And Off She Goes. . .Emily's First Day of Kindergarten

I can't believe this day is already here.  It's actually been one that I've been dreading for the last couple of years.  I'm just not ready.  And notice, I said I'm not ready, as Em is totally ready.   She's been asking when she gets to go to Kindergarten for months now.

I think I was most nervous about the technicalities of Kindergarten than anything.  How does drop off work, where do I pick Emily up, will Emily know where she goes each morning.  Truthfully, I'm just ready for the first week to be over so we can get into a good routine that we are both comfortable with.

We were all up bright and early to walk Emily to her classroom.  I was worried how she (and I) might do as we say good bye, but surprisingly there were no tears shed from either of us.  She found a seat and started coloring away.  She seemed like such a big girl today!  As I've said before, I know she's been ready for this for a while.  I've tried to make this an exciting day and not a sad day.  However, I may or may not have been counting down the hours until I could go pick her up.  I was so anxious to hear about her day.

This year Em's school is trying something new with the Kindergartners.  Instead of assigning them a teacher at meet the teacher last Thursday, they all got assigned a group number.  The entire first week, the Kindergartners will stay with their group number, but rotate to a different teacher each day. This gives the 4 teachers a chance to get to know all of the students before permanently assigning them a teacher on Friday afternoon.  Deep down, I know this is a good idea, but it sure adds to my worries (back to the technicalities I mentioned above . .will she know which classroom she needs to go in each morning?).  I'm hoping at the end of the week, she is excited about the teacher she gets assigned.

When I picked Em up today she had the biggest smile on her face.  Of course I had a thousand questions for her!  She told me Kindergarten is awesome and she had the best day ever!  She liked her teacher, Ms. Surplus, she met all the kids in her class and got to go to PE, where they played lots of games.  She said she knows her way all around the school.  I was so happy (and a bit relieved) to hear that she had such a great day.  She can't wait to go back tomorrow.  I'm hoping her enthusiasm lasts all year!

My baby girl is growing up whether I like it or not.  Deep down though, I know Emily will rock this Kindergarten thing and will have an awesome year.  Today she officially became part of the class of 2028!

Evan's First Day of Preschool

Today Evan started his first day of Preschool.  He's still at Primrose, but will be in a new classroom with new teachers, Ms. Kylie and Ms. Bianca.  The biggest change for him is that he now wears uniforms, which he was not too excited about this morning.

He came with us to walk Emily to school this morning and then I brought him over to Preschool. They made it really special for all the kids on their first day of school.  They had a sign up in front where they could take a picture and then the directors and front desk staff greeted everyone and clapped and cheered as each kid came in.  I thought it was all really cute, but I think it made Evan a little nervous.  I was a little worried how he would do going in to school without Emily, but we walked in his class and luckily he saw a couple of his best buddies and he was good to go.

I like taking one in front of the door to see how much they have grown from year to year. . .but you can tell he was obviously done with all my pictures.

Evan's teachers said he had a great first day.  I was super proud of him because he took a nap without a pull up on and stayed dry the whole time!  Starting in this class they get helper jobs each week and this week he gets to be the weather reporter.  He told me that he said it was sunny and hot outside.  I think he's going to have a great year in the Preschool room.  I can't wait to see what all he is going to learn.

I'm so glad we still have 2 more years before Evan will leave Primrose.  I think it might have been more sad for me knowing that Emily wouldn't be at Primrose anymore than her actually starting Kindergarten.  At least now I know we have 2 more years before we have to say goodbye for good.

Soaking up the Last Day of Summer

Every year Primrose is closed the Friday before school starts.  So for the last 5 years I've been taking this day off and I usually try to think of something fun to do with the kids.  This year I took them to Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine and then we got some ice cream in the afternoon.  This was an extra special day this year because it was Em's last day of summer before starting Kindergarten.  In a way, I'm glad I was "forced" to take this day off.

2015 Girl's Vegas Trip

Last month I went on a girl's trip to Last Vegas with 2 of my good friends, Stephanie and Courtney.  Our last girl's trip was 4 years ago, so we were all due for one.  The last time we went we had 2 kids between the 3 of us and now we have 7!  So lot's has changed.

Court and I started off with Mimosa's at the airport.  And don't mind the chips, apparently you can't purchase alcohol before noon on Sunday if you don't purchase food as well.

Court and I flew out Sunday morning and we met Steph in Vegas around noon.  It was nice having a good chunk of the day left once we got there.  Since we couldn't check into our hotel (Paris) yet, we had them store our luggage and then headed off to the Wynn to pick up our show tickets for that night.  We stopped and grabbed some lunch too before heading back to Paris to check in and change for dinner.

We ate at a tapas restaurant called Firefly.  It was really yummy.  It was off the strip, but not far at all and it was much cheaper than most restaurants on the strip.  After dinner we caught a cab back to the Wynn to see Le Reve.  It was a neat show.  It reminded me of a Cirque show. . it was an acrobatic show mostly done in water.

After the show we finally found some time to hit the casino.  We spent some time at the craps and blackjack tables before calling it a night.

The view from our room.

Monday morning we were up early and went to breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi.  This is one of my favorites and one that we repeated from our last girl's trip.  We had no plans this day except dinner reservations at 7:00.  We were a little worried with how we would fill up our day, but after finding some $5 blackjack and craps tables and stopping for lunch, it was dinner time before we knew it.

Court and Steph rode the mechanical bull at the restaurant we ate lunch in.

That night we had dinner reservations at Giada's.  It's Giada De Laurentiis' restaurant.  It was really yummy and we had an awesome view.  The only thing I didn't like about the restaurant was how much Giada is promoted.  We went because of who she was, but we didn't need to see her name and face all over the place.

After hitting the tables again that night and all losing some money, we called it a night.  We got a little bit more gambling in on Tuesday morning before heading back home.  All in all, no one won big, but I don't think any of us lost big either.  So I'd call that a win.  It was a quick trip, but just what we all needed.  I can't wait until our next girl's trip!

Conversations With Evan

On the way to school this morning we were talking about birthdays.  The kids asked when my birthday was and I said it was at the end of the month and this was Evan's response:  "Are you going to give us goody bags?"  He also told me that he will be buying me a toy garbage truck for my birthday.  :)

Conversations With Emily

We were on the way back from dinner earlier this week when Em told me this:  "Sometimes I just feel like there are 2 suns outside because it is so hot."   I had to laugh because gosh, it certainly feels like that with how hot it has been lately!

July I Phone Pics

Em got to take home Normus twice this month.

These 2 love making crafts.

It's too hot now to do anything outside but swim.

sunglasses day.

Evan had splash day at school.

Field trip!

Date night.

I might be raising a monkey.

hat day

Showing off their okra that they grew in their garden.

Cowboy day.

She won't nap at home, but apparently does at school.

I loved his pony he made at school.

While Mommy was in Vegas, Daddy took the kids to the movies.

Silly faces.

Water balloons while mommy is gone.

He has learned to do a somersault.

Just hanging around after dinner one night.

Shawn bought her a Yeti hat for hat day and she came home from school with this picture.   Hmm. .

Cupcakes and chocolate milk as a reward for being tough when having her blood taken.  We had her allergy tested again to see if her food allergies have improved.  They haven't.  Still very allergic to tree nuts (esp. pistachio's and cashews) and peanuts.

Ice Cream with Granny

And if you made it to the end, good job!  It was picture overload this month.