May goodness!

Pearl overload!

I took way more pictures of Pearl than I did of my other kids in May. Sorry, other kids. Just check out these cute little cheeks. She's already lost that newborn look that she had at the beginning of the month.

I love love love this picture of my snugglebug. She has very blond eyebrows and strawberry blond hair and you can really see it in this picture!

First sink bath after her belly button healed! She has an outie!!

 Moms and Muffins in first grade

I got to visit Tempe's classroom for their special Mother's Day program. I haven't spent much time in her class this year, so it was fun to be with her!

Mother's Day

My four girls and me on Mother's Day! New favorite picture ever.

Measuring and tracing practice with Juno

Juno loves to do projects with me and I do my best to come up with something several times a week. For this one, I traced her and Pearl on butcher paper (and she traced Ah Ah, her toy monkey, shown above) and then we measured with a few different measuring tapes and block towers.

Helena can't keep her hands off Pearl!

Sidewalk chalk festival

We go to the sidewalk chalk festival in Bountiful every year and the girls love finding a favorite drawing to pose with.

Helena's new talent

She can cross her eyes super crazy and also turn one eye in while looking straight ahead with the other. Don't worry, I asked the pediatrician and she said as long as she is controlling it, it's nothing to worry about.

and now a beautiful smile from a beautiful girl!

and one from Juno, too!

Kindergarten graduation

Helena graduated from kindergarten and is first grade bound!

Tossing her graduation cap in the air!

Helena and her wonderful kindergarten teacher!

Welcome summer!

We are so ready for summer (I'm so ready for summer). I made this banner for the girls to burst through when they got home from school, a tradition we started last year.

Quick trip to Tennessee

I took Juno and Pearl to Tennessee to visit my parents over Memorial Day weekend. It was a quick trip and it was really fun. Flying alone with 2 kids isn't the most fun, but it wasn't awful (no one threw up on me this time) and I'm so glad I took Juno! My family rarely sees her without her older sisters overshadowing her and she really got a chance to shine this trip. My brother Josh took these sweet pictures of her (plus about a hundred more).

The Allan family in front of the Nashville Temple!

Birthday date

For my birthday date this year, Jason and I had a picnic on the roof of the SLC library (main branch) and then explored the library, one of my favorite places in SLC!

Kindergartner+ First grader!

A little late, but here is my kindergartner....

And my first grader!!

They're cuties, huh?

First day of school!

A little late, but here are some first day of school pictures! 

Helena loooooooves her new *chambray*. I think this outfit is totally her!

Tempe chose a little dress with deer all over it. Again, so her!

Helena is in afternoon kindergarten but she wanted to wear her backpack when we walked Tempe to school. I love this sweet picture of them holding hands!

I got to go to kindergarten with Helena on the first day. It was exciting!

Last year we started a tradition of having cookies every Friday afternoon. For the first Friday of the year, I made a giant white chocolate macadamia nut cookie that said "Happy first week of school!"
Now we've been in school for almost two full weeks and we are settling into our homework-doing, lunch-making routine. Tempe loves first grade, eating lunch at school, and having three recesses. Helena loves her teacher and the new friends she is making.  Mom loves that Juno naps while the older girls are at school!

Notice anything different about me?

Now that Helena is going off to kindergarten, it means she is old enough (in our family) to get her ears pierced!!

I took her last Saturday on a Mom and Helena date to Claire's. She wasn't nervous at all, just very excited, even though there was only one employee there so she had to have her ears pierced one at a time.

Hugging Claire while the worker gets everything ready.

And here she is!! She did great, didn't cry or even flinch--in fact, she kind of giggled after the first one. You can't tell, but her earrings are tiny gold stars. They are darling and they were also the cheapest option, so Mom was happy too. This picture also shows off Helena's cute new haircut! She sure is a cute kid!

Back to school night!

School starts tomorrow!!

I can't believe how fast the summer has zoomed by. I was wary of having my kids home full time after being used to the routine of school, but it went so smoothly and was such a lovely summer together. We are definitely ready to go back to school, though. Tempe and Helena both thrive on routine (what kid doesn't, really?) and they miss learning, playing, and making new friends.

We went to back to school night last week to "meet" their teachers. Well, we actually know both their teachers quite well (Helena's is the Primary chorister at church and Tempe's was her kindergarten teacher from last year) but it was fun to see their new classrooms.

Helena sitting on the H on the reading rug in her kindergarten classroom.

Helena and her teacher!

Tempe sitting at her big first grade desk! I can't believe she will be at school all day this year! 

 First grade smile with two missing teeth!

I can't wait to see these two come round the corner on their scooters every afternoon!

the end is near!

We are down to just over two weeks left of summer break!
It has gone by so fast. Our summer has been fabulous, thanks in part to my magnetic fridge schedule, lots of fun summer reading opportunities (our summer reading wrap up post is in the works), fun family/neighborhood field trips, and science/art projects nearly every day. I couldn't ask for a more smooth, pleasant summer with all my monkeys home with me!
Well, now that it's August we are starting to think about going back to school. Last year I made a back to school paper chain to count down the days and it was such a hit that I made another this year!
My list of back to school activities has a lot of the same things from last year with an addition of a few more. It focuses on independence skills (using lunchbox, putting on shoes, coats, gloves, etc), reading skills, math skills, social skills, and fine motor skills.
Here's my list!

String beads to make a bracelet or necklace! 
Do a puzzle together! 
Make your own lunch today and pack it in your lunchbox! 
Check out books about going back to school! 
Play alphabet hopscotch on the driveway!
Make a name tag for your backpack!
Make a collage of your favorite healthy foods!
Walk to school and practice crossing the street!
Write a letter to Grandma Lisa--don't forget to sign your name!
Do a getting ready for school obstacle course!
Type a letter on the computer and email it to Daddy at work!
Choose your favorite book and write your name inside the cover!
Crack a secret code!
Go on an alphabet hunt!
Finish your summer reading charts and turn them in!

Even though I'll miss my big girls, I love going back to school and I have a really, really fun back to school family dinner planned for the night before, so stay tuned!

First grade + Kindergarten, here we come!

We may have 6 1/2 weeks of summer left, but we've already started thinking about going back to school at our house!

Our school posted the class lists on July 1st, so we walked over to the school with some friends--even though it was 100 degrees at just 10:30 am!! Yes, I could have just logged onto the website to check, but I like making a big deal out of anything school related to get my kids excited.

Tempe will be in first grade this year, so she'll be gone all day long. I don't know how I will handle it, but I'm sure she will do just fine. This kid was made for school! She learned so much in kindergarten and had a great year. She made tons of friends (I was always bombarded by playdate requests when I volunteered in her class) and picked up reading so fast. She's excited to go back and be able to eat lunch at school and she's especially excited to have her kindergarten teacher again! That's right, her teacher from kindergarten is moving up to first grade and Tempe is in her class. She was so happy to see her name on that list! I liked her teacher a lot, even though she was so disorganized and chaotic (she once took Tempe on a walking field trip that I had not received a permission form for--I didn't even know about it) because she loves the kids and makes school so much fun. The only bad thing is none of her good friends from last year are in her class. I know that this will be an opportunity for her to branch out and make even more friends, plus she'll see the kids she knew from kindergarten at recess and lunch, etc.

Helena is so excited to start school like her big sister! She has been ready all year to go to kindergarten. She learned so much in preschool and doing "homework" with Tempe every night--I think she's even more prepared for kindergarten than Tempe was! She's been practicing on her scooter so that she and Tempe can scooter home every day (Helena is in afternoon kindergarten) and I can't wait to see them round the corner together every day. The Primary chorister in our ward is a kindergarten teacher and Helena has been crossing her fingers that she would have her--and she got her wish! She's so excited to start school, but I am trying to hold on to summer because I love having all three kiddos home with me all day!