We Have a First Grader!

I'm In the hullabaloo of switching to our summer routine, I forgot to post a couple of last day of K pics of Lyla. It was a great day for her, and I think we all feel so proud that she's had such a successful year! Her last report card indicated success in all subjects, and she made so many wonderful friends this year. 

Here's the first and last day of school photo: 

I think she seems so much more grown up. 

And here are the kids we wait for the bus with each morning. Shannon and Eli were also so excited for the last day of school!

Nothing shows the progression of Lyla's year like her first and last writing samples from her (numerous) journals. The writing this kid did over the last year is nothing short of amazing! Here are the journals!

Here's the first entry:

And here's one of the last:

And here's a photo of her perfect attendance medal (she was the only one in her class to achieve this honor) and her report card:

So proud I could burst! I love this girl so very much!

Here's to staying up too late, sleeping late, swimming and lots of outside time! Happy Summer!!

Spring Carnival

It was a perfect Spring evening to attend Lyla's Spring Carnival at her school. We left so happy, with Lyla asking repeatedly, "Can we go back next year?"

We played games, ran into countless friends from Lyla's beloved kindergarten class and watched Lyla & her friends chase bubbles. It reminded me of the magic of the Fall Festival from my own elementary school years ago. 

Here's a few photos:

 Cade's favorite part of the evening was sitting in a fire truck, along with antagonizing Lyla and her friends:

Lunch with Lyla

Cade & I visited Lyla for lunch at school today. It was chaotic as always, but never dull. She has developed quite a close set of friends, and lunch is a time they all love. 

Cade likes going too, although he's a little afraid of Ms. Sherry, the lunch lady who very sternly redirected him one day when he tried to stand on a lunchroom seat. 

Here are a few (silly) photos because it was a silly day!!

Hello Kindergarten

I was unable to finish my vacation posts - life has been so crazy and hectic around here getting everything ready for Kindergarten. We are whizzing through the days..here we are - Week 2. 

I attempted a Dear Lyla letter here for her first day of kindergarten, but decided it just wasn’t something I could do. This subject is so emotional for me that for once in my life, I just don’t have words. 

Lyla loves kindergarten. She loves riding the bus in the mornings, she loves her teacher, and she loves play time with her brother in the afternoon. I’m so proud of how well she’s adjusting - there have been a few tears here and there, probably because of fatigue and because, well, I think we miss each other just a little bit. 

But, we’re adjusting, and she’s doing so well at school. Her memory is amazing, she’s reading phonetically and she loves her new friends. Getting up so early every day is a bit of an adjustment for all of us, but the sweet awake time in the afternoons is worth every blurry morning eye.

Here are a few sweet moments from the last few very important, life changing weeks of our lives: 

Lance & I did one last stay-up-late night with Lyla about a week before school started. She got to make egg-laden cupcakes, and stay up late watching whatever she wanted on TV, with us. We watched several episodes of Sophia before we called it a night and, by tradition, she got to sleep with us in our bed. Lance took this photo that night with our new camera: 

Cade has also experienced a huge adjustment in all of this. He really misses his best friend. We’re working through it by trying to create some new experiences of our own. Here, we took all of his "fix-it tools” to the park and played for hours one morning last week: 

Afternoon play has become so important here. I pick Lyla up at 2:20 and we come home as soon as we can. I try to have dinner pre-planned so we can spend as much time outside as possible. Lyla comes home voracious for play. She really seems to miss this component of her day at school, which also makes me very sad. But, we try to make the most of every moment of daylight we have before we have to go inside and work on our (strict) bedtime routine to ensure she’s tucked in by 8 p.m. These are the sweetest of cell-phone free afternoons for me: 

We’ve been very excited to meet the neighbor’s 2 cats, Crazy & Lazy, last week. We love going on adventures through the woods with them. Lyla says she’s “training” them. Obviously, we’re not cat experts around here. 

A good friend reminded me this morning that the goal of parenthood is to teach our children to be independent people, and I couldn’t agree more. It’s bittersweet, but mostly sweet that she’s spreading her little fairy wings. 

I’m so proud.