Back to School...and a lil' catch up!!!

It's official...I have two girls back to school!!! Little Audrey is now a big, bad Kindergartner and Emma's in the second grade. Audrey has big sister around to show her the ropes (not that she needs any defending). It's just me, Joe and Livi now.

Here's Emma on her first day. I felt so empathetic because she couldn't fall asleep the night before (the second grade is a scary thing). As if that wasn't bad enough, she couldn't eat anything for breakfast because she was soooo nervous. Don't worry...we gave her a hefty snack and lunch.

This is Audrey on her first day with Mrs. Barden. Mrs Barden was also Emma's teacher so you can imagine how nervous I am with the situation. Audrey's got a little more fire and spunk (to put it nicely). As of today, Audrey has turned her card to yellow twice!!! Emma turned it twice during her entire school year as a Kindergartner.

Hurray for the bus!!! After being rear ended last year in school traffic, We thought we'd give the bus a go. We love it. Audrey's a little frustrated since the Kindergartners have to sit in the front. Just yesterday I dropped them off and walked them up to the bus to make sure they got situated and off to school okay. I saw Audrey's little head through the windows. She paused by the first few seats where she's suppossed to sit...then booked it down the isle to the back of the bus! My little rebel.

No, this is not a new baby...it's Olivia all grown up. I'm just a slacker of a mommy who's finding difficulty in recording her mile stones and keeping up with our family blog. How priceless is her smile. It makes up for the horrific, ear piercing screams she lets out. The only defense mechanism a fourth child has against her siblings. Thank goodness she hasn't figured out how to bite with those cute chompers.

Here's Joe and Wyatt cruisin the desert out at Kristi's. Joe's suffering from boredom now that his sisters are gone, but is quickly learning how to play with Mom and Olivia. I just couldn't send him to preschool this year. I'd miss the little guy.

I know...her hair is out of control. Sonny calls her a troll and wants to make her a punk rocker for Halloween. I kinda think she looks like a Chupacabra. Kelly calls her fuzz, but that's putting it mildly.

She loves her bathies. Joe thinks it's great that she's in the big tub with him now. He likes to dump water all over her head.

This was this morning. After breakfast, Joe shared a piece of oreo cookie with Olivia. Enough said.

NOTE TO READERS...Following Eric's corrections on my blog, my father decided to post a few words about himself. What you are about to read was added by him with the help of his butt-kissing son-in-law.

Upon reflection of our most recent fishing trip, it has dawned on me that I owe everything good in my life to my father. What a great guy!

WANTED...New Family

Here's a real gem for all of you. When I broke the news to my children that they may not be spending the night at Nana and Pa's house Emma freaked out. Joseph had a cold and I didn't know if he would be better by then. She couldn't believe that I could do that to them. This being the final days of my children's spring break, I've turned into a beast of a mother. When she wouldn't drop it, I told her to make a little sign, go stand out on the street and look for a new mom that would treat her a little bit better. Imagine my surprise when this little note was placed before me at the table. Here's a translation of my six year old's plea..."Help, please. Emma Manning needs new family. School is Rio Vista. A family with no dogs. A family who is a member of the church." It made my morning! This wasn't a joke. Emma notified me that she would call often and come back to say good bye to Daddy. I told Emma to remind her new mommy about dance class and the recital fees. She even packed a bag, complete with dance outfit, school outfit, church outfit, MP3 player and a few random toys. When I told Audrey she could probably take a friend with her to our annual camping trip at Hume Lake, Emma looked a little sick. The real kicker was when I told her she should probably start calling me Kara instead of Mom (we wouldn't want her new mom to feel gypped). After her goodbyes with Grandma Wyatt, she told me that maybe I should just post the note on my blog and see if we got any hits because she was a little nervous standing out on the street (I'm not kidding). So finally...if there are any takers please let us know immediately.
The good news is that they are currently with my parents!!! When Sonny and I were leaving Costco today (how wonderful to shop with one baby that can't ask for anything or eat any samples) he was missing them. He Asked, "Kara, don't you miss the kids?" My only response was, "Do I really have to answer that?"
Here's a couple more photos. I finally had to transfer almost 900 pics from my camera onto the computer because my memory card was full. Given my recent download and free time I can do a new post! Hope you all are well and are surviving the spring break.

Hiking with the kids on New Years. Yes, it's been that long. I'm not even posting Christmas pics.

We probably shouldn't have gone when a mountain lion was in the neighborhood.

Joe's first trip to the dentist. Even though he had to lay back with his shoes off, he did awesome...no cavities!!!



Our growing baby girl.

The cheapest pony ride ever! She doesn't quite

meet the height requirement for the real ones.

In her Sunday best.

Sticky...my new gecko

Audrey as the photographer...Emma the model (Does Emma think her new mom would let her kids play with her camera?)

A typical picture when all the kids are in it.

The Coolest Sister in the Whole World!

I would just like to apologize to everyone for being such a slacker. Now, granted, I have four kids now, but is that really an excuse!? I wanted to just take this moment to say how much I love my little sister, Kristi. She is one of the most awesome people in the world. She is sweet, funny, and kind. She also has really cute boobs! (I love to comment on her boobs).

Kristi is like a second mother to my kids, and they absolutely ADORE her! In fact, I think that my children resemble her quite a bit. Kristi is my mentor, and I look up to her in every regard. I can't even make a decision without consulting with her first.

Kristi was an absolute gem to grow up with too. I seriously couldn't have gotten luckier with a little sister. THANK YOU, KRISTI! I love you!

P.S. As many of you may have guessed, it is me Kristi posting for Kara yet again. Like you, I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting....So, from this day forward, I will continue to put random posts on this blog until I get what I want. And Kara...don't even think about changing your password! Love, Me