It's August..and Back to School!

Fitting in plenty of last minute playdates and pool time!  Elle and Millie still love each other...

Whoa...flashback to 2003!

Fast forward 15 years.  We look the same, right?!

Panic at the Disco concert with the Cruiks!

Millie learns new things when she stays at Nana's.  You would never catch me holding a worm...
Funny story: he was sort of dried out, but when Nana sprayed him with the hose, he started moving again.  It's a miracle!  The girls were impressed.

Millie art

Piddy art

Jasper spent the summer eating his feelings

It's my 39th birthday!  For some reason, August has been very rainy.  Dylan came over for a playdate and the girls played in the rain.  It was a low key day.

Beautiful cards from the girls

We went to dinner with JKK & Nana, and then out for a banana split afterwards.  This is Syd's story-telling face. ;)  She's actually not mad here...

Millie's card looked very art-deco, no?  I love it.

She's a master of wiki sticks and posing

Awwww, thanks Mills

classic piddy  Video: Syd & Beck swimming

Beckham gave Syd this turtle and she's been sleeping with it lately

Millie's 7 year doctor appt!  (Make yourself at home, Mills.)  She's healthy as a horse, and as her stats have been quite consistent the last few years, Dr. Averitt said this is probably how her body proportions will look in the future.  Practically perfect in every way, of course. ;)
height 52 inches (96th percentile)
weight 65 lbs (92nd percentile)
BMI 80th percentile

Syd and I attended her kindergarten party on the playground the week before school started!  She had a great time!  Doing everything I can to make her feel comfortable there.  She's had some wicked separation anxiety lately (sobbing and latching onto my leg), and I was soooo worried she would freak out when I left her on the first day.  

Tontitown Grape Festival fun!

first time riding bumper cars

first time trying out a turkey leg

grape ice cream is just so delicious and refreshing in the august heat!

Dillards, our local dept store, puts on a back-to-school fashion show every year.  While school clothes shopping this year, one of the employees asked the girls if they wanted to be in the show.  Millie didn't even hesitate...she said yes!  Syd simply said no. Not surprising.  Millie got to pick out her own outfit to wear in the show, and I think she did such a good job of making it look super cool and appropriate for fall at school.  She really is way cooler than me.

There were makeup artists there doing the girls makeup, and they did a good job of keeping it kid-friendly.  Some fun bronzer, eyeshadow, and lip gloss.  I wanted to kiss her whole face, she looked so cute and stylish.  She loved it all.  This is definitely her element.

Syd had the horrible (her word) job of holding our seats for the show.  Looks painful, doesn't it?

And then it was show time!  The show started with some professional kid models, and then followed with everyone else.  Most of the kids just speed walked down the runway.  I have no idea how Millie knew what to do, but when they called her name, she stepped up...struck a pose...waited calmly a beat...and strutted down the runway.  She was beaming the whole time!  I was so proud of her!!  But more importantly, she was proud of herself!  I love her confidence.

JKK missed the fashion show because he was in a bike race that morning.  But look how he gets right back to work. ;)  He's so good at being a dad.

All the 7 year olds want to do is watch youtube.  Specifically, Millie wants to watch other kids do challenges on youtube.  They make anything and everything into a challenge.  So we had our own little challenge with the fab four - The Fruit by the Foot Challenge!  Gotta eat it with no hands though.

Millie won!

Time to meet the teachers!  Millie is in Ms. Lamp's 2nd grade class with besties Dylan and Sage!

Syd is in Ms. Elkinton's kindergarten class!  She was a bit shy, but I can tell she's really going to like her.  I like her.  It's going to be grrrreat!

And finally...this morning it was time for my Piddy to go to kindergarten.  I've been so sad thinking about it for a year now, but we've talked about it so much the past few weeks, I think it gave us all time to get used to the idea.  We gave our hugs and kisses in the driveway, so we don't hold up car line (and end up in major meltdown mode).  And I sent a bag of pictures with her to look at, if she gets sad.  Pictures of our family and the cats - she loved the idea.  When it was time to go, she followed Millie out of the car and they walked in holding onto each other.  No one cried.  Not even me, which sort of surprised me.  But now I'm all alone at home and miss her quite a bit. ;)

I know it's weird, but I like to document lunches sometimes.  These bento boxes are super cool!  Syd loves all the cured meats in the world, so I have to be careful with that or that's all she would eat....just cheese and cured meats for the rest of her life.

Is it freaky friday??  How have these two swapped places in the past year?  Millie is now the one dressing up and getting fancy, even asking me to fix her hair if you can believe it?!  And Syd is the one who now refuses to fix her hair, and she will no longer wear dresses or fancy shoes.  What is happening??  As long as they are happy and comfortable with themselves, I guess I have to just let this phase ride. ;)  They are super cute, no matter what they are wearing!!

Millie prefers fresher things than Syd.  Turkey and lettuce wraps, extra veggies...this girl is so good at eating healthy!

Oh boy, I hope it's a good year for them!!  Now I have to figure out what to do with myself...part-time job, maybe??