FIRST GRADE, WHAT?

Oh, my gosh, check it out! It's our first grader having her first first grader breakfast!! Mini wheats and chocolate soy milk. Breakfast of champions!


Even though Autumn was super pumped about first grade, I read her The Kissing Hand which is the sweetest book ever. We found stickers at the end of the book and I have no idea how we missed them the last time we read it but Autumn got excited and wanted a sticker when she left for school. And she wanted me to take a picture of the book and her hand. :)


We had to get a full length shot! They still have clothing guidelines--collared shirts and navy, khaki, or black bottoms. No rules on shoes though so Autumn picked out some really cool light up sneakers! I told her she could only wear them if she could tie them and that proved to be the incentive to get her working hard on shoe tying! Lindsay, Lainey, Mike, and I all tried to teach her our versions of shoe tying and while I think we all helped, Mike is the one who had the magical technique that clicked for her.


Here's the shoe tying magician now. Mike was going to pick her up from school but at the last minute decided to get to work late so he could do drop off with us! I'm really glad because it was fun to do it as a family like we did last year.


Mama picture time! Used to be, everyone talked about how much Autumn looked like Mike. Lately everyone has used the term mini-Sharaze to describe Autumn. I can kind of see it in this photo although I am happy that she's still a nice mix of the two of us--looks and personality.


Happy girl in line waiting to go in. It was **crazy** parking and walking to the campus! As the week went on, the drop off became less hectic, thank goodness. Although I wish the police would do something about the parents who park ON THE CORNERS. It's really tough for little people (like me, even!) to cross the street around the giant land yachts that like to park in illegal spots! If you're one of those parents, THINK OF THE SHORT PEOPLE. We don't want to get mowed down in the cross walk.


This is her desk! Autumn was fantastic--no crying, no sadness, just happy little miss. She was lucky and got assigned a seat next to the twin sister of her good friend from last year. She was all, "JULIA!" And her friend was all, "I'm Natalie." And Autumn said, "NATALIE!" Another boy named Izzat from her old class was also in her area. I think that really helped.


The next day, Autumn didn't even need me to walk her to class! I asked her if she needed me to take her in, she said she thought she could find it. We talked over the directions (go in the door, turn right, class is on the right) and talked about who to find if she got lost and she marched right in like a big kid!! Seriously, she has become so independent! I'm really proud of her because i know she's really worked on it. So very far from the preschooler I had to do a sticker chart with when I dropped her off in class back at Mullins.


Oh, and this is how Molly has coped with the schedule change:


Ha! Cats. Also, say a prayer for me if you think about it Monday morning! I have an interview at the Memphis Jewish Community Center to be a fitness teacher sub!

Summer of Fun, the Recap!

Can you believe that school starts tomorrow for Autumn? FIRST GRADE. Wah! I'm not ready! But, she's super, super excited and I have heard nothing but good things about her teacher. She was a sub last year and when I asked Autumn about the new teacher, Autumn said, "I like her leopard purse." Pause. "And her black boots and her pretty makeup." Hahaha. Cute.

We had a great summer, though. A little busy so maybe next year I won't plan quite as many activities! Autumn had three levels of swim lessons to get ready for Junior Swim Team:


A traveling kitty visited us in the garden and later hung out with us while we watched the supermoon come up with the neighbors.


We spent time with soft and fuzzy friends,


animal friends,


and human friends!


In between swim sessions, Autumn got to go to two weeks of camp at Mullins, where I teach aikido. She also had ballet camp at Collierville Arts (my other location) which was, apparently, exhausting. :) She took regular aikido and ballet all summer, too!


We also did a lot of swinging and sliding


and spinning!


AND someone had her VERY FIRST ICEE!! How could this have happened??? Six years and no icees! I have been remiss.


We experimented with lunch ideas--behold octopus hot dogs (I found some all natural, no nitrate hot dogs that are actually good!) and my first attempt at tamagoyaki or egg sushi. Autumn ate them both! The egg sushi needs a little work but it wasn't too bad for a beginner.


We also did lots of experiments and crafts and art and ALL THE DRAWING. Hahaha.


Not a bad summer!! Definitely a fun first summer break! Sigh. I can't believe it's over already.

NO COMPUTER, WAH

This is why I don't have a post today: SO SAD.

At the Beach!

I can't believe I let the family blog go this long!! I wasn't feeling well last week and the week before we were getting back from vacation so there you go. Here are some fun beach pictures! Oh, and there are more on the pinwheel blog.

One of the days we were at the beach, there was a jellyfish invasion!  There was a sad Autumn.


But we did get some beach time. The end of the week brought storms so the ocean was pretty cool. Lots of those people who ski using parachutes. I loooove this picture of Mike and Autumn!


Tyler and Hudson joined us while the rest of their family went to Hawaii. They were, as always, hilarious and very self-entertaining!


Hudson really liked doing this but I only had the energy to do it a few times, haha. Pd and I traded off until we just couldn't do it anymore. But he had fun and really liked me until I told him he had to sit and read with Autumn and Tyler while Pd ran an errand and it was just us. He snubbed me after that!! I laughed so hard.


We went back to the little amusement park where Miss Daredevil likes to show off her race car driver roots and pass ALL THE CARS. Here she is edging past Tyler...


And then cackling like a maniac over it!


Mike and I did the sky coaster! It only took me a YEAR to talk him into it. It was super fun although you can see Mike had some concerns going in.


On the fourth, we went to a fair and watched the fireworks. It took many, many tries but I got a decent picture with the three of them.


Autumn had SO MUCH FUN on these swings. They were really, really fast so I was surprised she enjoyed it so much. I guess she really is a bit of a thrill seeker.


All together, it wasn't a bad trip, despite the rain and jellyfish!

Autumn started swim lessons at the beginning of the summer. She's actually already pretty decent at swimming. Surprisingly so considering this used to be her:


The first day Autumn was a little scared.


By the end, she was happy enough to have crazy eyes.


And tired enough to be in cat mode!


Autumn just finished level 2 and will start level 3 the second week in July. She's really rocking her way through! I think she might try the junior swim team in the fall! It's just the most fascinating thing to me. Out of anything I thought Autumn might enjoy, it was NOT the swim team! But that's what she wants to do so we'll give it a try.


One of Autumn's favorite birthday presents was a Kiwi Crate. In the first box, she got a DIY bird costume and it is hysterical. There are different beaks and this is the kiwi beak. BEHOLD KIWI GIRL.


The morning after she made her costume, I woke up to this. WAY TOO EARLY.


Mike and I take turns hanging out outside while Autumn plays. We're not quite ready to let her tool around on her own so we just kind of stay in the vicinity (that's not Autumn on skates, by the way). I came out one day to find Mike's little set up:


By the way, Molly says hi.


Oh, hey, check this out! Autumn's making her own toast and stuff now! We just got a real toaster (we used to use the oven) so she's excited to have her latest big girl moment. :D


That's it for now but I should have some super fun fourth of july photos to share next sunday! Have a wonderful holiday!

First Dance Recital!

Ok, after this I think I'll be all caught up! Some of you might have seen this on facebook, but Autumn had her first dance recital. This is so crazy...her dress rehearsal makeup. I also feel the need to tell you that I swear we had just cleaned the playroom. T_T


I am SO PROUD of myself. Autumn has super thin hair. I'm sure it'll thicken up because her hair is exactly like mine was when I was her age. I found a tutorial on how to use a sock, hair pins, and ponytail holders to make a decent looking ballet bun and BEHOLD:


I didn't get a good shot of her ballet costume but this is her tap costume. A local photography studio did dance shots before the recital and we did those in her ballet outfit. I'm guessing we'll get the pictures in a couple of weeks. I also ordered a dvd (holy cow, this is expensive! I'm so glad I trade aikido for the ballet classes). When I gave the lady taking the money my check and order form BEFORE the performance (they asked us to prepay, too!), she goes, "I'm sorry but we don't have the dvds available yet." Really?? I thought for sure you had a time machine.  (¬_¬)


After the performance, we did some pictures. Penny brought her those pretty flowers. I usually don't see much resemblance between my mom and Autumn but they kind of look similar here!


The lights were really yellow so this picture looks really weird in color, haha. So you get a sepia tone, Penny!


Back at home, more picture. Nanny and Boppa are too cute with Autumn here.


Of course, there was a short break for presents. Autumn loooooved her new ballet doll and Cinderella tutu. Which she is going to wear to ballet camp tomorrow!


And that would be why she has such a huge smile here. Also, Pd is, like, super tan. This was the week after we went to the beach, ha.


Although Autumn was about done with all the picture taking, we had to do a mama and papa picture.


Too fun! The Student Showcase was seriously fabulous. I am amazed at what a great production they put on at the Harrell Theater in Collierville. They had ages 3 years to adults doing ballet, tap, lyrical, jazz, and more. I have to be straight up honest, though--poor Autumn got her dance skills from me!! She's really stinking cute when she dances but she also looks like she's fighting invisible demons. Who knows, though! Enough practice and maybe someday she'll get to do one of the solos! Either way, it's a super fun experience and we all had a great time watching her perform. I mean, she's always been so people-averse (ahem, guess who she got THAT from) that it was super awesome to see her get on stage with no fear at all.

By the way, if you haven't been to passing pinwheels in a while, stop in and check it out! Be sure to take a look at Mike's Father's Day gift. Here's one of the photos I didn't use. Her face is hilarious.