sunday best

the kids are so cute all bathed and ready for church

especially eleanor with her hair all tamed

 cuties

 we asked hazel to take our picture

michael got me this dress for my birthday and i love it!!!

 these two are such cute best friends

most of the time...

 the kiddies

 noah thought he was so funny making faces at me

and olive is trying to force her bangs to be side bangs

 a few self timer pics of the whole fam

i got a new calling this week

i was worried i would be released from my calling co-teaching the 12/13 year olds with michael

best calling ever

but instead i got another calling

girls camp directer!!!!

ahhhh

i'm pretty nervous

i didn't love girls camp but hopefully it will be fun and not too stressful

i am 30!

despite wasting my whole 29th year worrying about turning 30

it happened anyway..

but it was a good day

the kids gave me their cards and presents

noah made me a rocket card

 olive gave me a litlte card and wrote in it herself

 i love olive looking at me

 hazel made me this ring and i wore it most of the day

 michael made me a delicious omelet, hash browns and sausage

with hot chocolate, of course

and a friend dropped by jamba juice and a note on the porch which was super sweet

 we walked the kids to school

then we went to target and grabbed cafe rio for lunch

 i loved drinking out of the tumbler michael got me

"kittens get thirsty, too"

michael did so well in the gift department this year

before i left for my sister's house he gave me a new purse with this tumbler in it,

the pinkerton cd, sees chocolates, a watch, new lipstick, a dress i'd been wanting and the plane ticker 

 after we got olive from kindergarten, we stopped for mini-cupcakes

 before michael dropped me off for a spa day

i got a mani, pedi, and massage

it was so nice

and it was at a really nice place called two rivers

 after that, we got home and i saw michael had decorated 

and that my friends had blown up 30 balloons

and put 30 super sweet and thoughtful notes in them

plus, a few friends brought gifts over

it was the sweetest

then we went to dinner at grimaldi's for my fave pizza

 it was delicious, like always

 didn't michael do the best job decorating? 

we invited a bunch of our friends over to eat cake with us

michael got me my favorite dairy queen ice cream cake

and my friend courtney brought a bundt cake over

so we bought one more cake so there would be enough for everyone to have some

 everyone sang to me

 i blew all the candles out on the first try

 some pics of friends

it was so fun

maybe the best birthday ever

i talked to two of my brothers and one of my sisters, and my in-laws on the phone

heard from lots of friends

it was a really great day

and i'm excited about my thirties!!!

first day of school!

i went on a fun girls weekend to see my sisters

(i'll have to post about it as soon as i get the pictures off my phone)

and didn't get home until sunday afternoon

the day before the kids were starting school 

so i tried to get everything ready

including shoes, backpacks, outfits, paperwork...

 somehow we pulled it off

there was no fancy breakfast or anything

but the kids looked cute and got to school on time so i'm calling it a win

olive started kindergarten today

 showing me her minnie mouse backpack

 hazel started 2nd grade today

 noah started 4th grade today

i see how old he looks and i know he is 9 but it's hard to comprehend 

that he's really growing up

and quickly!

 eleanor has been sure she's going to preschool this year

but she's not

luckily she was happy to spend the morning with me (and henry)

 the gang all ready to walk to school

they are so old! which must mean i'm old....

 eleanor had to get in on the pictures

 part way through our walk to school

we ran in to our bff's the hunts

hazel and jane are so happy to be in the class

and somehow lucky enough to be seated next to each other for now

 claire and olive are in the same class, too!

we got so lucky

all 4 girls held hands the whole way to school

it was so cute

 olive and claire's backpacks all hung up at the playground

 and then she ran off

without any thought of giving me a hug or saying goodbye

 i went and made sure noah and hazel found their spots to line up

 i thought it was cute noah and hazel were both first in their lines

 one last goodbye on my way out

 olive was so cute lining up with her class

she gave me a funny smile and blew me some kisses

 then henry, eleanor and i went home

and it was so quiet and peaceful for a few hours

eleanor helped me make some chocolate peanut butter cookies

olive was so stoked to eat some when she got home

everyone likes their teachers

and had a great day

here's to a great school year!