Grandparents Day and Pinwheels for Peace

Nana came to visit and be a part of Grandparents and Special Friends day at school. The girls were so excited to have Nana be a part of the day. 

As part of the PTO hospitality committee, I got to help set up and prepare for this big, special day! Nana started off in the cafeteria with a light breakfast and coffee. After a quick message from the principal, she joined the girls in their classrooms. She met the girls' teachers and friends, walked around the school and made her own pinwheel.  

The kids worked on their pinwheels in Art class in the weeks leading up to Peace Day. 

The entire school gathered outside to place their pinwheels in the peace sign. 

It was a fun morning! Thanks Nana for making it special for the girls!

First Real Dentist Visit

I took Makena and Kyle to their regular dentist check-up after school on Monday. Makena is an old pro and she did great. No cavities! The last time Kyle visited the dentist, they counted his teeth and brushed them with a regular toothbrush. He cried and cried and cried. 

This visit was his first real check-up with X-rays and teeth cleaning. I wasn't sure how he was going to do, but we talked about the hand stamp and balloon animal he would get if he did a good job. 

I loved watching him on that big Xray chair! He was so cute and so good. He did everything he was told to do, even when those uncomfortable plastic cards were being shoved in his mouth. He even had to take two additional ones since he must have moved the first time around. He got a well-deserved hand stamp after it was done. He's been getting hand stamps at preschool so he was pretty excited to get another one. 

Next was the teeth cleaning. He was nervous so I laid on the chair with him (thanks Makena for playing with my phone and taking a picture!). He again did great and let the hygienist clean his teeth. No tears! It definitely helped that he watched Makena do everything first. 

Both kiddos got a balloon animal and then we were all done. We went to pick up Karis from a friend's house and Kyle fell asleep on the way. He had a full day!

Carnival Fun!

Every year, a large catholic church in town puts on a huge carnival for one weekend in their parking lot. I took the girls two years ago but we didn't go last year. This year, the girls really wanted to go so we headed over there after Daddy got home from church.  

First stop was the petting zoo. The girls loved holding little chicks. Kyle wanted to hold one until he he felt its sharp little feet. He then wanted nothing to do with it. Makena held a bunny but the poor thing was shaking so badly. Kyle loved the miniature pony and spent most of his time petting it. 

The kids rode a lot of rides. They loved all of them and we loved watching them have so much fun. Their first ride was of course the motorcycles. 

I think she's ready for a real one!

I loved that they had plenty of rides that Kyle was tall enough to go on. 

I read on the website that they had pony rides. Makena was so excited but when we got there we found out there were no pony rides. She was sad but was probably just as happy to ride the merry-go-round. She loves horses -- even the hard plastic kind!

 

It was getting hot and we ran out of ride tickets so we went to play some games in the tent. The games were made for little ones and every player won a prize. The people working the booths were super sweet to the kids and didn't mind when Kyle stood closer than he was supposed to or when the girls didn't quite toss the beanbag in the right spot. The kids were so excited to win prizes. 

We look forward to the carnival again next year!

First Grade Assignment

Karis' first homework assignment was to bring a few "artifacts" about herself. One of the things she had to bring was something special or unique about her family. She just read the word "special" in the assignment and thought she had to bring something that was special to her. Not knowing that, I didn't understand why she kept asking me to take pictures of Fluffy for her. I thought she wanted a picture of Fluffy because Makena had a picture of her and Bunny that she was using for her assignment. 

We soon cleared up what she was supposed to bring, but I still took pictures of her and Fluffy. I then found a picture of her and Fluffy when she just turned two years old. What a difference four years has made! She has grown up into a beautiful little girl and Fluffy remains her favorite (and surpassingly in tact!). 

First Kindergarten Assignment

Makena got her first kindergarten assignment. She was so excited to work on it. She wanted to make one last year when Karis made hers. 

Her assignment was to make a small poster about herself to put in the class book. She will share her page with her class so that they can get to know her. 

We talked about what she wanted on her page. We used photos and images from the Internet. I helped her with the layout and then she glued everything on. 

She had so much fun!

And she loved her page! 

Of course, Kyle wanted to take a photo with his picture too...

Kyle's First Day of Preschool

The girls have been in school for two weeks and I definitely enjoyed my fun, low-key little buddy all to myself.  But the last couple days, I have to admit, I was a little excited for Kyle to start school. My list of "things to do when the kids go to school" was getting long and I was eager to get them done (projects around the house, stores where I want to shop alone, etc). 

I couldn't tell if Kyle was excited to go to school. Summer was a long time for a little three year old and preschool as a two year old was only a distant, fuzzy memory. He goes to school at our church so half the time I don't think he even knows if he's going to church or school!

When I was getting him ready for his First Day of School picture, he started to get sad and said he didn't want to go. In the sweetest little voice, he asked, "Mommy, are you going to stay with me?" I almost started to cry! I knew he would enjoy school but I could feel his uncertainty and nervousness. He loved the cars on his picture I made, so he cheered right up and happily let me take a picture of him...of course, with cars in hand. Perfect.

He wanted to walk to school (just like sisters), but I convinced him we best take the car.

When we arrived at school, he wanted to see Daddy first. When he saw Daddy and all the other kids arriving, there was nothing but excitement. 

He wanted to carry his own backpack (something he never did last year) and told me he'd show me where his class was. He walked right in and got busy playing at one of the tables. He had a great first day!

The next day he was the line leader and he had an even better day! His teachers are super sweet. One of his teachers taught both of our girls as well. We are excited for how much he's going to grow and learn this year. Such a big boy!