Powell Fest Weekend...

What a weekend!

Friday night was the beginning of Powell Fest. It was also the night of the NHL draft. My dad took Joshie downtown to the arena for that, and my mom, Kylie, Ryan and I headed to the festival. We saw John, and then went and got some dinner. Kylie ran into one of her friends from school and they decided they wanted to have a sleepover, so Kylie stayed at the festival with them while the rest of us went home. Since John was working late, Joshie snuggled in bed with me (I felt honored since he could have gone over to Pappaw’s house!).

Saturday morning Ryan woke me up at 7:30, so he and I went down to the family room to play while everyone else slept. John woke up and got ready to head back over to Powell Fest, and when Joshie finally woke up (he slept until 9:00!), I made some pancakes for him, me and Pappaw.

After breakfast we headed outside. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! Sunny and warm…my optimal Saturday! Joshie and I weeded my garden, played baseball, and got the sprinklers out. I went and picked Kylie up and she came out back with us and ran through the sprinklers (I ran through too!) and jumped on the trampoline. My parents were sitting out there with us too…it was so very relaxing!

We went in to eat lunch and then the kids took their naps. When the kids woke up we headed back over the Powell Fest. We said “Hi” to John and the kids got their picture taken (his booth is set up to look like a police line-up and kids come in and get their mug shot taken). Then we rode a ride and went over to the jumping things. It was hot, but the kids had fun. On the way out we stopped and got some kettle corn and lemonade to take back home.

Powell has their fireworks at the end of Powell Fest (instead of on the 4th of July like everyone else). Our next door neighbors and our neighbors next to them can see them from their backyard, so they invited us over to watch them. After dinner I made some funnel cakes so that we could feel like we were at Powell Fest watching the fireworks :) They were a hit and were gone before the fireworks were over!

Powell does a great job with fireworks and they lasted a long time! After they were over, Kylie and Josh went inside with the other kids to watch Scooby-Doo. I took Ryan home and put him to bed. John came home and we headed out again to hang out with the neighbors for a little while longer. It was a long, but really fun day.

Sunday we went to church and then I made French toast for lunch. After that the kids took a nap and I ended up trying to take one too. Afterwards Kylie went to a movie with my parents and Joshie, Ryan and I went to the grocery store. The boys were fantastic! I put them in one of those car-carts and even Ryan had so much fun driving! They were so good it made shopping so easy!

After that we went out to play baseball with Joshie and then when Kylie came home, Joshie, Kylie and I rode bikes. Joshie is getting a ton better on his!

I started making dinner and things just seemed to fall apart. All of a sudden we heard crying inside, and John and I rushed to find that the wind had closed the front door on Joshie’s hand. We iced it and he went back to playing. Then when they had started eating, John came inside with a crying Joshie and told me to get ice. It turns out Joshie had fallen back in his chair and his head had hit the driveway hard. John even thought we might have to take him to the ER because he wasn’t remembering things (we asked him where we had all gone together that morning and he said “gymnastics” (it was church) and John asked him who he had watched a movie with last night and he said “grandma and Pappaw” (it was just kids watching the movie)). Luckily he started showing he was just confused and he recalled little details from the past couple of days, so we knew he was fine (that and the crazy dancing he was doing after his bath). He does have a huge goose-egg on the back of his head though! Unfortunately though we did want to watch him throughout the night, so he couldn’t sleep with Pappaw :( He was pretty upset about that, but at least he got to sleep with mommy and daddy!

I had the perfect ending to the weekend with Kylie snuggling into bed with me (while John and Joshie were down on the couch) and us talking about what she learned in Carlo's class that morning. She said she had learned about selfishness and how we are supposed to think about other people before we think about ourselves. I told her that she had shown a wonderful example of not being selfish that afternoon at lunch...there was one piece of sausage left and both she and Joshie wanted it. She cut it up, and tried to give him the bigger piece (and it was way bigger). I told her that I was so proud of her giving up something she really likes because her little brother wanted it. I love that little girl!

So it was overall a great weekend! And with a three-day weekend coming up, I can’t help but hope it’s even better than this past weekend!

It's Friday!

Another wonderful week coming to an end – it’s Friday!

For Joshie’s birthday we went to Culver’s for cheeseburgers and cheese curds :) My mom and sister met us there, so it was a nice little party for his “real” birthday. After dinner we headed to the park to play some tennis (he loves to play!) and play on the playground.

Last night John took the kids to gymnastics and I stayed home because Ryan was sleeping. I was able to make a great dinner of tacos and sweet corn cake (per Kylie’s request). After dinner Kylie watched “Stick It” and Josh played hockey.

This weekend is Powell Fest, which is always so much fun! John has a booth there, so he’s never able to help me take the kids around. Last year it was a pain, but this year, with Josh being older and me not being hugely pregnant, I’m not worried at all! So we’ll probably head over there tomorrow after naps.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Joshie!

Dear Joshie,

Today you are 4. I asked you last night if you were sad that it was your last day being 3 and you said “no, I’m happy!” I can’t believe my baby boy is not even close to a baby anymore.

This last year has been a huge change in your interests. Last year for your birthday your party revolved around boxing. That phase is definitely over! You have moved on to hockey. You are obsessed with it! You have been to a bunch of Blue Jackets games, and even to a Red Wings game up in Detroit. Everything in your world revolves around hockey.

You can name most of the NHL teams by their logos, and a lot of those you can tell me what city they are in. You love to make up fake games in your head and play them down in the playroom, often by yourself. When I get home from work the first words out of your mouth are “the Blue Jackets and the Flyers are playing and it’s 4-2 go Jackets!” or something similar. Seriously, there is always a hockey game going on in your head and it’s amazing. When you play down in the playroom (which always has to have a large open space so that you can play), you will even have fake fights with yourself! You have accumulated tons of sticks and pucks, a net, and gloves. When we went to Disney World and you saw the “make-your-own Mickey ears” you said the base hat was a hockey helmet. When I checked out and only bought that base hat, the guy asked me, with a very weird look on his face, if I wanted to buy any ears along with it. Nope. It’s not a Mickey hat, it’s a hockey helmet.

There is a large easel down in the playroom with one side being a dry-erase board. You use that as your scoreboard, and you write the numbers using dashed lines just like a real scoreboard!

Aunt Suzie lives in Michigan and is a Red Wings fan. You have made a deal with her that when the Blue Jackets are out of the play-offs, you will cheer for the Red Wings.

For your birthday this year you got a water bottle to hang on the net like real goalies have, you got a CBJ goalie stick, you got a Red Wings Jersey, and OU hockey jersey, a scoreboard, a goal light, a roller-puck for court hockey, and ice skating lessons (hockey players have to actually know how to skate).

You like to play court hockey outside (daddy puts his roller blades on and plays with you). Pappaw even used “permanent” paint to draw you a hockey rink (the guy at Home Depot assured him they would come off with the first hard rain…2 months later the lines are still there!)

When Ben the police officer was over the other day and let you guys play with his loud speaker in his car, Kylie said "put your hands up, this is the police." You said "Jackets on the power play!"

You are OBSESSED with this sport!

You also love baseball right now too (because of course, hockey season is over, and you tell people that it’s baseball season now). You set the bases up in the court every night, have daddy draw the lines with chalk behind them, and either daddy, pappaw or I pitch to you. You are an awesome hitter! And you got a new bat for your birthday this year so you don’t have to use the wooden one or sissy’s pink one!

You also like to write. You write letters to Pappaw and ask me to put a stamp on them and mail them (even though he lives next door!). You draw me pictures to take to work with me and your write out lots of lists. You also like to come up and scrapbook with sissy and me (although you are really just putting stickers on paper and drawing hockey rinks and writing the scores).

You know "The National of the Anthem" and sing it all the time (and only mess up maybe 2 words in the whole song!).

One thing that has not changed in the past year is your love of “juice warmed up with warm water.” You tell me, every single time, “don’t forget the warm water!”

You are such a fun and easy-going little boy. You still like to snuggle with me and give me hugs and kisses. But you’re also a boy and will be running around crazy and screaming at the drop of a hat.

You are such a sweet boy and I love you so very much! I love watching you grow and take in new things. You are your daddy’s buddy and I love watching the two of you do things together…you want to be just like him!

I thank God that he gave you to me and that I get to spend my days with you. Thank you for making me such a happy mom!

I love you! Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Joshie's Birthday Party...

What a weekend!

Sunday we had Joshie’s 4th birthday party at the Chiller, which is an ice rink that is centered around the Columbus Blue Jackets, which just happens to be Joshie’s favorite hockey team! We all know how obsessed with hockey he is :)

It was the easiest party we have ever had! We arrived ½ hour early and really had nothing to do! There was a hostess that was in charge of everything! The guests started getting there around 1:30 and we dug into the pizza. After that it was time for cake and ice cream. When we sang “Happy Birthday,” Joshie requested that we say “Jackets” after each “Happy birthday to you;” it was really cute! After cake and ice cream, it was time to open the presents. He got some really great gifts! Almost everything was sports related!

After presents everyone headed down to ice skate. I stayed up in the party room, which had an awesome view of the ice, and watched Ryan, my niece Mya, and my friend’s little boy. Everyone ice skating had so much fun!

After the party we were all pretty tired, so we just went home and relaxed. Joshie kept saying that his party day was his fake birthday, and Wednesday will be his real birthday.

My sister (Aunt Suzie) gave Joshie a Red Wings Jersey for his birthday. She lives in Michigan, and Joshie has agreed to cheer for the Red Wings "only when CBJ is out of the play-offs."

Kylie with Mya:

The birthday boy:

Joshie with his "girlfriend" Isabella. She was the only person that Joshie really cared about having at his party :)

My sister (Aunt Cindy) with Kylie and Ryan:

From left to right: Caden, Griffie, Cousin Carson, Joshie, Ryan, Kylie, Isabella and Cousin Mya:

Joshie opening his "Boys Rule" sign:

This is an NHL team matching game! Joshie knows almost all of the teams by their logos:

John skating with Joshie:

Kylie and Joshie:

Kylie with Aunt Sarah:

Joshie with Pappaw and Aunt Suzie:

John helping Isabella skate:

Kylie and John:

Ryan playing with Joshie's new Wiffle balls in the party room:
Mya:

Mya giving Ryan a hug:

Ryan and his gorgeous eyes:

Busy Weekend!

What a very busy weekend!

Friday I got the afternoon off and went home and hung out with the kids. When it was nap time, I started in on all my work, hoping to get the majority of it done before the weekend even really started! I did laundry, recorded all of the goodwill donations I had accumulated, changed sheets, and picked up downstairs.

Friday night we grilled out and then my parents watched the kids while John and I headed to a local bar to watch the end of the hockey game. John and I had a great time hanging out together…I thank God for my parents…they understand and appreciate how important it is for us to remember why we are together and not live our lives solely for the kids.

Saturday morning we were supposed to head over to a garage sale that was supposed to have tons of scrapbooking/stamping stuff. But I had stuff that had to go back to IKEA by the middle of July, and our weekends were going to be so packed. So I went over and begged my parents to watch the kids (no begging needed…they were happy to help me) so that John and I could head over there. It was kind of fun being spontaneous again (we used to be that way all the time…but then the kids came along :) ). It was so nice to have those two hours in the car to talk without hearing “mommy, mommy, mommy. Can you turn the movie up? Can we watch a movie? I’m hungry. I’m thirsty.”

At IKEA we went to town! We got a craft table and big bookshelf-organizer thing for the playroom (which is the only thing currently set up), a dresser for Joshie, and 3 tables and a wall-shelf-thingy for my scrapbooking room. We also got some other miscellaneous items. Our car was stuffed to the brim!

Saturday night we ate some food and then our good friends that have moved were in town one last time. They finally sold their house and were here to pick up the last few things. So we had a fire and sat outside with them and some other neighbors while all the girls played (poor Joshie was the only boy!).

Sunday we went to church and then out to lunch with our friends before they left to go back to NY. Then Sunday afternoon John and I started putting IKEA furniture together! Since it was the playroom, it took us all day because I was going through every toy and deciding whether to keep it, donate it, or save it for future kids. It was a good day for me to do that because I was donating stuff left and right…I’m sick of all the clutter!

Our nanny is on her honeymoon right now, so my mom and John’s parents are taking turns watching the kids this week. So John’s parents came over Sunday evening and we ate dinner and then went on a bike ride. After the kids were in bed we finished up in the playroom and didn’t get to bed until 12:45 AM. That in and of itself wouldn’t have been so bad except Ryan had me up 3 times between that and 6:00 :(.

Monday evening John took Kylie to gymnastics and also took Josh with him. I was able to get Ryan down for a nap and take a mini-nap myself since I was so exhausted! Then we cooked out and then got the kids in bed so that we could continue the Monday tradition. John and I grabbed a glass of wine and headed out to the front porch with his parents and my mom. Those two hours were so much fun! I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time! We were joking and discussing an upcoming wedding and between the 5 of us, we had discussed some pretty funny scenarios!

Tonight Kylie and Josh are heading down to Athens with my in-laws for some time down there. Ryan will stay up here with my mom. Maybe I can get another nap in tonight? :)

My Weight Loss Story...

A bunch of people have been asking me how I have lost the weight that I have lost. Here is some history and my success story:

History:

I have pretty much always been a normal weight (except for a year in high school, but that was because I was transferred to a new school my junior year and was in charge of cooking dinner every night and let’s just say I gained some weight. Thankfully I returned to normal the next year). I remember when I was young girls would come up to me and say “how do you stay so skinny? I’m so jealous.” I had no idea what they were talking about as I had never even thought about weight at that time. I didn’t start “worrying” about it until about the middle of high school.

I say “worry” because again, I never had a weight problem, or anything close to that. But my mind played tricks on me. I always thought I was fat. The summer after my sophomore year in high school? I didn’t eat for 2 months! I’m not kidding…but it was weird…it’s not that I was trying to not eat, I had just convinced myself that eating one salad a day was all I needed and I wasn’t hungry anymore.

In college I felt the pressure even more…all these girls that were so cute and tiny…so John and I worked out all the time. I was healthy…I ate (and drank :) ) whenever I wanted and whatever I wanted, we just worked out a lot (we often reminisce about those days…we miss going to the gym all the time!). I shared my size 0 and size 2 clothes with one of my friends who I thought was so tiny and cute!

I still didn’t feel tiny. I remember going on vacation and thinking I looked so fat in a bathing suit, and now I look back and the pictures and I can’t believe how small I was! I just can’t get over how our minds play tricks on us….

Fast forward lots of years and I get pregnant with Kylie. I weighed 123 lbs. when I have my first doctor’s appointment – I was 6 weeks pregnant and had probably already gained a couple pounds because all I could do was eat! I ended up gaining about 60 lbs. during the pregnancy. Now granted, a lot of that was water because I swelled so very badly, but still, a lot of weight was put on. Thankfully I had an amazing doctor who never said a word about my weight gain. Not one single word!

After I have her I lose most of the weight. Not sure what I got down to, but I know that I was not back in the clothes I wore before pregnant with her. I get pregnant with Josh and I gain 35 – 40 lbs. My doctor actually asked me at one appointment early on when I didn’t gain any weight if I was feeling OK and if I had an appetite…God bless that woman! After I have Joshie I lose most of the weight, and am back into the clothes I was wearing before I was pregnant with him (still not the ones I wore before Kylie).

When I get pregnant with Ryan, I again gain about 40 lbs. I just eat too much :) After I have him I see the initial weight coming off really quickly – I think running around after two other kids definitely contributed to that! I start work back up in January of this year and we’re at our busy time, so my eating is not so healthy. And then at the end of January it hits me…in two months we will be going to Florida and I will be wearing a bathing suit. So I go home and tell John we’re going to the gym! And we do…three times a week. It felt so good!

But the most drastic thing I did was my diet. Now I love food. I’ve always been one who would prefer working out to eating right. But something clicked with me and I decided it was time to change!

What I Did:

Now let me preface this by saying I definitely had an advantage because I have been nursing and my body is automatically burning an extra 500 calories per day. So this definitely happened faster for me than it might for someone not burning those calories. I also want to say that I can’t stand to be hungry. That’s why I always prefer to work out instead of going on a diet…diets don’t work if you’re hungry!

I started what I call “the modified Slim Fast diet.” Basically, for the first time in my life, I was making sure that the calories I put into my body were less than the number I used during the day. I went to a couple of websites and used some calculators to figure that out. What my averages came back saying was that I needed to eat 2,000 calories or less per day to lose weight. I know this seems like a lot, but remember, I am nursing, and I have three active kids, so according to the calculators, I needed 2,500 calories to maintain my weight.

I would have a shake for breakfast (Chocolate Royale…it’s the only flavor I like). 180 calories. I would try to drink this as late in the morning as possible (getting to 10:00 AM was my goal) because then I was less likely to need a snack. The shake really filled me up and offers so many vitamins!

Then I would eat lunch. You know what my lunch was? Soup. Progresso and Campbell’s make a fantastic line of low calorie soups. I would try my best to stay around 100 calories per serving (a can of soup has 2 servings and a lot of the ones I like only have 70 or 80 calories per serving). Let me tell you…a can of soup stuffs me! I felt so full every day, yet I knew that I had at most only had 300 calories for lunch! I would also rotate in some Lean Cuisines, but those had 300+ calories and I was hungry an hour later. But for variety they were great!

So I’m up to 400 – 500 calories so far. I found all the 100 calorie snacks to be my best friends. I could still have Oreos, and chips, and ice cream bars (thank you Skinny Cow!) and I was on a “diet!” My goal each day was to go home to dinner having only consumed a max of 700 calories.

Then it was time for dinner. You know what I ate for dinner? Anything I wanted! That’s right…since I had reserved so many calories during the day, I could go home and cook whatever I wanted to eat. I could go out to eat. I could even *gulp* go to fast food (although you really have to watch those places!). But the thing I noticed was that I was making more health-conscious decisions. I was using ½ and ½ instead of heavy cream. I was using fat free sour cream and 1/3 fat cream cheese – these are all things I had never dreamed of using until now! But my mindset was changing. And the weekends were diet-free. I ate whatever I wanted all weekend (but again, I wasn’t pigging out…I had my goal in mind…I just didn’t count calories…just made smarter eating decisions).

And like I said, we went to the gym religiously for two months. And before I went to Florida I weight myself and I weighed less than I did when I went in for that first appointment with Kylie. In two months I had lost about 20 lbs. I was wearing clothes that I had worn before I had Kylie! I have never felt so good!

Since then we have stopped going to the gym. Right now it’s because it’s summer and we would rather play baseball with Joshie or jump on the trampoline with Kylie. But I have continued with my diet. I have to be careful…people have told me I need to stop losing weight, and 98% of me agrees with them. The other 2% is my warped brain thinking I still need to lose some weight. Thankfully my husband keeps reminding me how good I look, and I can honestly talk to him…my mind is still playing the same tricks on me it did 10 years ago. When I look in the mirror I still see fat, but when I look at a picture of myself I know I look great!

So now I’m working on how much I can eat and maintain. I still have a shake for breakfast most mornings, but sometimes I alternate that with a bowl of cereal. I still try to have soup every day for lunch, but I’m much more open about going out to lunch with friends or running and grabbing something (I was so strict on my soup for those two months). At night I come home and snack a lot more than I used to, and I still cook what I want for dinner. I also find myself running more…not exercises running, but if I am in the backyard and need to get something in the front yard, I run. I don’t hesitate to run upstairs to put stuff away or grab something. At work, I’ve been known to run up and down the 5 flights of stairs in our building to get places.

This isn’t a break-through diet by any means. But like I said, I can’t be hungry, and I finally found a diet that keeps me full! Never once did I think “Oh, I’m hungry, but I can’t eat anything because of my diet.” My brother-in-law did a calorie watching diet for the past few months and lost 30 lbs. He did it same way in that he really watched what he ate during the day, and then came home and was able to eat what he wanted.

I hope this was helpful to some of you. I’m thankful I found something that worked so well for me and that it has become a lifestyle instead of a fad diet. I know that some people have told me that I have an advantage because I work and that when they are at home they eat more…I’m the opposite. When I’m home on the weekends or a day off, I often have to remind myself to eat. But when I’m sitting at a desk all day, I want to eat…all the time!

If any of you have any questions or need some tips, please feel free to ask me…I would love to share my knowledge and help people feel as good as I feel!

I don’t have any good pictures to show how I look. But this picture below is one I looked at and it really hit me that I may need to stop the weight-loss regimen (I'm in the blue).

A New Weekly Tradition...

The kids and I went grocery shopping last night. When we got home, John informed us that he wanted to start a new weekly ritual. He wanted to get the kids into bed by 8:45 so that he and I could have a glass (or two) of wine on the front porch and just talk. I was all for it!

So we played Kylie's new 5 Little Monkeys game and then got the kids into bed (they weren't in bed until 9:00, which is better than I thought we'd actually get them in). I put some dessert in the oven, we poured the wine and headed out.

The weather was gorgeous! We sat in our rocking chairs and talked about everything from neighbors to jobs to family. When we went inside I was shocked to see it was 11:00!

I really hope we can keep this up every week!

What a Weekend!

I could not have asked for a better weekend!

John and I had such a great time at the Memorial Tournament on Friday. We walked around, and then we went and hung out at one of our friend’s houses. What happens is that the majority of houses along the course rent their houses out for the week of the tournament (for a nice price) to businesses to host their parties. Our friend rented his out to a couple businesses, so we got to go in and hang out and drink and eat as much as we wanted! We sat at a table and drank until about 5:30 and then headed home. Then we went out to dinner with my parents.

Saturday morning Ryan let me sleep until 8:00! He has been getting up every morning between 6:00 and 6:30, so 8:00 was heaven! Kylie and Josh were over at my parents’, so we cleaned up and I cleaned out my closet (still trying to make sure all maternity clothes are out and all the clothes that are now too big for me). The kids came over around 10:30 and we had a wonderful breakfast that John cooked for us. The weather was already so gorgeous!

The plan was then to go strawberry picking. So we put sunscreen on everyone and loaded up the car. We headed to a farm that is about 25 minutes from our house. Once we got there we found out that they were out of strawberries! I was so mad! So we tried a different farm, and the u-pick was closed…opening back up on Monday! So we headed back home and the kids took a nap while John and I cleaned up, did laundry, and then sat outside.

When the kids woke up we decided to go on a bike ride. Ryan did wonderfully in the pull-behind thing! We went all the way to the park and then Josh and Kylie played for a while. I even put Ryan on the swing with me a swung a little bit!

We ordered pizza for dinner and then started a fire and hung out with the neighbors for a while. It was so relaxing! Josh ended up staying with my parents again, and Kylie snuggled with me in my bed. Ryan was up twice that night, which was a pain because the second time it was 5:00 AM and I couldn’t figure out why he was up…I had fed him and changed him and he was still crying. After about ½ hour he finally went back to sleep.

At church the next morning Kylie got to go up with her class to sing some songs. She was by far the smallest one up there and she was so adorable!

After church we went home and grilled out some hot dogs and stayed out the whole day! It was so beautiful outside!!! I realized when I looked at the table we had brought out at lunch time and saw the chips and stuff still on it at 7:30 PM that it must have been a great day to not even have gone back inside! Ryan got in his baby-baby pool for the first time and loved it!

I made an awesome salad for dinner (the recipe was completely made up by me which is rare), and I stuffed Ryan full of bananas (both baby food and mashed up real ones) in hopes that he would sleep through the night (it worked!).

I hope this week goes by fast so that we can have another wonderful weekend!

Off to the Memorial Tournament...

At 11:00 today I will leave work and go home. I will feed Ryan and change my clothes, and then John and I will head to the Memorial Tournament. This has become a mini-tradition for us…on the Friday of the tournament, we both take off and go and sit and watch the tournament and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Luckily, the past couple of years my company’s wonderful auditors have offered me tickets. So we get to go to their hospitality tent and eat and drink, and then head onto the course and watch the tournament. We also know some people that have houses along the course, so we will get to stop into one of those and have drinks and hang out with some friends. But mostly, John and I will get a few hours together, and that’s the best part of all!

I used to golf…a lot. But the last time I golfed was when I was pregnant with Kylie. I’ll probably golf again when the kids are in high school :) John occasionally golfs…he absolutely loves it, but with the kids, there just isn’t a whole lot of time.

And honestly, watching golfing can be extremely boring. But when you pair that with free good food and drinks, absolutely gorgeous weather (today’s high is 75 and it’s perfectly sunny), and a chance to just sit in very nice grass with a great guy, it’s the perfect way to spend the day!

Now I Have a First Grader!

Yesterday was Kylie’s last day of Kindergarten. I really and truly feel like I just took her for her first day. I remember it vividly…it was hot out and I was very pregnant :)

I took a long hard look at her yesterday, walking through the halls, and I saw a little girl that has grown 3 inches in the last year, and who is now an “expert” at this whole school thing. I also see a girl who loves to learn…she’s very depressed that school is over and can’t wait to go back already.

I told her that I would come and have lunch with her on her last day, and thankfully I did because they had a class party that I didn’t know anything about (which is very unlike me). So I left work early headed over there. We had lunch, went to recess, and then her party was outside. They had relay races, ate watermelon, made ice cream, and played a bunch of other games. When it was over, we went back into her classroom to get all her stuff. The room was pretty empty, which was sad (why did that make me want to cry?), and each child had a bucket full of toys waiting for them from the teacher.

For her teacher’s gift, she said she wanted to get her some books. So we had gone over to the bookstore and she read through a bunch of books and picked two out that looked neat. One of them was called “The Night Before Kindergarten.” We thought it would be a neat book for her teacher to read to the new kids next year. Kylie really liked that book, and they just happened to have one called “The Night Before First Grade” too, so I secretly picked that up for her, along with chapter book about a little girl in first grade to give her as “Kindergarten graduation presents.” Our school doesn’t do a graduation or anything, but I think it’s a big deal that she finished her first year of school with such success!

So we walked home, for the last time this year and as a Kindergartener. I gave her the new books when we got home and she started reading the chapter book and really liked it. To say I’m impressed with her reading skills would be an understatement!

So now it’s time for her to have a summer of fun! Our nanny was trying to console her when she was sad about school being done by telling her all the fun things they would do during the day this summer – it helped a little :)

I’m just so proud of my little princess!

Our nanny with Josh and Ryan at the party:


Kylie with her friend Jordyn:

The kids making ice cream (not worth the effort at all!):

Kylie in the sac race!

Joshie at recess: