Harper's First Day of School

   Harper finally had her first day of Kindergarten this last Wednesday.  She was so excited, and was ready to go to school for a long time before her actual first day.  She said she had a great first day of class and likes her teacher.  Emery was extremely upset that she was not getting on the bus going to school as well.  Luke was upset that we came back to the house and didn't go somewhere.  

Here's Harper all ready for school.

Here's Luke loosing his cool after Harper got on the bus.  Emery was calming herself down with a nice round of thumb sucking.

Labor Day Weekend Part 2

   On Monday we went up to see Thomas, Ashley, and Ayva and had some lunch together before we had to go back home to catch up on housework.  Ashley was super nice and let Avery and Harper play with perler beads.  The wanted to make Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls.  I love Avya.  She has the best faces.  Especially when she bites into something she'll get this intense look while biting down with all her might.  

Avya giving me her serious face.

A not so serious face.  She is wearing hand me down shoes that I think all my girls wore.  It's always slightly surprising for some reason when I recognize something that she is wearing.

Emery only played with the perler beads for a moment thank goodness.

Avery and Harper working on Bubbles.

Luke and Emery flying together at the park.

Labor Day Weekend Part 1

   Thursday before Labor Day weekend Daryl and I decided that we would go down to Portland for the day on Saturday.  We actually stayed the night in Olympia on Friday, so we wouldn't have to get up quite so early.  Nellie, Paul, and Reagan were in town visiting friends and staying with Brad and DeAnna.  I know Reagan was really glad that we came because the first thing she asked for when she got off the plane were her cousins.  Then she totally cried when we left.  It was too sweet.  DeAnna picked up my camera while we were making smores in the backyard, so there are actually pictures of us this time.  

Luke didn't actually roast his marshmallows.  He would put it on the roaster and then immediately eat it.

Harper taking it easy.

Reagan roasting her marshmallows with Paul and Nellie in the background.

Emery dancing around.

Harper and Reagan being silly together.  Those two were as thick as thieves all day.

Daryl eating a smore.

Avery eating her smore.

Brad

It's me not taking pictures.

Luke working on a marshmallow.

Daryl and I awkwardly holding hands.

Luke playing ladder ball.

Avery, Harper, and Reagan

I'm not sure what Reagan was trying to highlight in this picture.

Somehow there were many pictures of Lady on my camera.

Here's a picture with all the girls.  Emery, Avery, Harper, and Reagan

Avery's First Day of School

  Avery had her first day of second grade today.  She was really excited this morning.  The last twenty minutes before it was time to catch the bus she kept asking if it was time to go to the bus.  Avery made sure to go and pick up our neighbor, Jalen, before going to the bus stop.  She wanted to make sure that he didn't miss the bus.  Avery  was super happy to see that she had the same bus driver from last year.  Her first day was great, and her good friend from last year, Emme, is in her class this year.   

August Leftovers

  Here are a few pictures from August.  We had a great month, and one of the best parts is Emery is now potty trained.  We are all so excited that Emery can go to preschool for sure now.  We had our doubts, but she really pulled through.  It was a great summer, and it is going to be great new school year!

Luke keeps putting on this bow headband.  I love it so much.

Emery and Harper decided that they needed to stuff themselves in this random box.

Emery passed out on the ottoman in the living room the other day.

Dax lounging on Daryl's shoes.  A naturally comfortable spot.

The Last Hurrah of Summer

  Aimee and I planned a last minute trip to Remlinger Farms today up in Carnation.  Last time we went with the kids I was pregnant with Emery, so it was very exciting for Avery, Harper, and Emery. They were also thrilled to be spending more time Aimee and Tyler as always.  The kids had a great time on all the rides.  Harper and Emery didn't like the little roller coaster though and wouldn't go on it again after they went on it once.  Everyone enjoyed playing in the hay maze that also featured a giant pile of hay that they could jump into.  In an unrelated note I vacuumed a bunch of hay around my house tonight.

I love Avery's face.

Emery and Harper had to have their picture taken in a cut out too.

Aimee rode with Emery and Harper on this spinning ride.  You can see the top of Harper's Goofy hat.

Harper and Emery in this tiny ferris wheel.

Emery adored this pony ride.

Luke very carefully laid himself down on the ground to have a freak out moment regarding his hunger level.

Luke just carrying around his sister's purse is all.

Tyler having a great time in the hay.

Luke was trying to do everything that he saw Tyler doing.  It was pretty cute.

Emery hanging out on an old school bus.

Luke rode this little train like five times in a row.

Harper in a giant flying ear of corn.

Emery rode the corn five times in a row.

Luke and Emery being adorable together.

Aimee captured a rare genuine Harper smile.

Me with Emery and Harper on the flying pumpkins.  

Tyler and Avery were having a blast on the roller coaster.  Emery and  Harper not so much.  Harper is hidden behind me.

Here you can see Harper holding on for dear life, and another unhappy Emery face.  Tyler and Avery were more than happy to ride this coaster three more times.

Our Summer of Disrepair

  In May we decided that we would finish up updating our last two bathrooms in the house hoping that it would take six weeks.  They got finished up technically yesterday doing the last few finishes.  They were more or less done two weeks ago really.  The basement bathroom has been done for over a month.  I'm just happy that the upstairs hall bathroom was done enough for when we started potty training Emery.  We're really glad that they are done now.  We've pretty much updated everything in our house now that would meaningfully impact our daily life.  It feels good to be done.

  Unfortunately in May our dishwasher decided to stop working.  The most expensive part was broken because a piece of glass had gotten into it and done all sorts of damage.  Of course this part was back

ordered, and it took more than a month to get it.  Then when it did come and they were trying to install it they discovered another part was damaged, so we got to wait another week and a half for that part to come in.  Now we finally have a working dishwasher again.  It was so long that we bought a counter top dishwasher that we hooked up to the wet bar in the basement.  Also the weekend we went to Mount Rainier we came back to a broken air conditioner.  Fortunately that was fixed in less than a week.  I'm looking forward to not having anything being remodeled or broken in my house for a long while.

The upstairs bathtub and surround.

We added some extra cabinetry and I love our new tile floor.  Now all the vinyl is gone from the house.

In the basement bathroom we took out the bathtub and just made it a stand up shower.

This is what a counter top dishwasher looks like.  It's like half a dishwasher, that sits on your counter.  I ran it twice a day, but it was way better than nothing.