School Time!!

Our little girl started Kindergarten this year and she was so excited!!!  She has such a great teacher and that made it easier for me to send her off into the unknown.  She has been in pre-school for 2 years now, but it has always been at the house of one of my friends so I knew exactly what was going on. This has been a little different, but I can already tell it's going to be really good for her.  Funny thing is, her pre-school was only 3 days a week, but it was for 3 hours.  Kindergarten is only 2 1/2 hours and she's out by 10:30 a.m.!  So when everyone asks now if I miss her, I tell them I don't have time to miss her!  But Roman and I do get a little one on one time which has been fun.

Here she is.  She loves to pose with one foot up.  I think it's so funny

Here's the backpack she chose.  She loves this kid.  So funny.  I think I've discovered that some of his biggest admirers are ages 4 and 5!

 Little Roman had to get something too on the school clothes shopping trip! Don't you love how he smiles for the camera? :)

This was taken the week before school started and I was still looking for anything possible to entertain the kids with.  Krispy Kreme is always a good time.  Cool hats and watching doughnuts get fried and frosted!! 

Graduation and Disneyland

 London has to tell us DAILY that Ariel is her favorite princess. 

 Little London graduated from preschool.  We are so proud of her.  Now just another 13 years and she can graduate again. 

 This is a picture of our way cool dude

Spring!

Who knew it wasn't February anymore? I guess I didn't because that's how long it's been since I posted last and I didn't realize it had been so long. Like most everyone with child/children, spring goes pretty fast because it is loaded with activities. Here's a few of ours. My sister came to visit with just two of her six children, so we could afford a Build-A-Bear trip.

Then it was off to Neilson's. Yummmmm.

Easter Morning!!

Roman's 2nd!!

Every present was Elmo related and Roman couldn't have been happier. He sure does love that furry red monster!

And last, but not least, the 51's games. We try to take advantage of all sporting events in the area since we don't have too many around here. It's fun for all. They have this big grassy area, so when the kids get a little tired of the game you can just walk on over and watch from the grass while the kids play.

Valentines and More

My mom always gave me some cute things for Valentine's Day so I like to keep that tradition going.


Here's the presents ready to be found. Tim is our soccer guy in the house so he got the soccer heart box full of goodies.



Roman found his EARLY!


Then when this good sleeper woke up, she got hers.


There are some Valentine haters out there (you know who you are) but I just think it's a great excuse to make all your food pink! :)


London all ready for her Valentine party at school.


Where she made this...it's Love Bugs. It's a caterpillar magnet holding on to a lady bug plate. Cute!


MMMM...SUGAR


Gotta love your kitchen help!


I was cleaning one day when I heard giggling coming from somewhere. I walked around and around and couldn't tell where exactly he was, then I saw a little finger poking through this cupboard. I think he was after the DDP!


This kid is Elmo crazed!! He doesn't have many words, but Elmo is loud and clear. He about had a heart attack at the store when he saw these shoes and jammies so I just had to. I put them on him and he ran right to the place where I always take London's pictures(it's because it's the only place not cluttered with toys, I actually really hate the way the wall is painted, just have never taken the time to change it). Guess he wanted it on print!


London got her ears pierced!!! I think I was more excited than her!! We took a video of it and it's kind of sad and kind of funny at the same time. I will have to post it later. Her delayed reaction is priceless!


I have no words for this other than, yes, that is where I do most of the cooking.

Mother Goose Olympics

I think pre-school teachers need a lot more recognition than they get. The ones I've dealt with and the ones I see on other people's blogs are all so talented at what they do! There is no end to their creativity and you can't tell me it's easy to get a class of 3-4 year olds to write their names, count to 100, and know the name and sound of each letter. Amazing! Here's one of the creatively fun things London did last week at pre-school. It was called Mother Goose Olympics. There was Bah Bah Black Sheep Black Garbage Bag Races, Simple Simon Met a Pie Man Pie Hat Races, Diddle Diddle Dumpling My Son Jon Sock Contests, and then here's our gal in Jack Be Nimble Jack Be Quick Candle Hopping. Tim, who did hurdles in high school and college, was so darn proud of this one!



They also made these little Humpty Dumpty men out of crushed and painted egg shells. Crafts are another thing I appreciate about pre-school teachers because I'm just not the type of mom that says, "Hey kids, let's make a huge mess by doing crafts all day." Just not me. But I knows kids like to do them so I'm glad there's a place for that. :)



I guess they spent the whole week making this Dinosaur Egg Pinata and then on the last day of the week they got to crack it open and out came lots of little tiny toy dinosaurs..and candy of course!



And here she is because she made the 100's club, meaning she counted to 100 for the whole class. They get 100 M&M's in a little box. She is also in her pajamas here because it was pajama day for "P" week.



I've heard pre-school also referred to as "lazy parenting" but I really and truly disagree. If you have kids like mine, which most of you do, they are going to do things better for other people than for you. It's just how it works and I don't know why. Plus, being social is just as important as learning. But I will stop here before my soap box gets too big and offensive. :)

Ode to My Chair

Do you see this chair right here?...



And this foot stool right here?



Well, they are totally gross. They are made out of that fake leather stuff that shows EVERYTHING. Which wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have dogs and cats constantly rubbing up against them, the stool seems to be just the perfect place for kids to set food on, and I've even caught London wiping her mouth off on the arm of the chair. All totally gross stuff right? But the thing is, is that I still just love it so much (actually, I could do without the foot stool because EVERY toddler that enters my house leans on that thing and tips it over within seconds which drives me crazy) but the chair means so much to me because of all the many hours I have spent rocking and rocking my babies in it. I seem to bring home babies that need to be nursed about every hour for about three months so I rock and rock and rock and rock them. It can be annoying at times, but mostly I love it because I've learned they won't be small enough to rock forever. Although Roman still grabs a cracker and the remote and then insists that I rock him. It's a daily thing. But it's so cute, so even though this chair is gross no matter how many times I clean it, I still can't part with it because of all the great memories. I even caught London rocking Roman this week when he was so super sick. It was darling!



On another note, we shaved our cat this week. Isn't she so sweet!!! Ok, so she looks like a rat, but I love her. :)

Switch-A-Roo

Tim told me he was taking the kids upstairs to get them in their jammies and they came down like this. Good old dad! I guess Roman makes a pretty cute baby girl and London makes a cute long haired boy. (Please excuse the thousands of toys in the background, I wasn't planning on a picture moment.)



Roman was laughing so hard!


Here's another one of dad's ideas. Giving our chocolateaholic (not me, the other one) two spoons and a jar of nutella. He was loving life!