This photo was taken in the beginning of the school year while waiting for the bus.  Kyrie was riding her "horse" in the driveway.

Kyrie asked me this morning if she could walk down to the bus all by herself and if I could not kiss her goodbye. I was like, "Ummmm...you can walk down the driveway by yourself, but I am going to stand at the door and make sure you get on the bus okay. And, you have to kiss me inside the house before you go out the door." And then I asked, "But where is this coming from? Did someone make fun of you yesterday because I had to push you onto the bus and I kissed you goodbye?" She answered in the affirmative right away and told me how one of the big 5th graders told her she was too old now to have her mommy kiss her before getting on the bus. Well....that does not fly so well with me, so I told her that the 5th grader was probably just jealous and wished his mommy would kiss him before getting on the bus.

So...when it came time to go outside, Kyrie went all by herself and I stood at the door. Down the street the bus came and Kyrie yelled, "Mommy, the bus!" So, I was like, "Do you want me to come outside?" It was so cute when she answered "Yes!" I walked her down to the end of the driveway, and said, "Can I kiss you goodbye?" She looked up and me and smiled and I could tell she was very relieved that she didn't have to grow up just quite yet.

Silly 5th graders. What do they know?

Berrall Family

Playing with Blocks

I don't think this slideshow properly conveys the joy Declan experienced in knocking blocks down.  Alas, these are the shots I captured. 

The President

Kyrie, Lariska and I were talking about the government of the United States (in answer to the question, "Are there real princesses?") - I decided to show them a picture of the White House on the internet, which also brought up a picture of the President.  Lariska said, "Is that President Obottom?"

Rally Day

Rally Day at church is the first official day of Sunday School, followed by a church picnic and lots of fun.  My dad took these photos of the kids wearing themselves out.

First (Not) Day of School

Today was supposed to be Lariska's first day of school...  Alas, she spent the day on the couch, being sick into a towel.  Disgusting.  And not nearly as fun as going to school!  What a bummer.  Here is a picture, however, of her "Meet the Teacher" day two days ago, which she enjoyed greatly.

Declan Doings

I forgot to report that Declan turned 15 months old about two weeks ago now.  He's a little bit taller, a little bit heavier, says a few more words, his hair is slightly longer, and he's quite a bit more mischevious.  He got his top right molar well over a month ago and then his bottom right molar appeared about a week ago.  He is working on the left side now.  Do not blink when around this child, or you might miss something...something like:

- Declan climbing onto the mantle, standing up, and messing with the fireplace levers, or

- Declan putting your shoes in the garbage...or the silverware drawer...or some box you were going to recycle, or

- Declan throwing away his precious, precious puppy, or

- Declan throwing just about anything away, or

- Declan unraveling half a roll of toilet paper, or

- Declan grabbing your Pepsi off the table, giggling, and then running when you see that he has it, or

- Declan taking tissues from the box and attempting to "clean" the mirror...or carpet...or table, or

- Declan trying to open the blinds by pulling on the string (yes, can you say big baby hazard), or

- Delan opening the animal cracker jug and helping himself to all of the cookies he'd like, or

- Declan achieving a new goal of climbing the slide all the way to the top (sockless is the key here), or

- Declan putting one of his toys in your purse (or worse, taking something out of your purse and putting it with one of his toys!)

Basically, you should not blink when around this child.  CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

Happened Again

It happened again...I went to sleep in early June.  I had this wonderful dream that the weather was warm and the skies were beautiful.  I took my kids to the swim park and we had a great time splashing and giggling.  We met friends and played outside.  I dreamt that the girls rode their bikes around the driveway everyday and made up games about going places or bad guys or being in the circus.  I dreamt it got so hot outside that the girls actually wanted to play inside instead.  I dreamt we went on an airplane and visited my brother in Wyoming.  It was exhausting, but fun.  I dreamt that Kyrie and I spent the afternoons reading on the couch next to each other while the "little kids" took their naps.  It was a wonderful, slow-moving, peaceful dream.  And then I woke up this morning.

Make pancakes.  (Daddy made the bacon the night before.)  Set the table.  Pour orange juice.  Get Kyrie in the shower.  Get dressed.  Do hair.  Eat breakfast.  Check backpack that everything is still there.  Choose shoes.  Does she need a coat?  Go outside.  Take pictures.  Get on bus.  Wave goodbye.  The summer is over.