Preschooler!

We officially have a preschooler! Ahhhh I can't believe it.

Tyler started preschool today at St. John's and it went really, really well. Surprisingly! Sam & I walked into the classroom with Tyler and stayed for a few minutes....then did a quick hand off to Mrs. Moore, which she suggested. He screamed as we were leaving, but soon after he was fine. I'm SO glad all went well and he loves school! He'll be going Tues/Thurs mornings this year.

On Sunday, August 26, we went to the preschool open house to meet Tyler's teachers and to show Tyler around his new classroom. We had to wake him up in the car when we got there, so he started off a bit crabby, but then opened up and was a champ! I think this really helped with how smooth the first day went. It was great for him to know where he was going (and be able to picture it) when we were telling him he's going to his first day of school.

At the open house, first things first: He had to check out the two bathrooms.
We found his cubby
And some books...
Tyler's favorite part! The sensory table that had blue sand, glitter, starfish, shells & magnifying glasses
Another bathroom
Circle/Story time
Mrs. Moore
Mrs. O
First Day of School!!

Eating his breakfast...
...with Daddy!
Off to school!



Tyler would not stand by himself before school, as we were walking in. He wouldn't do it!!
Dropping him off...
...and picking him up. No problem standing by himself now!
So proud of this little guy. Love him so much!

Laughlin/ Lake Mohave

Hot! Hot! Hot! is all I can say about our trip to Laughlin this year. Aye carumba! Hot tamales! You get the point! :-)

We usually have our trip planned out a couple of months in advance at least, but this year it all came about last minute and we decided to go ahead and try it- with all three kids in tow. We took Tyler when he was the girls' age, but A & D hadn't been on the boat yet. We thought, what the heck...let's do it!

Glad we did! The kids all had a lot of fun and while our trips to Laughlin definitely aren't as relaxing as they were pre-kiddos, it's still nice to get away and have the kids experience it all.

We drove out on a Sunday and it was about 124 when we got there, according to the bell hop guy. Phew! It sure felt like it. Miserable.

Tyler & Thomas getting ready to leave
Laney Pop
Cakey and her dolly
Ready to go! The kids did really, really well on the 6 hour drive (we were towing the boat which of course packs on more time), on the way out and on the way back home. I was totally surprised. They napped quite a bit and watched the trains & other cars go by. Good ol' road trip fun!
We arrived and once we got settled in the room, we decided to take a walk to dinner.
We noticed a pretty rainbow above the hills. See it? Right in the middle of the picture.
The girlies loved the ducks & fish under the docks at the Edgewater.
Grandma & her 5 grandkiddos
The Kaufman Five
At Outback for dinner, Uncle Flynn taught Thomas & Tyler how to balance coasters on their arms & heads. Aye aye aye
Boat time!


Daddy's girl
Grandma & Tyler keeping cool
Captain in training
Sweet Audrey keeping cool in a drenched blanket
Nighty nite
The boys took a ride on the towable. I was shocked at how easy it was to get Tyler on that thing. No hesitation at all!

He loved it...until Daddy started driving a little too fast and water was splashing in their faces.
Momma & sleepy Laney
Big brother making Audrey happy girl
Thomas showing me some sort of dance
Uh oh! Kiddos found Mommy's secret stash of sanity! Skinny girl margaritas...mmmmmm

Feeding the koi

Feeling the freeeezing cold water in the river
That's it! Another fun Laughlin trip under our belt! :-)

Cousin lovin'

 Lots of playing with the cousins! They all have too much fun together!

Potty!

We officially have a potty trained 3 year old! yay!

We started on a Saturday morning and by Monday, he had it down! He had 3 accidents the first day, 2 the second and none on the third day. He's had a couple of accidents since then, but I'm not worried about that.

I printed out a potty chart I found on Pinterest (of course!) and that was the reward system we used. Each time he went pee, he got a sticker and an M&M. Every 5 stickers he earned, he got to choose a prize out of the "potty bag" that was filled with cheesy little dollar store toys, or junk...whichever way you want to look at it! None the less, he was thrilled and was so excited to pick something out! He filled up three of these charts over the course of the weekend and we still have them on display, proudly!