Whew.

Last week was SO BUSY!

This school every day is a new thing for me.  And it is EXHAUSTING!

But, before I begin the school posts.  I want to start with Renee's visit!

If you are new to my blog, Renee is my sister who lives in the state of Wyoming.  We haven't physically seen her in over a year!  To say my kids were excited is an understatement!

Renee flew in on Wednesday at 10:15 at night.  I had Ike and Laney go with me to greet her when she got off the plane.  They were crazy of course!

Renee loves penguins.  She sent this to Gabby for Christmas.  Laney had it waiting at the door for when Aunt Ne-Ne arrived.

 Making faces in the airport bathroom.  That's how we roll!

My dad grilled out and had the whole family over.  I only got one picture.  But an important and sentimental one for me.  My Grandma and Grandpa DeLano took care of me for 9 months while Jamie was in treatment for Leukemia.  At the time, Helen Devos did not exist.  So Jamie was treated in Ann Arbor.

Jordyn and MY papa.

We then went to the North Shore beach!  It was perfect!

Gabby is fearless.  She jumped into every single wave.  And even when they smacked her and threw her down, she jumped up and dove in again!

 

Renee brought bags of skittles.  Enough said.

 

Although the water was warm, I only went in for a second.  I'm still nursing if any of y'all can relate.  Being cold is not cool.

Renee was also here for Laney and Ike's first day of school!

Ike is at Triunity with Mrs. Smith and Laney is still at Byron Center Charter.  More on that later....

While Laney was at her first day of school, the other three kids, Jamie, Renee, and I headed to the Children's Museum.  Part of their birthday present was a membership renewal from Aunt Renee!  We love it there!

 For whatever reason, I love this picture of Jordyn!  Such a world of possibilites.  Or maybe trying to escape?!

Gabby was SO determined to get that bubble up around her!

 

Then it was time to leave.  :(

My dad took Renee to the airport.  So we snapped a few more pictures before she left.

Her trip here went by in a flash!  When she is here, it is as if she never left.  But, oh how my heart aches when she leaves.  The day after is the worst.  Waking up knowing she isn't here anymore just sucks.

We miss you!

And on to school.

The first day for Laney was a big 'ol flop.

She hated it.

I had to fill out a survey of questions that Laney had to answer.

It went something like this:

Who brought you to school?  Mom and Dad

What did you wear?  A kitty shirt and polka dot pants

Who did you play with?  The girl with brown skin. I don't know her name

How did you feel when it was time to go home?  VERY VERY HAPPY!

Why?  BECAUSE I HATE SCHOOL

What will you do tomorrow?  GO TO SCHOOL AND HATE IT!

Oh, Laney.

 

The second day went MUCH better

 

She got to play with her cousin Ava at recess as well as her friend from pre-school, Alysson.

Lydia is the girl with brown skin, and Laney ADORES her.  She told me Lydia was adopted and Laney thinks that is totally RAD!  They play with Ava at recess. And everything in the world is wonderful again.

Now, Laney loves school.  Such an answer to prayer.  And Lydia is an answer to prayer.  She sits at Laney's table.  And every time I see Lydia, she is singing some song and talking away with Laney about what they are going to do at recess.  I love it.

While Laney is away, Ike rules the roost.  He loves to set up "movie theaters" in my house.  Jordyn is crawling, so she joins in as well.

And when Ike and Laney are BOTH gone, I get some special time with Gabs!  I love it so much!  I never really got much time with her alone considering she was 3 weeks old when Ike was diagnosed.

We have been doing "school."  Which consists of flash cards to work on her speech, and writing.  This girl has some crazy good fine motor skills!  She is not even 3 and working on drawing people?!  Maybe this is normal. but Laney never did this!

The biggest person is Laney.  Then Gabby drew a horse and everyone in our family.  I never have worked on this with her, nor even showed her how to hold a pencil!  Gabby is my artistic, mercy child.  I love that about her!

So, that is about as up to date as I can get! 

Here is to new routines!  I pray we can continue!

Adios!