The Graduate

First day and last day with Mrs. Stanzione

"Preschool is over and we are going home. Goodbye, Adios, we always have fun." So that is part of a song that Mrs. Stanzione sang with the kids at the end of every school day. I miss hearing it already and it has only been a few days. Leah spent over two years at the St. Paul's Preschool and last week she graduated. In the Fall she is off to Kindergarten which is so very hard to believe. Physically I don't think she has changed that much...she is quite a bit taller, but her vocabulary and maturity is the most evident. This girl is smart as a whip, and tells it like it is. She is slowly but surely reading and I know great things are in store for her in the future. She is sad that she won't see Mrs. Stanzione everyday, but we will still see her at church. And Logan, how will she ever live without Logan. Well, they start Junior Golf together on June 11th so that ought to help with that.

For the end of the year they interviewed the kids. The first question was what will you miss about preschool?  Leah said she would miss being with the best teacher ever. The second question was what do you want to be when you grow up? Leah said she wants to be a doctor and help people and a mother. She has such a kind heart. Over the course of the school year Mrs. Stanzione wrote down funny things that her preschoolers would say. The board had quite a few things on it from Leah. I wish I could remember them all, but right now the only one that comes to mind is once when Leah was upset with Mrs. Stanzione she told her "You are giving me a preschool headache." I wonder how that's different from a regular headache, LOL. Anyway, I'm going to miss spending my afternoons with Miss Leah. She definitely can be exasperating and relentless in her pursuit of what she wants. But she's an independent gal and I wouldn't have it any other way. Good Luck in Kindergarten, my darling Leah.

Gretchen, Arthur, Leah and Alayna

Mrs. Stanzione with her two favorites!

11 Months and Counting

Sweet Hattie is nearing the end of babyhood, and toddlerhood is on the horizon. I'm sad but I'm not. It's fun seeing her explore and try new things. And as long as she continues to let me snuggle and rock her I think I will be just fine. She really is the sweetest little baby. She is so easy going, just goes with the flow, hardly makes a peep and is always happy. She seriously makes me want to have another. But to be clear, I'm done!

At 11 months, she is into everything. She is not quite walking. It's right there. On May 19th she started actively taking more than one step to walk holding onto things. She has been pulling herself up for weeks, but she's finally making progress. And occasionally we notice her letting go and standing in place on her own. She's figuring it all out. She is definitely making lots more noises these days too. Lots of B, D and M consonants. Mitch keeps trying to get her to say DaDa and once in a while she does but without intent. She says MaMa a lot too, but I don't think she associates it with me yet.

She has really been into playing with her sisters. And by playing I mean she likes to go in the playroom and pull everything off of the shelves and leaves a mess for them to clean up. They LOVE it, okay so not really. She is also doing pretty good with outside time. The first few times in the grass she was a mess, but she's coming around. As for food, there is still nothing this little one won't eat. She loves to eat. She gets that from me, Ha! And we are slowly starting the transition to milk. We are on our last can of formula. We are mixing with milk and when it's gone, it's gone!

Party planning is in full swing, invites have been sent and in a few weeks we are celebrating a very special birthday for my Sweet Hattie. It's gonna be a fun day. Love my little Hattie Cakes!

Brooke Boyer Photography

On May 1st we did a mini-session with Brooke Boyer Photography. I was super excited about this photo shoot and even got matching dresses made for the girls. I thought they looked just precious. The big girls did great...they always do, and they love to pose for the camera. Hattie was a different story. It was her first time ever sitting in the grass and she did NOT like it. Still I can't complain. I love to see pictures of my sweet girls. Hoping the next time Hattie cakes will be more cooperative.

Play Ball

The end of April, the Pigtails Softball league in Decatur started practice. Leah was so excited. She came home from her first practice and told me her team was the "Cheetah Leprechauns." Well, that's what the girls call the team, but it's actually Arby's (thanks Papa).

Her first game was supposed to be on Saturday May 11th, but it got cancelled because of rain. So her first game was on Tues. the 14th in South Shores. I was so proud of her...her first time up at bat she made contact three times. She fouled three off and then hit off the tee. The bottom half of the inning she played first base. She was mostly kicked the dirt, but she would run to the base to field the throw from her teammates with a little prompting from her coach. In the second inning she hit the first pitch and she really smacked it. She did great running to first base, but then needed prompting to run to the other bases would her teammates would hit the ball. She wasn't the only one. In a league of 4, 5 and 6 year olds they are still figuring it out. So until June 20th we will be at the ball field every Tuesday and Thursday night. Batter up!

All She Wants To Do Is Dance

This past week has been a DANCE extravaganza! Richland Dance was putting on their Spring Rectial May 10th and 11th. So we had to be there for dress rehearsal on Tuesday and Thursday and then for the real deal on Friday and Saturday. Leah performed last year and I knew she was confident and ready to go. But this was Kiersten's first time on the stage. She is outgoing as can be, but I didn't know how she would do. But she did great...they both did. At the Tuesday dress rehearsal Leah was sitting in the front row with her class so when Bug got on stage she started yelling to me "Mom, I found I Leah!" It cracked me up, but then she got right to business with her routine. She twirled and hopped and was wonderful. When it was all done she kept saying "I want to do more ballet."

Leah was so confident walking on to the stage. Her class did a tap routine. She shuffled stepped all over that stage with the biggest smile on her face. Thursday night they were so well behaved and smiled wonderfully for pictures. I can't wait to get them! Friday night they were so excited that Gigi and Papa were coming to watch them. And they were adorable on stage. When Kiersten was done with her dance and everyone was exiting the stage she stayed behind to do extra curtsies. More than one person told me that she stole the show. And Leah was awesome. In perfect step the entire routine. I couldn't wait to hug her when it was all through. As the night ended Gigi and Papa gave each of the girls a bouquet of flowers and they were over the moon. They thought they were pretty special and they were right...they are!

Leah's Birthday Ice Cream

I love the progression of the first three pictures. We sang Happy Birthday to Leah and then Kiersten decided to give her a kiss. Such sweet sisters...most of the time. Anyway, we have a birthday tradition that we started a few years ago. On their actual birthday we take the girls to Dairy Queen for Ice Cream. Well, Leah's birthday fell during dance recital week and with dress rehearsals and performances we knew we couldn't squeeze it in on the 9th so we went on the 8th after softball practice. Of course she ate her entire kids meal but the real treat was the ice cream. She thinks it is so fun to eat an ice cream cone and it's such a treat because we don't do it often.

Leah is such a sweet girl. She always wants approval and tries to make mom and dad happy. Other times she is exasperating. She questions everything and is always testing the boundaries. She loves to sing, adores all the Disney Princesses and if into anything and everything girly. Sometimes she says the funniest things. Lately she likes to say "Awkward". And as far as big sisters go, she is awesome. She does a great job helping me look after Hattie and she is always so proud of herself when she helps get her jacket on, or throws diapers in the trash...like I said, she is eager to please.

Funny story...last week, we were getting ready for dance and I was doing her hair. I took my wedding ring off and as she saw in on the counter she started to ask questions about my wedding. She proceeded to ask if I had a wedding cake. I answered her, "yes" and she then asked if she would have a wedding cake when she married Logan. I asked her if she wanted one? To which she replied that they would have to have two. One that was princesses and one that was superheroes. Even at the age of 5 she understands the concept of a grooms cake. She cracks me up. Lover her to pieces!

Cat in the Hat Bash

This post is a picture overload, but the party was so much fun, Ididn't want to leave anything out! This past Saturday, May 4th we had a co-birthday party for Leah and Logan. It was originally supposed to be outdoors at Rock Springs Conservation Area in a pavilion near a playground, but the weather forced us to have a change of plans. Thankfully, when I called out to Rock Springs on Friday morning they had one room that was available for use. We took it! Didn't even have to think twice. And I'm so glad we did. Mandi and I got there around 1:15 to start setting up. Everything came together nicely, and around 2 the guest began to trickle in.

We started off with a bang! I had ran to Wal-Mart earlier that morning to grab some stuff for games. The King size pillow cases were perfect for potato sack races and the kids had a blast. They took turns so nicely and there were lots of laughs. When they had worn themselves out with that we sat down for a few rounds of Hot Potato. It's never a very eventful game because I never make anyone get up and leave when the music stops. We just keep playing with the original group until the slowly trickly away from boredom. There was lots of little kids just running and shrieking, playing together. After the noise level was reaching epic proportions I decided it was time for Cupcakes. We set up a table front and center for the two guest of honor. We sang Happy Birthday and they wasted no time enjoying their cupcakes. After that we opened gifts. Its always fun to see all the kids swarm around the presents.

Once the gift wrap was cleaned up and thrown away we proceeded back to the other side of the room for some more games. I had brought along some plastic Easter Eggs and plastic spoons so we had egg races. The kids balance was less than stellar and eggs were dropping all over the place (hence the plastic eggs). But still the kids had fun. At the end of the party, we sent each one of our guest home with a "Cat in the Hat" cookie. I think it was a success!