Another First Day

Kendall had her first day of school today. She is proud to tell you that she goes to "Friendship", and that "Miss Suz-ANNE and Miss Cris-TEE" are her teachers. She was quite proud of herself this morning as we were getting ready to go. She wanted to carry her bag with no help and even tried to pick up the bags of supplies as well. She hopped right up into the truck with Ken and Karlee, gave me a big smile and waved as they drove off. She and Ken dropped Karlee at school and then headed off to breakfast. As the entered The Big Easy, the man behind the counter called out "Good Morning Ken! Who's that you've got with you today?" They had grits, bacon, toast and some great conversation. Kendall informed her daddy that she was going to play and "make a silly face" at Miss Suz-ANNE. She went right into the classroom when they got to school and headed back to the kitchen area to get the babies. It sounds like they had a busy day:

Art : "Momma-I paint with my fingers!"
Outside time: "I swing and go on slide!"
Storytime: "I sit on my K, Karlee and hear story"
Snacktime: "petzels and teddy bears"

I am so glad that she had a good first day and I know that she is going to love going to school!!

Grocery Trippin'

Just a typical day in the Wells household - laundry, breakfast, baths, picking up toys. Oh yeah, and go grocery shopping. The new Publix off 316 in Bethlehem is only abut 10 minutes from the house. It is new so it is very nice and clean. All the people are super friendly and they always have lots of sample. If we go in the morning it is never crowded and best of all - the buggies. They have "rocket ship" buggies that have a place for two kids at the front plus two baskets for groceries as well as room underneath. The top basket is perfect for Kendall to ride in. So I can go by myself and still be able to get groceries. I used to go but I would have to take the stroller and then I couldn't fit very many groceries in the basket.

(Kami - Don't text and drive!!)

We had a great time - Kendall got a cookie, the twins "drove" around and I got everything I needed.

Hula Hoop Queen

It is hard to get information out of Karlee about school. I don't think that it is because she is unwilling to share, but rather that she "can't really remember anything." So we probe and pry for any little bits of info that we can get. Which is why I was so surprised yesterday when she offered this story:

"Mama - I won an award. I was the best hula hooper! I was the best so I had to go to the boys room and show them how to do it. "

How about that! I didn't even know she could hula hoop. We don't even own one - I have mention once or twice getting one but we have never gotten around to it. Maybe now we should.

She also rode the bus for the first time yesterday. She was a little nervous at first but her good friend Will called to tell her all about it. He explained how fun it was, how "you don't even have to wear your seat belt" but that you do have to "sit down in your seat all the way home." She smiled and nodded, then told him okay, handed the phone to me and told her daddy "I still don't want to ride the bus." We convinced her to try it for one day and see how it goes. She did well - didn't seem nervous or scared when she got off but she was sooooo hot. Her cheeks were flushed, she was sweating and she told us it was "too hot - she wasn't riding tomorrow!" I asked her to try one more day but I am afraid it is going to be just as hot today so maybe we will take a break until the weather cools off just a little. She is excited about having art today and I look forward to seeing what she creates. She also told us Mrs. Brown said they will have homework on Tuesday, so I am anxious to see what she brings home.

Off to Kindergarten

Karlee had a great first day at kindergarten. Ken walked her in this morning but she had no problems going right into the classroom. She ate almost all of her lunch - I was worried that she wouldn't eat and then be hungry later. She loved the playground at recess, especially the jungle gym and was very disappointed when they had to go in early because of thunder. She built hula hoop houses in PE and sat at the yellow table for lunch. I was almost in big trouble because I forgot to send a snack but it was Tripp's birthday so they had Popsicles for snack time.

I was a little sad this morning but Kendall, the twins and I kept busy. I played legos with Kendall, checked up on all the back to school moms on facebook, took Kendall to the bathroom, heated bottles, helped Kendall get dressed, fed the twins, uploaded the "back to school" pictures, changed diapers, fixed and ate breakfast, took Fred out, cleaned up the kitchen, gave Kourt and Kam a bath, folded clothes, put the twins to bed, folded more clothes, cleaned up the bonus room, washed some clothes, put Kendall to bed, made my tutoring flier, picked up legos, k'nex and Mr. Potato Head, cleaned up the bathroom from bathtime, put away clothes, took Fred out, got Kendall up, played babies with Kendall, got the twins up, changed diapers, fixed lunch, fed the twins, took Fred out and finally loaded everybody up to get Karlee.

I hope tomorrow is another great day for Karlee.

The Night Before Kindergarten

I can't believe that Karlee will be starting kindergarten tomorrow. We went to open house today and met her teacher. Her teachers are Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Looney. I understand that Mrs. Brown's husband was the former principal at RBES and she is nearing retirement. I think that she will be good - Mrs. Looney seems really fun as well. We checked out the PE schedule and met the PE coaches. Karlee will have PE tomorrow so no flip flops. That put a kink in our first day of school outfit (it was a skirt with new flip flops) so we had to make an alternate choice. But it will still be cute - she gets to wear her new tennis shoes so she is excited about that. We toured the school and saw the art and music rooms - she really liked the music room and has already decided what instrument she wants to play first (if I remember correctly it is the violin and then the drums.) We met the media specialist, looked around the media center and most importantly - found the Junie B. Jones books!!! We walked through the line in the cafeteria and talked about how to get your lunch - although I think we will be bringing our lunch most days. After all, that is why we got the cute monogrammed lunchbox. Before we left, we signed up for PTO and Ken even went to the first meeting tonight. We are so excited that her friend Luke from church is in her class. He is a sweet little boy that Karlee has gotten to know and Ken and I have gotten to know his parents as well. I love his mom and I am excited about getting to know her better over this year. I prayed all morning that they would be in the same class and isn't God amazing - they are sitting right next to each other!!!
I am excited for Karlee - she is going to love school. I am a little sad for Kendall. I think that she is going to miss her big sister. I am not so sure about Karlee especially after I heard this conversation today:
Karlee: "Kendall - I'm going to kindergarten. Are you ready for kindergarten?"
Kendall just laughs
Karlee: "Well, I am because I'm tired of you hitting me and biting me all the time."
Which is not so true - Kendall DOES NOT hit and bite her all the time although lately they have been fighting over everything. I think that Karlee will be too busy during the school day to miss Kendall but if she were to stop and think about it, I know that she will miss her. I am sending Ken alone with her in the morning instead of going with them - that way no one will see me crying except my sweet Kendall who I am sure will be very concerned.

I know that she will have a great day and I can't wait to pick her up tomorrow afternoon and hear all about it.

The Doctor, Pictures and Sisterly Love

Yesterday the twins had their 9 month check up. They are doing great - everything was right on track and within range. The vital stats are as follows:
Kamryn - 19 lbs 14 oz; 27 3/8 in. long
Kourtney - 19 lbs 7 oz; 27 in. long
They are both crawling but Kourtney crawls better and faster. Kamryn is pulling up and standing all the time. Kourtney had pulled up once or twice but she is content to sit and play. The are eating good and both are about average as far as weight and height percentiles. They both have four teeth - two on the top and two on the bottom. They did have to get two shots each but they were fine as soon as they had their bottles.

Today I took the twins to get their 9 month pictures taken. I thought I had planned it perfectly - I scheduled my appointment for 10:40. They napped on the way there and I fed them as soon as I got there so they should not have been tired or hungry. Kamryn did great - but Kourtney was another story. I really think that she did not feel well from the shots yesterday. We tried everything to get her to smile but nothing worked. We finally got her to stop crying but the photographer had to take the pictures while she was sitting in my lap. Kam laughed and hammed it up as usual so we got some really cute shots of her. You can tell from the pics that Kourtney isn't feeling well. I am posting a few of the shots but the do have the copyright symbol over them. (Kourtney then Kamryn)


Kami Loves Kourti -Tonight when I put the babies to bed, they fussed a little but settled down pretty quickly. About 20 minutes later I heard loud crying - the kind you hear when someone is hurt. I came up to check on them and Kourtney was laying on her stomach crying and Kamryn was laying across Kourt's back. I picked Kourt up and she quickly settled down but Kam started to cry. I took Kourt to my room to rock and I thought that Kam would settle down and go to sleep but she just cried louder and louder. I decided to put Kourt back (she had stopped crying) and see if I could get Kam calm. When I went in, Kam was sitting at the other end of the crib bawling. As soon as I started to put Kourt down Kam crawled towards her. Kourt turned away and went right to sleep. I took Kam to my room and she snuggled in with me and calmed down pretty quickly. She was still awake but I took her back into to lay down. I put her at the opposite end from Kourt so she wouldn't wake her but she started to cry and tried to sit up. So, I moved her up next to Kourt and she snuggled right up next to her. I went back in to check a few minutes later and Kam was asleep across Kourt's back. So, I have one baby who can't go to sleep with the other one and one baby who can't go to sleep without the other one. What do you do about that?

VBS - The Boomerang Express

The week that we came back from Philly was VBS week at our church. I was helping with the 2 yr old class - which was just for workers kids but we still had about 12-14 kids each day. They let Kendall move up to this class since I was working. I missed the first day because we were coming back from Philly, but we jumped right in on Tuesday when we got back. I was so impressed with us that we managed to get there on time everyday - 8:00 am is pretty early for us to all get up, shower, get dressed and eat. I had a great time teaching Kendall's class. However, I did learn that I never want to be a preschool teacher - you have to have an abundant amount of patience. Kendall loved it. She listened to story time, made crafts, played music went to recreation and made snacks. Because most of our kids were new to using the bathroom like big kids - we had a lot of bathroom breaks. In the older kids classes, the were collecting offering to be used for the area food bank. To up the ante, the boys and girls were competing to see who could raise the most money. The losing team would get a pie to the face of their leader "Mr. Chan" or "Ms. Christi". Karlee was pumped about the contest and came home everyday wanting money. Being the awesome mom that I am, I wanted to make the most of this teachable moment so I offered to match the money she earned doing various chores around the house. She worked very hard to raise money for her team. But when she came home the third day and told her daddy that the boys were still winning, he decided that he would have to help her out. So, he pulled out the box of change that we kept under the bed. We had so much that Karlee could not even lift the bag. She brought her loot in on Friday which also happened to be "Wacky Hair Day". I think the girls were extra motivated and they managed to beat the boys. Overall it was a great week and the kids raised over one thousand dollars for the food bank.