Pepper Smiles?

It almost looks like I can get Pepper to smile - well no, that would be a lie.  I can catch Pepper smiling at something, not me or the camera and not on command, but I do get some lucky shots.  Today when I told Pepper to say "cheese" she gave me that first shot - yikes, not at all what I want, so I have to try to distract her with songs and other random things that I think she will find funny.  And forget thinking she sits still the entire five minutes we take photos, oh no, more like a few second, so you can imagine how much work it is to keep putting her in the correct spot over and over!  It works, I mean eventually I get some cute shots.  Too bad she usually isn't looking into the camera but you do what you can right?

First Day of School - 2013

I woke up at 6:00, got myself ready (played a little Hay Day) and woke Summer at 6:30.  I got her dressed and fixed her hair and we woke Pepper just before 7:00.  Went downstairs, had breakfast (multi grain cheeroes and blueberries and peaches), packed her lunch (pb&j, peanut butter crackers, a granola bar, blueberries & peaches, a vanilla yogurt pouch), and headed to the school at 7:35.  Luckily found a place to park, walked to the gate and waited for it to open (at 7:43), got to her line and waited with everyone else.  The principal made some announcements and the kids headed to class.  It was dark and overcast and when I picked her up at 2:11 was raining lightly.  I barely found a place to park to pick her up - what a mess.  Now I am going to go pick her up at 1:35, park near the park, let Pepper play for about 15 minutes then head over to get her.  A lot of my day is spent taking and picking up Summer now, oh well, what can you do!

But she liked it!  I asked her if it was a great, good, ok, or bad day and she said good.  I asked her what would make it better and she said a longer lunch. Today she bought a lunch and she said she liked it and she didn't act like she was starving like yesterday so either she ate more or ate faster.  Two days down, a lot to go.

First Grade

Summer starts public school tomorrow and I am not sure who is more excited.  I loved going to school when I was a kid and I have a feeling Summer will be a lot like me.  I am so happy she will have the opportunity to learn with other kids her age in a classroom decorated with colors and numbers and letters.  I am so happy she will get to see how other kids her age learn and interact.  I am also interested to see how far she pushes herself once she has some competition with her peers.

While I think homeschooling is a great alternative for some people, it was not the right choice for us.  I think we both really disliked it.  It was shorter work than going to a regular school, which made for some very long and boring days.  I think Summer is just too social to be home schooled.

I am also looking forward to the jazz, choir, and the piano class we have starting up in September.  We also have a wedding that both girls are flowering in the first week of September and my Aunt and her husband are coming to stay with us during the middle of September.  We have a lot of fun coming up!

Here are some cute photos I took of the girls last night, man they are getting so big!

Zion Vacation

This year we decided to vacation right outside of Zion.  We rented a vacation home that was fully furnished and included a hot tub (that the kids took advantage of daily) among other things.  The only negative about the house was the fact that it was right on the edge of a huge cliff!  We had to really keep an eye on Pepper whenever she went outside.

When we pulled up to the house for the first time we saw a deer watching us, so that was really neat.  We saw several deer outside the home, along with a few squirrels, spiders, bats, lizards.

We made a campfire and had smores two of the three nights we stayed, apparently illegally per the HOA, oh well :o)  It was a really nice vacation, relaxing, we saw a lot of pretty things, and the weather was perfect!

We hiked two trails in Zion the first day, the first trail was awesome, was only 2.2 miles round trip, and had a fun water area at the end that the kids played in while we had lunch.  Along the trail we saw about 100 squirrels, 5 or 6 deer, and a few lizards.  It was a nice hike.

The second hike was extremely steep but short, less than 1/2 mile round trip, but the end of the trail was amazing, water was dripping off above us and the water was super clean and had been in the ground for millions of years, or something like that.  The kids enjoyed getting splashed in the head and trying to catch the drops in their mouths.

The next day we headed to another hike (emerald pools) and this was my least favorite hike, it was sorta steep and had scary edges/cliffs.  Plus it was much warmer and we were in the sun most of the time, but on the way back we stopped at the river and let the kids play and I know they enjoyed that part.

I am glad we went, we all had fun and it was a nice trip right before we start a busy school year.

Finger Painting

Yesterday I let the girls finger paint.  They had fun and both enjoyed it.  The mess was actual not that bad, considering.  The girls switched from brushes, to fingers, to hands.  It was kinda fun to watch.  Summer even practiced making different colors (orange and purple) by mixing the paint together.  Pepper practiced not getting paint on her face and neck.  

I wonder if I ever painted like this when I was a kid, I can remember doing it in school but not at home.  My mom wasn't afraid of a big mess like me, at least I don't think so.  I am OCD some things but letting my kids get messy is not one of them.

Six Year Check Up

I took Summer for her annual check up on Tuesday.  Summer is 56 pounds and 14 ounces (91 percentile), 49 1/4 inches (96 percentile) with a body mass index of 16.51 (77 percentile).  Her blood pressure was 111/65 - which was normal.  Her vision was R 20/20 and L 40/20 - both 30/20.  The doctor said her vision is probably fine but we have a free eye exam with the insurance so I will probably take her and get an exam eventually.

Summer is addicted to her iPad but if she had one wish in the whole world it would be to have 100 sleepovers with her friends.  She is such an easy going child, she does not talk a lot and fast like I did when I was young.  She has horribly tangly hair and cries almost every morning when we brush it.  She has 20+ pairs of earrings and doesn't mind letting me change them now.  She is extremely tan, mostly from swimming so much, but she also just has a natural darker skin color, luckily.  She loves her sister, in fact when Pepper was napping earlier today she said she hoped she got up soon because she missed her.  Summer enjoys reading, especially books to Pepper.

I am lucky.  I have no clue who she is going to be, sometimes I look at her and wonder where she is going to go in her life, I hate waiting but I have no choice.

Coming up we have dance registration, a choir bootcamp, and the second year of piano.  Oh, and don't forget school.  She is also going to be a flower girl in a wedding in September.  So much fun coming up, I can't wait so I am not sure how she is :o)