First Comes Love...

What a fun halloween we had this year!

The Lauckner kids are back to school and I'm back to being officially over-scheduled. 'Tis the season! Abigail went back the day after Labor Day and the boys went back earlier this week.  Below are pictures of everyone's first days, if you'd like to see.

Here it is  :)

I know...you've all been waiting for this so patiently 😉

Abigail and Kevin had a blast at St Joe's Father Daughter Sock Hop!

St Joe's is split into two campuses: Preschool-3rd grade in Issaquah, with 4th-8th grade in Snoqualmie.  This give both campuses a very intimate relationship with those around them and the third grade buddy program in Issaquah is especially sweet. At the beginning of the year, a Third Grader gets paired with a incoming Kindergartener.  They go to Mass with them, do Kinder/Third activities together, and have opportunities to play with them at recess. Abigail's buddy is Dylan Haugen (funny enough, I used to work with her Dad at Costco!)  Abigail and Dylan are adorable together.  Fiercely loyal and protective, they constantly seek opportunities to connect; whether to play or just give each other a hug. I cannot tell you how sweet this has been to watch and what an amazing relief it is to see my little girl feeling safe and accepted in her big new world. Here are a few recent pictures and items documenting their cute relationship (it's also worth noting the amou...

George gets the award for kid most excited for Christmas this year and his Christmas Social earlier today takes the cake! He's been walking around with the invitation to his party in hand for more than a week now and asks us to read through the program multiple times a day.  He was so excited to perform their three songs (Red, Red Hat, 5 Little Gingerbread, and Silent Night) and decided to wear his suit 😍  In addition, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, and Mamie joined us which made it extra special for our little star! Here are pictures and video from his big day: Off to school - it was also pajama day for K-3 (invitation in hand)

How did I let this much time get away without a most important brag-post: school pictures! Abigail is in Kindergarten, George is in Pre 4s and in my not-so-humble opinion, they're the cutest. Abigail, 6 years old, Kindergarten with Mrs. Bechtol George, 4 years old, Pre 4s with Mrs Rowe and Mrs Glaze

Tonight we joined St Joe's for the annual Christmas Concert at Mary, Queen of Peace. The Kindergartners performed two songs (which we've been hearing Abigail practice for a few weeks now) and they were just adorable. Abigail was so excited and confident and the boys loved dressing in their suits to honor her big night  (although Ben went home with Kevin immediately following Abigail's performance - sleepy 2 year olds...)

While visiting the Girl Scout store for the first time this Fall, I met a woman who helped me navigate the world of Girl Scouts and gave me some awesome ideas - one of which was having a Brownie Troop host a tea party for our Daisy Troop. Lucky for me, I'm friends with the 3rd grade Brownie Troop leader (and the 3rd graders just so happen to have Kindergarten buddies at St Joes!) so it seemed a perfect fit to get a party in the books. The 3rd grade brownie troop "hosted" us earlier this week for a perfect afternoon with the ladies.  The party was complete with Turkish tea cakes, herbal tea and hot coco, games, and a get-the-sugar-rush-out dance party! Here are some pictures from the event:

Abigail is bringing home a lot more "work" and homework these days than actual art, so I've put a mix of both in here (I'm sure it's only with your eldest that you find classwork so adorable...)

As usual, both Abigail and George celebrated Halloween with school parties this year. Since George attends school M/W/F, his was on Monday so George gets to go first in this post! George decided to be Bumblebee for Halloween.  Bumblebee is actually a Transformer character, so I think he confused a lot of older people and parents of girls, but he was so proud of his costume this year. We celebrated at school with food, games, a chance for each kid to introduce their costume, and a couple of songs the kids surprised us with. The Pre 4 class is such a fun group.  Most of the kids were in Pre 3s last year (which was 16 kids) and now they have a wild group of 18!

Abigail just completed her first season of XC and I am ridiculously proud of her.  She was determined at each practice and meet to do the best she could and keep going, even when she felt tired. She was so good natured throughout the short season and I was amazingly proud of her at every turn. Here are a few pictures from her meets, if you would like to see: Abigail, Sasha, and Isla (the St Joe's Kindergarten girl's team)

G-man is moving right along in the ranking, going from Pre3 to Pre4s this year! He has many of the same friends in his class this year with the addition of a few more students (this year's class has 19 kids!) and a new teacher: Mrs Rowe. Tomorrow is his birthday, so we've picked out some cool Power Rangers napkins, masks, and cookies to bring for his school party. So far his friends this year are Charlie and Oscar; he still seems to be holding a grudge against his friend "hun-tor" (Hunter) who he got in a fight with last year over Wishbone doggy. Boys 😉 Here are some pictures from George's first week! Posing with his supplies before Open House

I can hardly believe it, but it's true - my baby girl is now in Kindergarten. We are happily cruising into our second week and she comes home most every day happy and full of news (usually about after school snacks or what she did on the playground that day). Mrs Bechtol is her teacher and Abigail adores her.  She is the epitome of a Kindergarten teacher: kind, nurturing, and thoughtful - Abigail can't seem to get enough of her! She was excited to start the year with two of her friends from PreK (Rhys and Samantha) and had the extra bonus of sitting next to Rhys in class at the red table. Oh, to be 6 and full of Kindie joy again! Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks: We received a letter in the mail from Mrs Bechtol a couple days before school

It's that time again! A few cute Valentine pieces, a get well card to George, and an adorable wand among other treasures.

The board has been getting full, so it was time to take things down, save the good, remember the funny, and say farewell to the pedestrian pieces 😉 George had an especially creative Valentine's Day, bringing home 5 pieces of art; three of which he would eat pieces from or licked a bit each day.  As funny as it was, no one is going to miss watching him salivate over his papers each morning 😝 George didn't draw the little people on this one, but I love that he dedicated it to me in the height of his Dory obsession Before the infamous Valentine art, the trend of eating your art had already started a bit.. I'm not sure this was worthy of an "awesome" or "great" stick, but that's why we love Mrs. Harig! The green heart was the daily licking piece 😆  I was tempted to keep it, but a picture will do. Self explanatory It's so fun seeing George's style develop!

Here is Miss Abigail's 2016 Fall / Winter Collection!

The wait is over - I give you the George Lauckner, Fall / Winter 2016 collection...

Is there anything more adorable than children's Christmas performances?  Especially when it's your own kids?? Nope 😍 This past week George and Abigail had their school Christmas concerts and parties.  George's class was mainly a party with a couple welcome songs, while Abigail's was a concert with three well memorizes songs + choreography  ;) Abigail and I attended George's party on Thursday.  The three of us had so much fun making Christmas cookies, painting and decorating ornaments, and being serenaded by 3 year olds! Here are some pictures (and video) from his party: