Kindergarten, Here She Comes!

Maddie has been counting down to this big day! Last night was the open house to meet her teacher, Ms. Mailes. She is a new teacher at Meadow, and has spent the last 4 years teaching in Taiwan. She is an amazing artist and painted a mural of sea creatures on the walls. Maddie is an aspiring artist so she was impressed. Luckily, she knows at least 6 kids in her class, so she was really excited!

The process the night before... she requested glittery toes, and then we laid out her outfit. 

Showers and stories.. She insisted we read "The Night Before Kindergarten." 

Mike gave Maddie a very special father's blessing to give her extra courage and strength. Then we measured the girls, and both have grown more than an inch over the summer!

 

My sweet school girl...  can't believe the day really came.

She picked out her own backpack and was very excited about the monkeys. 

Another source of excitement.... we had cousins, Aunt Noelle, and Grandma visiting and there to see her off! In fact, Maddie didn't actually fall asleep until about midnight last night because she was so excited for Emrie to come (she thought she saw her plane fly over, which it very well could have, and then couldn't sleep till she saw her!) plus the anticipation of school. The visitors have also been a great distraction for Ella so she didn't feel the least bit lonely.

Big Kindergartener!

Of course it was bitter sweet to let my baby walk into school, but neither of us were sad! I have definitely had emotional moments watching her grow up, but she's always been my big girl and we meet each new step with excitement!

We saw a cute boy in Maddie's class and sent them in together. 

After school and still happy! When I asked her what her favorite thing was about the day, she said, "Recess! I did the monkey bars!" She gave a good report, saying they read "The Kissing Hand," played Copy Cat, and learned everyone's names and the new rules. I'm glad to see her adapting easily, but my biggest challenge is going to be doing this every day! With preschoolers you get used to every other day, so saying goodbye every morning seems excessive. :)

While she was gone Ella and Emrie helped me make pink cupcakes to surprise Maddie. It was a happy day!

Summer Projects

We have been cramming crafts in to say goodbye to summer! I'm sure we will find time for some after school starts too, but things just get more... scheduled, ya know?

We tried making cotton ball collages with flour paste, then baking them. The girls called them giant cookies.

They are a bit obsessed with rainbows, so we tried rainbow footprints.

 

We have been making cards for loved ones with glue and glitter. I loved doing this as a kid!

We made some new playdough, and the requested color was pink. We also tried adding in some pink glitter for fun!

 This could keep them occupied for hours. Love it!

The coolest thing we tried was salt sand art. Just rub the chalk in a pile of sand and it turns colors!

Dump it into jars and make a beautiful creation! We had to buy more salt to fill these to the top so they wouldn't shake up, but you get the idea. So fun!

Ballet is Back!

My girls started new dance classes this week! Maddie almost didn't do it this year... when I told her the schedule was up she got teary eyed and said she just wanted to do soccer and kindergarten this year. I was surprised because she's always been a natural! Come to find out, she was nervous to meet a new teacher, but we talked through it and after the first day, I think she's going to love Ms. Carrie!

This year our schedule happened to work with a class taught in RAD theory (Royal Academy of Dance) and they have to wear pink. Her teacher is accredited and has apparently danced for Princess Di in the past! She has a cute British accent.

Once we got there, she wasn't nervous at all and was soon giggling with her new friends.

This is what she talked about most. "Mom, we learned passe to the front today!"

Poor little miss Ella had to be second yet again. She has been waiting for this day for two years, and of course Maddie's class had to start a day before her's. She was a good sport, though. I think it's been really good for her, because Ella is naturally very timid, but being so familiar with the place and structure of the class helped her be super confident when it was her turn!

 Finally Ella's turn to shine!

Wow, that puts things in perspective. So much has changed!!!

Little ballerina finding her place...

Ella did so well! She loved the baby ballerina bears, loved her teacher Ms. Jenna, and just beamed being out there in a real class. It was one of those heart-bursting moments mom's have when they are just so proud!

Just some cute videos... Ella was good at staying on beat and following her teacher!

Maddie already taught her how to skip... although she could use some graceful refining... :)

Super Dad!

We love Daddy. How could we not?

He's good for a laugh... often wrestling and tickling.

He likes to snuggle. When he reads to the kids they love to lay on his back and look over his shoulder.

He tells Pooh Bear stories every night at bedtime. They miss it when he has a meeting or works late.

He plays games with the kids. In fact, he picked Jenga up himself a few days ago because he thought the girls would like it. He ended up playing it with the neighbor boys too when we did a babysitting swap, after which they got out Risk and set to battling.

He is creative! He thought of this drumming to keep them entertained.

He often does the dishes (I'm the one that loves that).

He has been amazing this summer to let me get away! He took off work to stay home with the kids for part of my week at Girls' Camp, then again for the 4th year hike, and recently stayed with them all weekend while I went to St. George with my friends. I've never been away from them this much in my life, but it's been so good to know he can handle it.

What's more, he worked a little overtime last week, allowing enough wiggle room in the budget that I could buy plane tickets to visit my little sister when she has her baby! I get to take another weekend trip sans kids to go spoil her and kiss her newborn.

We're pretty lucky, aren't we?

Hiked the Y

Mike's sister invited us to hike the Y with them for family night, and we couldn't resist, despite knowing that it would be challenging with little ones. Just that morning I took the kids down to BYU to get our Cosmo Kid's Club t-shirts and football tickets, so we were already in the "mood." As we drove by the Y the girls asked if people can really walk on it, so it was awesome to take them that evening and let them try!

At the first turn (of 12) the girls were ready for a sit.

Daddy carried Ty for the first little bit, but when I had to start carrying Ella we traded. We didn't remember how strenuous the hike was! My freshman year I remember walking from Heritage Halls all the way up to the top, and then back. Maybe I'm just a wimpo now, but it is way steeper than the other four hikes I've been on this summer! I was impressed with Maddie--she made it almost all the way up on her own two legs (Daddy gave her a short shoulder ride).

Of course they both wanted to run when they saw the white Y up ahead. "Mom, I think it's made of snow!!!"

"Stay off the Y, it is fragile..."

Yeah well, that didn't happen. They girls were impressed by how steep and slippery it was.

Victory!

The Nelson's

Mike took the girls to the very top to see what they could see. It was starting to get dark and all the lights were coming on. It was sure beautiful up there, and even though I was sad there was no sunset, the cloud cover was wonderful.

It was hard to not run down the mountain. Ty loved high bounces and giggled hysterically. We sang lots of songs to keep the girls' minds off their legs, and tried not to land on our backsides!

Hope Rach and Paul don't mind me sharing this shot... it's just so cute!

Girlfriend Reunion!

Well, I already plastered these photos all over facebook, so I apologize if you have already seen them. Now I have to put them here so I can enter them into the annals of Andrews history! These memories have got to be permanent.

I had the awesome-est group of girl friends growing up. Some of us went to church together, some of us danced together, and some of us just knew each other since 1st grade, but we ended up being a close knit group in high school. We had so much good, clean fun back then. We tended to love photo shoots with sheets draped on the walls, and we had sleepovers (makeovers, ghost stories, truth or dare... the works) almost every weekend. We shared boyfriends and clothes, went on choir and dance trips and vacations together, and spent as much time at each others' houses as we did our own. We dyed each others hair, had classes together, and graduated together. Of course we had our fights and troubles, but we always came around. We have kept in touch here and there over the years, but this was the first time we have gotten the whole group together in 12 years!!!

We met at my parent's new house in St. George, which was perfect for so many reasons. It was kind of central for people coming from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California, but it was still far enough away for us Utahn's to get away from our daily lives too! It was warm and sunny (try 110) for the pacific northwesters, and the red scenery is breathtaking, especially if you've never been there. Best of all there were comfy beds for everyone, plus the fancy kitchen, spa, and community pool to enjoy for free! (Thanks a million Mom and Dad!)

 The views out the back windows are amazing.

We all arrived on Friday. We might have been a little apprehensive about seeing everyone again, but the minute you see those familiar faces the anxiety melts and you just remember you love each other!
 

This is a cute shot of Dana and Lauren D. We called her that because there were two of us, and she happens to have a married name that starts with D. too, so the name continues!

The first night we went to a little bakery and cafe for dinner.

Then we came home and broke out the memories. We brought photos, yearbooks, and even a video clip of us doing a photo shoot to ask our guys to Sadie Hawkins junior year. We also brought wedding pictures to catch up on dating and marriages and everything since! It was so great to reminisce and laugh our heads off. The conversations are a little different now (like swapping labor and delivery stories, in-law difficulties, and cooking and food challenges), but the humor and dynamics are just the same!

Tasha and I have so many pictures of the two of us... had to add a new one.

Saturday Jacque made us her famous crepes (a group favorite) and then we headed to the pool. Emily was set on having floaties, so she ran to the store and bought a bunch!

 

Dana did a cannon ball and Melinda did a back flip into the pool. Yeehaw!

I enjoyed just floating around, myself.

Tasha was so cute with her baby Noah. He always fell asleep in her arms, even in the pool!

Mindi's baby Andrew was adorable too. They were such sweet tag-a-longs.

Jacque wouldn't get in (something about being 26 weeks pregnant) but she was a handy photographer. :)

After hitting the outlet mall Saturday afternoon, we met up at Benja's Thai and Sushi restaurant for dinner. 

Somehow in 30 years I've never tried sushi. I tried just a basic California roll and was in love! I've been missing out all my life! The Thai curry was also to die for. We ate sooooo much food, but of course still had room for ice cream back at the house. 

Here's a final group shot... I love these girls so much. It was refreshing and renewing and so much fun! Wish we could still hang out every day, but I'll take every year from now on!