All about Stelly!

Our little Stella has been quite busy herself!! She is so silly and wild and crazy and funny and NAUGHTY...in a mostly funny sort of way. Little Stelly (18 months now) is starting to talk more, and her words are just so cute. At the beginning of the summer, she used to call Sophia and Sasha "Daaaah" and "Daaaaah" respectively (note the extra 'a' in Sasha's name). Now she can clearly say "Sa-sha" in a very sing-songy way, and we're still not quite sure what she calls Sophia...and that is quite possibly because they are both "Sa-sha" to her. She is our fall-down-and-get-right-up girl, and has sported more injuries this summer alone than the other two kids combined. She tries so hard to keep up with them!

My favorite thing she does now is nod "yes" to questions...but she nods with her WHOLE body. Very cute and it looks like such hard work for her.

We're enjoying our special time together while the big sisters are at school in the morning. Sasha is only gone until 10:45, so the two of them also have some bonding time before Sophia comes home in the afternoon.

Bonding with Dad at the campfire

yummy...

carrots and hummus...no biggie

Sasha's first day of preschool!

The day after Sophia started K, Sasha started ECE 3 (early childhood education for 3 year olds) at the same school! It is so nice having them in the same building, with the same administrators, and the same PTA, etc....

Sasha looooooves school!! For the past two years she has had to "help" me drop off and pick up Sophia at preschool. Now it is her turn, and she couldn't be happier.

Sophia's First day of Kindergarten

Sophia started Kindergarten on her birthday, so she was excited to have birthday treats with her new class on the first day of school. Her teacher, Ms. Piazza, is great, ....and she has a small'ish class this year (19 kiddos). Another new thing is that Soph is riding the bus to school now - which is such a big girl thing, and she is loving the independence. It is soooo helpful to me, too, since I can let the other two girls nap in the afternoon rather than having to pack them up to head to the school at 3:15. Even though she has been going to preschool for 2 years before this, I feel like Kindergarten is such a big leap for her and for me. She used to be gone for 2.5 hours at most, and now she catches the bus at 7:40am and comes home at 3:40pm!! It is hard being away from her for so long each day, but I think she was ready for it.

Birthday breakfast!

Sophia, Alex and Anna....ready to catch the bus!

still waiting for the bus

here it is!

...and off she goes!! xoxo

Sophia's 5th birthday

Sophia turned 5 on August 19th, the same day she started Kindergarten! We had her party the weekend before, and it was a PRINCESS PANCAKE PARTY...with pink pancakes, princess costumes, nail polishing, and pin the crown on the princess. As if he isn't normally outnumbered enough, Michael at one point was the lone male in the house with 12 other girls. Here are some of the highlights....

Random, silly summer pics

Here are some of my favorite shots from this summer...and also a link to ALL of the albums I've been hoarding since May. ;-)

South Dakota trip!

Our annual summer trip to South Dakota was great this year....Missy, Cas, Jackson and Mila were there the whole time we were there, Edie and Adam came up, so the whole gang was together. Grammy Cathie and Papa Jim's house was bursting at the seams with kids/diapers/toys/books/pack'n'plays everywhere...but it was perfect.

Jackson and Stelly playing with the trains...a morning ritual

Great Grandma Sweety and the great grandkids

Ta da!

Papa Joe, Grandma Honey, and the Greats

Sasha...Preschooler by day, Artist by night

One night, I set Sasha loose with her sketch pad and pencil while I was making dinner. About ten minutes later, she said "Mom,I drawed a picture of Daddy." Pretty accurate, don't you think??

Rewind your clocks 3.5 months....

Sophia had her very first dance recital in June, and it was so fun to see her perform up on stage with her class buddies. She LOVED that she got to wear real make-up two days in a row (for rehearsal and the performance). Below is a video of her routine -- it was taped at the dress rehearsal, because video cameras weren't allowed at the recital. There is a lot of background noise/talking/shuffling around/etc....but at least for the first half you can see Soph do her thing; she ends the routine in the back row, so you don't see much of her there. Little ballerinas are SO CUTE!

Summer hiatus

Like many of my favorite tv shows, I decided to go on hiatus from blog writing for a few months. BUT, I'm back...so hold on to your butts. I have a quiet house, a cup of coffee, and lots to update you on. First, a new family picture that we had taken the other day at Sophia's kindergarten potluck.