A Bright New Beginning

Today dawned cold and cloudy but that could do nothing to dampen the spirits of the boys on this, their first day of school. Here are some pics highlighting the day.

Okay so this has nothing to do with the first day of school, nor did it happen today but it was in the bunch of pictures downloaded and she's just too cute to not include here.

Here are the boys with their backpacks and lunches. They would not hear of getting their picture taken without their little sister. Before I know it she will be going to school right along with them. Sigh.

Here we go to kindergarten orientation. Brian's was from 1:30 - 3:30 so we were able to spend the morning together. By this time the sun was out and it was quite warm so if you are noticing that he isn't wearing the same outfit, don't worry it is still the same day! He was super excited and couldn't wait to go.

Brian found his hook for the year and proudly hung his ninja turtle backpack.

Allison came with us to orientation. She did great for about an hour then wanted to be down running around the classroom. She was quite the disturbance.

Brian unpacking all his school supplies and putting them away. Once he got that ream of paper out I think his pack was much lighter!


He got to decorate his nametag.

Here his teacher Mrs. Pennylegion is giving the kids a tour of the classroom.

I think we can safely say that today was a successful first day of school. Collin was thrilled to go back and see all his friends and his teacher. He has the same as last year and most of the same kids as well. He is a big third grader now and was excited to be able to go on the zip line on the playground that only 3rd graders and older can play on! When I asked how his day went and what he did all he said is they did math.

Brian as excited as he was to go to his first day was pretty wiped out by the afternoon and got a little frustrated with trying to do some writing. They worked on a book about his first day there and not even halfway through he was done. He did great sitting with the other kids and listening to his new teacher. A few times he had to be reminded that he could play with Allison at home. At the end he got to go on a tour of the school and find the library, lunch room, gym (which is the same as the lunch room) and the office. He got to stamp in a little book for each place he stopped. Overall it was a pretty good day. He goes on Friday for his first full day. Mom is a little nervous, but Brian is looking forward to it!

Is It Fall Already?

Brian has his kindergarten assesment today. I can't believe he is starting kindergarten this week! Is he really old enough? Where does time go. The crazy part is that he is now the same age Collin was when we moved here. He has officially lived here longer than he lived in Kent. Is that really possible? I just can't believe it!

This week will be a crazy one. With kindergarten assesment today, first day of school for Collin Wednesday and kindergarten orientation for Brian and I, and Brian's first official day of school on Friday. We are bummed that Steve is going to miss it. He started the project down in Oregon today. He is gone just for the week this time and boy am I glad for that. It will be good to have him home for one more week next week.

I'll post pics this week of the week, and hopefully some summer highlights too.

Smorgasboard

Behind AGAIN?????

Yep, that's right. I am behind again. This post almost catches me up, but not quite. So hopefully you can expect another post tomorrow. If the heat doesn't kill me first! Hope you enjoy what has been going on here in our lives.

Field Trip to Pioneer Park

Collin's class was studying pioneer's and they went on a field trip to Pioneer Park. For those of you not familiar, Pioneer Park is a park right here in Ferndale that consists of a several original cabins and houses, even a church and a school from when Ferndale was first established. The kids were able to see what life was like back then and were even able to participate in a traditional school using feathers for pens, chopping wood for chores, making candles and mailing letters. It was a pretty fun day that I was able to participate in. This was the first field trip of Collin's I've been able to go on and was super excited to get to go.

Mother's Day Tea

The week of Mother's Day the preschool had a special Mother's Day Tea for all of us. The kids had worked so hard on some songs to sing and they did a great job. The tables were beautifully set with flowers, pretty glass tea and plate sets. We had fruit and muffins along with tea for the moms and apple juice for the kids. Brian had made a quilt square out of a picture that he drew for me. It was even coordinating with his class color. One of the moms was nice enough to work with each one of the kids in each preschool class (72 in all) to work on these quilts. They were very nice! The wrapping had Brian's hand prints on it in paint. It was a great afternoon.

Fun in the Sun

Allison's first experience with the sprinkler. She had been watching Brian play and wanted so bad to get in on the fun. So we put her in her bathing suit and brought her out. When the water hit her she took off running and crying. Once we turned the water down she did much better though. I was also able to find a scooter for her at a garage sale and she has had tons of fun riding on it.


Brian's Last Day of Preschool (sob)

Last Thursday was Brian's very last day of preschool. It was a very sad occasion. I had to keep reminding him that he would be in Kindergarten next year and then he was fine, I on the other hand did not do so well. It was very difficult to leave that last day. It was a great year though. Christ Lutheran Christian Preschool was such a great experience for Brian. They went on field trips, had Daddy night where they carved pumpkins, had a Mother's Day tea, they made a scrapbook of the year for each one of the kids, they had concerts. It really was a great place and I look forward to Allison going in a few years too!

Checking his cubby for the LAST time.

Brian and his teacher, Mrs. Johnson.

Playing on the playground for the LAST time.

This was always Allison's highlight of the day...getting to play on the playground when we went to pick up Brian. Fun times, she never wanted to leave!

One of Brian's favorite activities on the playground.

Brian's LAST time with the share bag. I think it was his spiderman costume. Oh the memories!

Kleenex Anyone?

Who knew Kleenex could be so much fun? Just had to share this little video clip with you because I thought it was so cute. We had been doing this for quite some time before I thought to get it on video. I'm not kidding this could have gone on for hours, but alas I figured I better put an end to it before she put an end to our kleenex!

Tulip Festival

With Steve being gone all last week and then again this week we decided that a family fun day was in order. So after Sunday school we headed down to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. It was a very fun day. We had a picnic lunch at one of the local farms and the boys enjoyed some ice cream. Then they had a great time playing at a small playground at the farm. Even Allison had a great time. She especially loved the slide. It was all I could do to hold on to her until Steve could get to the bottom of the slide to catch her. Then off to the tulip fields! They were gorgeous, of course. I had fun trying out a setting on my camera for flowers and I think it paid off. We got some great shots. Here are some pics highlighting out day.