Ladybug Picnic - Madison's First Dance Recital!

On Saturday, Madison performed in her first dance recital. She'd been taking ballet/tap classes since last August. We were all SO excited to see her on her big day!

Her first picture request was one with her brothers!!! This was the best we could get. Haha.

With Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

Carter wanted his picture, too!!!


 Grandpa Dave! I love this photo.

One of her on her own...

And of course...Carter...lol.


Grandma Tracy!

The three of us.

She wasn't too overly smiley for pictures after her performance because she was a little upset that she couldn't see us from the stage while she danced because it was so dark.

We all went out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings afterwards.

Here are a couple candid shots from picture day of M with some of the girls in her class.




And, I LOVE this photo courtesy of PhotoFROG.

Madison truly enjoyed dance class, and her teacher Miss Jenny. We are taking a break this summer, and will decide in a few weeks if she'd like to sign up for classes again for next year. She is growing up SO fast! I think I had my first dance recital around age 6, too. It's a lot of fun for me being a 'dance mom' now. :-)

M's First Brick Laying Lesson

Last summer Madison learned to lay some brick with her dear ol' Dad!

I pretty much LOVE all these pictures.

She had a really great time. It was fun watching her learn something from Josh, and I know he really enjoyed this experience. She still talks about it and asks her Dad when she can practice some more.

Foooooorrrrrrre!

Last summer Josh took M golfing a few times, and she loved it.

Here's a couple shots he texted me from one of their outings.


Such a cutie!




Of course Josh had to run out and buy her her own set of clubs! She was pumped.

A couple fun selfies with Mom. Hey - you can see her clubs on the background!

Love her!

I am sure they are both looking forward to getting out to the course this summer again!

M's Last Day of PreK and First Days of Kindergarten

Thought I'd post this on her first day of Kindergarten for fun.

Here she is on her last day of PreK. The boys and I were dropping her off.

Here she on her way to her Open House that was last night. She loves her TMNT backpack. We met her teacher and she was able to see her classroom and drop off her supplies.

And...she now has a LOCKER. I was doing so well...I wanted to cry when the teacher told me we should go try out her locker though. She's too little for a locker...right?!?!?!?

She was so excited she got mad when we had to leave!

This morning, we headed to her first official day of Kindergarten!

We almost forgot to snap a picture with her Scooby Doo lunch box.

I wasn't too emotional about sending her to Kindergarten in part because she attended full-day PreK at the same school...so I knew we were both somewhat comfortable with the building (lunch room, recess, gym, etc.) and staff. I think it also helps that is a smaller school and she knew several of her classmates from last year.

There was a brief meeting for the parents. It was fun hearing about all the things they will be learning this year. Madison is really anxious to learn to read, and I can't wait to watch her discover how the letters and sounds makes words. I know she will be thrilled as she learns to read! They will have homework a couple times a week, too.

I may or may not have shed a tiny tear when I read this poem her teacher included in our packet of information.

Overall though...while it's definitely heart-wrenching watching your babies grow into children...it's also such a fun adventure to watch them learn and develop their independence as an individual. I am so excited to hear all her stories about her school days. She's a talkative little girl...and I know she's going to have a lot of fun and learn SO much.

Today she attended school with half of her classmates. The other half attends tomorrow (so she has the day off), and then she will be back with her whole class Friday.

She told me today she had fun. That she didn't have enough time to eat her Goldfish crackers at lunch. That her favorite part of the day was recess.

My Dad also asked her if she needed help with something this afternoon. Her reponse, "I can do it myself. I'm a Kindergartner now!"

A few of my random thoughts to end this:
1) I'm still kind of in denial that someone won't be walking her to her room and picking her up and signing her in and out every day. The teachers are meeting the children at the door...but eventually as the year goes on, they will be allowed to walk to their room alone. ALONE.
2) She's in Kindergarten. KINDERGARTEN
3) Did I mention I have a Kindergartner (is that word) now???!!!???
4) Ok, seriously...isn't she too young for a locker?

Foto Friday - Snow Day

Madison's first time SKIPPING school thanks to Daddy (earlier this year obviously).

Clearly she was enjoying herself.

Thanksgiving and New Years 2014

Such a creative title, huh?! These posts aren't that exciting...but I wanted them documented all the same. I'll do last Christmas in a separate post.

THANKSGIVING 2014

My brother and his fiance visited for Thanksgiving. Madison enjoyed cooking with them on Thanksgiving Day.

Here's Catherine's debut on our blog! :)

The boys shared a small plate of turkey, corn, and mashed potatoes and gravy. They were 10 months at the time.

Madison enjoyed spending time with Uncle and Catherine.

NEW YEARS 2014

Josh, Madison, and I had a fun night in celebrating the end of 2014, and welcoming 2015! The boys were sleeping through it all of course.

Selfies!

2015 here we come!!!

We played M's first game of Monopoly. Josh won. He always wins Monopoly. It drives me crazy!

Here's to 2015!!!!

VIDEO Post - M's Hat Dance

On Friday M had her first performance on a stage for an audience!

It was International Week at her school, and her class learned about Mexico for the week. On Friday I was able to watch her and her class perform their "Mexican Hat Dance."

Enjoy!


How cute is she?!?!?
My favorite part is when she realizes she's crowding the little girl next to her, but quickly finds and gets back to her blue spot on the floor.

M is Officially a Pre-Schooler!!!

Friday was Madison's first day of Pre-School! I was actually much more calm than I had anticipated! Josh took the morning off so we could drop her off and pick her up together. (He also told me he didn't want me crying by myself for the next two hours.)

Jengo wished her well for her first day, too!

We all arrived around 8:25am. The parents were ushered to the cafeteria for a brief orientation, and by 9am we said our good-byes for good and left. It was SO hard leaving, really. But, when we returned the room after the orientation she was happily sitting at the table with the other students coloring. That made it easier seeing how happy she was. She kissed me and there were no tears (from either of us). It was SO weird walking out of the school. I couldn't believe she was now in school!!!

I couldn't stop thinking about her for the next couple hours. I kept on wondering what and how she was doing. Josh and I ran some work errands together. And, at 11:30am we returned and picked her up. Yay!!!

In the car (and later on), here's some of the things she told us about her day.

"I colored."

"I had goldfish crackers and milk!" (She was super excited to hear that there was snack time everyday at school!)

"The kids were wild at the park (she was talking about the playground). They were chasing each other! I went up and down the slide."

"My teacher said, 'Time to clean up books and toys.'"

"My teacher said, 'Have calm bodies.'"

"I got sand in my shoes!"

"My teacher said, 'No laying on the floor.'"

"I had to go to time out 'cause not following directions." (I'm not sure if this was true or not. She is ALWAYS in time out at home for not listening and following directions...but at school they call it the "quiet corner' so who knows. I wanted to email the teacher and ask her if she was in the quiet corner today or not...but Josh told me not to worry...and to 'not be that Mom that emails the teacher on the first day! I still kinda wanted to email her...but I am letting it go.)

When we asked her if she liked her teacher, she said, "No!" But...she said it with a smile...I think she knew she'd get a reaction by answering, no.

Here she is when we picked her up...clearly very happy with her teacher. LOL!


"I was looking for you at school. But...I couldn't find you." She told me that later at lunch. That made me sad. But, I just reminded her that Mama or Daddy will always return to pick her up.

Oh yeah, here's the only picture I took last Wednesday at Unpack Your Backpack. She was SO happy to have her hand painted.


Josh and I are very pleased with our decision t enroll her this year for Pre-School at Rivermont. I actually think tomorrow - dropping her off for her second day - might be harder on me than last Friday! Wish me luck! :)