Last Day of School

First day of Pre-K

Last day of Pre-K

Today was Sydney's last day of Pre-K. She has grown so much since last August when she started. I can't believe that next fall she will be gone all day in Kindergarten.

   

 With Miss Stacy, her Pre-K teacher.

Law School Graduation

It has been three years, a few moves and callings, two miscarriages, thousands of pages of reading, hundreds of hours of studying, long nights, lonely days and way more money than I am comfortable thinking about, but Charles finally is done with school. I have never been so proud of my husband than I was today watching him get hooded and receive his degree(and he got it right there, so he really did graduate...he was thrilled to know that he didn't fail anything).

Waiting for the ceremony to start.

Getting hooded.

Charles Chamberlin, Juris Doctorate. (And you can call him doctor, if you choose)

Graduates

Kids (well, Charlotte was in Arizona with family)

Wives

(I would like to point out that I am in three and an half inch heels and still shorter than everyone.)

Charles' parents came out to see him walk.

Elisha was visiting their parents and braved the six hour drive here and back while thirty weeks pregnant.

My family

Girls Night

Charles was pretty busy tonight with a late class and then competing in the Grether Moot Court Competition, so Sydney and I had a girls night.

Sydney had been dying to make pancakes for any meal, so we made pumpkin pancakes with apple cider syrup. Yum!

Sydney had been doing an art project before we made dinner, hence the paper scraps.

She loved the syrup the most.  I think it is her new favorite.

After dinner, we went to her school for a parent-teacher conference.  Her teacher had nothing but good things to say about Sydney.  So, to celebrate, we went to Panera for hot chocolate and a little treat.

They always make the hot chocolate REALLY hot, so we just barely sipped it.

Giant M&M cookie.

We then went to the mall and had a good time trying on headbands at Claire's.  What a fun night!

Picking Up Papa

We walked/rode our bike to pick Charles up from school. Sydney was so proud of herself to make it all the way to the law school on her big bike.

First Day of Pre-K

Sydney started Pre-Kindergarten this year.



I can't believe that my kid is in school.

Four Years Old

I cannot believe that this little girl is four years old. She was so excited for her birthday and her bubble birthday party that she came into our room this morning wishing herself a happy birthday. We love our chica bean and cannot wait to see what this next year of her live brings.

Ballet School

Today was Sydney's first day of ballet and she loved it.

Bike Ride

The weather was really nice today, so we went out for a family walk/bike ride.  Sydney impressed us by riding her bike all the way to the park and back without having to stop or be carried.

Writing

We've been working on writing her name. Besides the fact that she mixes up where the "N" and the "E" go, she's doing really well.

Drawings at 3 and a Half

Sydney's interpretation of our family.

From left to right: Papa, Sydney, Mommy

Whistle While You Work

Sydney loves to help clean.  The second I start sweeping, or doing dishes, or pull out the vacuum she wants to be doing it with me.

And, while I usually have to redo the work later to make sure that it's actually clean, it's totally worth it.  Today, while she was mopping, she was telling me all about it and you could just hear in her voice how proud she was to be helping.

Besides, this kid woke up at 6:30...almost an hour earlier than usual.  I run out of things to entertain her after a while.  And, it's good for her to learn how to work.

And the songs she makes up are just adorable.  If I hadn't been mopping, I would have tried to record her song she sang as she bounced on the couch waiting for me to turn on the vacuum for her.  

Drawing people

This is Sydney with her picture of one our our friends, Griffin.  She drew it for him for his birthday.  And, for a three year old, it's actually remarkable what she remembered to add into the picture.

As Sydney told me, "He even has his beak." 

 "You mean beard?"  

"Yeah, his beard."

Harvest Queen and Road Show

I love her crown.

On a separate note, today was our stake's road show.  I don't have pictures from it, but Sydney had her stage debut tonight.  She got to be on stage for one scene and be a little ham the whole time.  Gladly, she loves the attention and just ate up the laughter and applause the whole time.  I'll have to try to find some pictures or a video of it, but it was really cute!

Sydney has had a little vacuum that she will pull out and use when we vacuum.  Today, she was so excited when Charles told her she could use the big vacuum instead.

First Day of School

Some of us moms here have started a little "joy" school, where we rotate teaching our kids.  Sydney was so excited for "Sydney" school--to differentiate between her school and Charles' school.  This is her first first day of school picture.

Look at how tall she looks!

At school with her friends.