Brian's Birthday

Brian's birthday landed in the middle of the week this year and during the first week of school.  It was busy adjusting to a new routine but we managed to get in his favorite Baskin Robbins cake Jamocha Almond Fudge.  We love him so. 

Skin check sillies

Living in the desert makes for lots of sun exposure to our skin.  They had their first skin check at the dermatologist this year.  All freckles recorded and are free of any crazy growths.  Sun screen daily! 

Here they are waiting in their paper clothes for the doctor to come in. 

1st day 2015-16

Oh they are growing so fast!  These are pictures from the first fay of school.  Both were really excited to start and begin a new adventure.  Paige walked right onto the playground, put down her backpack and found her friends.  Hailey did the same.  No looking back from either.  I was proud and emotional inside too...they really are prepared girls who are loved.  Their actions so it. 

Paige has Ms. Johnson for 1st Grade

Hailey has Ms. Glennen for Kindergarten

Sisters!

I started back to work after having the summer off. 

Meet the Teacher Night

Meet the Teacher Night is getting to be a fun new event for us.  The girls get to go on the Thursday night before school starts the next week to see their classrooms, learn all the kids who will be in their class and of course, Meet Their Teacher!  We also take in all the school supplies the teachers have requested as well and sign up for any club, activity or parent volunteer event we can.  It's fun. 

Paige has her Bosom Buddie in her class this year. 
I have a feeling these two will be together til they graduate. 

Kinder orientation

This year the school had a mock kinder day on the Friday before school started for the rest of the students.  I think it was a great idea.  We were able to take Hailey onto the playground and into her classroom without the hustle and bustle of  the other 900 kids and their parents on the first day of school.  She was so excited and did awesome!  She walked right in and sat down to listen to her teacher.  She was really prepared.  There were only a couple tears from Mama just because she's growing so fast.  I'm excited for her school journey. 

Walking into class

Sitting at her desk.

Paige played with the Fairy Garden while Haley was in class. 
She missed her sister.

After class "lunch" at Village Inn. 

Nails!

Oh fun times with the nail polish.  Truly fun GIRLS! 

Paige's 7 year bday picture

These are some of the studio pictures we got done to mark Paige's 7th birthday.  She is so beautiful. 

Playtime

Just fun the girls were having one day over summer playing with their dollies and horses.  I love uninterrupted play. 

Challenger Space Center

I packed in lots for the last week of summer.  We drove up to Peoria to check out the Challenger Space Center.  The Challenger has special significance for me in that I was a 6th grade student assigned to have the Teacher in Space in my classroom.  I remember doing lessons prior to the launch to prepare and I vividly remember sitting with my class in the school cafeteria watching the Challenger launch and then sadly explode.  It is a day in history I will always remember.  There is a huge mural of Christa McAuliffe at the Center which still left be a bit verklempt when I saw it.  The girls thought the Center was pretty cool and enjoyed the mock space launch.  They will get much more out of it when they are older.  

A tire from the space shuttle. 

Sister sleepover

Over summer we tried to let them sleep together as much as we could.  They are so sweet and so close.  I hope they always love each other as much as they do now and stay as close. 

Sleep over at Nanny's

Another thing I fit in for the last days of summer was a sleep over at Nanny's and time for them to sew with her.  Paige is really expressing interest in fashion and she's at a good age to begin to learn to sew.  My mom is an expert seamstress and does gorgeous work.  They couldn't have a better teacher. 

These are barrettes that I made as a little girl.  They found them in my mom's stuff.  I think they are still pretty!

Canyon Lake

The second to last week of summer's end I took the girls to Canyon Lake.  It's only about 45 mins from our house outside Apache Junction.  We had a great day swimming in the water and exploring the shore.  Little clams must live there as the girls found a bunch of little shells.  We picnicked and came home in the late afternoon.  It's surely a place we will return for a fun day on the lake water. 

Ventriloquist

Hailey took a 2 week long reading and handwriting class to prep for kindergarten.  During that time I tried to do fun stuff with Paige.  One day the library had a free ventriloquist who put on a show.  He was great!  He had about 5 or 6 different puppets or dummies.  Paige really enjoyed it and is now at the age where she understands the humor and can enjoy the show for that aspect too.  It was about an hour long and free!  Oh, we had about a half hour to spare after the show and we got ice cream at Costco.  Can't beat that! 

We had extra time after the show before picking up Hailey. 
We got ice cream at Costco. 

Ballet

The girls finished up their ballet class for the year.  They really enjoyed it and did learn the basics and fundamentals of ballet.  (Will they retain in?!)  They even have learned the beginnings of doing the splits.  Now on to Tumbling for next year.