Sweet Baby Flem...

...is baking! I am 3 months pregnant with baby #3 due in the 3rd month of next year! We are all excited! Hooray for 3!!!

My boyfriend goes to preschool

Donovan started preschool this week. I referred to it as his first day of preschool, but he corrected me and said "It's my second first day of preschool." Last year we tried one day a week, but because of his separation anxiety, he dropped out after a few months. This year, he was very excited to start. He is in the Monkey class, which Avery was also in at his age, which he thinks is pretty cool. I adore his teacher, Miss Linda, who was also Avery's teacher. Donovan knows her pretty well, so I think that helps too. I was worried that he would be clingy or cry, but when we got to his class, I hung out by the door for a few minutes. After he got settled, he looked over to me and yelled "Bye Mommy!"

He really liked his new school shoes:

And his backpack:

With his buddy Cooper:

In front of his classroom door:

Avery, in the same spot, 3 years ago:

First Grade!

This past Tuesday, Avery started her first day of first grade. She is at a new school this year because her kindergarten was actually an extension of her preschool, and they stop at kindergarten. I have to admit, it has been a harder transition that I expected. I dropped her off and cried all the way to the car. I don't mean teared up a little bit, I mean sobbed. For the first time in her life, I felt like I was just turning her over to strangers. We don't know her teacher or anyone in her class. And I really don't know what goes on during the day. I haven't been thrilled with the communication from the school so far either and I don't like that they don't allow the parents inside the school to drop off or pick up their children. I guess I am spoiled from her kindergarten experience, but this has a rough week for us all, not least of which is being out the door by 7:45! I'm sure I'll like it when we get more used to it. We did eat lunch in the cafeteria with her on Friday, which was fun, and I think I'm going to start volunteering in her class once a week.

Avery on the first day. It was raining.

Next to her desk. She was excited to see that she has an actual desk this year with a spot underneath to keep all her things.

The backpack closet. Since she was one of the first ones there that day, she got to choose her favorite number - 6!

Most exciting thing to happen all summer!

Let it be known that on Sunday, September 6, 2009, Avery lost her first tooth. I don't think a kid has wanted to lose a tooth this badly before. For months, she has come to me at least 4 times a week for me to see if she has any loose teeth. In kindergarten, she was the ONLY kid in her class to graduate with a full set of teeth. This was quite devastating to her. Finally, a few days before we went to the beach house, her tooth was really loose! I assured her that her tooth would probably come out at the beach and all her friends would be there to be excited for her. Big mistake. Not only did she not lose her tooth at the beach house, her two buddies Rayna and Coriel each lost a tooth and the Tooth Fairy found them at the beach. She was sadder than ever and I felt horrible for getting her hopes up. Finally, last Sunday, she came home and announced to us that she had promised Rayna at church that her dad was going to pull out her tooth that night, and she had to do it because she didn't want to lie! (I'm not kidding, this was really her reason.) So, Scott reached in and yanked that tooth out. It bled more than usual, but she said it didn't hurt much. So here she is, the long awaited TOOTHLESS AVERY!!!

She couldn't get this smile off her face. I have never seen anyone so happy to lose a tooth before:

She immediately called Rayna, to prove she wasn't a liar, of course. Rayna came right over to verify and the girls were excited to see that they are missing the EXACT same tooth! Does it get any more exciting?

Family Bowling Night!

We ended our summer with a trip to the local bowling lanes. The kids had loads of fun bowling, but were a little disappointed to learn they aren't as good in real life as they are on the Wii. And so were Scott and I!

We were a little sad to go home at the end of the night.

Reading reward!

Last summer, Avery set a goal of reading 100 books before the first day of kindergarten. Her reward was a trip to the water park, but she discovered that she was just a tiny bit too short for the really tall slides and vowed to return and conquer them. This summer, we changed things up a bit. She now reads a combination of chapter books and regular books, so we thought shooting for a certain number of books might be harder, so she decided to go for a certain number of pages. 1,000 to be exact. And she reached her goal! I'm so proud of my little bookworm!
With her chart. I have to say, it was much easier to keep track of 100 books than 1,000 pages. I think it took as long to put the stickers on as it did to read the actual pages.

At the waterpark. Thumbs up, in case you can't tell.

And we tried Dippin' Dots for the first time ever. They did not disappoint, at least in Avery and Donovan's opinions. And is there anything better than Donovan's hair after a day of swimming?

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries after only these 3 pictures, but you can still look at the pictures from last year here.

Raggedy Ann gets a makeover

Avery is very attached to her long hair. It has taken me several weeks to convince her that some of it needed to come off. I think she's happy with the end result though, mostly because it is still long.
Before:

PS, she made that skirt herself during spring break last year. ^^^

During:

After. We cut off about 4-5 inches. Isn't it cute?

OBX!

Last week, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It was a great trip and we went with many great friends. It was a week filled with boogie boarding:

Trying to keep our skin out of the sun (and failing):

Playing frisbee with our best buddies:

Doing some hard labor:

Getting buried in the sand:

Splashing in the waves:

And getting bowled over by a couple:

Swimming in the backyard pool:

and experiencing Pigman BBQ with good friends:

It was exhausting!

A tree fell on our house

Last month, Scott and I woke in the middle of the night to a loud CRACK. We had no idea what it was, but convinced ourselves it was nothing and went back to sleep. The next day, we found this:

The big tree next to our home cracked in half on one of it's main branches.

Luckily, we got someone to come out right away to cut it down and clear it away.

It was a great show! We ate our dinner while we watched, and I'm shocked that none of those guys fell off the roof, they were crazy!