Today Noah had his little meet the teacher day. For him, it's not really "meet" the teacher, since he had these same teachers last year. But over half of his class is students that weren't in his class last year so he was able to meet some new little friends and just get back into the swing of things. We were only there for an hour, and half of that was on the playground, but I think it did get him more excited to start back for real next week.

Look how big he is! Where is that baby face from last year?

So Monday is his first day, and Anna doesn't start until after Labor Day. Everyone keeps saying this summer has flown by, and I really didn't feel that way until today. It's been lots of fun, but since both kids start school later than most of the schools in our area, I've just felt like we have lots of time left. Now we're down to counting it in days instead of weeks! As nice as it will be to have one on one time with them this fall (they go to school on opposite days) I can honestly say I will miss having them all together every day. I'm pretty sure they will also miss each other. But, once we get used to it again, a schedule will be nice, and routines are always helpful. We're heading into lots of learning and several new extracurricular activities, so even though summer is ending, our fun is not!

It seems like almost overnight we have gone from unbearably hot days to nice cool, almost fall like, days. This means mommy is much more likely to suggest a walk to the park in the middle of the day!

First stop: Inspect writing in the concrete

When Anna and Noah were babies we lived in a one story house. As I was gathering up their bath things it was easy to remember to grab the camera. But now that we're in a two story house I always forget! And even when I remember to bring it upstairs I sometimes forget it's in our bedroom until Ben is in the water and it's too late to leave the room. I had been having major guilt that his most recent bath pictures were from when he was teeny tiny, so here are some new ones. Perfect timing too, since he LOVES his bath now and cries when you get him out no matter how long you've let him play.

Almost every day this summer we have tried to do Mommy School. Because Anna is going into first grade she has a more specific list of things she needs to keep up with over the summer. Noah is going into his second year of preschool, so we're working on some basic things with him as well. One of the only ways he cares to learn about numbers is this parking lot game. I tell him which number to park each car on, and he drives them around until he finds the correct one. He also likes when we draw numbers on big sheets of paper and throw or roll a ball to whatever number I call out. For Anna I make it harder by asking her to throw it to the answer of a math problem I give, or to the number that is 2 less than 9, 5 more than 6, etc. Luckily both kids enjoy letters and reading, so we don't have to be so physical with all of our lessons!

I run a pretty tight ship in Mommy School. For example, you can see that our dress code is very strict. I swear, this boy never wears a shirt anymore!

And math is way more fun in an apron and a chef hat!

I love that Anna is SO into reading right now. She reads all day long. In the car I hear her mumbling under her breath as she reads every sign and billboard we pass. At night after we tuck her in we can hear her reading aloud for what seems like hours. Often she will read something that is so exciting to her that she just has to come in our room and read it to us. It's hard to get on her for getting out of bed after you listen to her excitedly read to you about dinosaurs. This morning it was her current favorite topic, volcanoes. She has read this entire book to Noah at least 10 times.

A few weeks ago my sister and I took all 453 of our kids to the local science center. Okay so really there are only 6 kids between us, but people always look at us like we've brought an entire daycare out for the day. In fact about a week after this we were out together and a woman told us, and I quote, "I would kill myself" if she had that many kids. You would think we would be offended by that statement, but instead we could Not. Stop. Laughing. Good thing my mom came along to help us at the science center!

 

He was actually happy here.

I love how Anna means business in that helmet.

 A quick stop for lunch, where all the boys put their arms inside their shirts because they were cold. Plus they thought it was hilarious. 

My sister and I helped them build this arch. Then we forced them all to stand under it. Both babies were crying. Good times!

I love when I catch them being sweet to each other.

Max and Anna were both a little wary of these animals. Max kept reminding us/ himself, "They are dead. They are really, really dead".