First Day of School 2012

 Taylor starts junior high this year, Mason is in 6th grade, Abby in 4th, and EmmaClaire in 1st.  Andersen gets to do preschool, and Kate gets to act like a terrible 2-year-old. 

 I love that the kids are all at the same school (K-8th grade).  I love that they can ride their bikes there and back together (as soon as it's not blazing hot outside), and I love that they "get" to wear uniforms.  Red or navy polos on top, and tan or denim on bottom.  It really simplifies EmmaClaire's mornings-she's our fashion diva and still struggles with the what shirt to wear each morning.

Mason and Taylor are excited to be on the cross country team this year, and Abby is excited to be in orchestra for the first time.  EmmaClaire really wants to be on the cheer leading team, but we're still debating that one.

Cheers to the start of another year of school. 

Last Party of the Summer

The last week of Summer, we enjoyed time in La Jolla with all of John's siblings, their families, and his parents.  All but one niece was there.  We stayed in a beautiful beach house just a short hop, skip, and a jump from the sandy beach.  First thing in the morning, we went to the beach, then came home for lunch, then back to the beach, then home for dinner, baths, and bed.  It was super relaxing and super fun! 

I love how the beach has a way of entertaining those of all ages.  Our younger ones LOVED playing in the sand, the older children enjoyed boogie boarding and riding the waves, lots of families played ball or frisbie on the beach, lots of others read books, surfed, gathered sea shells.  One of my favorite things was to go running along the shore every morning.  Everyone had a great time!

Mason and John took up surfing.  John got up maybe once, but Mason turned pro over night. 

Here's Papa (over 60 years old, yea--he's awesome!) surfing with Taylor and a cousin.

Kate couldn't get enough of the sand.  Not so much with the water though. . .

Here's a lot of the group, going for a morning walk on the beach to see the tide pools.

Papa is always teaching, and his grandkids love him for that.  Here, he's drawing pictures on the sand to show how the rotation of the moon creates high and low tides. 

Andersen with one of his best buddies.  I love this picture!

Mima, controlling three of the grandkids with her magical powers.

After a great week, we left full of memories.  Then we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, about 9 miles from the nearest gas station.  Nice planning!  (I won't mention who was the driver in charge of making sure this didn't happen).  John started walking towards a dairy in hopes to get some help, and took the car keys along with him.  Nice again!  John's sister saved us about 40 minutes later and brought gas, but I didn't have keys to get John, so that lead to another bout of waiting.  In the middle of nowhere.  The kids were getting hungry, thirsty, and HOT.

Here's our typical Mason.  He had a few food options, like nuts, granola bars, fruit sancks, cheese sticks, rolls, etc. . . He chose to eat a head of lettuse.  Rabbit!

 

Man, I love my family!  And not just the ones that live in my house, but all of my extended family too.  The LeSueurs know how to have some fun.

EmmaClaire's Two Front Teeth

EmmaClaire has been wiggling and wiggling this whole past summer.  Finally, after weeks of working on it, her first top tooth came out.  It was ready to come out, and she was thrilled.  The Tooth Fairy was "super busy with other teeth" the first two nights, but finally brought her two quarters, a dime and a nickel. 

She was ecstatic!  She ran throughout the house holding up her money, singing "I got money, I got money, and I want MORE".  . . . (sounds kind of greedy, I know.  She was hilarious!). 

 Later that afternoon, she came to me asking if I thought her other front tooth was loose enough to pull out. I couldn't even get it to budge. No way, that tooth has a long way to go before pulling it out.


She continued asking others in the family if it was ready to get out. . . and continued getting the same response. Finally, I asked her why she wanted it to come out. "Because I want MORE MONEY" was her singy response.

When Dad came home that evening, she handed him floss and told him to help her get it out.  She was determined, so he took on the challenge and went to work.

And he kept working.  It was like a mini surgery in our family room.  And it took a long time. 

But he finally got it out.  The tooth popped and flew across the room.  EmmaClaire grabbed it, held it high, and yelled "Money".  Then she ran to the bathroom to wash it up.  A few moments later, John and I heard the saddest weepy cry coming from the bathroom.  The tooth had fallen into the sink and was washed away down the drain.  All her hopes of becoming rich from the tooth fairy had vanished, and she was devastated.

After calming her down, we decided to send the tooth fairy a note with some before and after pictures so she would know EmmaClaire was telling the truth.  And it worked. This 6-year-old is rich!

And we're enjoying her darling toothless smile and the way she can't say her "S" sound very clearly.  I wish I could freeze her cute personality forever.