First day of school 2016

Reese and Asher started 3rd and 1st grade, respectively, today on a beautiful morning.  We almost had a bit of a hiccup as they weren't technically enrolled as of yesterday.  When I enrolled the kids in school in RI this summer (we thought we might be staying there for the school year at one point) RI sent notification to the school here in Helena and so they unenrolled the kids.  Well, when we decided to come back in August, I forgot to call the school and let them know.  Luckily, CK ran into Reese and Asher's Kindergarten teacher in Walmart this weekend who thought we had moved.  The (very nice) principal called yesterday and was gracious enough to forgive our mistake despite the fact that they had no additional spots at the school.  Luckily by today everything was resolved and R&A even got to keep their original teachers, whom they were very excited about.  Sometimes it's really great to live in a small town with very understanding neighbors/friends.

Happy 8th birthday Reese!

Reese turned eight today and here she is blowing out her 8 candles on one cupcake.  It's hard to believe that it's been eight years since we held this little lady in our arms and became parents.  Reese is looking forward to starting school in a few days and I know she had a great time in Rhode Island this summer, spending time with Nana and her East Coast family.

A few things about Reese at eight that we hope she'll want to remember:

• Reese is super creative and loves anything crafty- scrapbooking, creating bracelets and cards- pretty much anything that uses a lot of glue, glitter, paint or scissors and tape
• She's into Barbies right now and can play by herself (or with others) for hours, making up interesting stories about each of the dolls
• Reese is very inquisitive.  She asks great, sometimes tough-to-answer :) questions about everything.  She is also happy to answer anyone else's questions at any time, even if she doesn't always know the answer.  We're working on that ;)
• Reese continues to be a huge help with her siblings but she definitely gets frustrated sometimes when we can't do everything she wants to do because of the "little ones".  
• She loves to swim and spent much of the summer in a pool or an ocean.  She's just about swimming on her own now and would spend all day in a body of water if she could.
• If we're somewhere new, Reese will usually gravitate towards one of the younger kids around and make friends, "guiding" them around and playing with them.  Maybe she's a future teacher or leader of the free world?
• She loves to dance and sing.  This summer Reese and the rest of the kids learned "God Bless the USA" and sang it all summer long.  Reese's voice is really good and hopefully she'll get to put it to good use in choir (or a recording contract to pay for Mom and Dad's retirement) someday.
• Reese's favorite food is probably tomatoes.  Grandma grows them in her garden and Reese loves eating them.

It's a joy to watch Reese grow and we're so proud of the person she is becoming.  Happy Birthday to our wonderful daughter and here's to many, many more.

Love,  Mom and Dad