Back To School Craziness!!!

Whew, back-to-school sure makes life hectic! This year, I decided we needed to do some fun things with the kids before they headed back to school, so we made a week of it.

Monday, I started giving the girls both something they needed for their school boxes. I did this every day until the first day of school. They loved it! And, of course, there was the school shopping on Monday night.:)

Tuesday we went to buy fabric to make them some skirts and then were off to get our hair trimmed - Thank you, Candace!!! The kids were both excited to get new hairdos before the first day of school.

Wednesday was skirt making day. We spent the day with lots of friends and other kids while Stephanie taught us all to make adorable skirts! Thank you, Stephanie! Here are our finished skirts:

Kate's skirts:




Lana's skirts:




Rylee's skirts:




Then, for more fun, Bill took last Thursday and Friday off to come and play with all of us (thank heavens!)

Thursday, we headed out to Classic to let the kids play on the inflatables and in the pirates cove and to attempt roller skating. It was three hours of nonstop running and craziness, but they loved every minute of it!




Okay, the three older kids loved every minute of it. The inflatables creeped Kate out a little bit, so she spent the first half of the time like this...


or this...



Hayden was unsure at first, but about ten minutes after we got there, he was off and climbing!!!



Then Rylee decided to try roller skating. (Yep, I'm one of THOSE moms who has never taken her kids roller skating.)


Rylee was getting the hang of it, and before long, Hayden thought it looked like fun too. He thought it was hilarious to have roller skates on.



He never did figure out how to stand up alone on them. He would just lean back and let us take care of everything. Silly kid.



But look at how adorable he looks with the skates on. :)



Friday we let them each pick out a book at Barnes and Noble for a future read-a-thon with them. This is the only picture we were able to get there. Oops.



And that afternoon, we made chocolate chip cookies and headed out for some bowling.

Here's a riddle for you...Ready? How many in our family does it take to bowl a single bowling ball. Apparently, everyone but the one taking the picture. :)


It apparently takes that many of us to retrieve the ball as well. Hehehe.:)



Bill tried to keep a couple of them at a time out of the way.



It didn't last long though. Lana getting ready to bowl!



And Kate just after she pushed her ball down the little ramp thing. Yes, I do believe that is the technical term for it. She would do this every time, and I had to hang on so the thing didn't tip over. She would push her ball and not even care what happened after that. She just started swinging. I'm sure the employees there LOVED our family.



After the bowling, we let the kids play in the arcade for a while. Five bucks went a long way in there! They loved it! It was definitely five dollars well spent.


Hayden and Kate had fun riding some of the kiddie rides.



Rylee and Lana played air hockey and other games. They won LOTS of candy. Nice.





When we came home, the kids were obviously too tired for the read-a-thon. Maybe we will do that this weekend with them instead.:)



We finished shopping with them on Saturday and had fun together on Sunday doing manicures and pedicures and just enjoyed being together the night before school started.

Monday morning came, and they were so excited!

Here they are with their complete school boxes before school. Obviously they are thrilled.;)



Lana all ready and looking so grown up. It makes me so sad that she is already starting kindergarten.


Rylee posing in her usual way before school. I was so flattered that for her "first day of school outfit" she picked one of the skirts I made her. What a good kid!:)

Both girls thought they needed a picture of them with their leggings. Silly girls.

I love this picture because they really love each other so much. They drive each other crazy, but they are always looking out for each other.

It has been a busy week, but a very good week. The girls are both so excited about the new school year and LOVE their teachers. I'm excited to see what this year brings and to see what fun experiences they have. I think the only thing I am sad about is knowing how much more they will change over the next year. My babies are growing up way too fast.