Last First Day of Preschool

We have started our final year of preschool in the Steward household! Today was Avery's first day back at Mother's Day Out and I don't know who was more excited, her or me :)

Football Fever

Friday night was the first varsity football game at Aidan's school. It was Elementary Night so all the kids got to be on the field when the players ran on, and they also did fun stuff at halftime. Aidan loves going to games because he gets to run around and goof off with his friends.

After halftime we drove to Crawford and spent Saturday with Grandpa and Nanna swimming, riding horses and scooters, and playing with the dogs:

Then we spent the night with the Brookses so Daniel and Marcus could go dove hunting on opening day. The next day we went to their church and then to the first Baylor game of the season! We tailgated first and it was HOT, but the kids were troopers. Thankfully our seats are always up in the shade so it wasn't too miserable, but the kids and I left at halftime. We drove home after the game that night, and enjoyed Labor Day at home doing nothing. We also found out that Daniel and Aidan (along with all three Brooks kids) made it to the front page of the Waco Tribune-Herald. Sic 'Em Bears!!

Learning and Growing

Avery and I have started a little homeschool program of our own. I found a great program online and we work on it at home when we have time. Although she has a long way to go with handwriting (fine motor skills aren't her strong suit), she has done fantastic with everything else we've been working on! I actually had to move her up to the K4 level because she was breezing through the Pre-K "letter of the week" stuff. She loves it and asks to do it, so she's been a great student :)

Aidan decided literally today after school that he loves reading. I worked with him all summer because he really didn't have much confidence in reading, and it was more of a chore. But I got some great advice from teacher and mom friends on books that appeal to boys, and tips on making reading a little more fun. Aidan especially likes the Magic Treehouse books and just finished his 4th one last night. We usually alternate reading pages aloud together, but yesterday he read the last 3 chapters to himself which he's never done before. It's funny because his first grade teacher sent home a questionnaire for the parents and one of the questions was "What would you like to see your child accomplish academically?" and one of the things I wrote was reading independently. Go figure! I don't know if it's first grade or it just clicked, but I'm so proud of him :)

He has also been earning an allowance for a few weeks, doing things like making his bed, cleaning his room and playroom, helping me make his lunch, emptying the silverware from the dishwasher, taking clean laundry where it needs to go, etc. He saved up enough (along with help from a birthday gift card and tooth fairy money) to buy an XBox superhero game that he really wanted.

Our Weekend

Avery went to a sleepover Friday night to celebrate her friend Hailey's birthday along with their other friend Ambrielle. These three little girls love to dress up so I had to laugh at the wardrobe changes throughout the pictures that my friend Ginny took. They even had a runway show which was HYSTERICAL. Hailey and Ambrielle both have older sisters (and Ambrielle does a lot of actual modeling) so they were working the catwalk. Avery was a little clueless :) She had a blast though and took a great nap the next day!

The next day we went to a birthday party for my high school BFF Sarah's boys (6-year-old twins Rhett and Wyatt, and 4-year-old Bryce). I was the party photographer so I didn't take much with my own camera, but it was fun!

Even though Aidan's school started last week, everyone else started today. So my mommy friends and I held our 2nd annual Tears & Cheers luncheon. Last year a few of us were the honorees when our babies went off to kindergarten, and this year we supported the new batch of kindergarten moms! Hard to believe that next year it will be my turn again :)

After school we went to Chick Fil-A for free milkshakes. It was a MADHOUSE...but fun to see our friends!

Tooth Time

Introducing the FIRST kid in his FIRST-grade class to lose his FIRST tooth during the FIRST week of school! Aidan finally wiggled his very wiggly tooth out during class yesterday. His teacher put the tooth in a plastic treasure chest and sent it home. Last night Avery went to a sleepover, so Daniel and I took Aidan out for dinner to celebrate his first week of school AND his lost tooth. When we got home, we looked for the treasure chest with the tooth inside but it had disappeared. Believe me when I say we have looked EVERYWHERE. So, Aidan wrote a note to the tooth fairy explaining the situation, and put it in the tooth pillow I bought for him at an airplane museum when he was a baby. The tooth fairy very graciously left money anyway along with a note of her own. *sigh* I would have loved the tooth for his baby book, but oh well. He's waited a long time to lose a tooth so he's very excited. I just love his toothless grin :)

Wordless Wednesday

Last Week of Fun

First grade starts tomorrow for Aidan! He is so ready (and so is Mommy!). We had orientation last week and he got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Davis. I forgot to get a picture of her with Aidan...oh well. Here he is by his new desk!

Avery got to come to Big Church with us for the first time this morning! She did great :)

Last weekend Daniel and I took the kids to Lowe's for a Build & Grow clinic they have for kids on Saturday mornings. There's a project that's easy for them to do...this week they made the dragon from Shrek.

That night Amy and I took Avery and Sage to see a production of The Little Mermaid. We had a couple other friends who were there as well. My friend Susan's daughter Emily was part of the chorus and it was a really cute show! The girls got to meet Ariel and Ursula afterwards.

We had a field trip to a local plant nursery with our Moms Club.

I am really ready for the routine of fall to start! The kids are both in gymnastics at 3:30 on Tuesday which will be great for after school. I'm also thinking of putting Aidan in a local cub scout troop and possibly a 6-session football program (no games, just learning the basics). They'll both do choir at church on Sunday nights. As for Avery, she will still do Mothers Day Out twice a week and we'll stay busy with Moms Club activities and hang out with other friends. But we're not doing as many scheduled morning activities this year (no speech, no ballet, no playgroup), so I'm going to try a homeschool Pre-K curriculum since we'll have the time. I just want to supplement what she's learning at MDO and get her ready for kindergarten next year! Wish me luck :)

Dog Days of Summer

School starts for Aidan in less than two weeks, on the 20th! Avery will go back for her final year of preschool (hard to believe) on September 4th. Here's a little glimpse of how we've been enjoying our last few weeks of summer:

While I was out of town this past weekend, Daniel and the kids dog-sat Molly, who belongs to our friends The Denneys. She is literally the best dog ever. We all love her...especially Avery!

Papi was in town for a brief visit! He went with me and the kids to the Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine.

We had some cousin fun...we went to dinner to celebrate Uncle Cody and Uncle Jason's 30th birthdays which were just days apart. Ellie seems to have fun being the youngest cousin!

We baby-sat Logan and Sage one night:

Avery and Sage had a makeover day at Sweet & Sassy:

A few weeks ago we baby-sat for our friends Marina and Ambrielle. Then her parents returned the favor and kept our kids for us (and took a funny picture of them sleeping)!

We swam with my high school friend Sarah and her boys Rhett, Wyatt, and Bryce!

Daniel had some good deals at Sheplers...so we decided to go all out and buy boots for the whole family. Yee-haw!

All our first grade supplies are bought and ready. It's been a fun summer, but...come on school!!!!