Happy 5th Birthday Allison!

I was going to just post pictures of Allison's fifth birthday and then I began to look back at pictures of the past five years and thought it would be fun to do a video. My little girl is getting so big and it has been amazing watching her grow and change. She came into this world full of life and we have enjoyed every minute of it! Allison had a great 5th birthday with Grandma stopping by and surprising her with a donut and gigantic balloon. She got to sit in the birthday chair at school and wear a special crown. The next day she had friends over for a party and her only request was a bounce house. She is very pround to be five and announces it whenever she gets a chance! She is such a sweet, fun, energetic, full of life little girl. We love you Allison.

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Preschool

I was about to write a post on Alli's birthday (I am a little behind) and realized I needed to put Zachary's first day of Preschool first. More then ever I have seen how the middle child can get a little neglected. Maybe it is just my middle child because he is so easy going and good natured that he lets his sister and brother take all the attention, but regardless, he is just as important and deserves his own post about starting preschool. It was my first day back at work the day Zachary started school. I am teaching second grade every Friday and every other Monday and those are the days that Zach goes to school. So, Dad was in charge of getting him off to school. And being the great dad that he is, he remembered to take pictures! Unlike his sister, Zach shed some tears as dad said goodbye, but his teacher Mrs. Nancy said they didn't last long, and he hasn't cried since. He is really enjoying school. First day picture with dad
At school
Playing with his friend Georgia. She is the only one he talks about when I ask him about his day!
My sweet boy

6 Months!

Joshua turned six months on Sunday and it's weird to think he is half a year old! He is wearing his Sunday best with his Ralph Lauren polo suit and his loafers from Uncle Dodo and Auntie Kenna. It was just on Sunday that Alli and I noticed that he cut his first tooth! He loves rice cereal and anything that goes with it, pears, applesauce, bananas. We are going to start veggies this week. I also think he is going to be wild like his sister. I have said that from the beginning. I was making Allison's lunch the other morning and had Josh in his carseat on the floor (not buckled in) all of a sudden I heard him scream. He had launched himself out of the carseat and was face down on the kitchen floor! He is always rolling and moving and loves to be in the mist of all the commotion. He is a very happy baby and is smiling all the time. He weighs a whopping 15lbs. 2oz. which is still the 10%. We love him so much!

Joshua 6 months Zachary 6 months
Allison 6 months

Kindergarten!

It actually happened... my little girl started Kindergarten! It feels like we just brought her home from the hospital and now here we are five years later. Today was Allison's first day at Wildrose. This is the same elementary school where Ryan and I went, so it was extra fun to see her there today. Sorry, but I have to give the whole run-down of events. We just arrived home yesterday from Utah (see previous post) and Grandma Graham wanted to start a back to school tradition. So, Allison was treated to her very first manicure and pedicure! It was just Grandma and Alli, and they had the best time! Grandma stayed for dinner and we had a nice relaxing evening.
I wanted to start a fun tradition also, so the "School Fairy" brought some fun treats for the school kids. Allison's face was priceless when we read the note and she opened the present(pencil box, erasers, sharpener, pencils, and mints!) We then walked down to Rite-Aid and got ice cream.
First Day of Kindergarten Picture ~ That is one happy girl!
Zachary wanted his lunch box too. He put some mints in his!
Walking up to the school. Yes, they held hand on their own. I love that they do that!
Me and Zachy missing Alli
Overall, sending my first to Kindergarten has been a great experience. I love that she is at Wildrose, I love that I know her teacher, Mrs. Mitchell. I love that I will see her on Fridays when I work there and I love that she is so ready. I asked Alli today if she missed me at all. Her exact response, "No" then there was a long pause thinking about the question, "Never." I looked at her a little sad and she said, "But I still love you." "I love you too Alli" is all I could say, holding back a tear.

Grandma-Great

I wanted to post this before we left for Utah but didn't get a chance. Grandma Great finally passed away last week. I say "finally" because over the past ten years that I have been part of the Menlove family, it seems like every time we saw Grandma (Roger's mom) it was going to be the last time we saw her. Except for this last time we were up in Utah, two months ago, she was at her perkiest. I had never heard her talk so much! She was interrupting all of our conversations and was right in the mist of all the commotion. She had just returned from a family camp out where she sat by the campfire and had smores. She held Joshua and loved seeing Allison and Zachary run around. I am so glad to have seen her this way and remember her in such a happy way. It was Allison's first real experience with death and it was a good teaching tool for us as parents to explain to her that Grandma is in a much better place and with Heavenly Father and Jesus. We told her that it is important for us to be good here on earth so that we can see Grandma Great again someday. She understood it as much as a almost five year could and after many tears and a million more questions she looked at me and said, "okay, I am not sad anymore." She hasn't brought it up since. If only everything were that simple! Well, I am now getting ready for my baby to start Kindergarten tomorrow, and I think it will be awhile before I can say, "I am not sad anymore."

Do You Ever Feel Like...

Martha Stewart, WonderWoman, or SuperMom? To answer my own question... RARELY! But the other day I had one of those one in a million days that I just had to document! I think the stars, moon, hormones, all have to be in some kind of perfect alignment for these "un-normal" days to occur. I wish they came around more often, but for now I will just fondly remember the great day that it was. To begin Allison and Zachary both woke up in good moods, and even better they didn't come immediately into our room begging for us to get up. They just began playing together. They were sharing and laughing, and there was no arguing! Because they were being so good, I decided to do something fun with them and make homemade playdoh. We made two batches, a green one for Zac and a red one for Alli. They must have played with it for an hour! Again with no fighting. While I was getting lunch ready, they decided to switch clothes and pretended to be each other. Alli was talking like a boy, and Zachary like a girl (which isn't too hard because his voice is so high anyways.) I was in tears! They were being so funny and feeding off each other. They ate lunch, took a two hour nap and again woke up happy! In the time they were napping I got two loads of laundry done (washed, folded, and put away!) and I went to the store and got my grocery shopping done. When they woke up I decided to make chocolate chip banana muffins. The kids were in heaven licking the bowl and playing chef. The muffins turned out perfectly ( which is rare for me when I do any sort of cooking.) But this was the perfect day, remember? I then began dinner which was a new Mexican dish I found on-line. It turned out good and we had a nice family dinner. Everyone ate with no complaints. The day ended with all three kids bathed, reading books, and easily going to bed. I felt like the day had been a dream. There were no time-outs, lots of laughs, a clean house, good food, no TV, and happy kids! Unbelievable I know.

Alli was trying to show off the playdoh, and Zachary was enjoying the salty taste of it!

Here is my Alli-boy and my Zachy-girl!
The yummy chocolate-chip banana muffins!
Even though every day is not a perfect one, those faces are!

5 Months!

My baby is not really a little baby anymore. But the good thing is that he gets cuter by the day! He is a very happy baby and still smiles all the time. He is nosy like his big sister and wants to be a part of the action. He eats like crazy even though he is still a string bean. I am going to start him on cereal this week. Maybe that will chunk him up! He loves rolling over ( he rolled off Nora's couch the other day. We even had pillows surrounding him. He cried for a second and then began smiling. I can already tell he is going to be "all boy.") He is drooling like crazy and loves putting things in his mouth. He is very ticklish and giggles so loud. He is such a fun baby. We love him so much!

Joshua 5 months Zachary 5 month (look at that chin!)
Allison 5 months