about 4 months had passed and we were already getting ready for Summer. CRAZY! So here are a bunch of the traditional end-of-year pictures. I love how the first day of school, everyone looks so perfect and clean and pressed, hair done nice and then the last day of school, nobody cares.

Tyler

First Day of School - August 2012 (Above)

Last Day of School - May 2013 (Below)

 

 Lauren

 First Day of School - August 2012 (Above)

Last Day of School - May 2013 (Below)

McKenna

First Day of School - August 2012 (Above)

Last Day of School - May 2013 (Below)

Brooklynn

 First Day of School - August 2012 (Above)

Last Day of School - May 2013 (Below)

 

First, Lauren had her four besties over for breakfast before leaving for school. They do this on the last day and also on the first day. It was our turn to host. I also did all 5 girls, plus Brooklynn's hair for the day....LOTS of braiding! You can't really tell from the picture but they all had the same hairdo for the most part.

(L-R: Kaylee, Gracyn, Kenzington, Jackie & Lauren)

Next it was time for the little girls to head off to school. We stopped for a group shot at the corner where all of our friends meet everyday to walk to school together.

Friends:

 (L-R: Morgan, Katelin & McKenna)

 Brooklynn & Sara

(L-R: Eden, Ellie, Morgan, McKenna, Katelin)

Above: First Day of School

Below: Last Day of School

(L-R: Katelin, Ellie, Morgan, Eden, McKenna)

Teachers:

 McKenna & Mrs. Proctor - First Day (Above) & Last Day (Below)

Brooklynn & Mrs. Whitaker - First Day (Above) & Last Day (Below)

Our New Principal:

 

 Mr. Eager with Brooklynn & McKenna (Above) and our neighborhood friends (Below)

 

So here's to another year. Now let's have some fun!!

Ducks in a Pond Quack a Happy Song...

Remember these little guys? They were so cute when we brought them home. And then they grew up and were stinky. And they were noisy. And they were messy. And they stressed out my chickens. And they were a TON of work! The thought of Winter approaching had me really worried about the reality of taking care of ducks. We found two of them a good home just a little ways away. The other two we gave away...and we are just hoping they weren't dinner. I had a harder time parting with them than I thought I would. However, I'm over it now. We just bit off more than we could chew and realized we needed to downsize.  Here's a little trip down ducky lane...

Just a few days old

McKenna really loved the ducks

This was Gerald. She was our favorite. I really hated to see her go.

 

They grew really fast....

...until they weren't little ducklings anymore.

Lauren and her crazy friends playing around with the ducks.

Goodbye little ducks!

And Then There Was One...

We started out with nine little babies and unfortunately lost one little tiny runt. As for the other eight, we have finally found them all homes. It was a fun adventure and the kids (and all the neighborhood kids) LOVED having all these cute little furballs. We may give it another go in the Spring...maybe.

Just a few days old.

It's hard to imagine our little bunnies used to be so little.

 

About 2 weeks old

 

About 3 weeks old...they were SO cute at this age. Just the perfect size and so mellow and sweet. 

  About a month and a half old. Starting to get REALLY active!

We had lots of visits from the neighborhood kids to play with the bunnies...they didn't lack for attention at all!

And then there was one. We kept one little female and named her...Prim! Had to keep with our theme...Katniss is the mom, Peeta is the dad.

Hee Haw, Hee Haw, HEE HAWS!

Chris' company hosts an annual customer appreciation activity at a local farm during the Fall. You know, Hay rides, pumpkins, corn mazes, farm animals, etc. So we gathered up the kids and headed out to play. We met up with a few friends which made for even more fun.

We wandered around the corn maze for a while until we stumbled upon the pumpkin patch and sunflower fields. They were huge! Lauren is 5'6".

The kids took a hayride and collected some candy from costumed characters in the field.

I think the kids had the most fun playing in the giant corn bins. They could have played there all night. We were cleaning corn out of things for days!

Lauren and Emily and I buried all the kids. There wasn't quite enough corn, but almost!

 Then all the kids buried Lauren

And we shot corn out of guns

 Then the kids took another hayride before we left.

Thanks for the good times Axiom Financial!