Dos Amigos

Ashlee's best little buddy, Dexter, is spending the night tonight after Parent's Night Out at their old preschool.

Picking them up at 10 p.m., clearly doesn't give them enough time to play before bed so we'll have to repeat this again with an earlier pick up.

Reunited {3 Amigos} for 6

Dexter, Connor and Ashlee

Take A Peek

Wow! Just wow!

Look at Ashlee's first progress report ...

We have never seen such a wonderful report.

Tyler gets good reports but we've never had almost everything on the right side checked with a note that says"adjusting well."

Amazing, those differences between children.

Ashlee hasn't skipped a beat transitioning from preschool to kindergarten.

In a very diverse class with a large percentage of low 5s (ie those with summer birthdays who will be 5 all year), she is doing well serving as a leader while also learning new things. My only fear is that she is spending too much time with the first-graders and not enough time with her own grade.

I hope that doesn't backfire on her next year when they don't share the same recess.

Let's hope she stays on this path for the rest of the year! Way to go princess!

Smarty Pants

You know what' I've missed the last year, almost two years? 

Volunteering at school.

As the kids get older, the teachers need less and less parental help.

In Kindergarten, they want you to visit weekly. First grade, they still want you to visit, but a little less often. By second grade, I hardly ever visited except field trips. And now third grade, I rarely visit except for a rare lunch room visit.

I love being back in Kindergarten. 

I love watching Ashlee in her element, making new friends, learning new things and finding her way in a new school.

And she's thriving. She's doing SO, SO well!

During a recent volunteer session, I played a matching game with her classmates. They were supposed to match up the cards with the board, ensuring they had the same beginning sounds.

Crazy as it sounds, Ashlee and her friends from her preschool were the only ones who could complete the task!!

It's amazing! When you're in the preschool environment, you often overlook the good things that are happening, especially if you've been there for what seem like a million years. But our school, our preschool, is was on top of it. It prepared our little ones to thrive in Kindergarten. And it's so much fun to watch her excel - and she's so proud of her work!

I can't wait until she starts reading. I know it's not very far off.

Isn't It Ironic?

Do you see the heart to the right of the sunburst?

#sayinggoodbyeishardtodo

How did we go from left to right in the blink of an eye?!?

Three years. 

Still my happy, smiley pig-tailed girl, who battles me a bit more on the bows (and pigtails).

I'd say she's grown quite a bit. Her head almost touches the bottom of the flag string - almost to the same place where her brother stands in the picture; he's the same age as she is here (only it's November vs. August).

Today is our last day.
The end of a 6-year era.

No more daily detours on my way to and from work.

Justin will now take both kids to school. I'll pick them both up, unless there is an activity that causes the other to pick up.

Maybe I'll actually make it to work on time?

It's a good thing we're leaving early today to head to the lake - and Justin is doing the pick up. It will help me reign in the tears. I'll say my good-byes this morning. Take one last look at the halls where my children laughed - and cried. Learned and slept. Made friends. And grew.

It's been fun KRK. It's been fun!

Saying Goodbye...

The last day of "school" snuck up on me.

It seemed like we had an entire summer to make it through and then - BAM - tomorrow is Ashlee's last day at the place that's been our children's home-away-from-home for almost 6 years.

I still remember touring the place.

It was brand new and hardly anyone went there yet. We could hardly get Tyler to stay, let alone play on the playground with the director's daughter - who would later become one of his classmates and friends.

We started a few months after that visit.

It was a good transition - that home to center thing - and he flourished there.

And then we moved Ashlee there, too, when she was almost 2 1/2.

It seemed to be our magical "transition to center" age.

Tyler moved onto kindergarten with 6 or 7 of his classmates.

Ashlee stayed behind.

Now she's moving onto kindergarten with 2 of her classmates, leaving far too many behind - including her best buddy Dexter.

We're sad to say good-bye. We're sad to leave the teachers. Very few remain from those early days, but we love the ones that are there now just as much.

As a good-bye, I got each of Ashlee's main teachers a subway art print with a mug full of M&Ms. I also got the front office a special print from our family.

I hope they know how much they mean to us - and how much they mean to our kids. They were definitely a hug above the rest, and we will never forget them and the love they showed our kids!

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday {Braids}

We're going to miss the fancy hair from "school"

#sayinggoodbyeishardtodo

Kindergarten Pre-Festivities

Ashlee is having a somewhat hard time with the kindergarten transition.

I think it's because her friends are going to different schools (all but 2 of them). And it may have to do with the fact that her good friend, Connor, who is going to her school, told her he was moving - because he wants to go to school with the others, but she didn't understand and got worried.

Really worried.

So in the midst of one of her breakdowns over going to Kindergarten, I cheered her up by taking her shopping - at Target. It ranks up there as one of her favorite places, along with QuikTrip.

We went shopping for her backpack, and she totally picked out the cheetah one - as this girl LOVES all things cheetah!

It's crazy to see her wearing her actual FIRST school backpack. Aghhhh!!

The backpack helped to turn her day around. As did the message from Connor's mom saying they were not moving, and Connor would be at her school, along with the other Connor.

Now if only we could find a way to get Dexter to her school???

Tick Tock

Next week starts our last week at daycare. I'm pretty sad. It's been 6 years (combined). #sayinggoodbyeishardtodo

Wordless Wednesday {WANTED}

Very Important Kiddos

Ashlee and friends had a second summer field trip Monday that was a bit unforgettable for some ...

A behind the scenes tour of Kauffman Stadium, home of the beloved Royals.

Roger (Poppy) joined me on this field trip as he was curious about the behind the scene workings as well, plus, after the last field trip, I realized that extra hands were needed for some of these kids!

Tyler was beyond sad/mad that he couldn't attend this field trip with us! He was in a special camp this week so he wasn't able to play hookie and attend with us, otherwise I would have brought him along {I sure don't remember him doing these field trips when he was in pre-K?!?}

We arrived at the stadium at 10 a.m. for the tour with a single guide.

You can tell she is used to typically touring older students and/or adults, but she did a great job with the kids, hurrying them on from site to site and not spending too much time "talking" about what they were seeing.

Our tour started in the outfield seats where she talked about the fountains. Rog and I were mesmerized, or rather distracted, by the guys mowing the lawn.

We had no idea that they used  push mowers - in a line - to mow the outfield. We thought for sure it was a larger mower type of job, but they apparently still hoof it old school.

After walking the outfield arc and checking out the special seats - military and Buck O'Neil (they are colored differently than all the rest) - we headed down toward the field where we went into the dugout. The kids were able to do the obligatory "Let's Go Royals!" chant.

Typically, kids get to run the bases, but the field was torn up because the Royals were in between series'. The kids ran the bases in the Little K instead.

While the kids chanted, the teachers and I took pictures calling in our new pitchers on the "special" phone and posing for pictures to the "secret" underground tunnel. We didn't expect to get to go underneath, but we did and that's when the fun started....

We had a mock press conference, interviewing Ms. Dina, and we got a tour of the visitor's locker room {the Royals one is closed to the public because it's open 24/7}.

Then we headed to the top of the stadium where Ashlee sat in the press box.

Above is a hole and a dent where players have hit balls that have crashed through the windows and hit the wall just behind the reporters!

The day concluded with a lap - or three - around the bases and a picnic lunch under one of the corporate tents in the parking lot.

The kids had a blast! I think this is a field trip that they are going to add to their schedule each year!

PS - I didn't blur out Ashlee's school because she no longer goes there

Happy Father's Day {Early}

Ashlee has no patience.

At least when it comes to giving gifts.

She made Justin so many presents at school this year, that she could not wait until Sunday to give them to him for Father's Day.

She walked into the door from school and handed them over - with the biggest grin imaginable.

Ashlee has a thing for giving gifts - and loves seeing people's reactions to them!

It's sad to think that this is the last time she will be making homemade gifts for Father's Day {since this is the end of preschool}.

Homemade gifts truly are the best to receive!

Back at the Farm

We're back at the farm.

This time with Ashlee's friends.

This is the kick off to Ashlee's summer school travel log, which includes twice weekly field trips.

Every Monday, they go to some fun place around KC.

Every Wednesday, they go to a local theatre for a second-run movie.

I plan to go on many of the field trips - to ensure she doesn't eat any gluten! - while skipping the theatre trips as mama has to work!

This trip to the farm was a bit different than one of our regular visits.

We had a tour guide, who spent time showing us around the "older" parts of the farm, talking about the animals in detail.

The kids got to go on a hayride and feed the goats. And for the first time, Ashlee actually fed a single goat out of her hand. But only once {it's a start}.

The trip ended up a picnic lunch in one of the birthday pens before heading back to school. It was a fun outdoor adventure!

Deja Vu

I guess she loves both of us because we hug a lot?!?