First Day of First Grade

Today was the first day of school.  I have a lot of mixed emotions about this!  I miss her already, and it's only 12:30.  But I did I love going to the store by myself and taking my time as I walked around!  I'm feeling real happy and relaxed right now, but I also know I have to start "working" for Aaron real soon.  We have officially entered a new stage of life!

Elsie has been looking forward to starting school.  She's been a little nervous about lunchtime, but we've come up with enough ideas that have helped her feel better. 

I woke her up plenty early this morning, got her showered and dressed, let her take her time eating breakfast.  It was a very pleasant morning.  We had time for pictures, but she still wouldn't stand on the front porch to pose.  We tried the back, but it was too windy!  We got the pictures inside while we laughed about how grumpy she was last year. Then we were off to school!

I told her I wanted to walk her in, and at first she said no.  Then she realized I really wanted to, so she said I could.  Haha!  There were so many parents in there with cameras, so I wasn't the only crazy one.  I wanted a picture by the classroom door, but she wouldn't do it.  Finally I got her teacher to pose with her, so she couldn't get away. 

Right after that, she walked right in the room, put her backpack away, moved her lunch magnet, sat down at her desk, and started coloring.  All business!  I managed to get a hug from her in the middle of all this.  Then I stood out in the hallway and watched her.  She looked up a few different times and saw me staring at her.  She gave me a cute smile and continued on with her work.  I love that girl!

Our weekend

We had a fun-filled weekend!

Elsie went to Princess Camp with her cousins, Harper and Qiana. 

Our 3 princesses ready for the party

We peaked in while they were still finishing up and saw them dancing around the yard with their wands.  Even though it was SO hot, they were in heaven!

A visit with Cinderella will make any little girl happy!

We went to the Spanish Fork Rodeo Saturday night.  It was such a beautiful night, the rodeo was so fun, and we even got to watch Aaron go down in the arena to help accept an award for their firm.  We all decided the event where they tie up the cow is our least favorite.  Elsie liked when the kids rode the sheep, and thinks she wants to do it next year.  haha.  There is no way she would even get on that thing! 

Family Selfie!

Did you notice Elsie's missing front tooth?  That tooth #5 gone.

Their firm's banner

Another one on the gate

In the arena.  Aaron was worried about getting horse poo on his shoes.

I took a picture of the screen because you can see them better.

We had a party at our house last night with all the Woodruffs that are in town.  It was so much fun!  There were 24 of us.  The kids played so well, and we got to visit and laugh. 

I stole Angie's photo collage from facebook.  Great pics!

A little tribute to Jared.  Aaron says he was still laughing from the picture we took right before this where he is sticking his tongue in my ear.  Oh my!

 

That was our weekend!  How was yours?

So far this summer

Elsie is going to tennis camp through the city.  She loves it!  She's pretty darn good, too.  We'll probably get her in some private lessons soon.

We went to the Springville carnival yesterday.  We let Elsie get her face painted and she was in heaven. 

Aaron and Elsie went a few rides.  They both love the wild, spinny rides.  I prefer to take pictures! 

Elsie lost her 4th tooth the other night.  She's feeling pretty cool about it.  The tooth fairy brings a dollar bill folded into something interesting.  So far she's given her a heart, a butterfly, a ring, and a shirt.  

We met up with a friend from school at Seven Peaks.  The girls had such a great time, and I survived the crowds.

We've been swimming a ton, playing with friends, eating out more than we should, babysitting some kids in exchange for swim lessons, getting half off Sonic shakes...and it's only the beginning of June!

Road Trip to Vegas

Back in March, we went a little three-day getaway to Las Vegas with some friends, the Westovers.  We stayed at the Golden Nugget, and had a great time.  The hotel was great, the pool was so much fun, we had gorgeous weather (even better than we were expecting), and we were in great company.  We had lots of good food, too, thanks to Becky's recommendations. 

On our way!  So excited to get out of town.  It's hard for Aaron to pull away from work since he's on his own.  He gets so stressed about not being there to take calls and such.  We needed a break!

We had a cold, gross winter here.  It was amazing to see this kind of temperature!

We stayed right by Fremont St. so we walked around there at night.  Crazy people and crazy stuff!

The Westovers - Merv, Becky, Violet, and Rock

The pool surrounded a big shark tank.  Super fun to watch during the day and really pretty at night.

There was also a waterslide that went through the tank.  Elsie rode on it many times!! 

This girl had a good time!

Spring Recital Videos

Elsie's spring dance recital was Friday night.  She was not in the best mood, so she was really not looking forward to dancing. You'll notice her attempt at a smile in the videos. I think she's still pretty darn cute, though!

Tap Dance


http://youtu.be/q0NtYqCmbkM

Jazz/Ballet

http://youtu.be/Sve7rW9QIXo

(I couldn't get the videos to upload to blogger.  Here's the links.)

Train to Temple Square

We have been wanting to ride the new Frontrunner train up to Salt Lake for a while, and we finally got to do it yesterday.  It was a beautiful day, and the perfect thing to do as a family.  After a little early afternoon nap, we headed up to Provo to catch the train.  (I figured out the route/time but still felt a little unsure of what we were doing.  Thank goodness the other times I've had to use public transportation I was with someone that had it all figured out...a little shout-out to Angie!)

Frontrunner was great.  A nice and smooth ride, tables, outlets, wi-fi!  It took about an hour to get from Provo up to Salt Lake.

We got off at the stop by Gateway and just walked over to it.  We remembered that Aaron had his birthday coupon for Tucano's, so we feasted there.  It was amazing!  Really one of the better times I've eaten there. 

Then we took Trax to Temple Square and walked around there a bit.  We sat in the Assembly Hall and listened to some sister missionaries guide a tour of Korean guests.  It was fun to just sit and listen.  We walked through the visitor's center and took some pics outside.

Next we walked over to the Beehive House and did the tour.  It would've been really great until this family came in with two crazy kids.  They were so obnoxious the whole tour.  They wouldn't listen to the missionaries, were running all over the place.  What were the parents doing, you ask?  Nothing.  Just being carnies!  Okay, I'm done venting.  Besides that, it was cool to see all the rooms and picture what it was like long ago. 

After the tour, we walked over to City Creek, looked through a few stores, got a piece of cheesecake and ate it outside.  Doesn't get much better than that!

funny thing she said

As we were driving home from dance today, Elsie was playing Cooking Mama on her DS. 
She asked me, "Why is it called Cooking Mama?  I know why it says Cooking, but why Mama?" 
I told her it was a mom and part of her job is to cook meals. 
She then said, "I won't ever have to because I'm not getting married."
I was like, "Uh, you still have to make meals for yourself."
And her response was, "You can just do it."

I love it.  Glad to know I'm needed, I guess.  But why is she obsessed with not wanting to get married or have any kids?!

Kindergarten Graduate!

I can't believe she's done with Kindergarten!  It's crazy.  This year has gone so fast.  She really has loved school and didn't want it to end.  Elsie was really grumpy yesterday Friday afternoon, and I asked her what was wrong.  She sniffled and said, "I just don't want school to end."  I know she was also a little tired from all the partying, but I do know she was feeling down about it.

The whole Kindergarten put on a program on Friday.  Elsie had been telling me that they were singing a bunch of songs, but she wouldn't give me any hints about what they were.  She was excited for us to come to the program to watch and hear the songs.

I got to the school 1/2 hour before the program to save seats as the teachers had suggested.  Oh my gosh, people are crazy here!  There were so many people there already, rows and rows of chairs being saved by sweatshirts/jackets.  My seat was fine, but I wish I had just stayed at the school when I dropped off Elsie.  I had just been dinking around at home.

The program was cute.  They sang some cute and funny songs.  Elsie wouldn't keep her hands away from her mouth.  She gets embarrassed up in front of crowds.  I kept making eye contact with her and reminding her to move her hands.  I was totally doing a mean mom face!  Haha!

Speaking of being embarrassed...The final week of school they had a theme each day for how to dress.  Monday was Luau Day, and she wore a cute flowery dress and a lei.  Tuesday was Sports Day and she wore her soccer uniform (even though she first told me that wasn't a good idea).  Wednesday was crazy hair day.  The night before she told me she wanted me to surprise her with how to do her hair.  I looked up some ideas on pinterest and had a plan.  Wednesday morning got kind of busy and she was moving slow, so we didn't end up having a lot of time for hair.  I was about half-way done with her hair when I noticed this look of disgust on her face.  Then when I asked her what was wrong, she started crying and said it was embarrassing.  I suggested doing something different, but she was over it by then.  After a little mommy daughter meltdown, we settled on her normal hair.  Later, after school, we talked about it again, and she said she had just wanted two pigtails.  I reminded her that she needed to tell me that instead of saying she wanted a surprise.  She has a hard time making a decision, and always wants us to surprise her.  Maybe this will teach her to decide on and say what she wants!

Elsie's teacher was Miss McGlothin.  Elsie loved her and she loved Elsie!  I got to be the room mom this year and be really involved in the classroom.  I also got to know a lot of the other moms and their kids.

What else happened in March?

I went on an aquarium field trip with Elsie.  I love being able to do this stuff with her.  And I love that she wants to sit by me on the bus!  I do not love riding on the bus!

Elsie and friend and cousin dressed up as princesses.  This is happening less and less these days.  It makes me kind of sad.  But I guess part of it is they are playing outside all the time now.  I just don't want to think Elsie is growing up.

I took Elsie and Qiana to the park while we had Q with us for a few days.  I loved how Q went straight to collecting pine cones.  Elsie was all about posing for pictures.  Love these girls!

Aaron, Elsie, and I went to a Vocal Point concert at BYU.  We had so much fun!  Some of you may think it's kind of dorky, but we love this acapella stuff.