Opening Doors

Since Makayla was 2 (almost 3), she has been going to school.

Her first two years, she attended Mrs. Wright's preschool class at our church.

Last year, she attended Mrs. Sharp's PreK class at Carroll Catholic.

...and this year, she is in Mrs. Gandenberger's kindergarten class!

I am so very thankful for the previous years of school for Makayla.  I'm thankful for the teachers, I'm thankful for the education, I'm thankful for the experience, and I'm thankful for the preparation.  

She and I were both well prepared for the big first day of kindergarten.

I've discovered through the years, that Makayla is not one to tell me what she learned at school.  Every time I ask her, her answer is always "nothing".  So, it came to me as no big surprise when I picked her up from her first day of school today and she told me that she learned nothing...but I couldn't help but smile when on our way home, she was talking to Mason and Mia about a chrysalis (so i'm thinking she did learn something today because i've never used the word chrysalis in my entire life)!

I'm so excited to watch Makayla grow and bloom (even more, if that's possible) over this next year as she spends her time in the kindergarten classroom!!

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While Makayla is busy in kindergarten, Mason is busy in preschool!

Mason started his first school experience at age 3 in Miss Martin's preschool classroom at Carroll Catholic!  He loves it!!!  He loves going to school.  He loves writing his name, he loves playing at the train table, he loves recess, he loves learning!  He loves to tell me about his morning at school and wishes he could go to school every day.  I love to see the excitement on his face as we walk into the school and I love to see the excitement on his face when we pick him up.  

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And because Mason and Makayla are both in school, this means that one morning a week, there's

Mia and Mommy time.

Mia and I get a few hours one day a week where it's just us.

Me and her.

Nobody else.  

No other voices, no other demands.  

Nothing.

This morning, we washed bikes, played in the back yard, read books, played airplane, fed each other snacks, sat on the big girl potty....

She had my undivided attention.

We loved it!

We're looking forward to next time and are excited to have this as part of our routine...for now.

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The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.  

~Ralph W. Sockman

Me:  Mason, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Mason: A dad.
Me:  That's cool!
Mason:  And a fireman guy.
Me:  Cool!  Makayla, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Makayla:  A babysitter.
Mason:  Well, actually, I want to be a baby when I grow up.  

Had Kevin Named Our Children

Hello!

Welcome to the crazy, exciting, non-stop, organized chaos that we call Our Life.

Meet Bindi, Derek, and Destiny...

For real.

Had Kevin named our children, we wouldn't have a Makayla, Mason, and Mia...but we would have a Bindi, Derek, and Destiny.

I'm not lying.

 Bindi - after the Crocodile Hunter's daughter.  

i don't know

don't ask

...while I played along in Kevin's name game with him for awhile, I threw Bindi out the window long before Makayla came along.
Makayla Ann is my Makayla and there is no better name for her!

Derek - after some football player (i think)

While I do really like the name Derek, I couldn't put Derek Curry together.  I don't like how the letter sound runs together from the first name to the last.

Derek Curry might be confused for Dera Curry.

While I did consider the name Derek for a teeny tiny bit, one day it just came to me that my son was going to be named Mason.  Mason Allen.

I can't imagine this handsome little boy being named anything other than Mason.

(his middle name, allen, coming from my maiden name)

And then there would be Destiny - because Kevin is convinced that our youngest was conceived in Destin, FL.

 ha.

my goodness.

Not counting the wide eyed stares I gave Kevin, I never did entertain the name Destiny.
While I had a hard time finding a name for our youngest, it wasn't until about a week before her arrival that I knew she was a Mia.  Miss Mia Grace.  Perfect.

So, had Kevin named our children...

Enjoy It

photo courtesy of daddy (kevin)

i.love.this.quote.

this is how I want to live life.
this is the mother i want to be.

life is crazy.  it's hectic.  there are deadlines to be met, appointments to make, bills to pay, daily pressures that can weigh us down, blah, blah, blah...

and then when you add motherhood on top of that.

wow.

any mom (or dad) can relate to the demands of motherhood (parenting).

but no matter what happens, amid the blah-blah-blahs and daily pressures of life, i don't want to forget to have fun.

i want to enjoy my family.

i want to create traditions for my kids.

i want to be spontaneous with them.

i want to go on adventures with them.

i want my kids to experience...and to learn...to go places and do things...

i want them to have fun.

i want them to make memories.

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Over the past week, we've been busy having fun.

We've spent time at the county fair

and 

we've spent time at the campground.

Looking back, as a child, the fair and campground hold some of my fondest memories...

and hopefully my kids are on their way of creating their own great memories of being at the fair and going camping.

At the fair, we got to watch mini monster trucks that kids drove and we got to watch horse races.

 We got to ride rides! - and Mason got to ride "grown up" rides this year!  While riding the big fast rides, Makayla throws her arms up in the air and war hoops for the entire ride and Mason sits quietly and every once in awhile squeaks a giggle out.

The Curry kids and their fair faces - 

riding rides and stuffing their faces!

Introducing Mia to a yuuummy cheese on a stick! 

We spent time walking through the barns and feeding the animals at the petting zoo. 

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This is the second summer we've gone camping with the kids and even though it is so much fun to take them camping now, I get really excited thinking about taking them as they get older (and maybe because that just means more relaxing time for mommy).

summer #1

Makayla, Mason, and Mia are blessed enough to have been able to make camping memories with Grandma and Grandpa Allen over the weekend.

Camping, sitting by the fire, telling campfire stories, going fishing, swimming at the beach, riding bikes, going on a scavenger hunt...

fun.

simple.

making memories.

The guys fishing.

Mia fishing. 

Mason looooving the boat ride. 

Makayla fishing...although she says she doesn't like the smell of fish and she doesn't like to touch fish, she wanted to go fishing anyway because she was just curious as to what kind of fish she would catch.

We spent time at the beach - swimming, playing in the sand, and eating ice cream cones.

Attempted to make Jiffy Pop.  My hand almost caught on fire and the popcorn did catch on fire...but it was still good! 

Mia taking her friend, Ethan, for a walk. 

My very favorite thing about camping - sitting around the campfire... 

Mia Grace falling asleep under the stars to the sound of the crackling fire... 

Grandma and Mason -

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I love spending time with my kids, our family, and our friends.

I love remembering to have fun amidst the chaos and pressures of life.

I love making memories and documenting them here on our blog.

I also love hearing what my kids love most about our time spent together.

Mason's favorite part about camping was fishing.  He loved riding in Grandpa's boat.  His favorite part about the fair was riding the scrambler.

Makayla's favorite part about camping was going by the fire and roasting marshmallows.  She also loved riding her bike.  Her favorite part about the fair was riding rides.

*here's to remembering to slow down in life.  enjoy it.  when it rains, go puddle jumping.**

Mia's Poop

THIS is Mia's 'OMG I just pooped in the potty' face. While she insists on sitting on the potty ALL of the time, she's never gone on it until tonight. And tonight she pooped. And once she began her duty, she looked down between her legs and began to cry. The more she pooped and the more she looked down between her legs, the harder she cried. Mason and Makayla were cheering her on, I was crying from laughing so freaking hard, and Mia was crying from...fear (i think). I kissed her, wiped her tears, made her clap for herself, and let her save it to show daddy...and now I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that she's not scarred from the process of pooping.