Tanner's 15th Birthday

Today we celebrated our favorite oldest child. Tanner turned 15 and I can hardly believe it. 
My kids are all getting so old and I'm just not ok with it. 
I don't want to go back to the toddler days, but I wish we could freeze this time. I don't want Tanner to move out and go on a mission. I don't want any of my kids to leave. It's getting to close!

Tanner didn't really want a themed party, he just wanted some of her favorite colors. That made it really easy for me. 

I sure love this boy. He's such a great kid and he's such an easy teenager. May that continue in the future!

Tanner did request a few things. He loves cream soda and so we drank that. We also had jello cups and popcorn. 

Tanner also requested a pineapple upside down cake. He was so excited about that. 
I ended up making it in a bundt pan because I thought it would look prettier. 

 

The party was simple but nice and Tanner loved it. 

 

We ate, watched a movie and eventually ate cake and opened presents. It was a super chill birthday and we had a great time celebrating our boy. 

15 candles had that cake very well lit and Tanner wasn't quite able to blow them all out in one breath. 

Happy birthday Tanner boy. We loved you so much! 

 

First Day of School

Here we are again. Somehow summer is over and we are back to the first day of another year of school. I'm not ready for it. I don't want it. But here we are anyway. 

This year I have 4 kids at 4 different schools and I have no idea how we are going to manage our crazy schedule but we don't really have a choice so I guess we will figure it out. 

Bailey is starting 8th grade, her last year at Grimsley Junior High. 
She's going into this school year with more confidence, an established friend group and is excited to be the oldest ones at the school.  

 

 

Benson, my baby, is starting 2nd grade. He was lucky enough to get Ms. Palmer as a teacher. We are so happy about that. Tucker had Ms. Palmer in second grade as well and she's wonderful. 
Benson is also starting school feeling more comfortable and excited to learn. 
We hope he will develop a love for reading this year and continue to excel at math. 

Tucker is starting 5th grade at a new school. He's a little anxious about middle school and if I'm being totally honest, so am I. Middle school was a rough time with Bailey and so I'm really hoping it goes smoother for Tuck. 
He's a smart kid who strives to be perfect at school. I'm hoping he can learn that it's okay to not be perfect and that life can still be wonderful. 

My oldest child is starting high school at Bentonville West. 
This one is hitting hardest. I can't believe I have a high school and I really don't like it. 

Tanner just finished 2 weeks of band camp and he still has band practice 4 days a week. 
We are starting marching band season and I have a feeling it's going to kick our booties. But Tanner is excited. 
He has made some new friends at band camp and because he has a build in friend group, he's not as nervous for the first day of school. 
Tanner is also starting Seminary next week, so that' also blowing my mind. He's getting so old and growing up into such a great young man. 

 

Whether I want school to start or not, I know it's going to be great and these cutie kids are going to thrive. Dad gave them all blessings on Sunday night and they are all excited for school. 

This morning I made a little charcuterie breakfast for the kids to kickoff their first day. 

It was a simple little breakfast but the kids liked it. 

After breakfast I ran Tanner to school first. He has zero hour so his classes start one class period earlier than normal. 
Then I ran home and picked up the little boys. I was able to walk Benson into his classroom but had to hug Tucker goodbye at the door. They don't let you walk middle schoolers into school. 

I did snap a quick pic of Benson and his teacher, Ms. Palmer. 

Happily, he looked happy and comfortable when I left him so there were no tears here. 

Then I ran home to pick up Bailey and took her to school. 
Her school starts last and so she has extra time to get ready. I was able to help her curl her hair and get her all ready. She was excited to go see her friends, but not to start school. 

I had a few hours to myself but then I started the whole process of picking up kids from school. 
When I picked up Tanner I was struck with a bit of sadness for how fast time is flying by. 

It feels like yesterday I was picking up kindergartner Tanner from his first day. 

Instead I was picking up my boy from his first day of high school. SLOW DOWN TIME!

All the kids came home happy if not a little tired. They all had a great day and are all willing to go back tmrw. So that's a good sign. 

Happy first day of school kiddos! We are love you all and we are so proud of you and the people you are becoming!

 

Bailey is a Teenager!!

I can hardly believe my girl is 13 years old. She is officially a teenager. 

Every year on their birthdays, Aunt Sarah sends my kids money for a birthday treat, so we started off Bailey's birthday by going to get a boba smoothie. It was the perfect way to kickoff her day. Bailey loves boba.

Then we went home to get ready for her birthday party. 
We both thought this was the perfect year for a "Taylor Swift" themed party. Not only because "13" is Taylor's favorite number and Bailey's age, but because Bailey is currently obsessed with Taylor Swift. 

Bailey loved her birthday and it was a pretty fun theme to put together. 

We did sparkly everything and lots of Taylor's favorite colors. 

 

I think Bailey's cake was one of my favorites. It was just a buttercream purple ombre cake, but the cake topper was so fun. 

 

But these friendship bracelet donuts were my favorite detail of the whole party. I had so much fun making these and Bailey loved them!

We also served Bailey's favorite chips- ranch popcorners. 

We also had a soda bar and cute disco ball cups. 

The favor bags were probably the most work. But they were cute. They had candy microphones, snake rings, finger nail polish, notebooks and pens for writing down lyrics and Taylor Swift stickers. 

Bailey only wanted to invite a couple of friends- her two best friends from 7th grade- Mia and Olivia. 
Luckily, both girls were available to come and the girls had a great time hanging out together. 

The girls just sat around talking and listening to the new Taylor Swift records Bailey got for her birthday. They didn't even want to make friendship bracelets. They just talked and laughed and ate food the entire time. 

I love throwing parties for my kids and I really love it when they love their parties. 
Happily, Bailey loved her Taylor Swift party so that made it all worth it. 

Here's to 13- may it be less crazy, hormonal and emotional than 12. 

Love you Bailey!