Christmas 2009

It seems like every year this post starts the same way, with amazement that another year has just flown by before we knew it. Well, it's the same thing this year. We have had a very busy year filled with a lot of fun.

Dennis is still working for Time Warner Cable in one of their corporate offices. He celebrated 17 years with the company this year. Before he knows it he will have been there for 20 years! That is a long time to work for the same company. His work keeps him plenty busy with an occasional work trip. This year he traveled back to some of our old stomping ground in Southern California. While he was there he had the opportunity to frequent some of our favorite restaurants and visit some of our friends. I wish that the girls and I were able to make the trip with him. Maybe next time. Dennis has taken up toying around with some photography. Since we purchased a new camera we captured some great nature pictures on some of our outings. There are also some amazing ones from our times watching airplanes land and take off at the airport. He has really enjoyed taking pictures this year.

Dennis and I also celebrated our 17th anniversary. We keep saying that one of these years we'll plan and actually take a nice long over do vacation/2nd honeymoon. I'm hoping that we'll actually get to follow through on that for our 20th anniversary. It is even crazier to think that we have actually been together as a couple for 19 years already. Our life together has been and I'm sure will continue to be a great adventure.

Elizabeth started Kindergarten this year. The school she attends, River Gate Elementary, was just built over the summer, so she is the first Kindergarten class in it. I was not sure how she would do on the bus, but she really enjoys riding it. She loves being a Kinder-gator! Their mascot is a Gator so they have dubbed the Kindergartners the Kinder-gators. She has daily homework and is suppose to read every night. It has been amazing to watch her go from not being able to read at the beginning of the year to reading many words now. They have even started writing short sentences. She's even caught on to a few of the words that Dennis and I find ourselves spelling out instead of saying. It won't be long before we are unable to do that at all. She continues to see a speech teacher two times of week through the school system. Her progress has slowed, but we're still working hard on it. From what I understand, the carry-over to everyday conversation is the most difficult part.

Katherine has started attending Good Shepherd United Methodist Church's (GSUMC) preschool this year. She is in the 2 year-olds class. She attends preschool three days a week for four hours. It really is no surprise that she had zero hesitation about going to school. She's was ready to join in Elizabeth's class last year. Much like her sister, she absolutely loves school. Although, she has had a couple of trips to the directors office for biting and throwing fits. She may be small but don't try to push her around. She's one tough cookie. I believe that is in the past though. She has been having fun with all of the different activities that they do in their day. It is hard to believe that she will be turning 3 in a few weeks.

I'm still staying at home with the girls. I have been subbing at GSUMC preschool and that has really been a lot of fun. I have subbed three times thus far. Once in each age group. I was most nervous about subbing in the two year-olds room, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. I think the three year-olds were the most challenging group for me. I am looking forward to continuing subbing throughout the rest of the school year. I also continue to serve at church in the nursery and in handling the nursery laundry. I sometimes wonder how I was able to complete all of the household duties while working full time. As many of you know, I've taken up running. I ran in a 3K, a few 5K runs and a 4 Mile MS Walk. I have taken a break from running for a bit while I recover from having bursitis in my hip. Thankfully, it is nothing serious. I'm hoping to get back into the running routine in January. One of my running buddies already has a couple of runs lined up for us in the early part of the year with a half marathon being the goal. Who knows....maybe I'll even manage a full marathon. I am hoping that the bursitis will not flare up again.

Our big summer vacation was a two week trip to Oregon. It is one of posts that I am behind on writing. Dennis and I were so glad that the class of '89 let us join in some of the fun of their class reunion. There were many friends that we had not seen in years there. It was a lot of fun and has us looking forward to my 20th class reunion this year. The girls had a lot of fun with my Mom and Dennis' parents while we were there. It was fun to take Elizabeth & Katherine to visit the horse barn where I spent many many hours. I think they found the Young's dogs to be more interesting than the horses. They got to pet llama's, feed ducks and throw a Frisbee for a dog at Barb Mills place. Elizabeth loved going out on the 4-wheeler with Daddy! Katherine would rather play in the sand. They enjoyed playing at the school playground almost every evening. Both girls enjoyed being on Grandpa Royal's boat. They had a blast picking blueberries at Grandma Sue's and climbing the Frambes' Grandparent's plum tree. Elizabeth is one seafood loving girl. That girl can put away some crab and oysters. Dennis & Royal did not catch a keepable Salmon the entire time we were there. That was a little disappointing for all of us. I really enjoyed running outside for a change and running on the beach. Dennis and I were even able to spend a night away from the kids. That was very nice. I'm certain that there is much that I'm failing to mention as the entire 2 weeks was filled with many adventures. Overall, it was a wonderful visit.

This year was a great year. We are looking forward to many more adventures in 2010. You can check out many of this years adventures in the blog archives. We hope that all is well with you and your family. May you have a blessed Christmas and new year!

Bawling Preschool Christmas Program

Wednesday, December 16th, was Katherine's first Christmas program at preschool. We were very excited for her. Dennis was there early and got us great seats in the front row. I got there in the nick-of-time. Katherine was all dressed up in her Christmas dress. Her accessories were what she picked out and insisted on wearing. She looked very cute.

The beginning of the program was the 3's and 4's. The 2's then joined them. They were right up front! Katherine spotted us and was so happy to see us. Then she saw everyone else and panic set in. She was so overwhelmed. First, she covered her mouth and then her eyes. We could see the big frown and tears started to flow. By the time they were down to the last couple of songs she was just beside herself sobbing. One of her classmates even pointed us out to her and tried to console her.

Finally, at a break between songs, I stepped up to the stage and she ran over to me. She did calm down after a little bit and sat and enjoyed watching her friends in the program. I'm hoping that the next program will be a better experience for her. She is such the little entertainer so I was very surprised to see her be completely overwhelmed. Maybe next time we'll sit farther back where she can't see us. Either way, we are looking forward to many more fun and unpredictable preschool programs.

There are more pictures and videos here. (I tried to add the video to this post, but it wouldn't work. Please check it out it was very cute.)

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies

On Saturday, December 5th, we took the girls to uptown to the Children's Theater to their first play. We went with another family, the Callinan's (who were our sledding buddies earlier this year). Originally, we had planned to take the Lynx (train) uptown and then walk to dinner afterwards. There was a possibility of wintery mix and at best very cold temperatures with rain so we opted out on the train ride. The bad thing was that there was an accident on the freeway there so it took longer than expected to drive uptown.


Elizabeth C. and I waited in line to get into the theater while the guys kept the kids entertained in the play area. If we would have known that Santa was making an appearance there we would have arrived a little earlier so that we could have the kids pictures taken with him. It was nice that the kids got to get a little energy out of their systems before the show.

The play that we took them to was If You Take A Mouse to the Movies. It is part of an entire series of books that Elizabeth has absolutely adored. I believe the first Laura Numeroff book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Elizabeth received in a Chick-fil-a kids meal. Can you believe that? She wore that poor book out and easily had the entire thing memorized. We've since purchased a new copy and moved on to the moose/muffin, pig/party, pig/pancake, the cat/cupcake, mouse/school, best mouse cookie and of course mouse/movie. Yes, we have pretty much every book that follows this similar fun story. We are always looking forward to the next book written by Laura Numeroff.

Elizabeth C. (the other Mommy) and I were very curious to see how they were going to make this cute story into a play. It was amazing to see how they tied things together and changed the backdrop of the scenes in the book so effortlessly. The kids all laughed on cue at all the right parts. Almost everyone even sat tight for the majority of the movie. About 10 minutes before the end, Katherine started to get a little restless, but after a quick trip out to the lobby she straightened up and sat through the last part of the show.

It seemed like everyone had similar after show plans. Elizabeth C. thought that they might so she called ahead and make us reservations a pizza place just around the corner from the theater. The place was definitely packed with many of the families that had just attended the play. The kids all colored nicely and ate great. It was a lot of fun and I hope that we'll get to take them to a few more plays over the next year.

You can check out more pictures here.

Arnie Arrived

Our little Elf on the shelf, Arnie, arrived on December 1st. This is his third year at our house. We had hoped that he would arrive a day early, but he sent the girls a letter letting them know that their actions were making him sad so he had to decided to delay his arrival to our house. He gave them a list of things that they needed to complete in order for him to arrive the next morning. The list included:

• Listen to your parents and do what you are told to do.
• Do your homework.
• Do not tell your parents "NO".
• Be nice to each other and share.
• Use your good manners.
  

Thankfully, the girls met all of his requirements and he made his first appearance the next morning.

Normally, Elizabeth either gets up before Dennis leaves the house or she comes in a wakes me up and sadly declares that she missed sending Daddy off to work. Not on the morning of December 1st. Dennis was already gone and I was up early. Elizabeth appeared just as I was finished getting ready. She was so adorable and crushed. "Mommy, I can't find Arnie anywhere! Maybe he is hiding in Katherine's room." I told her that I was sure that he was around and that he would be downstairs and not in Katherine's room. About that time, Katherine woke up, so I headed to get her up and dressed. Elizabeth resumed her search downstairs. About two minutes later, I hear her hollering! "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Arnie IS here! He's here! He's up there!!!!!" I could here her continue to talk on and on as if she was sharing her entire year with her little elf friend. The girls were both so excited to she the little elf.

Yesterday evening we lost power at our house. I'm still not sure why, but whatever it was took out the power in quite a large area. The power flickered on and off for a good 5 minutes before going out completely. The first thing Elizabeth did was to go and ask Arnie if he could use his elf magic to make the power come back on. Katherine completely echoed Elizabeth's request. It was so sweet. They were so sad when I told them that Arnie was only allowed to use his magic to make his nightly trip back home to the North Pole.

It is amazing to me to see how much Elizabeth & Katherine just adores the little Elf. I look forward to seeing the girls search for him and talk with him every day. I will be adding pictures Arnie's Visit 2009 album, so please check back to see where our little elf has visited.

Green Eggs & Ham

I will not eat them Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and ham. I will not eat them in a boat. I will not eat them with a goat. Not in a house or with a mouse.....(or something like that)

Elizabeth has been really into Dr. Seuss lately. She is always looking for words that rhyme. We have read so many Dr. Seuss books that I actually have found myself talking and thinking in rhymes all day long. Both of the girls get quite tickled with we throw out phrases that rhyme.

So this morning (Saturday, November 28th), Elizabeth asked for eggs. Dennis added a little green food coloring, some Canadian bacon, and cheese. Just like that she had green eggs and ham. She thought that was the coolest thing. I thought that was pretty clever. I certainly wouldn't have thought of that. It made for a great start to the day.

There are a few more photos in the fall fun album.

Pow Wows and Thanksgiving Feasts

Elizabeth had her first Pow Wow at school. I went to help out, but didn't bring my camera, so I have no pictures to share (I'm going to try to get one of Elizabeth with the items she made and brought home). The five Kindergarten classes rotated through a series of 5 stations. They made noodle necklaces, Oreo turkeys, paper bag vests, head dresses, and watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving with popcorn.

I went to help out in Elizabeth's class. Her classroom station was where the kids got to string noodle necklaces. It was a lot of fun to see each class. Katherine came with us and she was a great little helper. She helped me with the yarn strings. Then while we helped the kids string their necklaces she colored quietly. We got to see several kids that we knew from our neighborhood that are in different classrooms.

Finally, Elizabeth's class returned to the classroom. It was lunch time when Elizabeth's class returned to their classroom. They were going to do their rooms station after lunch so I missed out on helping with Elizabeth's class. Katherine was so excited when the kids were getting their lunchboxes. She asked me, "Where's my lunchbox, Mom?" She was not happy when I told her it was time for us to go home. She threw a fit all the way home.


The next day was Katherine's Thanksgiving feast at preschool. It was very cute to see all of the kids sitting together at the table. I wish I could say it stayed that way. Most of them hardly touched their food and were more interested in socializing with their friends and the other parents. It was a lot of fun.

(More pictures are here.)

Halloween Fun

We made our normal trip the a local pumpkin patch. We had a great time looking at all of the different pumpkin. We ended up with two large, two small, and two tiny pumpkins. With the girls help in picking out the patterns, we carved the two large pumpkins. We had a great time.

This year Elizabeth really challenged us with her costume request. She declared and stuck to the idea that she was going to be Eve from the movie Wall-E. Eve us the white girl robot from the movie. After many hours searching online, I finally came to the conclusion that I was going to have to make this costume. Thankfully, other parents had posted online some great ideas for making the costume. We were able to take those ideas and modify them to make Elizabeth's costume. Dennis did all of the cutting and I did the assembling. We added a green glow stick behind the leaf symbol and blue glow stick necklaces around the contrail to make it more like the character from the movie. I think it turned out pretty good.

Katherine's costume request posed a few problems as well. She was determined to be princess Ariel. Unfortunately, all of the 2T sizes were more like ballerina Ariel, which was not Ariel at all in her opinion. One of my friends finally suggested that I check the Disney store. Sure enough the XXS was perfect fit for her and they were on sale. We got her the matching light up shoes (which she'll be growing into), crown, and light up wand. She was the perfect little Ariel princess.

We were almost rained out on the big trick-or-treating night. We had to delay our start time by 30-45 minutes to let a rain storm pass by. We figured we had only an hour before it started to pour rain again. We went out with a couple of other families in our neighborhood. The kids had a blast. Elizabeth's costume proved to be a little difficult to walk in and that tuckered her out pretty quick. Once we were done, we handed out candy and the girls enjoyed seeing the other kids in their costumes.

(Check out additional pictures here.

First Report Card

We had our first parent teacher conference for Elizabeth at the end of October. We were a little nervous about it. After 2 years of preschool where we were constantly talking with the teachers about Elizabeth's progress, it was strange not to have such a day to day report. I'm sure that it was just the transition from the preschool environment to grade school environment.

We were very concerned about the speech sessions since we had not seen anything from the speech teacher. I had spoken to her at the curriculum night so I at least knew that Elizabeth was going to speech two times a week. We were not receiving homework or even a note of what they were working on though. It's pretty hard to carry over the lessons at home if you don't know what they are doing in school.

All of that not knowing, but feeling like if there were issues we would have heard something were confirmed by the conference. Elizabeth received a great report card with all 3's and a few 2's (most were area's we expected). The official report card came home about a week after the conference. Elizabeth was very proud of her report card, just like her Mommy, Daddy, and little Sister.

Anne Springs Greenway

Elizabeth's first field trip as a Kindergartner. It was quite interesting. There are three entry points for the Anne Springs Close Greenway and we clearly didn't know which one we were suppose to be entering at. Once we finally arrived the kids had a great time. They had several different stations so we split off by class.

Elizabeth's class started out listening to a talk about trees and why they lose their leaves. Then they entered the house where they played skittles bingo and learned about the indigenous animals. The kids were great listeners and learned a lot.
Then they headed to the hay maze. It was quite a bit smaller and easier than I expected it to be. The kids had a blast racing though it as quick as they could. It was a great opportunity for them to run of some of their energy. The previous class that was there were climbing on top of the bales, but Elizabeth's class was instructed not to do that. We took the opportunity to snap a nice class picture shot.
They received a branded (with the springs logo) tree trunk slice. It was a necklace that they could then string beads on. They all had fun stringing the beads. From there we went to a large picnic pavilion where they made pumpkin faces on paper bags and leave rubbings while learning about how trees produce food. They then searched for a small pumpkin to take home. They finished up with a wagon ride pulled by a tractor where the guide pointed out a bee hive and various types of trees. We were suppose to have lunch there, but that was cut short as the buses needed to be back to school. The kids had a blast and the teachers let them have picnic lunch back at school.

(I have a few more pictures to add to this entry.)

Our Kinder-gator

Elizabeth had her first day as a Kindergartner at River Gate Elementary School on Tuesday, August 25th. The mascot is a Gator so they have dubbed the Kindergartners as Kinder-gators. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system does what is called a staggered start for Kindergarten. They do this so they can do placement testing for them and make any adjustments to their classes. The first week a different group of kindergartners attends each day based on the first letter of their last name.

Elizabeth was really excited about starting school. The first day of school I took her to school and walked in with her. Principal Mrs. Edmond on our way in to the building. Elizabeth had the pleasure of meeting her while at speech at another elementary school last year. We were also surprised to see one of her buddies from preschool helping his Mom direct people into the building. It was so sweet to hear that Jack had been watching the line of cars looking for our car. He was very excited when he finally saw us in the long line to get into the school parking lot. His first day was not until Wednesday and Elizabeth was a little sad that she didn't get to walk into the school with him. His class was across the hall from hers.

We had decided that Elizabeth would ride the bus. It seems almost silly considering the school right out the back of our neighborhood. Her bus stop is the last pick up before going to the school and the first drop off after school. Initially, Elizabeth was not so sure about riding the bus. Then when we left to go to school on the first day she saw one of the older girls that we know in our neighborhood walking to the bus stop with her Mom. From that point on, she was so excited about riding the bus with Hannah. It has been a good experience so far. There are 4 other kindergartners from our neighborhood that ride it with her.

About 20 days after school started we received a call from the principal informing us that Elizabeth's teacher was being moved to teach 5th grade. The Kindergarten student to teacher ratio was at 15/1, which was much lower than they had anticipated. On the flip side, the 5th grade class ratio was 32/1. Ms. Hoskin's class was divided up and assigned to the remaining five Kindergarten classes. Elizabeth ended up in the same class as one of the twin boys that live in our neighborhood and her buddy, Jack, from preschool. It was nice to see such a seamless transition and her new teacher, Ms. Tavano, is very nice.

June's Gone?

I can hardly believe that we are a few days from the end of June. It has been a really busy month here, so I've decided to consolidate the months happenings into one post. It might be a little long, so please bear with me. I might even post it and then come back and add some more so don't be surprised if you see "to be continued" at the bottom of this entry.

Of course there's Elizabeth 5th birthday. Her birthday party was on Saturday, June 6th. She had invited her classmates from school and a few of her neighborhood friends. It was Art Space Studio and the kids had a blast. Each kid got paint the letter of their first name. It was fun to watch them be creative. Even Katherine and one of Elizabeth's friend's little sister (Katherine's age) painted letters. Each child wrote their name on a birthday plate for Elizabeth. Then we had chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a. That was followed by singing happy birthday and cupcakes from a Hello Kitty pull apart cupcake cake. There was even enough time to open gifts. Elizabeth has thoroughly enjoyed every gift she has received.

The following day, Sunday, June 7th, was Dennis' birthday. He chose to have left over Hello Kitty cupcakes for his cake. He got dinner of his choice that evening. His gift arrived the following week. He bought a new fancy digital camera. I'm hoping eventually the novelty will wear off and I'll get the chance to take some fun pictures of the girls during our daily adventures, but for now it goes almost everywhere with him. He has really enjoyed taking pictures with it and has gotten some really great shots. I'm looking forward to sharing some of them with everyone.


If you don't know already, Elizabeth LOVES race cars (I am too, so her love of them shouldn't be too surprising). Lowes Motor Speedway is here in the Charlotte area and they offer tours of the track. We met up with a few of our friends for a tour. I think that Elizabeth was disappointed that her M&M #18 car was not there for her to see. She kept asking where the race cars were at. We were the last tour that day because there were a few races going on (Legends series and one other), so instead of just getting to do one lap around the track the tour van did two laps.

As many of you know, I've taken up running. We recently changed our gym membership and I signed up for some personal training sessions. The best part about the new gym is that Elizabeth gets to go to the kid zone area where they have two inflatable bounce houses. She loves to go there. I get my workout and so does she. Katherine always has fun at child watch and has made several new friends. I started going there 3-4 days a week in June and now Dennis goes a couple times in the evenings after work (sometimes the whole family goes together) and we all go together on Saturday mornings. It's been a lot of fun. I've even inspired Dennis to run a little. We've been really enjoying working out together. Elizabeth will be the first to tell you she gets a great workout bouncing in the bounce house.

My birthday was next in the cue. It was the following week, on Wednesday, June 17th. We went out to eat at Salsaritas and then I had Tiramisu for my birthday cake. The girls split a cupcake and Dennis passed on both. I was fine with that because that meant more Tiramisu for me. Dennis surprised me with a NASCAR Ride-Along gift certificate. I'm very excited about it. I guess he saw how excited I was to go on the tour at Lowes Motor Speedway. I'm looking forward to that adventure, but it looks like it won't happen until fall sometime.

Also, during that week Elizabeth attended a 3 day afternoon camp at Art Spaces Studio. She made a glass mosaic ladybug (which I'll have to take a picture of), painted a small flower pot (seen to the left with tomatoes and banana pepper from our garden), and a garden stake. The last day the kids got to plant a seeds in their flower pot and we've been watching it grow in our kitchen window. The 2nd afternoon, we skipped Katherine's nap and Katherine and I hung out and painted our own projects while Elizabeth was in camp. Katherine painted a fish (again stay tuned for a picture) and I made a small plate with the letter K for Katherine.

We've had a lot of fun birthday parties to attend and Elizabeth had speech twice a week. It almost seemed as though we had more running around to do over this month than we normally do during the school year. We also had a air conditioner scare.....on a 90 degree day. It turned out to hopefully be just some fluke thermostat issue. In the evenings before dinner we like to hit the pool. Katherine is very fearless and eager to keep up with the big kids. I imagine that both girls will be swimming like fish by the end of the season.

I think that's it for the month of June.....it's only taken my until half way through July to get this posted.

I'm Finally Five!

Anyon who knows Elizabeth could tell you that she's been counting down to being 5 ever since she turned 4 last year. I don't know how many times I answered the question, "Am I five now?" When I'd tell her that she wasn't 5 yet she would almost always reply, "But I'm almost 5, right?" When we finally hit 4 1/2 she slowed down on that question and seemed semi-content with being 4 1/2. The last couple of weeks we've started the count down to the big day and she's gone back to being almost 5. She's so excited to be the big 5!

We've been opening gifts and cards as she's been receiving them this week. She took the money from a couple of cards to Super Target a couple of days ago. She picked out two cars (a Nascar #18 M&M car (her favorite) and a Dinaco Lightning McQueen) and a Cars movie sticker/coloring book. She got to hand the cashier the money and she had $6.06 left which she chose to put in her piggy bank so she could save up for something big. She was so proud to be able to chose what she wanted and pay for it all by herself.

If she had to recap the day, this is how it would go:

We have had a very busy day today. First, I got to open up a few presents and cards. The first thing I opened was a cool blue soccer skirt (Mommy calls it a skort...whatever) and shirt. I knew I just had to wear it today. I also opened a Ariel music birthday card that I picked out for Mommy and Daddy to give to me. I got a super sweet one from my little sis. I also got a cool color by number Cars and Hello Kitty pictures. I immediately declared that Katherine could have the Hello Kitty one. She thanked me for sharing. I also got a cool Moon Phase light to hang on my wall in my room as a night light. Now it will be like I'm sleeping outside under the stars....but there won't be any stars....just a moon.

Then I went with Mommy to get her hair cut. She tried to talk me into getting my hair cut like a big girl, but I wanted to sit on the motorcycle so I passed on it. I got tired of coloring in my Cars Sticker book so I colored my hand blue. Mommy wasn't too happy about that, but thankfully most of it washed off of my new soccer skort and shirt. My hand despite scrubbing remained a duller faded blue. I just wanted blue fingernails. I guess I got carried away.

We then went and finally mailed Grandma Sue's Mother's Day gift (Mommy's been carrying it around for 2 weeks now). Silly Mommy. I think I left my sunglasses there.

Next was speech therapy with my new therapist at Tega Cay Speaks. Mrs. Theresa is really nice and we got to make up silly stories and blow bubbles. Mommy colored in my Cars Sticker book while she was waiting for me. She likes to outline before she colors. I think that is silly, but that's okay.

From there we went to Clipper Doodles so I could get my hair cut and get a mini-manicure. We just missed the big rush. I got to sit on the motorcycle and watch Nickelodeon while I was getting my hair cut. It's nice to be able to see again. I've been telling Mommy for TWO WEEKS that I need to get my hair cut. I got a blue glitter star on my cheek to match my outfit and hand. Then It was time to get my nails done. I surprised Mommy by choosing red fingernail polish. (I don't think she was too surprised since it's my favorite color.) I know it's silly for a Tomboy to get her nails done, but I like it. Mommy says that's okay because I'm still a girl even if I'm a Tomboy. I keep telling her and Daddy that I'm not girl and just a Tomboy. When will they get it.

We called Daddy so he could start getting everything ready to go to the pool. Then we headed to pick up lunch. It was my choice and I chose Chick-fil-a. When we got there I changed my mind to Burger King. Mommy said that Daddy, Katherine and her were having Chick-fil-a, but she'd drive through Burger King just for me. That made me happy.

We came home and got changed for the pool. When we got there our friends Mrs. Elizabeth, Katrina and Aiden were there. We ate lunch quickly so that we could go and play with them. It was a lot of fun, but they had to leave so that Aiden could take his nap. That made me sad and I didn't want to play much after they left. We did sit out in the sun and get dried off a little before heading home.

It was time for Katherine's nap when we got home. Once she was down, Daddy and I ran out for a few fun errands. We were going to Home Depot (one of my favorite stores and my 2nd favorite Nascar car after the M&M car) and then to pick out desert. Maybe I can even talk him into getting me another toy (maybe a Home Depot car...I saw one at Target yesterday).

We're having my choice for dinner so I chose breakfast. If you don't know, my Daddy is the best breakfast cook in the whole world. Well, that's what Mommy says anyway. He's going to make me my very favorite, blueberry waffles with fresh berries, blueberry syrup, and lots of whip cream. Bacon, too! I can't wait. I think that's better than my suggestion of cake and lots of icing for dinner. Mommy said that was a desert not a dinner, but I thought it would make a fine dinner.
We've been running around way too much! I'm tired and will probably be headed to bed early tonight, but it's SO much fun being FIVE! Next year I want to be ten!
*Elizabeth*

Preschool Graduation

Well, it is official! Elizabeth has graduated preschool and is headed on to Kindergarten next year. Thursday, May 21st, was her graduation day! She got to wear a cap and gown. Thankfully, we didn't have to buy those. She did get to keep her 2009 tassel and receive a diploma certificate.

The program was adorable. It started out with a photo slide show of the class photos for our kids "class" starting from the 2's through the 4's. It was amazing to see how drastically some of the kids have grown up and changed. Then it went through each 4's class. First with the class photo and then a few photos of each child. It included a baby picture, a few from school, and finally their picture in their cap and gown. Very cute.

The children entered the worship center next. Mr. Music (who visits once a month at school and is also named Chris) played the graduation precession on his Saxophone. Then Mr. Chris (Pastor of Music and Worship) led them in several songs. The kids were adorable. They even played their recorders (which they got to bring home) for us.

That was followed by the handing out of the diplomas. Several of the teachers were very emotional during this part. Each set of teachers haded out the diplomas to their class. The kids gave each teacher a big hug (well, most of them did). Elizabeth was eager to get back to her seat.

At the end each child was given a carnation. I could see Elizabeth's initial disappointment when she didn't get a red one. That girl and her favorite color red! Then they exited out of the worship center.

Unfortunately we're fast discovering that our not so old digital camera is old and slow and not so good at catching shots. We missed quite a few cute photo opportunities because the camera or Katherine was not cooperating. I ended up having to leave the ceremony a few times because she as loud and squirming too much. I think she would have loved to be up there on the stage with Elizabeth.

The good thing was that both the camera and Katherine kept me busy enough that I didn't have the opportunity to shed a tear! Phew, that was a relief. There had been quite a bit of chatter between the Mom's about bawling about this milestone accomplishment during the graduation ceremony. I'm glad I escaped that one.

Afterward we returned to the classroom to get Elizabeth where we got a few more photo opportunities. The teachers were also presented with the adorable picture frames that all of the parents had chipped in to have made for them. (Many thanks to Sarah who headed up the idea.) The kids then gave their carnations to their Mom's. Katherine had run to give Elizabeth a big hug and had quickly claimed (as she decapitated it) the carnation for her own. Then we headed down to the multipurpose room for cake and refreshments. It was a wonderful day and a big milestone!

You can view additional pictures here.

MS Walk

This is the 4th or 5th year that I have participated in the MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Walk. This was the first year that I was going to run the event. Many thank yous to my family and friends that supported me in this event. I exceeded my initial $250 fundraising goal! If you wanted to make a donation but didn't get a chance yet, they are still accepting donations until mid June. Here is the link to my participant center.

The local National MS Chapter had changed things up quite a bit this year. We were walking in a new location and there was very little information on the website. That was a little frustrating. There was no map course and the only time listed was for check in. So I was there at 7:24 for checking in. They don't make out your shirt so you have to sign in to get it. There was hardly anyone there. After I checked in I found the coffee tent and got a cup of coffee. Then I found my way to the information tent where I learned that the walk was not starting until 9am. I also found a turn by turn written out course instructions for the 2 mile and 4 mile courses. NO map. GREAT! It really seemed like they were not that organized this year at all. That was a bit disappointing.
With at least an hour and a half to kill I was bored out of my mind. Alison was unable to make the event so I was on my own. I did find another really nice gal, Stephanie, that was walking the event on her own and we started talking. We both have girls similar ages and a few other things in common so we hit it off. She was walking for herself since she was diagnosed with MS not so long ago. I had not even thought about bringing a camera, so Stephanie offered to email me her photos. Thanks to her I have some great shots to share with all of you.

Before we knew it, it was finally 9am and Larry Sprinkle started talking on the stage. They had us do warm up stretches.....only to talk for almost another 30 minutes. They had a beautiful balloon release. Each balloon represented a participant that had MS. for each person

Finally at 9:27 we started to move. The bad part was that the first couple of sections we were suppose to stay on the sidewalks. Imagine 1500 people of different paces trying to all stay on the sidewalks. Some cyclist had showed up to participate and I was sure I wasn't the only runner in the bunch.

I started jogging on the shoulder when there was no on coming traffic and caught up to the lead motorcycle cop. I asked if it was okay for me to run ahead and he said it was fine, but I was on my own for traffic. I was fine with that so I was off and running. Shortly there after 4 other runners joined me. We lost one runner once we crossed the road.

I figured if I could just keep them in sight I could keep going. We all took our own little walk breaks along the way. We'd catch up to each other and then fall back off and on, too. There was not a single water station over 3 miles of the 4 mile course. The first/last water station was when we rejoined the 2 mile course. I am guessing that was at the last mile maker. We really had no idea how far into the run we were at any point.

While taking one of my last walk breaks, I looked over and I was walking next to my new friend Stephanie! I was glad to see that she was doing well on her 2 mile walk. I was loosing sight of the other runners in the mix of the large crowd of walkers, so I picked the pace back up. I joined up with one of the other runners and we finished the last uphill run together. I crossed the finish line at 10:07am. I ran/walked 4 miles in only 40 minutes! That's a 10 minute mile pace. My legs certainly felt it.

I stretched out and chatted with the other runners. We were all surprised that there were not more runners there for the event. Then watched to see if I could see Stephanie cross the finish line. I didn't see her, but she saw me! We chatted a bit more and had our picture taken together. I look forward to getting to know her better.
It was a beautiful, warm, and very humid morning, but it was not raining! Well, at least it didn't start raining until I was almost home. Thank you again for all of your support!

Easter Fun

Easter day was a very busy day for us. The second Sunday is when I work in the nursery, so we attended the 8:30am service instead of the 10:00am one that we normally attend. That way the girls and Dennis could go home and come back and pick me up after once the 11:30am service started.

That made the Easter Bunny's visit a little late at our house. He knew that I would want to be there, so he didn't come to visit until Dennis & the girls came to pick me up. It had not crossed my mind, but another nursery worker commented that he didn't envy any of the nursery workers or Sunday School teachers today since the kids would be so hyped up on sugar. Not the case for Elizabeth and Katherine.


When we arrived home the girls were initially disappointed that it didn't appear that the Easter Bunny had visited our house. Dennis then sent them on a scavenger hunt checking each room with the playroom being the last one for them to check. Sure enough on each of their bean bags were their baskets filled with all kinds of goodies. Dennis and I had asked the Bunny to go easy on the candy this year and he'd done just that. The girls had a blast going through their baskets.

Then they headed outside to find all of the eggs that the Bunny had left for them out there. They had a blast, but Elizabeth was very sad that many of the eggs were empty. We explained that for every time she'd not listened the Bunny had emptied an egg. That only worked for.....a few minutes, lol. They still had fun finding all of them.














You can check out more of our Easter pictures here.