Day-to-Day...and Then Some...

Wow! Have we ever been busy! Between M & M going to school, Alan going to work, and Jenna and Deb driving for 3-4 hours a day, dropping everyone off, picking them up, and running errands in between, it's a wonder that this blog ever gets written!

As far as school goes, Mason seems to really enjoy kindergarten. She struggles a bit to get ready in the morning, but she's always in a good mood when we pick her up from school. She always shares a little about her day, which she never used to do, and she's thrilled to come home and do homework! If only we knew that excitement could last forever! Ha ha.

Mackenzie is adapting to school. She rarely ever cries when we drop her off anymore. She does mope sometimes, though. But, she's eating lunch at school now, instead of after school, in the car, which she did for the entire first month. She's participating in activities too. She apparently really likes sticking things that have glue on them to paper. The latest was making paper jack-o-lanterns. She stuck the eyes, nose, and mouth on them. She had so much fun, she made three, although the faces were a bit crooked, they were generally in the appropriate locations.

Jenna is turning into a little terror. She is mischievous, she is not interested in words like "no" and "stop." We try to change her attention to activities more appropriate, when necessary, but some days, it seems there's little we can do, without being completely terrorized or made crazy by her actions. She's also so cute that it's tough to get angry, but easy to be frustrated.

Just over a week ago, we took the girls to a pumpkin patch out in the desert mountains, about an hour from home. There were pumpkins still on the vine, and plenty of them. We had a great time walking all around looking for good carving pumpkins. Mason picked out two of the three. But ultimately, we decided to go for one, really big kahoona. It is classy, too, with whitish stripes where the natural grooves would be. It weighed in at 39 pounds. We still aren’t sure how we will carve it, but that is yet to come. We’ll be sure to take pictures.

So, other than that, we have one last thing to share on our blog this time around. It’s a poem that Alan and I composed, with a little bit of help from a special friend. We hope you enjoy the read as much as we enjoyed wordsmithing it to perfection. It’s very rare that we compose anything, let alone poems. :-) You can read it to the right of this blog. Enjoy!

Day at the Beach

This past Saturday, following Mason's very first, successful sleepover at a friend's house, we caught up with her at the beach. It was a slightly overcast day, and the girls were content to play in the sand all day. However, we learned that further down the beach, there was an area where you could wade in the water and see swarms of leopard sharks. Apparently, leopard sharks have no interest in people, so they are safe...or so we were told. :-) We took the kids (in our arms), and waded out. Not only were the leopard sharks harmless, they were beautiful and plentiful. It was an amazing sight to see, on a typical day at the beach. Mackenzie hoped to stay out in the water watching them for a long time, but Mason was tired of being at the beach, and Jenna was out of the water with Alan. Did I mention the water is chillingly cold? Once you adjust, it's fine, but if you go back and forth? Chilling! Unfortunately, we did not have our camera with us for this event.

However, we did have one other funny thing happen at the beach. We usually pack a picnic lunch when we go, and this day was no different. Alan made several peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which we packed between two containers to share with everyone. One container is rectangular shaped. While it was open, it was inadvertently set down on the towel next to us. Jenna, being our most mischievous and always finding "innocent" trouble, was walking around while eating part of a sandwich. She walked right through the open container, leaving a perfect, Jenna-size footprint in the remaining bottom row of sandwiches. She also left a good amount of the sand that was on her foot. It was incredibly funny, and the seagulls loved it. But, a bummer for us.

Swimming and School

Wow! Where has the summer gone! We spent all of August focusing on Mason's new "passion," if you could call it that. Swimming. We enrolled her in Tiny Tots swim lessons. She used to have a fear of getting her face wet. After two weeks in the lessons, she was putting her head in the water and having a blast! She couldn't quite float on her back without help, so she had to retake the class. Second time was a charm for Mason. Within the first week, her teacher told us she should have been in the next level, and he would try to work with her individually on more advanced techiques. Mason now loves having water poured over her head, taking showers, and blowing bubbles in the water. In fact, she loves swimming so much, she has asked to continue lessons. We begin again next week! Mackenzie and Jenna enjoyed going to watch, but Mackenzie would have preferred to get in the water. She and Jenna both love to swim. We try to take all the girls on the weekends, when we can manage it.

Besides swimming, this was a big week for us. School began on Tuesday. That meant kindergarten for Mason and preschool for Mackenzie. Mason, dressed in school uniform, with braids on each side of her head, marched right into her classroom on day one without looking back. At the end of a long day (six hours), she marched out and informed us that there was no play time. Recess doesn't count as play time. On day two, a short day (just under four hours), she marched in successfully again. When she came out, she again informed us that there was no play time. By the time day three rolled around, we had to drag her kicking and screaming out of the house, kicking and screaming into the car, and kicking and screaming out of the car. The kids all line up outside, and their teacher comes to retrieve them. Once she greeted all the children in the line, Mason informed me that she would like to walk up without me today. So much for the tantrum. I followed, out of sight, and she did great! What was the point of the tantrum? Guess what she said at the end of the day, though? Yep. That's right. There was no play time.

Mackenzie is a completely different scenario. She is going to Die Rasselbande, the preschool where Mason went all of last year. She was very excited to go to school, but when we walked into the classroom, the separation anxiety was beyond anything we had expected. Mackenzie is always so easygoing. But, there were screaming kids in the room whose parents had already departed. I stayed with Mackenzie for about 45 minutes. The screaming kids never stopped screaming. Mackenzie cried and grabbed for me every time I tried to leave. In the meantime, Jenna hopped up on a chair and started playing with whatever was available at the time. Jenna must've been ready for school. But, she's too young. Mackenzie did survive day one, but when I came to pick her up, she repeatedly asked, "Mommy, are you here?" She refused to eat her lunch at school, telling her teachers she would eat in the car, which is exactly what she did. Today was her second day of school. I left after only ten minutes, and she did cry. I stayed outside, where I could see her. Eventually she stopped crying. But the report was that she stood around and watched everybody, but wouldn't participate. Again, she wouldn't eat her lunch, except in the car. When her teachers offered her the water bottle we brought, she wouldn't drink either. They asked if they should write her name on it. She must've been indifferent, so they did. She told them, "I don't like the ABC's on my water bottle." Hmmpphhh. If you ask Mackenzie if she likes school, she says "yeah!" We'll see.

Enjoy the swim pics and the first day school pics.

Busy, Busy Times

We have been so busy lately! Mason is taking swim lessons, and although she still doesn't like putting her face in the water, she is trying it every day. She enjoys the lessons and playing in the water. The only other news for Mason is that we ordered her school uniforms and bought her a backpack. She's heading off to kindergarten on Sept. 2. They grow up so quickly!

Mackenzie is completely potty trained. She is an amazing success. Not too many of you probably can imagine how great it is to have only ONE in diapers now. It's fantastic!! Mackenzie is a champ. She talks more and is truly becoming a "big" girl.

Jenna watches Mackenzie on the potty as a several times a day activity. She loves to watch it flush. When we have the little portable potty out, as soon as Mackenzie is finished and we've emptied it, Jenna sits down, fully clothed. She's very proud of herself. She is starting to put sounds together and try to make words. Popular words are: mama, dada, duck, bubbub (bubbles), bye, and anything else she can repeat the first sound of, before the word becomes gibberish.

In the absence of regular candid pics, we've been meaning to post these professional photos (for which we bought copyrights) of the girls. Mason is nearly five, Mackenzie is two, and Jenna is 14 months.

Successes Continue...

Mackenzie has pooped in the portable potty for the first time today. Big, big event! It happened while we were at a restaurant, sitting in the outdoor section (thankfully, by a wall, so not many viewers). She's being a real trooper. We have gone full force out of diapers. She is not 100% yet, but she seems to do better when we're away from home. How ironic. So, the portable potty is busy! That's today's big news. More later...

She Did It!

Mackenzie just peed in the little potty for the very first time today! Hip hip hurray!!!! We've been trying for days, and having minor accidents in her underwear. This is big news. We thought it was blogworthy. :-) Have a great day!

Mackenzie and Jenna

Can't post blogs all about Mason and neglect her two little sisters! The most exciting thing for both of them is that they have learned to ride bikes. Mackenzie can now ride the little two-wheeler without pedals (Laufrad) AND she has finally learned to pedal the tricycle. Yay! Jenna is now able to climb on and off all the toy cars herself. She can move forward instead of always backward. She is also able to ride the little four-wheel bicycle without pedals (another Laufrad), moving forward. It's exciting!

Besides that, Mackenzie is not only amazing us with her parroting skills, but she continually improves her speaking and vocabulary on a daily basis. We're attempting to begin potty training her. The thought of only one in diapers is what keeps the effort going! Jenna, on the other hand, can be very loud with her few sounds. She now can say "Mama," "Dada," and a few other "ah" sounding words. She is a true climber. She uses whatever she can to leverage herself up onto furniture. She's making us very nervous! Did we mention, the kids fall a lot? All kids do. And so, the epic journey continues...