First Day, 2013

Today was the first day of the new school year! Drew moved up to the Turtle class, leaving the baby wing of the building behind, and Evan moved to the Shark class: the official Pre-K class! We all were excited and a little nervous for the changes, but are fully confident this year will be another great one of learning and friendship. It was raining out, so we took a few pictures on the side porch.

 

Yep, they're holding each other's signs. I guess even mommy had a little first-day jitters!

Then the all-important question... "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Evan put quite a lot of thought into it, considering a rock star, football player, baseball player, police man, ambulance man, superhero, and veterinarian, and finally decided: a ticket guy, just like my daddy.

A little hug and a kiss for brother and we're off! In the rain...

The requisite fight about who gets to hold the umbrella was decided: "We'll share!" and ended with everyone's eyes remaining un-hurt, for once.

Ms. Tiffany is Drew's new teacher, and he got a place of honor to help read the morning story.

Evan dashed in to "meet" Ms. Vicki and explore the Shark class.

Here's to a great school year!

Last Day of School, 2013

Today was the last day of the 2012-2013 school year. It's amazing to reflect on how big these kiddos have grown, and how much they've learned! We've been amazingly blessed to have two fantastic women who have been more than teachers to Evan and Drew; they really have loved them and nurtured them all year long. We are desperately going to miss being in their class, but are relieved we will be able to see them every day since we're at the same school. Evan has promised up and down that he's going to hug Ms. Stephanie every single day and nothing could tear Drew from giving some love to Ms. Tanya and Ms. Megan when he sees them. He's been practicing his running tackle/hug and has it down quite well, so they better watch out!

Both boys wanted to make creative gifts to tell their teachers how much fun they had during the year, so we've been working hard on the perfect gift. After several discussions, we realized Drew had lots and lots to say about Ms. Tanya, so we put it all down into a word collage around her name. We wanted her to remember how special she is and all the fun things the class did together.

Ms. Megan, Tanya's daughter, got a picture of thanks too. Way back when Drew was in the baby room over a year ago, Megan had been telling her mom, "I hope Drew is in your class!" She got a new baby doll last Christmas and named him Drew, because she loves him so. She's always around to play with Drew whenever she's not in school, and lucky for Drew that meant almost a full summer with Megan!We wish she was a little older and lived closer so we could call her for babysitting :)

Evan took a bit longer deciding what to make/give to Ms. Stephanie. A bouquet of flowers? A photo of them together from when she came to watch his t-ball game? He almost decided on a book, but then changed his mind, thinking he'd like to keep the book to read about all the fun times he and Stephanie had together. He would however like to give her a picture from the book with all the things he wanted to say. So, mommy scanned in the picture (them holding hands on a sunny day) and collected all his happy thoughts about Stephanie, and presented her with the final product. (Yes, he did make the book and yes, we did copy it for her also.)

We hope they all realize what an incredible difference they've made in our lives, and how grateful we are for their presence, patience, creativity, and love.

3 Pirates and a Princess

Disney Live came to Charlottesville, and of course we had to go! We had excellent seats, and were even able to arrange to have many of our friends sit with us. (Many apologies to Laurie and Sid who ended up with all 5 big kids...) The show featured both Jake and Sofia, with special guest appearances by Mickey & Minnie, Doc McStuffins, Cinderella, and Peter Pan.

 The boys were all decked out in their pirate gear. (Mike had a bandana too, but wouldn't allow a photo, ha!) They were planning all week what to wear, and finally settled on their Jake jammies and bandanas. Evan considered wearing his eye patch, but in the end decided he wouldn't be able to see the show very well out of one eye.

With everyone else dressing up, this mommy felt left out! It took a little thought to find a tiara... while we have plenty of swords around, our house doesn't exactly have a stash of tiaras at the ready. After a quick stop at a very girly house, Katelin came to the rescue and loaned me a sparkly beauty! 

We met friends for pizza, where we saw several other pirates and princesses trying not to spill red sauce on their gowns and hats before the show. Then it was off to the arena to meet the rest of our friends and see Sofia and Jake! What a blast.

Monkees

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!!"
... but what if it's part of a special one-show-only concert performance?
Answer: Mommy gets out the camera and we have a party!

These monkeys turned into their version of the Monkees, combining acoustic and electric guitar, sax and trumpet (both were a recorder), drums, lots of vocals, and enough movement to make you dizzy into one epic concert.

 The jumping. Oh, the jumping! 

Water Play Sunday

It was HOT and Mike was gone. So... since I won't take these two to the pool myself (I'd need to be an octopus!), we brought out the hose and sprinklers for a good backyard cool-down! These two sure know how to splash around.

Pre-K1 Graduation Party!

It's hard to believe a year has flown by and Evan's Dolphin class is celebrating it's graduation today! Ms. Rita had a great party at her neighborhood clubhouse (the kids loved going to a "real clubhouse"), and the kids sure didn't mind the heat and humidity.

The old farmhouse had a huge wrap-around porch perfect for running (Drew kept asking why we couldn't go in the pool), a great playground, bushes in the back perfect for hiding games, and wonderful old rooms that the teachers and kids quickly filled with games and songs. We all filled the kitchen with the food we brought to share, and Ben's mom stole the show with a watermelon shark, as that's the Pre-K2 class the kids will move to sometime in August.

 

 

The kids had been practicing for weeks to perform two songs for us: "Inch by Inch" and "Preschool." They looked and sounded absolutely adorable as they sat in perfect rows and performed their little hearts out for the paparazzi in front of them - I think every parent and even some siblings had phones and cameras out to capture the sweetness.

After the songs, Ms. Stephanie gave out "awards" to each child. She said the thing they always asked for and couldn't have in class is candy, so it was time to give them their wish! She was super creative and linked each child to a candy: Evan got lifesavers for "always coming to the rescue," because she noted how incredibly kind he always is to help another child when they fall, share when someone is sad, and remind the other children that it's important to make sure no one is left out. [Melt!! I'm so proud of that boy!]

Evan and his buddies Ahan ("being a smartie" - this 4yo is reading at a 1st grade level!) and Joel ("on a roll" - he loves to play and roll on the floor) were only too proud to show off their awards. Good thing we got pictures when we did, as the little bags were opened seconds later and the contents devoured.

It's been an amazing year for the kids in the Starfish and Dolphin classes! As Evan told me the other day, "I'll be sad to leave Ms. Stephanie, because I love her very much, but I'm excited for the Shark class. I'll see Ms. Stephanie on the playground every day and can always give her lots of hugs."