Countdown to School: First Day!!!

Adam's first day of school was today!

We were ten minutes late.

Which pust a HUGE damper in my plan to be on time every day this year.

There's always tomorrow...

;)

When we arrived, we found out he has the same teacher as last year and we were SO happy! Because first and second grade classes are combined for homeroom, the kids generally move up with the same teacher. Adam was hoping he wasn't one of the few that get moved and that he stayed with Ms. T.!

Unfortunately she was sick, so they had a substitute today. Which pretty much meant that he played a lot of review games from what they learned in science/social studies last year... fine by him!

He got to see his friends again and had a lot of fun today! They will start testing for the reading and math classes tomorrow so that those classes get squared away by next week.




The house was so quiet without him today (and without the fighting between him and Grace ;) ). And just like last year, it was the longest day ever. I kept looking at the clock, thinking it was time to pick him up and it had only moved a little! I miss my Adam!

After school we went home, I fed Josh, then we made dinner and went to Mike's work so we could eat a picnic dinner with him and so Adam could tell Daddy all about the first day (he had to work late tonight).


After about 5 minutes dinner was forgotten and they had fun with the whiteboard. Most picnic dinners was Mike usually end like this. ;)


I'm SO happy Adam had a GREAT first day of 2nd grade!!!

Side Note: I have LOVED doing the "countdown to school" this past month, and it's been really, really good for our family. We spend time together everyday, of course, but doing one scheduled and planned activity together has made a huge difference. We've watched less television, talked more, and laughed more. Had more important conversations, grown closer, and had less fighting.

I've decided to continue it (though I won't bore you and post what we do everyday). I printed out a calendar for September, wrote all of the scheduled activities/meetings/Mike's schedule, and then wrote a family activity to do together daily that fit in with that day. I think it will be really, really good for us, especially with the crazy homework/school activities coming.

I love my family, and I think it's been a super easy way (and a fun way) for us to grow closer together!

Happy 4th Birthday, Grace!

I just can't believe my Grace is 4. Where did the last 4 years go???

We had such a fun time celebrating her birthday!

It began on Sunday, when she got to open up her birthday dress (and the rest of her outfit) before breakfast.




At church, she had the birthday song sung to her, and got her tithing jar/gumball gift.


My parents came up after church to spend the her birthday with us and she was SO excited!

The next morning she woke up to pink balloons and streamers and Dora decorations! She headed over to check out her loot.


For her activities during the day, she chose to have donuts for breakfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch, and to go back to the "Bug & Butterfly" park. The weather was SO nice and we had a great time!




That afternoon we opened presents! She got some kid-safe knives, an apron, a Polly Pocket and clothes, two Barbies, two homemade dresses and ballet leotards, a homemade tutu and ballet accessories, and Play-doh and some money.

Girl stuff is so much fun! Even her brothers think so. ;)







She wanted a Dora-themed party, and I had been wanting to try out fondant for a while. Just something new to try. I made some homemade marshmallow fondant, and after a lot of advice from friends, went at it! She wanted a chocolate cake with strawberries inside, and purple frosting. So, that's what I did. I made the stars out of rolled out Starbursts. It was fun, and didn't turn out too bad!



And we finished the day with her very favorite dinner: turkey burgers with extra pickles!


I adore this girl. She makes me SO happy! She is adventurous and funny. Sweet and silly. She is nurturing and loving and happy. She always shares. Always. Whenever she gets a treat, she breaks it in half and offers it to someone... a stranger, friends, us, etc. I love it about her! She loves making others happy! She has a sassy side, still, but most days with her are more sweet than spice!

She gives the best "Gracie" hugs, loves to help cook, comforts others when they are sad, tells silly stories, and makes me smile all of the time. She has so much enthusiasm for life. Love it! I can't even say how much I adore her! I am so thankful everyday to Heavenly Father for sending us this sweet little girl!

*Pictures courtesy of my Mom. Thanks, Mom!!!

Countdown to School: Day 1

Tonight after the birthday festivities were over, I read The Kissing Hand (and cried). I talked about how much both Mike and I and Heavenly Father love Adam and Grace, and how that when Adam is at school, he can always say a prayer and feel that love, when he's nervous or sad (and I cried some more). I kissed their hands (and cried), and then Mike gave them both special blessings before school started.

And I cried some more.


I am such a baby lately! I just miss Adam when he's at school and away from me... though I will NOT miss all of the fighting. ;)

I also made these cookies for a treat in his lunches all week... I hope he can remember how much we love him while he eats them!

The Articles of Faith

Adam was the first child in our Primary to memorize and recite all 13 of The Articles of Faith!

He has worked so hard this year to memorize them!

Our Primary president got him a special reward, because he was the first:


A HUGE jar of his favorite candy!

Grace also has been working hard, and just passed the 3rd off on Sunday! She's now hard at work on #4.

We are so proud of them!

Countdown to School: Day 2

My parents visited today and we had lots of fun with them for our activity today!


I also did their handprints for the year.


We love when family visit!

Countdown to School: Day 3

We went to our ward party tonight (Ward Talent Night) for our activity.



It was pretty fun... we had to leave early because Mike had to go back to work, but we had a good time while we were there.

Countdown to School: Day 4

Today, we had our First Annual Wilkins Family Summer Olympics!

It. Was. SO. Fun!

I let everyone know at the beginning of the month that they were each responsible for 2 activities for the games.

After Mike got home, we cheered and the Games began!

We played:

- a soccer dribbling around the cones competition
- a water balloon toss
- a frisbee throw
- a marble shooting competition
- paper airplane making/throwing competition
- bowling with water storage
- the SUMMER chalk game
- ice cream sundae eating competition






The person who won each game got one point, and at the end we tallied up the scores.

Mike won!


He got this trophy at D.I., and I wanted to tacky it up with spray paint and rhinestones. Something fun and cheesy to pass on through the summers. I didn't have time, so I'll have to steal it from Mike soon and get to that.

Countdown to School: Day 5

We were incredibly blessed this year, and didn't have to do any "real" school clothes shopping.

A friend gave us a bunch of super-nice shirts for Adam, from her family. I found all of his shorts at D.I. for $2 each. And his shoes were still in good condition. A sweet, sweet friend gave us 2 almost-new pairs of Sketchers, that her daughter wouldn't wear, for Grace, along with some clothes.

We have been so blessed!!!

So, we let him pick out one "fun" shirt for school (he went with Mario... surprise, surprise), and some new socks/underwear for both of them for our activity today.

Pizza!

Mike didn't like pizza until the age of 12.


Fortunately, none of our kids seem to have inherited this freakish-ness.

;)

Countdown to School: Day 6

Mike had the day off today, so we went over to the Hoover Dam. Adam and Grace always love passing by it when we leave town, and they had a lot of fun getting to walk around and look at the water.





Mike took the picture of Grace on the wall, while I was in the car with Josh. Funny, isn't he?

Not.

Countdown to School: Day 7

A new splash pad (and a little bit of park action, too).





We've been eying this one for awhile, so it was about time we made it over to visit it.

I love parks and splash pads... too much fun.

Countdown to School: Day 8

We had a special "Back to School Family Home Evening" tonight, because next Monday (when I would normally do it), is my favorite little girl's 4th birthday!

I got the lesson from here.

It was a good lesson for all of us... about not judging others, finding out what people are like on the inside, and being friends with and getting to know LOTS of people. There are just too many incredible people in this world to stick to a clique or a small group.




I saw these cookies awhile ago on Bakerella (Pillow Cookies) and thought that they fit in well with the lesson (the outside being different from the inside). So I made them for our treat. They were a big hit!


I used this chocolate chip cookie recipe.

And this brownie recipe.

Countdown to School: Day 9

Had a family barbecue.


I'm hoping it's not the last of this summer, but we have to squeeze in as many cooking-outside and playing-late-outside nights as we possibly can.