First Day of School!

Today was Clayton's first day of first grade. I am still having a hard time believing that my little Clayton is in first grade. I used to teach first grade and Clayton somehow seems younger than my old students used to. Perhaps it's because he is a little young for first grade or perhaps it's because he's on the short side. Most probably though, it's because he's my baby and I have a had time accepting the fact that my kids are growing up.

Our morning started off with a bang. Minutes before I was supposed to wake Clayton up, I heard someone banging around in the boys' room. I assumed it was Clayton, eager to get started with the day. Wrong. It was Noah. Naked. Banging around in the dark looking for new underwear to replace the ones he'd wet and then stealthily hid from me (that's always a joy). The second I entered the room though, Clayton jumped out of bed, made it, and flew downstairs in record time. After neutralizing the Noah situation, our day got back on track and we were able to get Clayton ready with a few minutes to spare (it always helps that he's so cooperative at the beginning of the year).

This is where the morning gets hectic. Minutes before Clayton's bus is supposed to arrive, I load a pajama clad Josie in the stroller and Clayton, Noah, Josie and I make the 30 second walk to the bus stop. Because I'd anticipated being back to our house within 10 minutes (hopefully less) I left Disco out. 20 minutes later, we're still waiting. The location of Clayton's bus stop is also the bus stop for two other elementary schools. Clayton's bus is supposed to come first. We saw both of the other busses, but Clayton's was nowhere in sight. After 25 minutes, I informed Clayton that we were going to have to hurry back home, get in the car and drive. He was so upset. He loves riding the bus and had his heart set on it. After a few hugs and one threat, he walked back to the house and got in the car. I hurried and buckled the other kids in, and backed out of the garage. As I did this I saw, in the distance, a bus!

I yelled at Clayton to hurry and unbuckle and run to meet his bus. I've never seen him move so fast! I grabbed his backpack out of the passanger seat and chased him to the bus. When we got there, the bus driver looked at me and said, 'It's the first day of school, we're always a little late on the first day.' I bit my tounge and smiled and nodded like 30 minutes qualifies as only "a little late".

When I got back to the car (where I'd left Noah and Josie) Noah was screaming, "Help me! She's left us!" at the top of his lungs (lovely). Upon entering the house, I noticed that Disco had missed us so much in our absence that he'd gotten us a present. Chewed up pen. Delightful! When I opened the door to let him out (as a reward for his thoughtfulness) he bolted past me and ran away. I considered letting him go, but decided that the kids would probably pester me about his whereabouts until I found him. So I went on a Disco hunt (mind you, I was NOT dressed to do more than sit at the bus stop where no one but my kids would see me). I trooped through the forrest that sits adjacent to our house and then through the neighborhood where I found Disco in a barking match with a large dog (it was a snickerpoo or a cockerpoo or something like that - some dog breed names are silly).

I walked my dog back home and decided that tomorrow must go smoother.

Here are the pictures:
Clayton's school this year requires uniforms. While I hate the thought of uniforms (especially since I bought his kindergarten clothes with the intention of him using them for two years) he loves it. Plus, it does take the guesswork out of what to wear each day!
I think he looks very handsome, and VERY grown up!
At the bus stop. Waiting...and waiting...and waiting.
Noah starts preschool in two weeks! He can't wait for his turn. (He had an allergic reaction to a bug bite. That explains the eye.)
I don't know what me and little miss girl are going to do when all of our boys are gone! She's going to miss them for sure!
Whew, FINALLY on the bus! He's so excited to start school again. It's been all he's been able to talk about for about a week now. The school he's going to this year is a magnet school that focuses on science and technology. Can anyone say, 'taylor made for Clayton'!?! I think he's going to love it!
I think he's going to have a great year and I love how excited he is to go to school. I hope he never looses that excitement over school and learning. While I wasn't as emotional today as I was this time last year, I'm going to miss having him around during the day. He's my buddy and such a good helper now that I feel like I'm loosing an extra pair of hands. It was a hectic morning, but I think it was the perfect way to kick off a new school year! We're going to continue our tradition of homemade cookies and milk when Clayton gets home today. I can't wait to hear all about his day!

Something new!

As always, I have so much to post about and, as always, I'm SO far behind! I hope I can get caught up before Clayton starts FIRST GRADE next week, but it's not looking good. I have swimming lesson pictures to post as well as pictures from our awesome mini-vacay to Madison to see two of our favorite people EVER (of course I'm talking about Vanessa and Rick)!

However, all the pictures from the events I've just mentioned are currently saved on my laptop upstairs and, due to the 11.4 miles I ran this morning, the thought of walking up the stairs right now isn't appealing. So, I'm just going to post what's available to me here on the PC. Luckily for all of you, that includes a sneak peak of the family pictures we had taken a few weeks ago and some shots of the kids that Vanessa was kind enough to take for us when we went to Madison.

On to the pictures. The first series are some shots taken by a photographer named Lillian. She is so talented and I have loved looking at her pics for a while now. She always takes the pictures for my brother's family, and I've loved what she's done for them so I was happy to have the opportunity to have her shoot our family before she (sadly) moved out of the South Bend area. She got some really great shots. Thanks Lillian - it was so fun to work with you!
These are not in any kind of order:
I just love this pretty little girl and her big blue eyes!
She captured his personality alright! His new catchphrase is, "But I was interested!" (He tells me that after I've caught him doing something naughty.)
I love the vibrant colors and, of course, this face! He looks so old to me!!


I'm not sure what Noah's doing here, but I like this one!
I love the expression on Noah's face here. This is one of my favorites of the whole day!

I've gushed before about the amazing photographer that Vanessa is. She just has an eye for what will look good and she know my kids so well that she knows just what to do to get them to take a great picture. When we went to Madison, she took a few shots of the kids for me. I love how they turned out! Thanks Vanessa, you know I think you're awesome!
Seriously, could this kid be any more handsome!?! He's the spitting image of his dad and I couldn't love it more. He's devistatingly handsome when he's posing, but I'm also a sucker for the squinty-eyed face of joy! (And yes, he needs a haircut. It's on our list of things to do before school starts.)

This kid is Mr. Personality! When he turns on the charm, it's impossible to resist, but he's got a stubborn streak in him that runs so deep Michael Phelps would drown in it! (Pictured above, the dashing Noah - pictured below, Pootie.)

What can I say? I just love these pictures and this girl. She's got such a sassy personality. She's definitely the diva of the Smith house and, even though it's frustrating at times, I wouldn't change it!
I've been very fortunate these past few months to have two very talented photographers take our pictures. I'm not the most savvy photographer (and will probably never be) so I love it when someone who knows what they're doing takes charge! Now my biggest problem is deciding which ones to frame (although I've got some pretty good ideas)...

Six...the celebration

I love traditions. I look forward to them and look for excuses to create new ones. For that reason, I was so excited for Clayton's birthday. It's a day that has become full of tradition. Now that he's old enough to fully appreciate all that his birthday has to offer, it was doubly fun. Because Justin was on-call on Clayton's actual birthday (boo) we started the celebrating a few days early with the traditional trip to Toys r Us so that the birthday boy could pick out one special present. I love this tradition because it's great to see the way my kids' faces light up when we pull into the parking lot of the toy store. That in and of itself is like a gift! After walking through the whole store, Clayton chose an Imaginex Toy Story Castle (which was fitting seeing that Toy Story was the unofficial theme of his birthday this year).

At the checkout, the cashier gave Clayton a balloon and a birthday crown and a membership to the birthday club. (I think we could have left without purchasing anything and Clayton would have been completely satisfied.)

On Clayton's actual birthday, he came down the stairs wearing his birthday crown. We then had the traditional birthday breakfast of muffins and scrambled eggs (since I've been married to Justin I've gotten very lazy in the breakfast making department - but at this point, my boys know that muffins and eggs is very special.)There were, in staying with tradition, gifts with breakfast. It was obvious from the beginning that Clayton knew exactly what the day was about.
After breakfast, Clayton got to wear his new birthday shirt. I usually just draw on the shirts with marker, but this year I decided that I'd try sewing a shirt instead. I really like how it turned out (even though it took a lot longer than drawing).
That afternoon, we picked up Landon and I took the boys to Chuck E Cheese. All three of the boys were estatic. I love it when I choose just the perfect activity. My friend Natalie was kind enough to watch Josie for me for the afternoon, so I actually got to enjoy our time at Chuck E Cheese as well!


There were, of course, more presents with lunch.

Love all three of these boys! **Side note - I didn't pay to do the "party package" that Chuck E Cheese offers, however, when we got there and they heard it was Clayton's birthday, they gave him the same stuff that they give the kids whose parents pay for the package. It was awesome and I got out of there for less than $30! You can't beat that!
After Chuck E Cheese we headed back home and watched Toy Story 2 (one of Clayton's birthday gifts). That evening for dinner we had mac 'n' cheese and hot dogs (guess who chose the menu). We ended the celebrations with Jared and Kerstin and the kids coming over for cake and ice cream.
The cake (to go with our unofficial Toy Story theme):
He had been waiting literally all day to blow out birthday candles. I love this look on his face when he finally gets to do it!
His new birthday gifts. He made me write his name on the bottoms of their shoes just like in the movies. Cute.
He had a great birthday and I love that we got to pull out all of our traditions. I also love that it doesn't take much to make this kid happy. I still can't believe my baby is six years old. Happy birthday buddy, you can start counting down to your next birthday now!