tooth be told

ahh!!  where is the time flying???  this week went by super fast and we have so much going on over the next several weeks.  oy!

last monday, we wished max a happy half birthday - he's 4 1/2 now!!

then i was off to my fantasy football draft - so excited for football season!!

on tuesday, ella pulled out her fifth tooth!!!

we had a slight mishap - i'm going to assume that my kids will be old enough by the time they read this blog.  so the tooth fairy was a bit late.  forgot, actually.  ella was so so sad when she came down the next morning.  we told her that because she lost her tooth in the late afternoon and we are on the west coast, AND she woke up super early, that the tooth fairy was likely still finishing her rounds.  we set her in our room to watch a cartoon, and shortly thereafter received a text from the tooth fairy apologizing for her tardiness and she even doubled the normal amount left.  phew.  we have a happy girl who still believes in fairies.  and has a little extra spending money...

the rest of the week was busy, of course.  on saturday morning, ella had a cheerleading clinic with the tanque verde high school chickiehawks - she loved it!!  she learned a routine and a few cheers.

with hank the hawk and her BFF, hailey.

we spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, and finishing the renovations to our master bath.  max's prayer at dinner on saturday night:
dear god, thank you for our family.  i love our family and friends.  i love dinosaurs.  but they died.  and i'm sad.  in the name of the father, son and holy spirit, amen.

sunday, we had the cotters' over for a playdate and a dinner tutorial from my dad.  thanks, dad!!

different pool...different bath...

oh so lazy with my camera last week.  last monday, max started a winter swim practice team at la mariposa.  i'm just "meh" about it so far, so we'll see what we end up doing for the winter going forward, but i'm thankful for the practice laps in the pool and the real-time coaching and feedback he's getting!!

are we ready to do this again??  

the rest of the week was busy busy with roger out of town (thank you to jenny who fed me all THREE nights he was gone!!), meet the teacher night (thank you, mom, for watching the kids and ella's first grade experience will be full of learning and fun!!), and more swim.  

with the exception of ella's saturday afternoon spent at girl scouts, we spent our saturday and sunday renovating our master bath - 4+ years in one house - it seems like we're here to stay... 

max kept me company while i was out in the garage painting a cabinet.  i asked him if he could go in the house and ask roger if i needed to paint the toe kick.  he came out and reported that i did not need to paint the "foot hit."  haha!

look whooo's in pre-k!

last monday, after school for ella, max had his 'meet the teacher night' at st. paul's.  his teachers are mrs. dawson and mrs. monier and he's in the owls class!  he was super excited and walked right into his classroom and started playing.  can't believe he will be starting pre-k!!!

tuesday morning, all ready for school!!

and here are max's stats:

school: st. paul's united methodist preschool

teacher: mrs. dawson

favorite color(s): blue and green

favorite book: fix it duck

favorite tv show/movie: blaze and the monster machines/the nightmare before christmas

favorite food: ravioli

what he wants to be when he grows up: a worker at office max (because it is named after him)

 hanging out with josie before the first day started!  our littles are the last ones left at st. paul's!  when did everyone grow up???

ready to go in- meeting mrs. dawson at the classroom door.  have a great year in pre-k, max!!!!  a huge monsoon rolled in right after drop-off but cleared by pick-up, so perfect timing and he had a great day at school!

the rest of the week went by smoothly and i'm enjoying being back at the gym.  on wednesday, ella finished up her swim lessons with michelle.  i'm so proud of how much she improved over this summer - she's much more confident and so so much stronger.  great job, els!!

although her "dive" method is quite unique...

haha!!  love you and love your entry approach!

oh, max.  

on sunday, after a great run in sabino canyon and mass, the kids got their faces painted - ella got unicorns - on both cheeks...

and max, a fire-breathing dinosaur

i spent sunday night with my girls at the movies.  great week and ready to start a new one!!

first things first

whew!  we made it through the first week of first grade!!!!  last monday, we enjoyed a relaxing morning and then ella had a playdate with her best friend, hailey.

first grader selfie!

we literally did NOTHING on tuesday.  it was perfect - it rained all day and we truly vegged out.  well-deserved since it was the first time all summer.

on wednesday, ella started the first grade!!!!

and because i couldn't get myself organized in time to make one of those signs, here are her stats:

school: tanque verde elementary school

teacher: mrs. thomas

favorite color(s): pink and purple.  and light blue.  and green.  and yellow.

favorite book: fancy nancy

favorite tv show/movie: sofia the first/beauty and the beast

favorite food: cheeseburgers

what she wants to be when she grows up: [music] conductor and an artist

showing off her rainbow-sequin-covered-star wars backpack.  if i could have squeezed some kittens, unicorns and cheetahs on there, it would have been the perfect backpack in ella's world.  

big hugs for daddy before starting the first grade

hugs for jack who started kindergarten!

lined up and ready to go in with hailey

mrs. thomas greeting her at the door

one kid down, we made our way to my fave brunch place: prep & pastry!!

 that night, we celebrated gigi's birthday with a little bit of shopping at la encantada followed by dinner at north and gelato at frost!

the rest of her first week went great and on saturday, the kiddos made a skateboard pencil box at their monthly home depot kids workshop.

sunday afternoon, we spent with the cotters, hurts, and fletchers at the gaslight theatre!

after the show, we were treated to an awesome backstage tour by the lead actor, mike yarema, who went to school with rick.  so awesome!!

and of course, ella needed a picture of her here.  :-)

can't believe you are a first grader, miss ella bean!!!!  so super proud of you and excited for a great year!  love you!