Kindergarten Graduation 2012

This morning, we kissed our little BIG girl one more time and wished her well before her Kindergarten Graduation ceremony. 

And of course, there were tears shed as I looked around at all the other parents, getting ready to announce we have a FIRST GRADER!!! I had a few extra tears when I noticed a computer set up in the front row which happened to be skyping a daddy who is stationed overseas. 

Talk about pulling at one's heart strings! 

I have had the privilege of getting to know this wonderful group of kindergartners. I have spent countless hours throughout the year watching them grow. 

So when the curtain was lifted to this shy group of students, my heart melted. Aren't they just adorable with those red solo bowl home made hats? 

I think so too :) 

 They sang a list of songs, with a few cute arm/dance movements along the way. 

Regan's face in this picture below is priceless. She just loves being on stage and really gets into "character".

 When it was "commencement" time, Regan proudly walked across the stage to greet her lovely-very patient-super wonderful teacher.

 They did the official "graduation" hand shake with one hand, diploma with the next.

 Then it was on to a quick congrats from the principal. 

We have been blessed with a wonderful group of teachers and staff. It has been a great experience; these people really do love children.

 Regan's teacher has made her kindergarten year an amazing one. She not only welcomed Regan with open arms, she also welcomed lil' sister Sidney too.
At each conference throughout the year, we would hear all of Regan's strengths....and then the dreadful "we need to work on" statement. Can you guess what it is?.......

 She's a wee bit social. 

That's right, our little 6 year old likes to chat away, and sometimes at some not so great times. Well, it won't prevent her from entering 1st grade, so for that we are thankful!
She has gained the best friend a little girl could ask for. These two have been inseparable from day one!

And a big thank you to some relatives who made the trek and be a part of Regan's special day; THANK YOU!

Aunt (Godmother) Vicky and Hunter

Grandma Jan, Grandma Sheri and Grandpa Arnie

And we wouldn't have missed this for the world (despite Sid's frown).

Play dates turned pool parties

With the weather warming up, our play dates are turning into pool parties. Ryan realized recently that pretty soon, Regan will be out in the pool all weekend with her friends and it will be hard for the parents to get a chance to swim. For now, we will rejoice that they still require parent supervision and it gives us a chance to get wet too.

 Our friends brought us a tasty (healthy) layered dessert of cool whip, blueberries and strawberries. YUM!

Drama

It's not always fun around here. 

We have a lot of drama, a lot of tears and all for no reason at all. 

But I wouldn't have it any other way!

Dance recital 2012

 Regan participated in the spring dance recital this evening, and what a night it was! All 4 grandparents joined us and cheered her on as she performed a tap dance to "Hot Wings" from the movie Rio.
They had some snazzy dance costumes, oversized feathers and all. 

 She had a little attitude (just as she was supposed to) and did very well on stage. 

Big TA-DA at the end! 

 All the while, sweet Sidney cheered her on. She just loved watching the recital (granted we only stayed for the first half of the 3.5 hour show....yes, that's THREE AND A HALF! hours!!!). Wowzas. She sat, perched high on her chair like this picture below for over an hour, clapping along at the end of every song. She even got to climb up on stage for the Hokey Pokey and then crossed her arms in disgust when she realized i hadn't brought her tap shoes! Next year, she is insisting to attend lessons as well. 

Nice work Regan!! You were amazing and we love to watch you perform!

Olympic Day 2012

Yesterday was Olympic Day at Regan's school. Each grade spent the day outside doing various stations of games, relays and activities. I volunteered my afternoon and hung out with her and her buddies, helping them obtain grass stains, sun tans and a few giggles. 

 My station was the crab walk, which by the way is not an easy task! The kids had to race to the cones in a crab-like-fashion. I was at the finish line for much of the afternoon and countless kids were heard saying "that was hard!" as they collapsed onto their backs. Funny how I heard much less complaining out of the kindergartner's as compared to the 5th graders!

 Most of the afternoon I caught Regan hanging out on the grass, laughing with her classmates, rolling around on the grass and not paying an ounce of attention to the event in front of her. I thought about having a chat with her about her behavior, and then I flashed back to my own "track and field day" from elementary school and remembered doing much of the same. Instead I got down to their level and grabbed a few pictures. After-all, this was their fun day!

Fridays with Sidney

Yesterday was my last day to hang solo with Sidney. Next week, Regan will finish up her first year of school and join us for the summer. We're pretty excited to have her home. 

But I'm going to miss the one on one time with Sidney too. 

She's such a character. At 3 (and a half...she never lets us forget the 1/2), she is active, entertaining and lacks a love of sleep :( In fact, today she woke just after 6am after having climbed into bed at 8:30 last night and not falling asleep until after 9pm some time. The other night, as I laid Regan down, I commented how Sidney was still chattering away in her bed in the next room. Regan replies "that is why I told her she can't sleep in my bottom bunk! It's just chatter chatter chatter out of her!". 

Oh but look at that sweet face with the crazy hair; it's a good thing she's so cute. 

 Each Friday we have a few things that need to be done, and then it's off to some play time or volunteering with Regan's school. Some of Sidney's most favorite things to do lately are playing with her American Girl Doll (this is an activity she prefers to do solo, "don't watch mom!"), eating, playing outside, eating, reading stories to me or a group of dolls or to herself, eating, playing on our iPhones and did I mention eating.

She's quite good at pumping and getting herself to stay moving on the swing but loves to get a push "high up into the sky!" 

 Ah yes, the eating. I swear she has a tapeworm. It is constantly "I'm hungry" out of her mouth. Some nights while we are cleaning up dinner, she announces "I'm hungry". It's been a difficult process to teach her hunger versus boredom. If we would give her food every time she's "hungry", the girl would weigh 400 lbs by now. Thankfully most often she asks for a piece of fruit when she's hungry, and yesterday it was watermelon. 

The juice dripped from her chin as she ate piece after piece. Welcome summer!

Tap shoes to ball fields

I've realized that May is my least favorite month when it comes to glancing at our daily calendar. Turns out, the sports seasons overlap in May and it's been pure chaos for us. Tonight after the busy day at the zoo, dear Regan had to dash down to the local high school for dress rehearsal and then rip off that snazzy costume and climb into her softball garb to hit the fields. I was tired just thinking about it! 

So we got all dolled up, and loved every second of that big poof in her hair, adorable curls in the back and layered skirt. 

 That's her in the middle, on stage, hamming it up!

 Sid gets to come along for the ride, and thankfully had some company from our neighbors to keep her busy at softball tonight. Otherwise I tend to hear "I"m hungry" over and over and over again. I swear she has a tapeworm inside that belly. She should weigh well over 50 lbs with all that she eats!! 

 Oh just look at that catcher!! Let's just say this is NOT her most favorite position to play. She covered her face with nearly every pitch, fearing the ball would smack her in the face. After the inning, coach came up to her and tossed a ball directly at her chest. Now she knows it doesn't hurt :) She said to me "but there's a hole in the top of the mask, what if the ball comes right there and goes through it?!". For the life of me, I was not going to convince her the ball was much too large for that hole. Instead, I would suspect coach should place her in the field as a better option. 

We are soaking up this opportunity to expose her to various activities, letting her explore and choose what she likes to do. She is such a laid back-try anything type of girl it's been hard for her to quit anything! But seriously, we have swimming, dance, gymnastics and softball already! Eventually we will add many others including golf, tennis, golf, volleyball, golf (if daddy and grandma Jan have their way!). 

Lions and tigers and bears

Today I had the opportunity to help chaperon Regan's Kindergarten class to the MN Zoo. It was a wonderful day and the kids were very well behaved. We broke into small groups so it was two adults with four children....thank goodness! That proved to be an excellent ratio.

I had lots of opportunities to practice with the new camera, and clearly I have a lot to learn!

Here is our day in pictures:

Regan and her buddy

Helping to train dolphins

 On a trail to see more of the zoo

 Lunch during the bird show

Regan and mom

 Chicken head!

 Don't worry dad, I was keeping careful watch on them :)

 Regan and her BFF



CURLZ

Regan has her dress rehersal tonight for the upcoming dance recital. So to get in the spirit, we put her hair in curlers, as per request of her dance instructor. And the results are incredibly curly!!

Toothless grin

BEWARE: Not for those with a weak stomach!

Regan lost her 3rd tooth this morning. It was traumatic as she bit into her breakfast and the whole table heard a nail-across-the-chalkboard kinda crunch and suddenly, a shriek. Blood dripped from her tooth as it dangled from her gums. Ryan quivered reliving the crunch sound as I applied a wet rag to the tearful girl. She then pushed the wiggly tooth with her tongue and it flipped out of her mouth into her lap! Viola! Time for the tooth fairy!

At nap time, she asked "I wonder if the tooth fairy will come at nap time?", knowing this could possibly influence her nap I replied "well that means you have to take a really good nap".

With a two plus hour nap under her belt, the tooth fairy showed up!

Boy o boy was she happy to show me that big five dollar bill for such a traumatic event!

Then tonight at bed time, after she spent about 15 seconds brushing her teeth, she announced "it doesn't take as long to brush my teeth now because i don't have to brush the missing one".

Another day (in paradise)

We celebrated Memorial Day with a grill out along with some water fun. We were joined by a great group of friends that included 6 other children and their parents. That's a LOT of children to keep eyes on in the water!

Sidney was so very excited to get a chance to hold baby Addie. She's getting so big!! We can't wait until she can join in on the crazy fun like the rest of them. 

 Dinnertime with princess dresses :)

 Martin was LOVING the pool!! He had a great time splashing around. His expressions were priceless.

 And there is no way this little girl was going to drown today; floaties, a noodle and a life jacket and she was ready for some fun!



Happy Memorial Day

Wishing everyone a glorious Memorial Day. Regan finally understands the meaning of today (more than just a day off from school/work) and really really really wants to honor folks with fireworks tonight. The mind of a 6 year old.

Sidney posed for me this morning by the pool, looking all dolled up in her summer outfit and her hair blowing in the breeze. This little girl is growing up way too fast!

We spent some time in the pool this morning, where the temp in the water was warmer than the temp in the air. Boy does that feel wonderful! Regan is getting some moves jumping off the board and I'm working on teaching her to dive (when she is interested in my lessons). I managed to convince Sidney to both go down the slide and jump off the edge of the pool without me catching her! Here's to hoping her indepedence in the pool grows and grows this summer!



Happy Birthday Ryan!

We celebrated Ryan's birthday today, as we do every Memorial day weekend and it was a fun filled day. The girls planted him tomato plants and he is praying they give him some crops too. 

 Regan continues to do just as I ask of her while I work to understand this wonderful beast of a camera.

 She had a quick playdate with a friend (behind her in this picture), before the full-blown pool party started later this afternoon. Regan is going to turn into a fish pretty soon! She was in/out of the water for 8 hours today. Boy was she tired tonight. 

 Sidney is (finally) starting to like being with Ryan in the water. Last year she would bolt the other direction like he was a stranger! 

 My sense is that her new found adoration comes from the fact that he tosses her high up into the air (see her in this picture below?!?). 

 And we got to meet Harlow!!! Man alive I've been so excited to meet this sweet baby and since she left, I just want to hold her again! She's so sweet and the girls really loved her up. 

 I think we need another one..... :) 

 Oh I just know Regan is loving sweet Harlow. She sat so patiently holding her while she slept. She admitted it is "kind of fun" but also "she doesn't do anything!". So innocent. 

Happy Birthday Ryan! Hope it was a great day!