Charlotte is 5!

I know I say this with every birthday but how in the world can Charlotte be 5!?!?  She has brought so much joy and laughter to our home over the past 5 years and we are so thankful for her.  Her energy and passion are contagious and she is just so full of life.  She goes nonstop all day long and we just adore her! Charlotte Grace, you truly are one of a kind!  She had school on her birthday which she was excited about since they'd get to celebrate her there, too!  So far she is loving school (although still not loving ESS) and told me before school started that "When I'm done with my letters I get to go the big kids'  school."  Char, you are officially there and have had a great transition so far.  She also told me recently that when she grows up she wants to be "a mermaid, a mom and a teacher.  In that order."  Some of her other favorite sayins are "I love you so much, even more than that" and will continue to "outlove" you no matter what you say.  She will also come down at night and give me a kiss and then say to both Rich and I "Share that one."  She loves calling things, "hilarion" instead of "hilarious" and is the first to give me "kissies on the lippies" and then wipe it off but tell me she's wiping off "only the wetness."  And last week while walking to school she asked me, "Would you rather be a unicorn or a dolphin?  Would you rather have a pencil stuck in your eye for 24 hours or be eaten by snakes?"  See...full of life and also never sure what you're going to get from her!  She definitely keeps things interesting!  In the past year she has grown up so much and we love her even more every year.  

Her big present for her 5th birthday was to turn her bedroom into a mermaid room.  We changed her from the toddler bed to the big girl bed and she got a new comforter and pillows and artwork.  It looks great and so grown up!  

Came home with a birthday crown!

Her birthday fell on a Friday so it worked out well since we had two of her closest friends (Spencer and Kyla-both from preschool) come over to swim.  THey had a blast and Julia and Ella painted their faces, too, which was so much fun!  

Then we went out to dinner to Urge, per her request, and Nani came and surprised her there.  Then Poppa stopped by back at our hosue to surprise her when we had a cake.  I love her excitement when she sees both of them! 

She requested a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting!  

Happy Birthday Charlotte Grace!  We are so thankful that you are ours!

 

First Day of School

Big First Day of School for our Crew this year!!  Everyone, but Dad, is at Westwood this year and it will be the only year that all kids are at the same school and it is such an extra bonus that I get to go with them this year!  I was hire on as the Reading Impact Teacher this year and the position is perfect for my first year back in the education field.  I work Monday-Thursday from 8:00-12:00 so the hours are perfect since Charlotte is in TK (Transitional Kindergarten) and goes for those exact hours.  I actually don't start the Impact Job until October 1st and was asked to be a long term sub for one of the special ed resource teachers until then.  When I first agreed to the long term sub job I was under the impression that it was only  going to be for a week or two until they found someone more permanent; however, they were unable to find anyone so I ended up doing it until the Impact job started.  I liked the resource setting; however, Charlotte had to go to ESS (after school care) for the 2 hours until school ended at 2:00 and she did not like that and then I found otu that I had to pay full price for ESS which was not originally supposed to happen either but it all worked out and we survived the first six weeks.  

The kids are all happy to be back at school for full days this year and although they have to wear masks inside, at least they are able to take them off outside and hopefully the mask restrictions are lifted soon. 

The school does a "Welcome to Westwood" party the day before the first day where they find out their teachers and get popsicles.  I volunteered for most of the day but it was so fun to see friends and to find out their teachers.  Everyone is super happy with their classes.  

Cole and Ella are in the same class-yay!!!

Now the first day of school!  I always seem to forget all summer how to get all of us out the door by 7:25 but somehow it all comes back to me and we are ready to god. All five of us...here we go! 

Joseph-5th grade Mrs. Mihalik

Ella-3rd grade Mrs. Brennan

Julia-1st grade Mrs. Wise

Charlotte-TK Mrs. Style

Sweet girls together!

All four of them walking in together!!  Isn't Charlotte's backpack amazing?!  It has a tail at the bottom!!

Charlotte seeing Sydney and Cole on the first day!  So awesome having them all together!

Ready to rock TK!

I hate that they have to wear masks but just focusing on that at least school is open this year.  

Everyone had a great day!  Well, other than Charlotte crying about ESS, but overall, I'd say it was a great start to the year!  

The Ozecks came over after the first day of school to swim and then we enjoyed ice cream courtesy of Nani and Poppa!  

Thankful for their teachers and praying for a safe and healthy school year!  

Filling in August

After our trip to Yosemite and Seqouia at the beginning of the month, the rest of August seemed to fly by since school started on August 17th.   We tried to squeeze in as much last minute fun that we could before school started.  This summer was amazing!  The kids are at such incredible ages and we just had so much fun together! It felt full but also had some downtime and was just full of great memories.  We are so thankful for all of these experiences and memories.  

We celebrated August birthdays at Nani and Poppa's. 

So much baseball in their backyard!  

We also celebrated Dave's retirement from the Navy!  Congratulations to Uncle Dave!  We are so thankful for your service and so thankful that you have returned to San Diego for good, now.  

We also celebrated my 42nd birthday together!  These sweet kiddos made it so special and we enjoyed lunch at the Barrel Room and then hung out with all of the family. 

Joseph ate the biggest burger for my birthday lunch!  

The kids spent the night on my birthday so mostly I could study for the CA state teacher test I had the following day and then they took them to the Safari Park the following morning.  It was a hot day but they loved it. And, I passed my test so that was great, too!  

They went early but by the look of Charlotte's face it was already hot!

More summer pool time fun at Nani and Poppa's!

Rich, Joseph, Ella and Poppa got to use Rich's company's seats and enjoy a Padres game one night.  They had a blast!  

We snuck in a few more bay days which were a perfect way to end the summer.  

Joseph and Jer on top of the sand hill at the bay.

On one of the last days we decided to head downtown to pick up donuts at a place that I read about and then go to Balboa Park.  We roamed around at Balboa Park checking out the fish and the fountain and even made our way onto the carousel.  I was glad we snuck it in, just us, before the craziness starts of the school year.  

I snuck out for a night with the Hawaii girls-it was so nice to catch up with them all and to reminisce!  

I think I've mentioned before how this year I had the idea of doing one new thing each month and one thing to give back.  For August I found a beach cleanup in Dana Point, about 45 minutes from us.  Although there were complaints on the way there, once we got there everyone was happy and after they all said they were glad we went.  We spent about an hour cleaning up around the marina and we actually won for the most amount of trash!!  Then we spent a little bit of time at the little beach there and then grabbed lunch and ice cream...it was a great day!  

Rich went to Vegas for a fast weekend with the business partners-he had a succesful and fun weekend and we stayed busy here without him.  He was home on Sunday by noon in time for a party at Nani's so it really went by fast!

Joseph played in a summer league with Frozen Ropes.  It was a good experience for him as it was an instructional league so they really went through everything and taught them along the way.  Joseph enjoyed it!

Rich had the kids one night and took them to Denny's for dinner-he loves doing those random things with them! 

And then out for breakfast another day!

Poppa is so great and fit in a few more days with the kids on the field and at the lake-they all love their time with him!!

A little more beach time before back in the school routine.  

And, a little more pool time (although the pool time never seems to end all year round!). 

And some wet trampoline fun!

Back to school haircuts for the girls...Ella's hair has grown so much this past year!

Julia Reppas was in a play at Bernardo Heights so we went to cheer her on!  

Did a little back to school shopping at Target...although here we actually didn't buy this.  Charlotte wanted this but I told her with her birthday coming up to take a picture and we'd put it on her list! 

Of course, she wanted this , too!

Jules trying on the glasses look.

And, as always still just messing around at home...

Waffle with whipped cream and strawberries-yum!!!