Ellison's 1st Day of School

I can't believe Ellison is old enough to be in school. But apparently she is, because today was her first day! She was excited - for her new backpack, to make new friends, to wear new shoes. There were no tears (from her). We dropped her off, and that was that! Jay, Kellen, and I went to the opening church service of the year. We've never been to a service at St. Jacobi, and I really liked the church and pastor! We plan to transfer there before Ells is in kindergarten, so it was nice to see what it's like. We also had some refreshments and met a few parents, which was great! I am hoping to get involved as much as possible with school. 

3K is from 8:10-11:45 on Mondays and Wednesdays. Next year she will be in school 3 half days a week, and kindergarten at St. Jacobi is 5 half days a week. A little different than public school, and I'm ok with that! Ellison learns a lot at home and at daycare, so I think she's way ahead of where she needs to be going into 3K. It will be nice for her to be able to stay at school for extended care on days when Jay is working and I'm asleep - save a little money on daycare! Yay!

Thanks to my go-to shirt maker Meg for Ellison's adorable first day of school shirt, and her awesome class of 2030 shirt! It boggles my mind thinking about that. 2030!

After we picked her up, Ellison got to open her "school cone" - an awesome German tradition I learned about and decided sounded fun! It had socks, candy, animal crackers, pencils, crayons, and some new flashcards. She loved it! It was fun to make, too :) 

Seems like she's excited to go again on Wednesday!

Where did SUMMER go?!

And just like that, we are already more than halfway through August. Ellison starts school in a week! I can't believe how quickly the summer has flown by. We definitely haven't gotten to everything on my summer bucket list, but I guess that's life!

Ellison has been taking ballet for the past month and is signed up for ballet and tap for the school year. She is adorable in her leotard, tights, and a little bun! She loves to dance - she always asks us to turn music on so she can have a dance party! We have been reading a lot - we've read 2 chapter books this summer. She's done surprisingly well with sitting for a chapter a night on the nights I'm home! She's still obsessed with horses and absolutely convinced that we will be getting one soon. She also wants a goat now (thanks State Fair)!

Kellen is a riot. He's learning lots of new words, and will repeat most words we say. He's teething - again! He runs all over the place, tries to jump, loves climbing up slides, likes dancing and chasing Ellison around. He can be very loud! He knows exactly what he wants and isn't shy about letting us know when he's unhappy. But he's usually a sweetheart and still cuddles sometimes, and loves his blue puppy "wubby". He actually has 3, one that stays at daycare and two that he carries all over the house. He's very into cars, trains, and blocks right now!

Other than that, we've just been trying to fit as much stuff into what remains of summer as we can! I can't believe little Ellison is going to school in a week...she's 3 1/2 years old today! And Kellen will be 1 1/2 soon!

4th of July (Kellen was 16 months old that day)

Good luck getting 7 kids to look at the camera...this was the best one I had! Ha!

Ellison in the pool!

These two read constantly, I LOVE IT!

Silliest 17 month old ever :)

Ellison loves to dance - she asked Jay if he would be her prince!

The K-Man!

That's all for now, I'll write about Ellison's first day of school next week...when I stop crying!