First Grade!!

On July 27th, Jameson had his very first day of first grade!! I'm not sure how that came on so fast? I remember cradling him in my arms just yesterday, and now he is a big boy in first grade!? He loves every minute of it, which is a good thing because there are a lot more minutes of it then when he was in pre school or kindergarten. He goes to school ALL day now! I find myself getting pretty antsy to pick him up right around 1, he doesn't even get out until 3:30! This year is not only different because he is in first grade, but he is doing things a lot different than most other first graders. He is in a "Chinese immersion program" that he will be in until he is out of elementary and hopefully beyond that as well. He starts the day by going to Miss Shumway's class, where he is ONLY spoken to in Chinese. Every answer given to him, every instruction, every story, EVERY WORD is in Chinese! He learns the Chinese language, writing, traditions, culture etc. all in Chinese except his math (which will also be in Chinese eventually) and so far he is doing great and he loves it! He can sing a couple songs and say a quite a few words. Chinese probably wouldn't have been my first choice of language for him to learn but every school that is participating is assigned a language, they don't get to choose. It has been a difficult language to learn for myself, so many different tones and ways to say things even though is sounds so similar! You can easily insult someone by just using the wrong tone or something! But Jameson is much smarter than I am, and much more open minded. He is catching on fast. I cant wait to see what doors this might open for him...
The second half of his day he goes to Miss Merritt's class. She is his "English teacher" and in this class he learns everything in English, just like any other class room. He loves both of his teachers and they have both done a great job of not making this overwhelming for the kids or the parents. It all sounds so complicated but it is so simple and the kids will still be on track just like with any other 1st grader except they will also speak Chinese. Miss Merritt has been amazing so far! I wish I could be more like her, she is so organized and on top of everything! She also has a class room blog (it is in my blog list) so the parents can know everything that is going on with the kids and what they will be working on that week. And James says she is the "nicest lady ever". So far our school experience has been wonderful THANKFULLY!!

Its so hard for me to believe I have a first grader?? He has gotten so BIG and so smart. He is my best buddy and my little partner in crime most of the time and my worst critic. He has been my toughest challenge in life. He has taught me how to be a mom and is still teaching me everyday, he makes me want to be a better person and try harder with everything. He teaches me true love, patience, forgiveness, honesty, happiness, how to have real fun and so much more. He paves the way for his 3 beautiful little sisters by being my little guinea pig and because unfortunately I learn from my mistakes with poor James and he is so patient and kind about it all. He is mature far beyond his years and understands more than most people know. He is already on his way to becoming a great man! My little man! He will always be my baby boy and I am so very proud of him.

Happy 1st Birthday Ava Lyn!!!

Well, its official... I no longer have a baby under the age of 1 anymore. My sweet little Ava Lyn is growing up, slowly but surely she is. She is a whole 1 year old now! She has been the sweetest little thing since the moment she was born, so kind, gentle, happy, loving and always full of smiles. She is the icing on our family and she was the one who completed us. She came into the world fighting and she probably will be for the rest of her life with all her crazy older siblings! I cant believe how big she has gotten! She was less than 5 lbs at her smallest! She is still pretty small, every time I tell people how old she is they do a double take on her and say something like 'Oh my! She is so little!!'. I know she is small but there is a lot of love and personality packed into that little package! Don't let her size fool you! She hasn't mastered walking yet, nor does she really want to. She gets along just fine with her speed crawling. She only has 2 little tiny teeth, but she doesn't mind. She will still eat a nice juicy bite of steak, just like anyone with a full mouth of teeth. She says mama, dada, baba and that is all she needs to say. She gets her point across and we all understand her just fine. She loves her older sisters and has yet to miss an important tea party, she plays barbies, babies and is always in on all the princess play. She really loves to play with her big brother! She follows him everywhere he goes and does a great job of keeping up even though James has 6 yrs on her. She plays trucks with James and bites the heads of his super hero figurines off quite frequently. She usually plays the villain or the bad guy and does a great job of it. She is so loved by so many and she returns it to everyone she meets. She is all eyes and smiles all the time! I couldn't imagine life without our sweet Ava in it. She brings us all so much joy!

For her birthday we had a little family birthday party. We had a pool set up for the kids thanks to aunt Bekah and uncle Curtis! And all the kids went swimming and played their little hearts out! Its was so much fun!

Rori Ana kept trying to sneak licks off the cupcakes! Naughty!!

Here are all the grand babies except little Lottie who will be here soon!!!

The BIGGEST, BADDEST princess of em all!!!

Poor Emerson got stung on BOTH ears by bees!!! His little ears were so swollen and red, we had to take a picture! But that didn't let him stop his fun! He put on a helmet to protect his ears!

OOwie Nana and Memers (in their words)

Thanks to everyone that came! Happy birthday to my littlest princess Ava! I love you so much and thank you for all the joy you bring to our lives everyday.

Fun in the Sun!!

We have been having so much fun this summer. Seems like we are always doing something but still doing nothing (if that makes sense). We have been boating pretty much every chance we get, the kids love it and its so easy to grab a swim suit and a towel and hit the lake. A few other things that have been going on... Jameson had his kindergarten graduation finally! He didn't get much of a summer break because his first day back to school is tomorrow. But he had a fantastic kindergarten year. He learned so much and grew in so many ways! We will miss Mrs. Bishop very much and will always remember how kind she was to us! She was a wonderful teacher and she made going to the "big school" easy for all of us. Next is first grade!! And we have already met Jameson's first grade teacher quite a few times! More on that later... Chanel will be starting dance soon and James will start soccer again. The lazy summer days are quickly coming to an end. But at least we can say we soaked up every minute we had! Here is an overload of pictures...

Ava LOVED the sand! She hasn't set foot in sand since Costa Rica so I don't think she remembered much of it. She couldn't get enough, and she didn't mind the tastes and textures of it too much either!!

My little beach belly!!

(We call her Chanelly Belly sometimes)

Apparently something happened that she just thought was HILARIOUS!! She thinks everything is funny, she is so light hearted and makes everything fun!


My beautiful girls! Gotta love em!

I love that there will be a million kids around and my kids will still play together, you would think they would get enough of each other?? I'm sure I only have less than 10 years to enjoy this.

Aaaaaahhhhh!!!

Rori Ana doing her job... She is the flagger of the family!

Notice Ava's hair just blowin' in the wind! Ava is co pilot.

2 of the cutest smiles EVER!

This kids can do ANYTHING he sets his mind to! And make it look so easy at the same time!

My baby BOY!

Hopefully we can make the most out of the rest of our summer days... Before we go into hibernation!