Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Spring Program!







Our preschool hosted a super fun spring program a few weeks back. It was adorable to see those little bodies rocking to Michael Jackson. Ms. Catie is a BIG believer in teaching the kids to honor the differences in people and to make the change to love everyone. Carl and I loved the program. Our kids need lots of exposure to diversity because there is not much in our town. I am so thankful for a teacher that uses music to teach our children!

Henry sang "You are my Sunshine" - the Koala class is not quite ready for Man in the Mirror. He saw me after his performance and did not make it back to the classroom for a class picture. Oh well, there will be more time for that later on!

Evie's next performance will be as a Kindergartener. WOW! Time sure flies when you are having fun.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Easter!!






Evie and Henry loved Easter celebrations this year. They loved it so much that we have had multiple celebrations! Egg hunts were a hit and it was fun to see Henry progress. His first egg hunt of the season, he only picked up blue eggs and immediately ate the candy. Then, he decided to help his friends pick out eggs. By the third egg hunt, he had it mastered and went to town picking up eggs. He had quite the collection in his bucket!





My parents came to visit for Easter which was nice. They have never been to Nashville for Easter. We had a low-key weekend venturing out for an Easter story at a local church and for a car show. Mostly, just hung out around the house playing outside, dying eggs and eating way too much!










Evie and Henry looked adorable in their outfits. Easter clothes are my favorite - it's so nice to wear the pastel colors after an entire winter of dreary , heavy clothes. Evie and Henry posed for lots of pictures. I got quite a few- they do their best when it is just me. Too much going on and they are not interested in posing. Evie is super photogenic - Henry has a hard time stopping what he is doing just to take a picture. Sweet Easter Babies!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Kindergarten Registration




It was a BIG day several weeks back -  Evie is registered for Kindergarten and I only cried a little bit. My sweet girl is so excited about her new adventure and talks about going to kindergarten every.single.day.  

Evie is ready and I will be ready by August.

As a teacher, I think this might be harder for me because I know what is about to happen! My baby girl is going to grow up right before my eyes. Not sure I am ready for that but it is going to happen.

It was the first time I even walked in the school - the same school that we bought this house for, the school that I never imagined we would even live here long enough for Evie to attend. It's a wonderful school with neighborhood kids. 

The doors with the keypad gave me the chills - doors that have been changed due to horrible acts of violence. While, I am happy that security measures are in place and that the school is safe for all the students. It was a reminder of how much daily life in schools has changed since I was a classroom teacher. I remember lots of lock-down practices and doors were always secured. Name tags marked school personal at all times and elaborate sign-in systems monitored activity in the school. It's a whole new world now!  I filled out about 200 forms and brought certified copies of every document imaginable. 

Evie's school is about a mile from our house and she will ride the bus. Henry will really be ticked off when Evie rides away on that big yellow bus. Evie is counting down the days until that big yellow school bus stops for her to climb aboard!

I am praying for a wonderful teacher that loves children and understands that children matter more than test scores. A teacher that does not expect a classroom full of robots! A teacher that allows me to come in the classroom and volunteer. Evie is a teacher-pleaser and will do just fine with any teacher.

Life keeps on changing and this is going to be a huge change for our family! It's going to be exciting to watch Evie embrace kindergarten. 

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Lately . . .


Oh my poor blog! It's harder and harder to keep up with this but I do want a record of my life with two young kiddos.

We have been busy the past few weeks! Lots of outdoor playtime, birthday parties galore and we even had a Master's party last night. Evie and Henry were so excited to have a party since we never host more than one family at a time. It was for our church small-group and it was really fun! 

Evie had a birthday party this afternoon and the moms came up with a wonderful idea. We split into shifts. Taylor's mom picked up Evie and Sloan and then Sloan's mom took the middle shift and I had the last shift - with ice-cream and cake. I dropped off the girls on the way home. Birthday parties are getting longer and longer these days so it is so nice to share the load with other moms. Evie was beyond thrilled to ride in the car with her friends.



Evie started back with swim lessons a few weeks ago and is loving them! I love that she only goes twice a week and am hoping to her ready to pass the YMCA swim test this summer. Evie jumped right in on the first day and loves that her sweet friend, Molly, is in her class. 




Easter egg hunting is another favorite right now. We have been to one hunt already and have a few more in the works. Henry hunts for blue eggs and opens it immediately eating the candy. Evie rapidly collects the eggs and then finds a safe spot to devour her loot.  It's so fun to see how different Henry and Evie are from each other.