First Day of Kindergarten for Clara

Ahh, the first day of Kindergarten.  One of the biggest first of a child's life!  The day has finally arrived.  Clara and her bestie, Hailee, changed their minds several times about clothes and decided on these simple blue polo dresses and sandals.  I am envisioning flashes of underwear and complaints that they didn't have adequate shoes for recess.  Whatever.  I knew the clothing thing was going to be a battle, which is why my daughter has been looking rather strange and mismatched for the past year. 

 Clara and Hailee

 The Four Patriots - Josh, Clara, Hailee and Spencer

 Clara and Hailee

 Hailee, Clara and Gabi wait for Kate (we always wait for Kate)

 My babies and my other babies - Gabi, Josh, Spencer, Hailee, Kate and Clara

 Hailee and Clara in front of Providence Hall

 Clara and Hailee sitting in the hall waiting for class to start

Clara waiting in line for her class.  I am pretty sure I looked exactly like this when I started Kindergarten.  I can remember how I felt, and that I was a little shy back then.  I got a little choked up, but she is really ready for Kindergarten and I know she is going to love it.  She's my baby, so of course I will miss her.  I realize that this is kind of it - no more kids at home after this year (she will go half day this year) during the day.  It will make summers so much sweeter.  Just when they start to get fun and interesting and outgrow their tantrums you send them off to school.  Oh well - new and exciting adventures and that is what I want for them.  I never had any illusions that I could keep them little forever!  On to the next phase!

Josh Turns 8

Today is Josh's 8th birthday.  In some ways it has taken forever to get here, and in other ways it seems like he was just born.  They say kids grow up fast, and they really do, but, I love Josh as an 8 year old.  He was cute to me at every age and I'm just glad I have been able to know him for these past 8 years.  While his birthday is today, we decided on Saturday to have a little birthday party for him.  Because of our Disneyland trip and his baptism in a couple of months, we made it less of a "friends" party and instead invited our next door neighbors, the neighbors across the street, my mom, and Dave's parents and siblings over for homemade pizza.  The kids later watched a movie.  There were no decorations or party games or anything.  Josh seemed to like it because in the middle of the party he ran up and hugged me and thanked me for having it.

 Josh and the RomiKids

 Pizza party for his birthday

 Dan pulled out Hailee's loose tooth for the entertainment portion

 Josh got about 10 cards with money and one really awesome lego game.  He has plans for the money that involve Pokemon.

 A roomful of people watching Josh open presents

 Lauren, Gavin, Clara and Gabi

 Cool lego pirate game!

 11 kids - when we all moved into the neighborhood there were 5.  We've had a busy seven years.  I will pay $1 to a random reader who can come close to guessing the ages of these kids.  Go ahead - try it.  Unless you are Loree, Kristen, Lou, or anyone else who was at the party.  Or anyone else who knows these kids.  In a nutshell, their height does not match their ages.

 We were even graced with the presence of the newlyweds! 

This was the best I could do running to Smith's the morning of the party.  I figured it was fun and different and since we didn't have a particular theme, I wasn't too attached to anything specific.  For his baptism I have my friend Natalie tasked with making cute cookies.