Back to Story Land

On Friday we headed back to Story Land for Gwen's birthday.  This time we brought something extra along. . .Nora.  She was a great little addition to our family outing.  We were surprised to find wild animals in our hotel. . .Moose, Wolves, Beavers and Bears (all stuffed of course. .and all larger than life!)  Friday night we swam in the pool and ordered pizza.  Saturday we woke up early, ate breakfast at our hotel and headed over to Story Land where we enjoyed a gorgeous day.  On the way home, Brad and I both commented on how much fun we had and what great travel mates all of the kids were.  

Good Bye 4, Hello 5

Little Miss Gwen turned 5 today.  She has been waiting for this day since February when Embree turned 5.  She literally has asked me how long it was till her birthday 3 times a week since then.  Today was the big day! We celebrated by singing her Happy Birthday as many times as possible, Making a special breakfast of crystallized cinnamon sugar bagels, bringing in Caterpillar rice crispy treats to her class, and eating dinner with Nana and Pugga at Olive Garden (her choice, however she calls it the "Blueberry restaurant" because that is what she thinks is on the sign.)  Gwen got an extra special surprise from her daddy.  One that I didn't even know about.  He sent her flowers.  They came in the form of a crown, and they were delivered right to her classroom =0).  As you can imagine, she thought it was the greatest thing ever.

(Pictures of me are courtesy of Olivia)

Dear Gwen,

We love you more than you could ever imagine.  You brighten our world.  You are smart, kind, thoughtful, vibrant, loving, cuddly, adorable, and everything else.  We feel so lucky to have you in our family.  I hope that being 5 is everything you imagined it would be!  I love you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Love- Mommy

School Begins!

Gwen and Olivia started school today.  As a second grader Olivia felt like an old pro.  She knew exactly what to do, where to go and what to expect and especially loved the thought of being Gwen's mother hen.  As a kindergartner, Gwen went in quietly and confidently.  She has been excited to go to school, and to ride the bus for ages now.  She was thrilled that it was finally her turn.  I was interested to see that she became quiet, and observant through the experience.   I watched them get on the bus and then followed the bus to school and helped Gwen get to her classroom.  She went right in, found a spot to sit and engaged in an activity that looked interesting to her.

Interesting facts about Gwen and Kindergarten:

• Gwen's teacher did her student teaching in Brad's Kindergarten class!  She had saved a couple of journal entries that Brad had drawn and passed them along to us last year. (this fact adds to our list of: Liv's preschool teacher was Brad's 2nd grade teacher, and her Kindergarten teacher was a friend of Brad's mom in highschool.)
•  Gwen has definite ideas about fashion and shopped for her own school clothes, although I was not looking forward to it, it was a blast for both of us.  
• Gwen is a youngin.  She is actually still 4 until later this week.  I have debated whether to send her to school or hold her back since the day she was born.  We feel very good about the decision to send her this year.  We are sure its the right thing for her.

Interesting facts about Olivia and Second Grade:

• She is a combination of excited and shy.  She is eager to start a new year, but feels uncomfortable in a new setting.
• She looks forward to walking Gwen to her classroom each morning and sitting with her on the bus.
• She has requested homemade lunch this year and helped me make a list of healthy options she likes to eat.
• She heard through the grape vine that her teacher is the best teacher in the whole school.

Looking at these pictures makes me realize:

• How little Gwen is.  Half the size of her backpack.
• How grown up Olivia is getting.  I didn't notice the peace sign she flashed until I started looking through these pictures.

Interesting facts about me and school this year:

• It is my first year of feeling like I can really volunteer.  I am debating helping out in the classroom or in the lunchroom.  I am currently leaning toward lunch duty (I think it will be more Beckham friendly)
• I am going to miss the girls.
• Today I was pleased with the amount of quality time we had to be together after school.

Messy Party

We've been trying to make use of every last second of our summer vacation. Wednesday we were in search of something different to do. In the morning, we didn't know what we were going to do, and an hour later all of our friends were coming over to have a messy party. Thanks to Brooke for the idea, thanks to Google for all of the messy games and thanks to everyone who chipped in to bring things. All of the moms let go and let the kids get messier than they have ever been. Some of the kids were a little hesitant at first, but pretty soon, they had all joined in and looked good enough to eat =0). We ended it all by hosing them off and then sliding down the slip'n slide.

Beautiful

I call her a little one, but she's not really a little one anymore. Sometimes I think I am going to be sad to not have "little" kids under foot, and then I think of Olivia and how much fun it is to watch her grow up. Thats when I realize that this next stage is going to be fun too. The truth is that I will always miss having little ones underfoot, but the other truth is that I'm also excited about what's coming next =0).