Goodbye First & Third Graders!

 I think I get more sad on the last day of school than on the first.  

There is something so final about the end of school. 

Another year has gone by.

The kids keep growing older.

(And so do I!)

It gets harder and harder to say goodbye to these grades as Karsten and Ella progress through school. 

So many different challenges and interesting things await us in the coming times. 

This was a good year though . . . we had great teachers, the kids did so well in school, fun friends. 

I have to brag a bit - Karsten ended up with straight A's, and improved on his percentages in every subject from the last quarter. 

Ella is meeting and even exceeding her subjects at school as well.

 (They don't give grades yet for Ella, so I just have descriptions for her.)

I am so proud. 

Just look at those monkeys - who wouldn't want to be their Mama?! 

Well, Hello Summer, we have missed your lazy days, full of vacations, movies and swimming. 

Much more fun to follow in the coming months. 

But goodbye to my first and third graders, I will see a second and fourth grader soon!

Why so sad?

My husband thinks I'm crazy; and maybe my sister and cousin too. I have been so melancholy today. The kids had their last day of school today and I'm really sad. They are moving up to First and Third grades next year. So no real big changes or anything, but I had a perpetual lump in my throat all day.

I feel like the years keep going by faster and faster. All these little milestones are behind us and the bigger ones are hurtling towards us with enormous speed! I understand it's life and this is how it goes, but I'm definitely a little blue because of it. 

I ADORE my kids, and I love to to take care of them. The older they get, if I do my job correctly, they will continue to get more and more independent and need me less and less.  Mark is estactic by this notion; me, not so much.  My little babies are kids now and soon they will be big kids and then teens and then adults. :( So I'm going to wallow in my sadness for a little while longer and look at the pictures of my babies starting their academic careers. I love those little faces!

Karsten Preschool

Ella Preschool

Karsten Kindergarten Prep                                                                       Ella Kindergarten Prep

Karsten Kindergarten

Karsten First Grade

Ella Kindergarten & Karsten Second Grade

<3

Water Day at CRRE

Water Day!!

Here are Karsten & Taylor, all set for Water Day at their school. I volunteered to help get the munchkins changed and lathered up with sunscreen. After that, I got to hang out with the other moms and watch them slip and slide all afternoon! Super fun!

BTW, how handsome does my little guy look in his aviators?! Gorg!

Karsten somehow got into the cutie girl group . . . can't you see how excited he is?

Here he goes!!!

Happy boy!

The kiddies sunning themselves afterwards, warming up a bit.

Calm and content, just so happy! Karsten had so much fun going on the slides, it was a really fun event. 

Field Trip to Stuffington Bear Factory

I had the pleasure of accompanying Karsten and the entire Kindergarten grade of Carol Rae Elementary to the Stuffington Bear Factory in Phoenix. Stuffington is a lot like Build a Bear, but they also have a working stuffed animal factory. We first sat through a presentation about how the teddy bear came about, then we toured the factory, then the kids got to make their own bears to take home.

There were so many volunteer chaperones, they couldn't fit all of the parents on the bus. I was one that didn't fit on the bus, I followed in my car, behind the bus. This was fine by me! I was able to leave when the kids boarded the bus to go back to school and pick up Ella - that saved me a lot of time. Another bonus with all of the parents - I was only in charge of three munchkins, and one of them was Karsten and another was our next door neighbor, Taylor. Super easy, because I know them so well. The other boy in our group was David S.

We had a lot of fun, as always, and I am a really lucky working mama that I get to spend so much time with Karsten in his class. I hope they let me volunteer next year too!  I wonder if they do in first grade? Hope so! :)

Here is Louis, he lead us through the factory.

Watching and listening . . . 

Happy kids with their bears!

Fun Run

Karsten's school has this thing called Fun Run. A couple of Fridays each month, the kids gather in the field for a run around the school. The Kindergarten kids' parents were asked to run with them, so they didn't get left behind. There was also a shorter course for the Kinders; that course just went around the field. Karsten was so excited and I figured it couldn't hurt for me to get my lazy butt out there. Of course my insane running man wanted to take the long course and was PASSING kids left and right. He was actually sad because he couldn't get past some slower kids on the sidewalk. His running ability amazes me! We had a really good time and I almost died, but he had a lot of fun!

Early Release Day Fun

The kids had an early release day last Friday, so I picked up the muchkins, with Ava in tow and we headed out to lunch. (BTW, the food court at San Tan Mall really stinks!) We ended up at Hot Dog on a Stick. Their kids meal is pretty cute, not so healthy, but kinda cute. They got hats and tattoos, who doesn't love that with a kids meal?

And after lots of begging, I scrounged up enough change to send them on a ride! We had fun!

Grandparents Day at CRRE

arsten's school had a lunch for grandparents/parents. We were all invited to join them for recess, then stay to have lunch with the kiddos. We had a lot of fun! My dad was able to make it and so were Mark's mom and stepfather. Karsten was so happy and excited to have them there!

Here are my dad and Ava in Karsten's class before recess.


Jen and Taylor, our fab neighbors. We are so lucky, Taylor is in the same class as Karsten; it's the best having this fantastic family share Kindergarten with us.


Grandma Blackhair and Papa (Karsten made up Grandma's name. For awhile, he was identifying people by the color of their hair!)


Dad and Ava


Mama and Karsten


It was a great day - thanks for sharing your lunch with us, Karsten! And thank you grandma and grandpas for coming! Karsten was over the moon that you came! He's so lucky to have such wonderful g-parents in his life!

Ella Starts School!

So two days after our fabulous vacation to Indiana, my littlest munchkin started preschool! It was so hectic, trying to get things settled from the vacation, back to work, Karsten back to school, it seemed like her first day just snuck up on us. This was Ella's first little steps into the world of school!

Ella had been so excited to go to school. Especially since her older cousin (older by four days) was going to be in her class. Gracie and Ella have a really special, solid friendship; they play so well together. Because of our vacation, Ella missed the open house and the first two days school. Her first day was on a Friday, and the drop off didn't go so well.

Grace wasn't in class yet, and Ella started crying so MUCH! I was very surprised. I guess I thought since she was excited, she wouldn't be nervous - I was wrong. She was was a little, sad, crying Ella. It broke my heart! Gracie showed up and that seemed to calm Ella down a bit, until I tried to leave and then the little sad tears came again! I finally left and then I started to cry. All the Yori girls were crying that morning!

But of course, when I picked up my favorite little girl, she was all smiles and happiness! She was so excited to show me her school work. And my heart was bursting with pride and joy! She loved school and was so proud to share the things she made and learned. What a wonderful thing!

Here are the pictures from the beginning of the morning . . .

Update on sleepy Karsten . . .

y little man is trashed from all this school stuff! He went to bed at 8 last night and woke up close to 7 am this morning. He just passed out on the couch at 7 tonight! Poor baby! I'm hoping his little body gets used to this new schedule soon! I miss hanging out with my guy!

Nap Time in Kindergarten? I thought they got rid of that . . .

When Mark picked Karsten up from Kindergarten class today, Mrs. Kearney informed Mark that Karsten fell asleep in class! She said this is the second time this has happened. We are not clear on if he fell asleep twice today or if this is the second time over the course of the last week. Karsten does not stay up late by any means, and is usually one of the first ones up in the morning, but up until Kindergarten started, he always had a nap in the afternoon, and has never had a full day school. So it's completely understandable that his little body and mind needs more sleep during the night now, than before. We are moving his bedtime up one hour and taking away the video and computer games indefinitely. We probably should have done this right when school started . . . oh well, live and learn. In celebration of this momentous day here are some pictures of Karsten sleeping through the years . . .