Honors Day and January Mobile Moments

Autumn had a couple of big weeks with her violin recital and then her very first honors program! They don't start doing this until second grade at her school so Autumn was super excited. And trying very hard not to talk. Here she is doing some finger exercises I gave her to help when she feels like moving around but can't!

Autumn held out just fine and afterward we had to take pictures. I just realized she looks super tired here. I wonder if she was nervous?

Lainey got to come! And, as you can see, the certificate didn't make it very long in mint condition. :)

Awwww, she's getting SO BIG. I am not ready. T_T I'm glad she got to do this. It was exciting for her. I'm not sure how this semester is going to go because she's having a bit of a tough time (harder math + dealing with boredom--we're working on it!) but I know she is a super hard worker and is going to do a great job whether or not it ends in "highest honors."

I thought I'd also wrap up some January mobile shots in addition to celebrating Autumn's honors program. January seems like it was such a long, busy month and even looking at the photos at ALL THE THINGS we did I think we were pretty packed. Hopefully this month will be a little less crazy. Autumn did some ambulance repair last month. I was cracking up when I saw her with the "lift" she set up to work on the bottom of the car.

She sent a letter to the kiwi crate people (if you ever order a kiwi crate, use my affiliate link at passing pinwheels!). The letter was really cute and I took this picture to send along to explain who Kiri is and how we got Kiri and gave her a backstory before they named the crate mascot. The company sent her a nice postcard with a handwritten note really quickly. I was impressed and Autumn was beside herself! She's been carrying it around.

Letters and pictures are really Autumn's thing now. I guess she's always been into that but now she's turning her talents to begging. For a dog.

Desperately begging. In details. And in color.

We'll see. For not she has to make due with this little furball. And Kiri.

I think Autumn is coping okay although I get wanting something a little more friendly than Molly usually is. There's just a difference between actively playing with a dog and having to go cat fishing with a stick and a catnip ball!

Anyway, in other news, Autumn made the swim team! I'm so excited for her. She was kind of wanting a break from ballet so I encouraged her to take the chance to try out for swim. Autumn wasn't so sure but I took her to the pool to practice for a couple of weeks and she had such a great time that I knew this was the right direction. She was evaluated and made it! Autumn was so nervous before the first practice but afterward she asked, "can I come again Wednesday?" Hahaha. I said, "see, mama is right sometimes!"

And I think that wraps up January! Have a great week and we'll be back here next time!

Holiday Review!

Oh, my goodness, what a holiday! Mine was a little short because of the trip and being sick but we got a lot of celebrating in during the two weeks I was in commission! Lainey came out to help me with the Winter Party at Autumn's class. I forgot to edit these AND I forgot to turn off the auto watermark so not only are the "photobooth" photos not very photoboothy, they are marked with the wrong blog name! Ah, well!

I had to take a turn, too! I got these props from Target for such a great price it was worth not having to make them, print them, and then put them on sticks. Yay for the popularity of photobooths!

I even used the props for these little monkeys. I'd say I got my money's worth.

After Autumn's class party, we had our dojo party the next day. This was our largest gathering of current and past members ever and we had a BLAST. Look at how many kids we had! Christy helped me out with this part; we did a white elephant party with new or used $5 or less gifts. Christy led the kids in the breakfast room and I guided the adults in the living room at the same time so it was fun and loud and silly. I'd love to do this again next year! This was definitely a year to celebrate--I got my black belt and Stephan graduated from college. Yes. I threw my own party. Don't tell Miss Manners! I justify it by calling it a "thank you for putting up with us while things were crazy" party.

Afterward, I found Autumn in her bucket of stuffed animals. Too funny. I think she was kind of done.

We had a late visit to see Santa. Autumn asked for two things. The first was a bell. I had no idea what she was talking about until she mentioned the Polar Express. One trip to hobby lobby and that was taken care of. The other took some serious googling. She asked for this Elf Talker. I tried all kinds of Google searches based on her description. I never had any luck and then FINALLY I plugged in North Pole Phone and LIKE MAGIC the thing was right there, exactly as she described it. I have no idea why no other search terms brought it up. It only "works" in December so Jerry the Elf brought the Northpole Communicator, although he usually just brings acts of kindness. Incidentally, Jerry found it at Walgreens on sale and he had a coupon.

Christmas morning was pretty great. Molly even joined us for the unwrapping. She had a present under the tree, too. Catnip toys! Seriously this company makes the best cat toys.

We didn't want too crazy of a Christmas this year so Santa only brought Autumn stocking stuffers and this outfit to match her late birthday/early Christmas gift of an American Girl doll. When Mike's mom first mentioned American Girl stuff, I had Autumn read as many of the books as were on her reading level so she could pick an historical doll that she liked. I was a little surprised that she chose Kit until she explained that it's because Kit is a writer. Santa brought Autumn this outfit that matches Kit's! Autumn even has red shoes because I got her some to go with the Christmas dress I made her! That wasn't planned but it's a happy coincidence.

My mom spent the night with us Christmas Eve and had Christmas morning with us like she has done for a few years now. It was extra fun because we watched Elf and ate pizza and then we had french toast for breakfast.

Autumn insisted on wearing her Kit outfit all day which was cute but it was a little cold for it. I made her put on leggings but Autumn took them off as soon as we got to Lainey and Pd's house. She and Ellie made an accessorized pair.

Something fun and silly, later that night after naps, Mike, Brad and I sampled one of Brad's gifts: blini, caviar, and creme fraiche! This is what Brad thought. I ate two. The first was fishier than I expected but the second was pretty good. Mike chose not to partake a second time which is hilarious considering he like sushi (nigiri!) so much.

Fun times! Not too crazy once the parties and tests and decorating was over. I'll post pictures of the house on my other blog soon. I'm very proud of myself for getting it done, haha. I know it's silly but I guess it's my thing. Anyway, I hope your Christmas went smoothly and that there was joy in your time with family and friends!

Mobile Moments: Violins, Memories, and Molly is Weird Part 5002

So, I totally forgot to get Mike to share his album of our trip sooooo you get THIS. AUTUMN PLAYING THE VIOLIN.


Sunday was pretty fun. We got to skype Uncle Brad and he and Autumn played a Twinkle Twinkle duet. I should have recorded it but I did get a photo! I know a lot of people aren't fans of social media, technology, and other advances but, personally? I love it.

Last week we had Autumn as Fancy Nancy. This week we have mismatch day! Autumn got to participate for reaching her AR goal, yay! There are things I miss about Autumn over the years as she has grown up way too rapidly. One of the big things is when she had that cute cartoon sounding voice. I think another thing I'll miss is when she doesn't play dress up all the time. But then...maybe she'll be like me and wear a costume every chance she gets!

Okay, I have to post this video that's on my youtube page of Autumn and her cartoon voice.


Sigh. Anyway, we got pie Saturday. Autumn ROLLED through her piece. It was kind of amazing. I almost didn't get her a piece of her own but, holy cow, I am glad I did. I wouldn't have gotten any! This child eats as much as I do and I eat a LOT. If you are ever in the Germantown area, be sure to stop by Pie Folks. It's good stuff!

Other than eating and skyping and violining, Autumn is still doing her kiwi crate every month (um, if you're ever tempted to buy a subscription or a crate, go to my other blog and click the banner!). This crate was pretty fun. She made a hobby horse! I have no idea where it went but before we even started, Autumn lost one of the ears. She named the horse Holy after our friend's cat. The cat has a damaged ear so they named her Holyfield. Recently, I explained to Autumn, at her request, the reason behind the name. "So there was this boxer named Mike Tyson and he was CRAZY and there was this other boxer named Evander Holyfield. Well, one day..."

Oh, and speaking of cats, if you were wondering how Molly is doing, she has a new hobby. She found the unpaired sock basket. So now we find socks in random places all over the house. The strange thing is that we have never actually seen her carrying the socks. I don't know when she does it or why. It's kinda funny and weird. One day last week we came home to Molly standing over an entire pile. Maybe it's like how some cats bring chipmunks? Molly brings SOCKS.

Fancy Nancy and Her First Aikido Demo

A couple weeks ago, we had our first Aikido demo that featured some of our elementary age students! Aren't they adorable??

Autumn's partner, who is also an orange belt (none of my yellow belts could make it), had to temporarily move to Florida because his dad is undergoing a certain kind of cancer treatment. So, I let the white belts work together on some of the more simple moves and then I let Autumn do her thing with me. Here she is doing shihonage which is a throw.

And ikkyo which ends in a pin! Look at that serious face! She did super well and my mouth is open all weird like that because I was narrating, haha. I feel really bad for people who have to watch me teach because still shots of me always look crazy.

At the end, Autumn and Ella demonstrated an exercise we do at the end of class. Going...

Going...

Gone! I CANNOT STAND HOW ADORABLE HER FEET ARE. I know. It's weird. And normally feet are kind of gross to me but something about Autumn in seiza just tickles me.

Anyway, changing gears...they had dress like your favorite book character day at school earlier this month!! We did some going around about it but Autumn settled on Fancy Nancy. She wanted to be Elsa or Anna but I told her no, unless she wanted to be the Snow Queen because Frozen was a movie first. I felt kind of bad because when we got to school, guess what we saw? Like 10 Elsas. And a Lego Movie character. Sooo, yeah. I told her never to tell any of the Elsas I said this but that I mainly wanted her to do something more creative than throwing on her Elsa dress.

I'd say she was creative! We pulled everything in this costume from home except for the wig which I got really cheap at Target. We put a handkerchief over her hair because the wig was itchy. It did the trick and Autumn wore the wig all day. It was awesome. I had a good time, too, obviously. But it wasn't just Autumn's costume, I got to take pictures of all the kids and they were so fun! Costumes are the best. Speaking of, I still don't know what I want to be for Halloween. Maybe I'll be Fancy Nancy...I bet I can find some stuff...

In which the tooth fairy FINALLY visits the Colleys

You guys! Autumn lost her first tooth! And her second tooth! It's so gross! The dojo folks were making fun of me because, seriously, I have a thing about teeth and I do not like them at all! I have recurring tooth nightmares, for real. Autumn has had these loose teeth forever and, with a little assistance from Pd, they made their way out. I started to try helping the tooth out on Thursday but, thank goodness, it wasn't quiiiite ready. One more day did the trick and it came out on Friday. This photo is from today: Autumn's first day of toothless school.

She asked me to have lunch with her so I brought some Chick Fil A to school because, for one, who can say no to a sweet request like that and, for another, it's kind of a big deal! Autumn has been not-so-patiently waiting for this day because she's one of the last kids in her class to lose her first tooth. I would have let it come out on its own but she has teeth growing behind and the one tooth was flapping around and generally being grosser than a tooth normally is. Autumn still has some sensory issues so it was driving her crazy.

When the one super loose tooth came out, the other one lost its support and came on out, too. I'm totally that parent who loooooves anything magical about childhood. Plus I think I've mentioned before that my best memories of my dad were around holidays and I like remembering how tickled he'd be over Santa or Halloween costumes. So, get ready for silliness. First, Autumn wrote a note. By the way, Autumn is wonderful at many things. Spelling is not always one of those things! I have to say, though, some of her guesses are pretty good and make sense.

Dear tooth fary Thank you for coming to my hose. Plese bring pink picedust. I will cepe 1 tooth and you cepe one tooth. I hope you have safe trivils! from Autumn to the tooth fary

Note that Autumn KEPT ONE TOOTH. I was fully prepared to tell her that the tooth fairy needed both but I consulted Mike, who hates teeth more than I do, and he was okay with it. So one of her teeth is in a random box in her room. LURKING. WAITING FOR ME TO OPEN THE BOX. This is Autumn's second tooth fairy note. The first one was a little bit gimme pixie dust so I had her write one a little more thankful for the exchange.

Then we marked her calendar. She remembered that there was a lost a tooth magnet and nearly flew out of bed in excitement. Hm. Looking at the photo, I noticed she has one date wrong and we aren't  going on vacation Labor Day weekend. We'll have to fix that.

Last, we set up her tooth fairy pillow. Someone gave that to us when Autumn was super tiny. It's been hanging on a hat rack all this time!

The tooth fairy did visit. She took the note, to Autumn's disappointment. I guess Autumn thought the tooth fairy would leave it? I didn't take any pictures of Autumn when she found her stash because I was still half asleep but, man, she was pumped. The tooth fairy left a few gold dollars--more than papa thought was appropriate but 2 teeth in one go seemed like a big deal--a tiny, glittery note, and some rainbow pixie dust. The note just said, "Thank you for your sweet note. Don't forget to brush!"  There was even a little glitter on the monkey pillow where the tooth fairy sat.

All in all, it was everything I'd hoped for. I seriously think I had more fun than Autumn. Maybe. I don't know, she was so excited. And, guess what else? She has a lisp and IT IS SO CUTE. There's another loose tooth on the bottom so I suspect this is going to be the reverse of when she got her teeth. Nothing for, like, ever and then suddenly she had allll the teeth. Autumn will probably be gumming her meals by winter. Anyway, that's it for this week! I'll leave you with our growing up girl doing some homework on the computer. She looks pretty intense, huh? The homework was to type each spelling word in a different font. There were different items to choose from but Autumn did this last week and loved it. I like fonts, too, Autumn.

Back to School

I know I said we'd do beach photos today but today was the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. Crazy! Can you believe Autumn is in SECOND GRADE?? Mike didn't get to go with us this time, so sad! Most of his team is newly in the US so he went to work so they could have first days of school with their kids for the first time here in Memphis. Autumn didn't like the break in the routine but I still got a smile.

At school, I was in and out quickly. I did get a hug and a kiss, though! Autumn doesn't have any friends from first grade in her class but there are 2 from kindergarten. One of them is Kasey.

You might remember Kasey from this photo two years ago at the Bon festival.

When we left for school, Autumn asked me if we could take pictures when Mike got home. So we did! But not in our nice stuff. We changed for the gym before we remembered to get our pictures.

We failed at taking a selfie this morning so I totally had to have my own. I look like I'm about to joint lock her or something.

With the new routine and the emotions of Autumn starting second grade (seriously, how can she be this old?), I am beyond tired. Plus we added a step in kickboxing today which kicked my butt and I am BEAT! But, one beach preview photo before I head to bed: