Movin' on to Kindergarten (All Day!)

After Bren's last day of Pre-K, we went to Pop's to celebrate. It was a great treat and a beautiful day!!

Church and Public school buddies

Best teachers yet! :)

concentrating graduate

Seriously, where do they learn this stuff????

Our pop selections

Rolling down the lush hill at Pop's!

It looks like Brenna can go to Heaven...

She graduated Ms. McBride's Pre-K class on Wednesday night! Rumor is that if you are a member of our congregation, you have to have passed her class to pass through the pearly gates at the end of life. I hope this class is just the beginning of incredible challenges to learn God's word and Ms. McBride is one of many teachers who show Brenna what God's love is about.

Enjoyable, quiet, unscheduled weekend

We spent the better part of the weekend in our back yard. All our meals were eaten out there and lots of imaginative play took place, but once we came inside our girls were getting a little stir crazy...

the game

the take down

So we went back out side!!!

Gena, your post about the Hong Kong Chef got me craving Chinese, so we gave them another try. I laughed out loud when I pulled out the menu I found in our mailbox months ago. (I have no idea how it got in there.) I thought this would add fuel to your fire. :)

I (heart) Photoshop

As usual when taking pictures of more than one person, one shot is good of one person, but not so much other.
Thanks to Photoshop...
This (great of silly Piper)...

plus this (great of Brenna)...
Became this....(forgive the bad cropping. I can fix that later.)
And then this...

And I just love this shot in every form!!

Playing at the Park

Brenna spinning Piper on the merry-go-round.

Brenna resting from spinning Piper on the merry-go-round.

Brenna spinning me on the merry-go-round.

Piper spinning me on the merry-go-round.

Brenna resting.

Piper not resting.

My heart is full when....

she throws her head back in laughter.

October 2004

May 2009

Oh, how I love these girls

Sonshine School Program

Tonight was our end of the year program at the girl's SonShine School. We have done this several times now and enjoy it every year. The kids and teachers do a great job.

I was reminded this morning of when Brenna was 3 she did every embarrassing thing a child could do during her performance, including (but not limited to) nose picking, pulling dress up over head and getting arms stuck in dress. She loved hearing about it today and vowed not to repeat it tonight. I was concerned about Piper still.

For several weeks the girls have singing their secret songs (at the top of their lungs while I am in the other room and can't hear them - wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and practicing their memory verse. While tonight was a special night, it wasn't monumental in any way. We hoped to get some cute pictures and oohh and aahh over our kids and their friends and compare them to last year and anticipate next year.

At 1:30, that plan changed for the Bailey family. Thanks to my good friend, we found out our school district changed their plans for the 2009-2010 school year. (She encouraged me to go read B's take home folder right away - her mom is a teacher in the district)

My baby is going to all day Kindergarten.

I am thrilled about this for her. She will love it and thrive in the environment. Initially, I was nothing but happy. But now I find myself thinking about what that means for our day to day routine. No more peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunches talking about our mornings. Less time at the park. Some other woman will spend more time with my child than I will most days a week. And this is how it is to be for 12 years. I don't love that.

Back to the program for tonight. Since B will not be returning to SSS next year for another fantastic year with Ms. Kari, she graduated tonight.

SHE GRADUATED TONIGHT!!

I'm good with this, I'm excited for her, it's "just" sonshine school. It's not like she leaving home...but... she wore a cap and gown...
and got a diploma...
and took pictures with her other graduating friends...
and shared her mortar board with her little sister. ...and so it begins.


I suppose it was nice to not be overly emotional about it all. I didn't have time to be. We rolled with the punches. and we had a great time oohhhing and aahhhing over our kids and their friends, comparing them to last year, and anticipating next year - with B sitting beside us instead of performing. ...and so it begins.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Happy Mother's Day

For me, Mother's Day is still about my Mom. My family honored me with breakfast in bed, many drawings, a book mark, a handprint tile, a coin purse and a lovely necklace. It was a great celebration of Mother's Day for me, and it took place about 24 hours early. Brenna had the whole thing planned and we couldn't convince her that Sunday was a better day to celebrate. She woke Josh up before 7:00am to fix me breakfast. :)



I appreciated that because today I could focus on my mom. It isn't like she knew it, but all day I thought of and prayed for her. I am thankful for the influence she has had in my life and that she was the mom she was and is. She wasn't my best friend until I was in college. She was always my biggest advocate and cheerleader, but I knew that she was my mom first. I couldn't pull anything over on her and she didn't let me get away with stuff just so I wouldn't be mad at her. I'm sure it annoyed me at the time, but now I see what integrity and strength that took.

But now, she IS my best friend. I miss her. We talk often, but it is never often enough. I wish we could go for walks together, shop together, work on projects and share quiet moments with a cup of coffee.

If you don't know my Mom, you are missing out on an incredible woman. I thank God everyday that He allowed her to defeat her cancer and is allowing her to continue to be a blessing to the world around her.

I love you, Mama!!!

Isn't she beautiful???!!!!

This was probably on Mother's Day in the early 80's.

Swanki Hats GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Swanki Hats GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

The latest creation

So...Josh has been at it again. He was commissioned to make some Graduate Pops for the end of the month. Before he committed, he needed to experiment (which I love because there are always scraps. :)), so here is the latest.

I have it here at work and feel a little guilty that I don't have any to share, so I just took a picture and showed all my co-workers. They don't need to know it is hiding behind my monitor as we speak.

As a side note, I'm embarrassed at how messy my desk looks, but in my defense, I have very little work space and it gets cleared off every night. There I feel better.