We Survived!

 Tuesday, we were still smiling for the 2nd day of school!

 Matt loves to order Halloween costumes early so we get what we want for a good price and plus we don't have to go into scary Halloween stores which is a HUGE bonus.

 Madi wanted to see pictures of the front and back of her costume.  Apparently, native Americans don't smile.

 Wednesday was nice and rainy so we took a picture inside before running to the Bishop's car in the rain. 

Thursday was also rainy.  We love rain!

 We celebrated the first week of school with the Bishop girls at Menchi's with frozen yogurt after school.

 Seeing neat ideas like these gets me excited for fall!

 Friday!

 Devyn came home with us from school to start the weekend off right!

 They conducted science experiments and dressed for a tea party!

 Then they enjoyed the hot tub before we walked Devyn home to her house after dinner.

 Thankfully, we SURVIVED the first week of school!

First Day of 3rd Grade!

 We have a 3rd grader in the house!

 We finally found a one strapped backpack that she liked!

  We took pictures a little early so Daddy could be in them since he wasn't going to go to drop off the first day. 

Madi & Momma

 Madi & Daddy 

 We relaxed a bit then headed out a few minutes later to get to school on time.

 She put everything in her locker then found her seat.

Which was right next to her sweet friend Allison.

Then I was out the door a minute later.

We went out to dinner to celebrate the first day of school!

And just like her shirt says - She did make today awesome!!!

The Night before School . . .

 We started a tradition back when Madison was about to start Kindergarten of going to her school playground the night before the first day of school.

 At first we thought it was a fun way for her to get comfortable with the idea of going to school but now it's just become fun!

This year we brought along Maisen since her mom was up at school working in her room.  

We went and helped her with a few last minute things before heading home to get a good night sleep.

The Weekend before SCHOOL!

 My two crazies on Friday afternoon!

 Matt and I both take off early on Fridays so he can mow the lawn and I can run to the grocery store.  It's so nice not having chores to do over the weekend! 

This is hard to see but every Friday night Madi likes to sleep on the floor in our room.  Well and about 20 of her stuffed animals! 

 Packing supplies make great toys!

 We had a huge snake in our house!

 I texted this picture to Madi (she stayed home) on our Saturday evening walk!

 Pillows stuffed in your shirt?

 Why not?

 Madi's been painting a bunch of rocks this summer.  Here's her donut rock.

 We were all in the hot tub Saturday night when we decided to run to Kurbside in our pajamas on the last night of summer!

 Maci joined us for church on Sunday! 

  It's promotion Sunday so we enjoyed a yummy family breakfast to start the day!

 Maci is now in the Kindergarten class with all the big kids! 

She received a church bag to help her follow the sermons each Sunday morning!

And then a little play-doh after church! 

Tech Teach

 Part of my job is to travel to our distant sites and provide professional development.

 Casey and I traveled to Snyder on Tuesday and Odessa on Wednesday.

We knew the newspaper reporter was there but didn't realize we'd make the Friday paper with a write-up about the awesome Tech Teach program!

Meet the Teachers!

 Thursday night was Meet the Teacher night at Madison's school. 

Madi & Mrs. Lance

 Mrs. Lance teaches math and is her homeroom teacher.

 Ms. J is a student teacher from my Tech Teach program and will be with Mrs. Lance until May.

 We also met Mrs. Jones, her science and social studies teacher, and Ms. Kissinger, her reading teacher. 

Thankfully, Maisen is in Madi's class again this year.  Many of her friends are in her class this year too.

 I say it every year but I can't believe we have a 3rd grader already!

 Madi & Daddy

I'm not sure we're ready for school but Madi said Mrs. Lance's classroom was bright and clean and she really liked the plants and aquariums in Mrs. Jones' classroom so I think it's going to be a fun year.

The Last Days of Summer!

 Last Sunday morning, Matt and I spent a few minutes outside in the cool weather on the patio with our coffee before Madi got up.  It was probably the best morning I've ever had.

 We ate dinner at the Foley's house Sunday night so we postponed pizza night to Monday!

 Madi made her own dough and Matt and I tried cauliflower pizza.  It was a hit all around!  I still can't believe Matt ate cauliflower willingly and actually liked it.  Score!

 I had quite a bit going on at work this week so Madi spent the days with Aunt Shelle and cousins.  They tagged along while Tripp registered for 8th grade and went around to all of his classes one morning.

 Then they enjoyed the pool all to themselves!

The next day they enjoyed Chick-fila before the pool . . . 

 Or not.  Aunt Shelle sent me these pictures saying they don't even want to play.  Guess they're ready for school to start too!

Doing some back diving!

We are going to enjoy this last weekend of summer!