Field Day!

The weather was ucky but we made the most of it on Wednesday with inside games!

Getting lined up for the first game of the day.

A little blurry but what can I say? My girl was on the move!

Musical hula hoops :)

A little quiet time after lunch.

My favorite girl and the BEST kindergarten teacher EVER!!!

:)

School's Out!

Wasn't this just yesterday?

First Day of Kindergarten

It sure feels like it :(

Today I put a Kindergartener on the bus and they brought me back a 

FIRST GRADER!!!

What's she looking at?

:)

Busting through the banner to officially kick off

SUMMER VACATION!!!

Glad to have my girl home with me for the next couple months - we have all kinds of plans that we'll be sharing soon. 

End-of-Year Gifts

I got all these ideas off Pinterest (lest you think I am overly creative!)

Iz's teacher...

All the other teachers...

Classmates...

They all came out so cute! And they were so much fun to deliver :)

Kindergarten Field Trip

I joined Iz and her class and the other Kindergarten class on their field trip last week to the children's museum...FUN!

Hauling lobstah traps . . . just like Bumpy :)

The good weather help long enough after for a picnic at the playground!

And we even got a visit from the local fire department :)

VACATION!

April vacation....

Iz had Friday off from school so, after spending Thursday night at Auntie D's house :) she headed to a friends Friday afternoon for a play date. Saturday was running errands and a hike and Sunday morning we headed "upta camp." We came home Wednesday afternoon, went to the movies Thursday and saw this:

Friday we went over to SnL's for a play date with Mimi, Saturday was a get-together at R's then Hubby and I went out to diner for our anniversary, which was Sunday. THANKS to R for keeping Iz for a couple hours. Sunday was recovery day.....

Back to school today - thank goodness!!!

Vacation pictures coming soon!

You Know What They Say . . .

March comes in like a

and goes out like a

It's been snowing here since about 10 last night and expected to continue snowing ALL.DAY.LONG. and well into the night.  You know what that means?

No school for Iz today, no school for me tonight, and Hubby's staying home from work . . . a fire blazing in the wood stove, soup and homemade bread for dinner and a whole day "stuck" in with my family . . . sounds PERFECT to me :)

First Day of School

I've spent almost every minute of every day for the past 5-1/2 years with my girl...

until yesterday *sob*. The first day of Kindergarten.

She was a little excited :)

We were out waiting for the bus about 15 minutes early because she just couldn't wait in the house any longer!

Daddy stuck around long enough to see her off :)

This was before I got all teary :) 

(but I made sure to pull my sunglasses over my eyes so she wouldn't see!)

And, after centering my life around her since the day she was born, IzzyB kissed me and then marched across the street and onto that big yellow bus without even a glance back! Hmph....not sure how I feel about that :)

Luckily I had some errands to run but I was home by noon and then spent the next almost 4 hours watching the clock, waiting for my girl. I have a big list of projects to do while Iz is at school but I'm taking the first week or so to "adjust."

It was a long day but she finally came back...

She was tired but she LOVED it! Ahhh....that makes a mama feel good!

Extension

There was no school the Friday before vacation (not sure why....the whim of the preschool teacher I guess) and then, to top it off, the Monday we were supposed to go back to school was ANOTHER SNOW DAY!

So we hung out at home and Iz tapped into her inner artist with a little painting* :)

*more on her artwork when I get motivated a scan pictures she's been working on lately!

What's So Interesting?

I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to what Iz picked for books at the library yesterday. So, when I looked over while making dinner after asking her a question and receiving no answer, I wondered what book had her so enthralled.

It was a good 10 minutes before I could walk away from the stove and check out what was going on. Imagine my surprise when i saw what she was "reading"...

Not only did she look at this book for at least 30 minutes but then she had me read 20 pages about our digestive system to her while dinner finished cooking. Then Hubby read more to her after we ate.

What on earth are they going to do with her in school???

Field Trip

When I dropped Iz off at school the other day there was a paper in her mailbox announcing their first Field Trip of the year. On the way home I told her about it.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Apple picking," I replied.

"Ugh! Apple picking! That's not a field trip!" she groaned.

"Well, it's not just apple picking," I said. "You'll be going on a hay ride, visiting with the farm animals, going apple picking AND building fairy houses!"

Her reply?

"Now THAT's what I call a field trip!"

Me too! We both can't wait! LOVE that girl :)

School

A hectic, stress-filled morning. Not nearly enough coffee in my system. Running late. Iz crying when I dropped her off. ME crying when I dropped her off. Spending the entire time she's there being completely lazy and unproductive. An equally stressful pick up time with lots more crying, bad reports from the teachers and walking out the door with our heads hung in shame/exhaustion/disappointment.

That's how I dreamed the first day of school would go...

Here's what really happened.

Iz got up at 7am (early for her) and announced "Today's my first day of school!" Then she immediately grabbed her checklist and started working her way through it WITHOUT BEING ASKED! By 7:30 she was 100% ready for school and posing for pictures (see yesterday's post). She was able to relax for a little while, watch a little PBS and then we were off.

We arrived at school, walked in and Iz was all smiles. She put on her slippers (no shoes in class!), hung up her backpack, lined her shoes up underneath and was off like a flash! Her teachers, Mrs. S and Mrs. W were wonderfully greeting everyone and showing them what to do, where to go and what was coming up in the day that I actually had to pull her away for a quick hug good-bye! No tears for either of us! I was impressed with myself :)

I spent the 2-1/2 hours she was at school taking a walk, knitting and listening to a book on cd (a FINE way to spend a couple hours, BTW!).

Pick up was just as easy. When I walked in all the kids were lined up in a row of chairs, ready to go. Mrs. S told me I was a "Big Cat" and had to find my "Little Mouse." Seriously cute! Iz skipped to the van and exclaimed "My first day of school was a BLAST!"

She talked about it all night. Talked about how her job for the day was to ring the bell, and that she can't wait until it's her job to feed Bubbles, the fish. Showed off the 2 art projects she did, showed us the pencil and special treat her teacher sent home with her and kept remembering more and more of what happened during the day.

We had a special dinner of chicken, mac'n'cheese and fresh green beans followed by an outside tubby and gold cake with chocolate frosting. An absolutely amazing day!

Today's agenda? Ballet!!!

The First Day of School

The countdown is complete.

All the morning "chores" done & checked off the list.

The paper "Me Doll" assigned at last week's open house is done.

Ready and HAPPY about Preschool :)

The day was finished with a special dinner, cake AND the last outside tubby of the year!

More details coming....

W's First Day

Today Mel sent her oldest, W, to kindergarten which is absolutely unbelievable to me. How did these kids get to be so dern BIG? When Mel and I met Iz was about 10 months, Roo was about 6 months and W was almost 2. Now they're not babies...they're big kids.

So, Iz and I headed over to consol Mel (who was actually FINE) and play with Roo (who was a bit of a mess when faced with endless days without his big brother) and the weather was nice and the kids played so well together as a pair instead of a trio and we're planning all the things we'll do next year when ALL the kids are in school all day! LOL

More Graduations

Congrats to J who graduated Friday night :) ...

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... and Congrats to K who graduated yesterday! :)

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THREE Graduations in seven days!!! Whew! We made it!

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Now to get through recital week :)

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*stole the pic of K from R's FB page...Thanks R!

Graduation

The first of three graduations in a week...Hubby's son, J graduated on Sunday :)


REALLY wish Hubby would smile when someone grabs a camera instead of looking like a grump!

Congratulations Graduate!!!

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We love you!

A Week

I haven't posted in a whole week? Say it ain't so?!?!
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The truth is...there hasn't been a whole heck of a lot to post. The last week has been pretty low key around here. Friday night I went shopping with Mel to find her a dress for a wedding (VERY funny, but she wouldn't let me bring my camera into the dressing room...because she knew I would put any pics up here - I told her I would blur her face :) but it was still a no-go) and Saturday was a day at home. Sunday afternoon Iz & I went to my niece's dance recital but they don't allow photography so no pics :( Monday we were home, Tuesday we were home, Wednesday we went to the library and visited both aunts & Nannie & Papa...but, as the world.s worst blogger, I have ZERO pictures! I know you're not surprised.
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Hubby and I have also made a decision regarding preschool for Iz this fall. We had been thinking about sending her, but that would mean TWO years of preschool (and the costs that come with it). Instead, she will be home again this school year, but will be given the choice to continue with gymnastics or take dance and we will keep doing our weekly trips to the library and play dates with friends. Then she can start preschool in the Fall 2010, just go for one year and then start Kindergarten....I KNOW I will blink and she will be in school full time so one more year home won't be the worst thing for either of us! It was a big decision, but Hubby and I are both in agreement that we've made the right one.
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Hubby is out-of-town for the night...Iz and I are planning on fish for dinner (which Hubby does not eat, so we don't have it nearly as often as we'd like). Then, after Iz goes to bed, I'm watching "Twilight" which I saw once when it was in the theater and DID.NOT.LIKE.AT.ALL. I'm giving it a second chance in the comfort of my own home with no expectations and no giggling girls sitting behind me. We'll see...
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