Amanda's Big Day

Our good college friend Amanda got married this weekend!!  

We are so excited and happy for Amanda and Jeff!! 

 

College girlfriends!

 

The happy couple, Amanda and Jeff

The wedding and reception were adorable.  Amanda and Jeff are huge hockey fans and they infused their favorite sport into the decorations.  Their guest book was a hockey jersey 

with their last name on the back of it.  It was so perfect!

Amanda and Jeff invited our kids to the wedding and reception.  How sweet was that?!?  We decided to just bring Layla.  She is able to sit for longer periods and just loves anything bride and wedding related.  She also loves to dance and is typically able to stay up past her bedtime without a meltdown.  Thank you to my dad for watching Grady for us!!

 

Layla loved every aspect of the wedding.  She thought it was pretty cool to drink her water out of her coffee cup and she loved the fancy napkin on her lap.

 

Her favorite part of the evening was the dancing.  She loved it.

 

We let Layla try her first sip of pop in the form of a kiddie cocktail.  She thought it was fizzy but liked it :)

Stephanie, Katie and I.  So lucky to have found them in college!!  

Congratulations Amanda and Jeff!! 

October

Our end of September and October has been a bit crazy.  Crazy, but overall good! 

 

Ryan got into a car accident.  A car blew a stop sign by his work and just like that his car was totaled. The car is gone but he was thankfully fine.  Because it happened right by his work, he had lots of support immediately.  After a lengthy hunt, we found a car last weekend!   

 

I served jury duty for a week.  I learned a lot.  I learned both about the legal system and about working full time with kids.  I just got a small taste of working hours for a week, but man that is tough work.  It gave me a greater appreciation for working moms and for Ryan and working dads too. 

 

Grady started speech therapy.  His therapist is sweet and embraces his energy.  We waited until we could wait no longer to start therapy!  Early intervention is a wonderful thing to have offered to us and we are excited to hear the results from the therapy.  My favorite thing Grady says right now is "And be. And be. And be."  He means "And me" to make sure he is not left out of anything :)  I will be sad when he drops that little phrase. 

 

Layla is still loving school.  She is frenetic when she gets home from school.  I get to help in her classroom from time to time and watched her today as she ran for the school fundraiser.  She seems happy and is learning lots.  And apparently she has a schedule to rotate friends at lunch :) 

 

 Pictures are below!!

 

Grandma Cathy and Papa Ver had good luck with their pumpkins this year!!

Cousins!!

Apple picking!!

Dramatic Grady not loving my photo ideas ;)

 

Eating and learning :)

 

 

 

Running for the school fundraiser!!

Bear crawl during PE class!

 

Grandma came to watch the fundraiser too!!  Layla was pumped!

 

Kindergarten everywhere!

Kindergarten has obviously been on my mind lately.  But for different reasons than you would think!  I have had many kindergarten connections lately.

 

Here I am celebrating Lindsay's wedding to Manish.  Lindsay is a friend I met in kindergarten.  Also pictured are high school friends Starlyn and Angelyn.  Lindsay had a beautiful ceremony and reception.  I feel lucky Lindsay and I still talk often and have remained friends for 25 years.  25 years, how crazy does that sound?!?

 

And here are Grady and little Brody.  Brody is Brianne's son.  Brianne is my friend and former co-worker.  We taught kindergarten together.  I loved meeting Brody and seeing Brianne a couple of weeks ago.  It was so nice to catch up.  People often ask me if I miss teaching.  I really enjoyed it, but I know I will go back to the classroom one day.  Honestly, the aspect I miss the most about teaching are the teachers I worked with, most definitely Brianne being one of them.

 

 

And then there is Layla.  My favorite kindergartner!  She was pumped to ride the bus for the first time last week.  The bus ride was for a field trip to an apple orchard.  I was lucky enough to go on the field trip with the class. (Thank you Cathy for watching Grady!)  I had actually been on the exact same field trip six times.  I used to take my own class.  It was the exact same field trip as it was when I went for the first time eight years ago.  Not a thing had changed.  I guess if it's not broken....  :)  And I have to say it was much more relaxing to go as a parent!

 

Layla loved the bus and the field trip and I loved meeting all of her new kindergarten friends!

The End of Summer

With the end of summer officially coming on Sunday, I thought I would share a mish mash of pictures from my camera and phone.  We have really enjoyed the last bit of summer.  It has been sporadically hot (86 degrees right now, but feels like 96 degrees) and we have enjoyed shorts and tank tops much longer than normal.   I am ready for fall but in no way ready for the cold, winter weather.  I hope we can ease our way into the colder months!

 

 

We splashed in the pool until closing week.  We loved going at night after dinner to cool down.

Our little pop star.  Layla likes the tape stage (painter's tape) for her performances :)

 

Apple orchard time!  Sweaty, apple orchard time.

 

Making allergy friendly cupcakes for the September birthdays!  Layla has on my apron and Grady is in Layla's apron.  I need to make Grady an apron.  He really is into helping with food preparation right now.

 

Celebrating Cassie, Jamie and my dad.  Do you see Cassie's belly in the background?!? 

 

And lawn mower rides with the birthday papa!!  Can you tell all the birthday folks were a bit camera shy? ;)

 

Happy fall!  Looking forward to jeans, sweaters and the holidays to come!

 

 

Puzzles

  Today I was playing puzzles with Grady and I snapped a picture of him fishing for puzzle pieces.  I was struck with a memory of Layla doing the exact same thing at a similar age.  I checked through some picture files and found the picture of Layla that I was hoping to find. 

 

Grady at 27 months and 2 weeks

Layla at 27 months and 2 days 

 

What a peanut Layla was at 27  months.  Or maybe it just seems that way now since I am used to Grady who has rested in the high percentiles for weight for most of his little life :) 

Either way, I loved looking back at this side by side.  I really miss those baby curls!

 

Grandparents' Day

Last week my parents headed to kindergarten with Layla.  Ryan's parents would have loved to go also but it was during the day and they were working.  The night before the big day Layla could barely sleep.  She was SO excited that papa and grandma were going to be in her classroom!  My parents got to check out the classroom, listen to the kids sing a few songs and eat lunch with Layla in the lunchroom.  My parents said Layla fit right in with the class and kindergarten looked like it was a perfect fit for her right now.  I was happy with the report!

 

I am so relieved that everything seems to be going well.  Ryan and I (well, really mostly me!) went back and forth if sending her this year was the right decision.  If we chatted at all this summer, you know I was especially fretful as the school year approached.  But the first few weeks have gone well and Layla seems very happy.  She does not like getting up early for school (she still likes her twelve hours at night and it is tough to get those in) but she is very pleased with all other aspects of school.  I think the worrying may have been caused from me not being ready for kindergarten quite yet :) 

 

In the classroom

 

 Papa and Layla by the coat hooks!

 

 

And in the lunchroom!  Layla wanted to show my parents how she gets hot lunch from time to time.  She loves the sun butter (allergy friendly alternative to peanut butter that the lunchroom serves to all kiddos) and jelly sandwiches :)

And finally here is a little video of the kindergartners!  I know the video is a bit fuzzy, but Layla is in the center with the white bow in her hair.

 

Horses & School

We were lucky enough to visit my aunt's horses, Bud and Tia, last week.  Ann boards her horses on a beautiful farm in a neighboring state. It was such a happy place.  The owners of the farm are so passionate about what they do and you can tell they just love their horses.   

 

Layla was pretty tickled with her time at the farm.  It was the day after her first day of school and we had been looking forward to our big horse day all week.  My dad was nice enough to watch Grady and Layla was able to spend the day with a bunch of her favorite ladies :)

 

Layla loves animals, but she really surprised me with her confidence and fearlessness around and on the horses.  Let's hope she approaches school in the exact same way this year!

 

Ann's pictures below tell about our day perfectly.  We rode for so long that we missed lunch! 

 

 

 

 Our whole crew.  Ann, Layla, Joan, myself and mom!

 

 

 

And that was a wrap to a wonderful day!  Thank you to Ann for having us to the farm and showing Layla into the horse world!  And to Joan for keeping Layla fed, hydrated and very giggly :) 

 

School update:  Layla had a great first full week in school this week.  She cracked Ryan and I up with her stories this week.  Layla told us she had trouble finding her friends because they were all in the same color clothes (it was color week!) but yet she has already successfully memorized her special number (student ID number) so she can access the computers.  Layla loves her teacher, snack time, music time, P.E. and analyzing the behavior management system in the room.  Recess is the area that seems to be the biggest area of uneasiness and questions.  We have now gotten through school pictures, Layla's first hot lunch and five early wake-ups.  Big week.  So big that Layla fell asleep at rest time in the classroom.
 

Resting after school with a big pile of new library books

Grady is slowly adjusting to the transition.  He is of course confused by Layla's new whereabouts, but it is also a huge change in his sleep schedule.  He now has an earlier wake-up and an earlier and shorter nap.  Poor Grady (and mom).  Hopefully by the end of next week he will be a bit better adjusted to his new sleep schedule!