Life... as we know it: September 2014

September has been a busy month full of "firsts" again. First day of school (x2) and first day of dance. The beginning of September kind of snuck up on me and has been going full speed ever since. Mom's 4 year anniversary now marks the beginning of every September and is still somewhat a raw reality. . .

That afternoon, after eating lunch with our family at Spinatos, Suri talked me in to going to get a baby turtle. She has been wanting a baby turtle ever since Aunt Ashley got baby "Riley" (Suri's name for it). I have put it off as our back yard is primarily rock and the landscaping isnt suitable for a tortise. That and the fact that Sager likes to carry tortises around in her mouth and I am stared to death she would eat it! But I finally gave in.... we drove North to a guys house where he was selling baby Sulcata Tortises. Yes, this is the 3rd largest species of Tortises that exist. We left his house with not one.... not 2.... but 3 baby tortises!!! I was a sucker. The guys female had layed eggs and he had 2 separate batches of hatchlings. He had so many he all but begged me to take 3 for the price of 1. We left with baby "Peanut, Butter & Jelly". Peanut was born 2 weeks after her 2 older siblings and was a tiny bit smaller. Suri has since re- named them and they are now Audra, Sandy and Charlie :-) We have put a dot of nail polish on their shells so we know who is who. Audra has since caught up in size to her siblings so the polish dots are now the only way we can tell them a part. They are currently residing in a 30 gallon aquarium that sits on a table top on the patio. I am now constantly stopping along the desert to pick plants and leaves to furnish their new home, re arranging things weekly. In the evenings we let them all wander the back yard- I feel like a mom with triplets... they all take off and go 3 different ways! Luckily Suri has craft puffies that I stick on their backs when they walk around the back yard so I can keep track of where they are. I look for the moving red pom poms :-) its kind of funny!

Suri had been looking forward to starting school again after having a week off after summer school. She was anxious to return but for some reason, I got her start day wrong and we showed up to school a whole day early!!! No one was there of course as we were there bright and early Tuesday morning when school didn't resume until the next morning! UGH... I had one disappointed kiddo when I had to tell her I made a mistake and that school didn't start until Wednesday... well, I took the day off work (as well as the next day now) and we enjoyed the day together visiting Butterfly Wonderland and going for ice cream.

We joined as a family for Mom's 4 year anniversary on September 6th. Dad was able to come down from the cabin and we were all able to be together. I still remember the day Mom passed away like it was yesterday however the memories of her, and her voice, are fading and it makes me so sad. It was a hot Saturday so sitting graveside didn't last very long. It hurts my heart that the closest they will ever get to my mom is near her grave. Oh how I never saw that coming... life, it can be so cruel sometimes.

On a happier note, Grammy turned 87 this year. Suri wanted to get her something from Make Meaning. I let her choose what she wanted to make and she picked out a butter dish all on her own... she saw it and said "Momma, I want this one... Grammy Luuuuves butter! She took about 1 hour to paint the dish and was very proud of her bday gift. I am so thankful Suri has Grandma in her life. I had so much fun with Grandma when I was growing up and I hope Suri and Jackson grow up with fond memories of their times with her as well.

Suri began dancing at Centrestage dance Academy this month and so far, she is enjoying it. I dont know how long she will last but for now, she attends Tuesdays after school. They are going to have their first performance in October - costumes and the whole 9 yards! We will see how it goes!

Suri has been a bit challenging at times since school has started again... hanging out with the boys brings on a whole new level of curiosity with language. Words like "butt crack" and "poop head" are emerging from Suri's vocabulary and I have about had enough. I talked to Suri's teacher and made her aware of who Suri says the source is so we are now on board at policing the source. I am still holding Suri accountable for her actions and she has lost quite a few privileges lately for misbehaving. I keep telling her Santa Claus is watching...
Suri has been talking about her Elf again quite regularly and Santa must have heard that Suri has been a challenge as when we woke up this morning, Doodle appeared in Suri's toy room! She was ecstatic to see her "Elfie" again and the look in her eye was priceless as she explained to Doodle that she has been kind of naughty lately. Doodle brought Suri a card that said NAUGHTY or NICE on it and she promised Doodle she was going to try her best to be on the "nice" list.
It was so heart warming to listen to Suri talk to Doodle... she told him she got her ears pierced, and that she is going to be 4 years old soon. She even proudly told him that she is now able to put her shoes on the right feet without help! She loves her Elf so much and spend so much time playing in her toy room today just so she could be near Doodle.

Here are pictures from this month:

Suri playing Barbies in her toy room...

Trutles:

At Green Acres:

Grammy's 87th birthday:

Playing "Elsa"

singing "let it go" to all her "friends"

First DAYS of School... notice shes wearing 2 different outfits... one for each of the "first" day of school.... duuh Mom...

First day of Dance at Centrestage:

Darling Divas class

It was 108 degrees outside and Sager went out and layed in the rocks like this for about 20 minutes...

Doodles Surprise visit!

As you can see from the pictures above... Suri is getting so excited about our upcoming birthday trip to Disneyland! She loves to wear her Ariel costume (momentarily as it is "itchy) and she insists this is what she is wearing when we have breakfast with Ariel on her birthday! Im getting anxious to go and I just hope and pray everything goes well and that she has a blast visiting the Happiest Place on Earth... I still can't believe that soon, I will be the Mother of a 4 year old... time is passing so quickly! I pretty much have every thing packed and ready to go - aside from a few last minute things, I think we are pretty much ready to face Mickey and Minnie during Halloween time at Disney Land! Suri loves Halloween so this is definitely the perfect time for us to visit :-)

Last entry of the month:

I figured I would just add the pictures from the last few days of September to the "September" post:
My 36th birthday was on Thursday and I decided this could possibly be our last opportunity to get up to the cabin before Dad winterizes it in November. Grandma was not feeling well so she stayed back in the valley, but Suri and I headed North Thursday afternoon. Lindsay and Jackson joined us on Friday and we had a great time at the cabin. The kids got to play and enjoy the beautiful weather outside. The forest was so lush and green yet there was a hint of Fall in the changing leaves. Suri got to catch her first fish with her new fishing pole! She actually caught 2 fish!! We also found a baby horned lizard and seeing it brought back so many fond memories of when I was little and used to play with these little guys :-)
It was a beautiful weekend and both Suri and Jackson loved spending time with Grandpa. Grandpa spent some time with the kids helping them shoot the BB gun... this was Suri's first encounter with a gun but Grandpa was with her every step of the way. She and Jackson enjoyed target shooting and they were both pretty good! Jackson is able to shoot independently while Suri had Grandpas assistance.