Moving on UP...

Wasn't it just last week that I walked these two into preschool for the first day of school.  Goodness this year flew by!

 

This is Addison on her last day of going to the 2-year-old class in preschool.  She has changed so much since the first day of school.

 

 

She had a fun end-of-school party.

 

And danced with her best bud- Addi Belle.

 

Then said goodbye to her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Juli.

 

Her teachers sent home this keepsake, pictures of her from all throughout the year.  Something I will keep forever!

 

This was Audrey's last day of preschool.  She, too, has changed so much since the first day of school this year.

 

 

She had a party to celebrate the final day of school and enjoyed the last day with her friends.

 

This is Audrey with Lydia. 

 

And Lydia, Audrey, and Ryann.  I think these 3 were the best of buddies all year.

 

Then they added Ava to the group.

 

Audrey with a few more buddies, Annabelle and Maya.

 

Then she had to say goodbye to her fabulous teachers. They were so wonderful to Audrey this year.  We are really going to miss them.

 

Audrey and Mrs. Amy

 

Audrey and Mrs. Becky

 

 

Audrey got her preschool diploma...

 

...and brought home an adorable keepsake with photos from all year.

 

My sweet girls are moving on up to the next grade...

First Day of Preschool ~ August 2012

This is Audrey's last first day of preschool.  Next year, she will be starting Kindergarten. (sniff, sniff).  This precious child is growing up entirely too quickly.  She has such a beautiful heart and kind spirit. 

 

She was excited about starting school this year.  Audrey will be going 5 days a week this year. She loves school and enjoys learning.  She told me that she was a bit nervous because she wouldn't know her classmates and teachers. 

 

This was before going to school.

 

 Ballerina Ariel had to make an appearance in the photo.

 

 

Sweet girl!

 

She went into her class and was very brave.  She was greeted by her sweet teachers, Ms. Becky and Ms. Amy.  There were lots of fun things out in her classroom for her to do, so she didn't waste much time jumping right into those activities.

 

Audrey and Ms. Becky

Audrey said she had a wonderful day and has already made some sweet friends.

 

Addison is only going 2 days a week this year. On the first day of school, when we dropped Audrey off, Addison cried and cried because she didn't want to leave her sissy behind.  She wanted to stay at school, too.  I was certainly hoping that the next day when she was supposed to stay at school, she would still want to stay there. I was concerned because we had several weeks of crying last year when I would leave her at school.

 

This was my little bit before school.  Where did my baby go??  I think she changes and grows each night after I put her to bed.  Each morning she looks even more grown up than the day before.

 

When I took Addison into school, I was preparing for some tears.  I was pleasantly surprised.  She walked right into her classroom and never looked back at me.  She gave her teachers, Mrs. Juli and Mrs. Karla, big hugs and off to play she went.  From the sounds of it, I think Addison thinks she is the teacher of that classroom. Can you believe that? haha

As a matter of fact, I think Addison was the only child in her room not crying.  When I picked her up from school, she couldn't stop talking about all the fun things she did that day. I love that she is so excited about school.

Addison with her teacher, Mrs. Juli

I took the opportunity to get a couple of pictures of the girls with me and Corey. 

 

 

I do love these 3 people so very much!!

Last Day of Preschool

We are so blessed that the girls are able to go to a fabulous Christian preschool.  We were sad to see the year come to an end.  Audrey and Addison had wonderful teachers and such sweet friends in their classes. 

Addison changed teachers half way through the year because Mrs. Susan had a sweet baby girl.  So, she ended the year with Mrs. Tracey and Mrs. Laura.  She loved them so much.  Her favorite buddies in her class were Mariam (Mair-Mair), Braden and Kennedy.  She spoke of them all the time.

Audrey learned so much this year from her teachers, Mrs. Kathy and Mrs. Kelly.  They were so kind and encouraging to her.  Audrey had several great friends in her class because she went to school with them last year, too.  Some of her best buddies this year were: Olivia, Savannah, Ramsi Kate, and Maggie. 

I'm so thankful that they had a fun year full of learning and happy times.

The Silly Hat Princesses

Today was "Silly Hat Day" at preschool. I let the girls decide what they wanted to create to wear. As you would've guessed, they had to have crowns. I cut out the pattern and the girls did the rest all by themselves. I think they did a fabulous job. They were so proud of their crowns.

Such lovely little princesses!

Silly Hat Day

Today was "Silly Hat Day" at Audrey's preschool. We decorated her hat together last night. She told me what design she wanted and I assisted with the more difficult things.

The students wore their hats to school and had a "silly hat" parade. Everyone looked adorable!

Christmas at Preschool

Audrey had her first Preschool performance for Christmas. Corey was on shift (as usual) but he was able to get someone to work for him for a couple of hours so he could attend. There was no way he was going to miss it!

We were a little concerned about the whole 'Audrey-getting-on-stage-in-front-of-tons-of-people-and-singing'. Even her teacher expressed concern that Audrey might get up there and freeze or start crying. So, for days, actually weeks, we talked and talked about what she was going to do and what to expect.

I had completely prepared myself for her to get scared, start crying and not perform. But I was praying she would surprise me...and she did!!!



She was fantastic!!! Audrey got up on that stage and was by far the most animated child. She danced- and I mean boogied! She sang! She did the motions! AND she took bows after each song. IT.WAS.ADORABLE! I was laughing so hard that I could barely video.



We were so proud of her! All of the students did such a wonderful job!



The next day of preschool, they had a little Christmas party. Addison and I went just to be there for Audrey. The kids enjoyed lots of sugar and had fun playing games.

School Days

Thankfully (hopefully) Audrey is over all the crying and being upset when she is dropped off at preschool. Now she is excited about going and has a wonderful time when she is there. Each day, she comes home telling of a new art project, song, or friend that she enjoyed. She is learning so much, too!

This was Audrey dressed up for "Western Day" at school.

And her showing off her "silly socks" for "Silly Sock Day" at school.

They are always doing something fun! :)

Momma Said There Would Be Days Like This...

Oh my!  That is all I know to say at this time. 

I usually post on my blog about the fun, sweet things my children do or the milestones they reach, but this post is going to be different.  Here you will see some honest mommy thoughts which have evolved due to the events of the past several days...

Now, I LOVE my girls...with all my heart.  They are my world.  I am so thankful that I get to work from home and spend LOTS of quality time with them and loving on them.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  That being said...I've thought seriously about getting a one way ticket to some place like Hawaii or really anywhere serene that is FAR, FAR away.

For starters, Addison is cutting teeth.  Yikes!  One has already come through and the other is trying desperately to break through.  And she is NOT a happy camper.  She's been fussy morning, noon and night.  Poor baby, I know it hurts...but OH MY!

And let's just talk about Addison's temper!  Yep, she got it from her Daddy.  Don't let that cute smile fool you.  Just take one of her toys away or move something that she is trying to get into and watch the tantrum fly!  OH MY!!

Then---Audrey, as some of you know if you keep up with us, started preschool several weeks ago.  Well, she is having some pretty rough separation anxiety.  She cries the whole time at preschool, plus she even gets upset if I leave the house and she stays with Corey.  It breaks my heart, so that has been pretty stressful for me.  And that isn't the only thing that preschool has done for us.  Many people told me that she was going to pick up some unpleasant behaviors from school, and you bet she did!  Oh, the sassiness and defiance have my hair turning gray as I type!  I thought that didn't come until we were close to teenage years...(sigh).  Plus, the temper tantrums are quite dramatic as well.  I just THOUGHT we escaped the "terrible two tantrums", but no--they just waited until 3 to show up.  OH MY!!

Here is a story to top it all off--- Audrey told me she needed to use the bathroom the other day, so I told her to go on to the bathroom (we were playing in the living room).  A few minutes later she returns and mentions to me that she peed in her trash can.  WHAT?!?  Yep, you read that right!  My sweet, precious, adorable Audrey decided to forgo the toilet and just try out the trash can instead.  Now, I have to admit that this stunt required some talent on her part.  I was so shocked, upset, angry...I went storming outside and informed Corey that he needed to take care of his daughter because I just didn't have it in me to handle that episode.

After all was said and done, Audrey promised not to use the trash can as a toilet...and when she wasn't looking, Corey and I had to laugh.  'Cause you gotta admit, that was sorta funny. Heck, she didn't even get any on the carpet!

Audrey's 1st Day of Preschool

Today was a very special day in our family. It was Audrey's first day of preschool. For weeks now, we have been talking about going to school. Discussing what would go on, how things work and we even went to visit the school.

Audrey has been talking about it for a while and was so excited. And as you can tell by the smile on her face, she was thrilled to be going this morning.

I had to take a few pictures before leaving for preschool.



My sweet school girl!

Being silly!

Mommy, on the other hand, was excited...but a bit sad/worried/ and all those other emotions that go along with a milestone of this magnitude. My baby is growing up...will she be okay? Will she know what to do? Will the students/teachers be nice to her?...on and on.

Audrey and Mommy before going to preschool.

Corey, of course, was scheduled to be on shift at the fire station this morning. I told him he just couldn't miss her first day, so he got one kind fellow to work for him a little while so he could take her to school. She was so glad her daddy was there.

Daddy and Audrey before going to preschool.

When we got there we were greeted with several friendly faces. We went to Audrey's room to fill out paperwork and get her settled in. She jumped right in and started playing with the activities the teacher had put out for the kids. I was so happy that she felt comfortable.

Audrey with her teacher, Ms. Cheri.

Audrey never cried, but as you can tell in the photo above, she was apprehensive. Just before I left she said "Mommy, I'm REALLY going to miss you". I hadn't cried up to that point, but I began to tear up at that. After reminding myself that I couldn't cry and to stay strong so Audrey wouldn't cry, I got myself together. She gave me and Addison hugs and kisses then went on her merry way to play with something else.

As I walked away and looked back at my little-big girl, I did have to wipe a tear.

After picking her up from school, I was so excited to hear about her day, but she didn't seem too talkative about it. Finally, after asking several questions, she started talking and it sounded like she had a blast! Her report was that they played in the gym and she liked kicking the soccer ball and pink ball. Plus they read an animal book and sang 'The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round'. She had to show me the smiley face she made and the coloring page she colored red. And she was thrilled that she got to drink apple juice out of a striped "big girl" cup.

That was the scoop that I got from Day #1. She can't wait to go back on Thursday!