Cambry's first day of school!!!

I knew at some point this day would happen, and I have been dreading it for five years now.  School!!!  It was a struggle for me because I feel like for the past five years I have had the best job I could ever have, and school means that it is changing.  I don't love schedules, mornings, or really responsibility for that matter I try to avoid it at all cost.  School is schedules, EARLY mornings, and loads of responsibility.  As much as I denied it was going to happen, it happened.  Cambry is loving it though, so that is great.  Her teacher's name is Miss Jones who is so kind and just the personality I would pick for Cambry's first teacher.  It has only been three days and I can already tell Cambry is going to thrive in school. 

Here is day one's wake up call!  She looked so comfy I just wanted to snuggle up with her go to sleep.  We made a wise choice though and got up, made pancakes, and began the process of getting ready. 

 

Originally I was not a fan of uniforms, but after seeing how cute she is in them I am starting to be okay with the idea.

 Colbie, dragging around some of Cambry's school supplies.  Not the happiest helper, but she helped.

Cambry and Miss Jones! 

Swim lessons 2013

 The girls have been taking swim lessons now for a couple of months.  Cambry took lessons last year and she really picked up where she left off.  Colbie was super excited that for the first time she would be able to swim instead of sitting on the sidelines.  On the day of the first lesson Colbie went bounding through the doors of the building and exclaimed "BEST DAY EVER!!!"  Then once the lesson started and she realized she was going to have to get her face wet and go under water the excitement was gone and she was fighting tears.  She didn't cry though and I will chalk that up to two things: 1. Her sis was there with her.  2. Her instructor Jordan is the sweetest and really took his time with getting her to trust him.  She LOVES him now as does Cambry, and they both love going to swim and are getting good!

Day one.  See the excitement on Colbie's face?

 

This is Jordan helping Colbie kick.  He is doing all of this with a little boy who was too scared to be put down, so he let him hang out around his neck. :)

Sister support at the pool. 

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention my favorite part...The swim caps. :) Because I care about their hair, and my entertainment. 

 

I feel like they will be doing this when they are in their nineties too.  Sitting at a pool together in their swim caps.  

Today Cambry graduated to the next level!!  She is moving up!

Huntington Beach 2013

 Oh the beach.  We love it.  We can't get enough of it actually, and that is why pretty much any vacation we have we end up in the sand.  Specifically Huntington Beach it is our favorites with the surfers, shops, and wonderful atmosphere!  We are back from spending a week there and it's a bit rough getting back to 110 degrees, Drew having to work, and no one making my bed.  I guess that's life though. 

 Best day ever!  We randomly walked into Jacks surf shop that had "Jack's Kids Day" (only held ONE day a year) where all of their vendors (Billabong, Roxy, Volcom etc.) had booths set up we received amazing kids hats, sunglasses, wallets, t-shirts, tanks, face painting and balloons all for FREE!! It was maybe the best day of my life. 

And mostly we played on the beach and relaxed as a family. 

And ate. And ate. And ate. 

The girls loved feeding the fish at the hotel.

We spent one morning at the Aquarium of the Pacific which was super fun.

We also went to Knottsberry Farm.  Fun, but probably wont go back for a while until the girls can ride more. 

My favorite thing we did was ride bikes.  We attempted to ride one day with the kids on the back of individual bikes, but whoever was on the back of my bike cried like they were dying because I was a rather wobbly driver.  We opted for a sturdy four person bike that was tons of fun.  There was a bell on it that Colbie rang for every who passed by.  

Colbie was quite the photographer on the trip.  (ps. she pulled out her hair on top that's why she looks like a dinosaur.  I did not style it like that)

Kindergarten assessments

On May 4th Cambry had her kindergarten assessments!  She passed with flying colors!  Drew, Cambry, and I went to her school and had a pancake breakfast, met her teacher, talked with parents who have had children in the school for years, and Cambry toured her classroom and took her assessments.  It was so hard to let her go with her teacher and other students while the parents had to wait for their kids in the gym.  I wanted to pull her teacher aside and tell her 100 things she might need to know about Cambry if she was going to be watching her for the next hour, but I didn't.  I fought back tears and waited.  When she FINALLY came out with a smile on her face I wanted to sprint to her and push all of the other children out of my way to get to her, and pick her up and tell her she never had to go back if she didn't want to, but I didn't.  I was proud of her for a couple of reasons.  First of all, she passed with no problems.  Yay!  Second of all, things didn't go perfectly in that room and she was still okay.  On our way home as I was asking a million questions and she gave me an answer that made me uncomfortable.  She said some kids were making fun of her.  My blood boiled.  I asked her what the said and she told me they were telling the teacher that she cut up her paper butterfly that she had colored and some girls were saying "Look what she did! Look what she did!"  Ugh! Cambry is so sensitive and a perfectionist I knew this had to really bother her.  I asked her if she did cut up her butterfly and she said yes.  I asked her why and she told me because she thought it was cutting time.  Made sense to me so I instantly began to try to picture which little snot faces it was making fun of her.  I wanted names, but she didn't know any.  I wanted addresses and phone numbers, but luckily she didn't know.  I wanted to know who the parents were so I could rough them up a bit too, but she didn't know that either.  Then it hit me...This is life.  This is going to happen to her time and time again.  When Jesus was on earth people were less than kind to him, and God didn't send him here to have everyone dote on him and tell him how wonderful he was.  However, Jesus always knew that God was in his corner.  That people could be mean, but God would be his safe place.  Jesus changed lives through his story, and his story wasn't easy.  I know people are going to hurt my girls, and I will want to hunt those people down.  But I need to build my girls up at home so that when I send them out they will have a strong foundation to stand on while their stories are being written.  One of my favorite songs right now is by Chris Tomlin called "Whom Shall I Fear."  The chorus says:   

I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side

There is nothing in this world that any of us need to fear if you have God by your side.  It's not going to be easy to send either of the girls out into this world, but my peace will come from God and trusting in his will for them and not mine.  If someone could remind me I said this on July 29th when Cambry starts kindergarten that would be great.   

Cambry's favorites at 5!

It has taken me a while to get back into the blogging swing of things, but we have a bunch to catch up on!!  My sweet wonderful Cambry turned five on April 30th!  I cannot believe that it was five years ago that our adventures as a family really began.  On her birthday she wanted to dress up like Merida, have some friends over, and see family for the rest of the day.  Oh, and open presents of course.  On the girls birthdays I ask them twenty of the same questions every year and tape it so that I will remember their "favorites" of that year.  I know that she will look back one day and crack up, and probably say "MOM! Why did you let me wear that!"  I can't wait for those days too.  Every phase with her is so wonderful and seems to only get better. 

Cambry Ryan, you have stolen my heart.  I can still remember bringing you home from the hospital and feeling so lucky and completely scared out of my mind that God would put me in charge of you.  You have eternally changed my life for the better and I'm so grateful.  You have shown me how to love, and how to receive love in a different way than I ever knew.  I am so imperfect and you are so forgiving of my short-comings.  God has given you compassion in your heart greater than I have seen in most adults.  You are so generous with your sister even when she is undeserving.  You are amazing at putting others first.  Thank you for being a great role model to her, and loving her unconditionally.  The role of a big sister is full of sacrifices and you do it graciously.  I can truly see Jesus in you and I can feel him doing work in your heart.  Thank you for your laughter, and the joy you bring to my heart!  Thank you for your dance moves and booty shakes and all of the songs you sing.  Thank you for being such a free bird to spend 95% of your life naked.  Five is a huge year and I'm so excited about the journey you are getting ready to embark on!  School! A wiggly tooth!  Sweet-pea, you are unstoppable and I want you to follow your dreams! Mommy and daddy are so proud of you!! We love you!