Baby girl goes to Kindergarten

 

Is this real?  Hello?  Where did my baby girl go?  Am I seriously 31?

 

These are things I ask myself daily. 

 

I actually didn't even cry on her first day.  I took her to school and it wasn't until she got in line and walked through the doors that I had a moment of emotion. 

And honestly, I didn't get the "my baby's growing up!" tears.  It was just a moment where I was overwhelmed with "Have I done enough?" 

 

Have I taught her to be kind enough? Have I helped her to be independent enough?  Have I encouraged her to be thankful and grateful?  Have I instilled a love of learning? 

 

As she walked through the doors I found myself feeling like from here on out, it was me against the world.  My influence vs the influence of teachers, peers, curriculum, and the media. I think maybe a lot of moms and dads feel that way. 

 

And man, is she the cutest kindergartener or what? 

 

 

 

 

October

I'm almost there. I can see the finish line. I bet you're all grateful. Marathon posts about anything are just a tiny bit annoying, I know. But hopefully I'll be more motivated to blog from here on out! So here's our fabulous October!

 

 

The next set of pictures were taken by my lil chick.  No point whatsoever, except I think they're funny.  I love looking at life from her perspective and seeing all the things she's interested in. 

This is not even a quarter of the pictures she took. I have quite the collection on my phone.

 

The rest of the pics are just from our busy, random October. 

When he wears shades he always says "I a cool guy, mom."

So suave.

Nolan is obsessed with robots. 
This little one he refers to as his "blue sleeping robot"
 although he's never slept with it and it is clearly not blue....

Happy 30th to me!  Thirty, Flirty, and Fabulous, right?

This is CJ with the blueprints for her future business, "the daycare
of knowledge."  She spent about 20 minutes describing what each room
would be used for.  Everything from a baby room to a school room
 to a diaper room.  I am constantly  fascinated at all the things
 her brain comes up with.



Cecily had a wonderful birthday as well!  She wanted to have an ART party, so I ordered a bunch of junk from Oriental Trading and we partied it up!  There was lots of chaos, but it was fun.  Next year I think we'll limit the numbers a little :)  10 kids ranging in age from 7 to 2 is just.... well...... total and complete pandemonium.

MY GIRL IS FIVE!!! What the heck? 

 

 

 

Blowin out the birthday candle!

 

 

Our "Art Studio" living room

My girl, creating her masterpiece. 

Paint, paint, and more paint!

I ordered a Mona Lisa poster and we were going to play
 "pin the smile on the Mona Lisa.... but it came 2 days after the
 party, so we made do with "Pin the paint on the pallet!"

 

 

Here's my lil man with his blob..... I mean painting.

 

CARVING PUMPKINS!  There's a little pumpkin farm about 20 miles from town, so we went and got a few lil pumpkins to carve.  The kids had a BLAST! And Nolan loved the cows.

 

 

The field behind her was where the pumpkins grew up.

He kept reassuring us that he was "weely trong!"

Cows!!!!

punkin' guts!

We didn't get any pictures of the finished ones!  I know- I am
not thinking straight these days.

 

 

AAAANNNNND, Halloween!!!!

They got lots of loot this year, and were pretty excited about it.  At first, Nolan didn't understand trick or treating and wasn't interested, but after the 2nd or 3rd house he started picking up on the fact that people were just giving him candy and he didn't even have to pee in the potty for it.  After a while, they'd give him a candy and he'd smile up at them and say "One more?"  Some people gave in, but some were unmoved by his plea.

  Mike said he had to apologize for our greedy kid at nearly every residence. 

Oh, the joy.

 

Not to mention that for nearly the entire month of November, Nolan also asked every night as it got dark, "Mom, we go trick treating get candy tonight?" 

 

I kept telling him "Not tonight, but really soon."

 

 

 

Our Anniken Skywalker



Cutest witch ever!

He likes to shoot his gun at people.
 I know, I know, I'm a terrible mom :)

September 2012

September

While October is always crazy in our family, September seems to stay easy and breezy.  My cutie pie started pre-school at a local Lutheran church.  It's the only preschool in town, and people said good things about it.

  I was excited for the social experience of it for CJ, as well as helping her get ready to sit through a day of school.  In about mid-October, however, we decided to take her out of the program.  While it wasn't necessarily a BAD little preschool, we just didn't feel like Cecily was benefiting from it all that much.  Plus, it was 100 bucks a month for 3 days a week, 2.5 hours each class- and they only had 30-40 minutes of academic time!  The rest was Bible stories, free play time, recess, and snack time.  I get that the whole thing CAN'T be academic, but it just didn't seem worth it.

Every day when I asked her what she had learned she would say "uhhhh, nothing."  She already knows her numbers and letters, so most of anything they taught was old news to her. 

I guess I was thinking more along the lines of dinosaur units, and under the sea curriculum, exploring space and all those fun things.  I guess we can't all get exactly what we want, huh? 

In the meantime, we are doing "mommy preschool" which, let me tell you, Cecily was not excited for when I told her about it.  But she's warmed up to the idea. We're going on a nature walk today.  Hooray.

And, I have to mention this, because I think its SO funny.  They would sing "Bingo was his name-o" only they would substitute J-E-S-U-S for B-I-N-G-O.  The first time I heard it I literally burst out laughing because it was so ridiculous (and kinda sac-religious? teeny bit?). 
She looked really cute on her first day, though!



It's official: she rocks my socks off.

The next few pics just show you how goofy my girl is.

Add caption

 

 

 

At the end of the month we traveled to Helena and got family pictures done by a friend of mine from high school.  She did a great job and got lots of candid, beautiful shots of my kids and our family.  While posed pics are great, I love the natural feel of candid shots SO much too.  You can take a peek at them here if you want.  Or, leave me a comment with your address and I'll send you a Christmas card!  Even better!
That Saturday morning, Mike and I also ran a little 5K that was put on through some kids at Carroll College.  It was to benefit Haiti (not sure exactly who in Haiti..... but I'm sure it was really great), so we went and ran our hearts out with a bunch of college kids.  When we got there we looked around and, with the exception of a very few, we were the oldest ones there.  HA! 

Us "old folks" in our runnin' gear.

October is coming and it's going to be another huge post!
 Don'tcha just LOVE 'em????
  Wooooooooooooop!

June

Playing catch-up because I'm a slacker!  Well, not a slacker.... I just am totally over blogging for some odd reason.  BUT, I need to write all our little happenings down because I'll forget if I don't.  My kids are growing so fast and I have the worlds WORST memory.  I always tell myself I'll remember, but when I try to think back on past experiences things are always fuzzy unless I write them down. It's for posterity, right? 

On June 9th we took a trip to Helena to see the fambam and run the Governor's Cup.   MIke and I ran the  10K, and it was SO much harder than the 10K we ran in March.  The course had WAY more hills, so both Mike and I ended up with about the same time as our last race, even though we were in better shape :).  We left the kids with my parents and ran the 10K in the morning, then met up with them and ran the 5K with the stroller, 2 kiddos, and my dad.

Not to get TOO sappy, but it was pretty awesome to run the 5K.  My dad and I first ran the Governor's Cup in June of 1989 and we didn't miss a year until after I left for college (I think 2003 was the first time I missed becase I was in Mexico).  I even ran it with him the morning after my senior all night graduation party! It was great to be able to share the experience with my kids and my dad and my husband this year.  CJ ran the first mile or so, then was honestly a bit of a stink pot for the rest of the race.  She curled up in the stroller and complained about being cold :).  Nolan, however, could not have been cuter.  "I winning!" he would say as he ran and ran and ran.  He probably ran nearly 2 miles of the 3.2 mile race.  It was SO fun to see him out there enjoying it, not to mention the fact that I love my hometown and running through the streets made me happy.

We've been trying really hard to stay active lately, so I bought a second-hand bike trailer and we've been LOVIN' it.  I love the exercise, and if I can keep the kids from fighting while they're in it it's even better!  Those two..... I hope eventually they're friends.  The other day Cecily says to me "Mom, I think I don't like Nolan anymore.  We should maybe give him away."  Like he's a rascally puppy or something.  Sheesh.

We signed CJ up for swimming lessons again this summer!  There were 8 classes per session, and she ended up doing 2 sessions.  The first 7 days were spent trying to coax her in to putting her face in the water and trying to keep her from flailing and screaming and freaking out if someone tried to take her away from the side ledge.  Yeah- it was awesomely horrific. I even took her to the pool later in the day to try to work with her alone and it was a disaster. I'm pretty sure everyone in the pool that day thought I was either a bad mom who didn't discipline her kid, or I was trying to drown the poor child.  My girl has some lungs on her, and she's not afriad to use 'em.  On day 8, the head lifeguard/pool coordinator/boss lady spent some time with her one on one.  By the end of that day she was away from the side AND putting her face in.  I guess it's all about the right teacher, huh? The next 8 classes went pretty well, although she was still afraid.  I'm signing her up for fall lessons so that she doesn't lose any of the courage she's started to find.

Nolan and I did a "Mommy and Me" class, which he completely LOVED.  It was fun to have time alone with him as well.  He loved jumping off the side in to my arms the most. 

At the end of June my good friend Erin got married to the love of her life, Jake.  It was such a fun wedding! Erin and Jake are an awesome couple.  We were so happy to celebrate with them.  The wedding was at the base of the Bridger mountain range in Montana, and it was just incredible, and the perfect setting for a wedding.  Mike and I both commented on how much we love Bozeman.  If we stay in Montana after this coal mining adventure, that is probably where we'd want to be. We'll see! Erin looked stunning, and it is always fun to see all my BSC girls.  They're awesome.  PLUS, my amazing mom and dad took the kids for us so that Mike and I could have a little get-away for a night.  Niiiiiiiiice.

Near the end of June Colstrip has a big..... festival?  Party?  Community event?  They call it "Colstrip Days" and they have a parade where they throw candy and people make useless floats advertising local businesses.  They have a big farmers market thing in the biggest city park and there are a billion booths with food, crafts, more food, local art, and all the fresh squeezed lemonade a girl could ask for.  Delish! Not to mention the Amish come and sell fresh donuts.....YUM! That is also when the town does local fireworks, since most people leave town for the 4th of July. 

AND, last but not least:  Pinterest is good for something besides bad recipes and time wasting!  We made bookshelves for the playroom!  I rotate out all our books because there's not enough room on those 4  shelves for everything we have.  But the kids are reading more, so mission accomplished.

Stay tuned for July.  Hopefully I'll get around to it within the next few months! :)

I so funny...

Cecily

The Cecilita Jones Update:

Cecily's Auntie Rachel calls her "Cecilita Jones" sometimes. 

It's funnier if you say it with a Spanish accent. 

Now you're all saying it in your head.  Now laughing.  I know, it's funny.  Thanks Rach.

Oh, my.  Cecily just keeps becoming more and more fun, and more and more of her OWN person.  She has her own opinions about EVERYTHING, and isn't afraid to tell you how it is (or how she thinks it should be).

She's still gets really excited about pretty much everything in the whole world.

I was writing in her journal the other night about all her energy and vitality and I realized that it truly is something wonderful, and something to celebrate. 

Don't get me wrong, she wears me out on a daily basis, but I realized how much excitement she brings in to my life too.  She started jumping up and down in the car this morning because I bought her juice at the store.  It's the little things that make life great, and she helps me remember that. 

She starts pre-school next year and she is SOOOOOOOOOOO excited.  We haven't put her in any kind of preschool yet because either we didn't want to shell out the money, or we were moving soon.  Her little friend, Avery is a few months older than her, and is going to kindergarten next year (along with most of CJ's primary church class).  Cecily started crying when I told her she isn't quite old enough for kindergarten.  There's a really great Lutheran Pre-School here in town, though, so we're signing her up.  I'm excited for the structure and socialization it will give her.  Not to mention the break from her little bro terrorizing her and pulling her pigtails :). 

Some of the things Cecily LOVES are:

-Pizza with Pepperoni

-Playing outside and at the Park

-Riding her bike

-Playing tag with Mom

-Bananas, Broccoli, and Carrots

-Playing with friends

-Library Books

-Coloring with markers (which only happens occasionally because if Nolan gets a hold of them we have a large mess on our hands)

-Painting.  Paint by numbers, paint with water, acrylics, basically anything paint related

-Tumbling class and anything at the CPRD rec center

Some things Cecily DOES NOT LOVE are:

-Apples

-Nolan doing what she calls "bad things" to her, i.e. pulling her hair or taking her color crayons

-Being bossed around by mom

-Eating her entire dinner

-Getting her hair brushed

Just like Nolan-man, this girl lights up my life.  We really love her a lot.

Cecily's "Not a REAL party" 4th Birthday Party

Cecily's 4th birthday party was (how shall I put this?) low key? small? family oriented?  It was just not as big as I had originally planned, I guess.  I had big dreams of a tea party birthday with all Cecily's friends from her church Sunbeam class coming and having petit fours and cucumber sandwiches.  But, alas, plans change (not to mention our house, our job, our location, and our life changed...)  So, we had cupcakes and presents as a family and we are saving the tea party for another year.

We DID have a fun time, though!  It was cute to see my girl get excited about her presents and cupcakes. 

I made "poke cake" cupcakes, which my friend Erin makes all the time. BEST FROSTING EVER!  Honestly, the recipe works better as a cake, but I wanted cupcakes instead, and they were yummy.

 Erin's recipe blog is FABULOUS, and I LOVE that she makes up mostly her own recipes, or uses family ones. 

The day after Cecily's birthday party she said, "Was that my birthday?  It wasn't my REAL party, right mom?"  I laughed and realized that when you're four you don't understand that people aren't willing to drive thier kids 2 hours just for cupcakes. 

Yesterday we made halloween cards and she started asking me if she could make invitations to her 5th birthday party. Silly girl.

We all had fun and my chick got some FABULOUS presents.

Under the birthday sign with her Strawberry Shortcake dollies.

In the video below she is opening her big present.

I sure love this little darlin'.