Wrapping up May

C's school has a flag ceremony each month. Each month a different grade gets to officiate it. In May the Kindergartners got to do it. My girl brought home this note.

Patiently waiting for her turn to speak.

She did great! Her line was "Red Poppies are the Memorial Day flower."  She nailed it and spoke loud and clear.

By May it was already HOT. We continued to walk to school in the morning. Jake got to walk her too and was always so happy.

Mrs. Wienke had fun things planned for the last week of school. One day was teddy bear day and C chose to bring Cupcake. We were not surprised.

I walked by the back door one day and saw Jake. He was lying perfectly still and for a minute I thought he was dead. No joke. It was so hot out there. I guess he was just sunbathing because a few minutes later he was crying to come inside.

One afternoon Jake and I decided to walk to school for pick up. It was pretty stupid of us. It was blazing hot. I let both my sweet kids cool down with a Popsicle when we got home.

Two thumbs up.

I had a wonderful time being one of the room moms for C's class. I was able to become good friends with the other room mom. Mrs. Wienke sent us both a sweet treat for helping out this year.

C had her dance recital. After 3 sessions of dance she wants to do gymnastics instead.  

I made dinner for a new family that moved into our neighborhood from Bloomington. This was a vanilla bean trifle. So good.

This was the rest of the dinner. Pulled apple BBQ chicken, dinner buns, bacon/green beans and of course the dessert.

Enjoying some lazy weeknights riding her bike in the cul de sac. I love our location on our street. Even Cherry got to tag along.

One day Daddy wasn't feeling well so C picked him some flowers.

Just for you Daddy.

School's Out For Summer

May 23rd was C's last day of Kindergarten!

Not sure how we got here so quickly!

While she was at school I made her a banner for the garage door.

I also made her one for the front door.

This was her expression when she saw the banner on the front door. She was pretty excited.

We had picked up Sierra from school so I made her a banner for her front door too.

After school we headed to "Old McDonald's" for ice cream and play.

This McDonald's had just re-done their play area.  Besides the area to play on they also put in computers with tons of games on it. I loved how all the kids shared the computers. They had a great time.

After almost 2 hours we headed home.

I let both C and Sierra run through the banner. I obviously taped it too high on the door and they could not rip through it.  They must have tried 5 or 6 times.

After Sierra left I let C rip through the "summer" sign.

On your mark...get set...

GO!!

She couldn't rip through this one either. But she still loved the sign and loved trying over and over.

Me and the other class mom, Sandi, put together a little goodie bag for the kids.  Some smarties, pop rocks, kool aid with a silly straw.  Also a summer journal to work on and a 1st grade activity workbook.  Both C and I had a wonderful Kindergarten year. We both made wonderful, sweet friends and learned a lot.  Now on to 1st grade!

From August to May

I didn't have any great solo shots of C on the first day of school. But I did find some pictures from the beginning of the school year. I think this photo was from the August. Her backpack looks so big on her.

This one is from September. Her face looks so round to me.

This is the on her last day of school. You can see how much better her backpack fits her. I didn't weigh/measure her in August. But in June of 2012 she was 42 inches. And in late April she was 47 inches. So she has grown quite a bit but is still 1 of the shortest in her class. Which does not make her happy!

And on her Kindergarten graduation day. Her face has lost some of it's chubbiness and has matured.

Apparently she has also gotten more attitude!  

Book Dedication

C has worked really hard at reading this year. Going into Kindergarten she could not read. Coming out she is a reading machine. I can honestly say that she probably reads on a 2nd grade level.  Her school had this awesome reading program. The kids were given rewards after every 10 hours of reading. It was a pain because I had to track all her reading in 15 minute increments. But it was well worth it for the pay off. Some of the bigger rewards she achieved were her name in the school paper, Popsicles with the principal, and free ice cream. Her favorite reward was probably Popsicles with the principal but mine was below. By the last week of school she had read 160 hours!! So she got to have a book dedication.  

She got to pick out a book from the school library and they dedicated it to her. This picture cracks me up. She was so excited!

She could not stand still.

Her dedication inside the book. The librarian will glue it in there but she just taped it so I could get a picture.

Happy, proud girl!  I also learned that she read more hours than any other kid in her class. Way to go C! We couldn't be more proud of you! Keep on reading!

Meet Her Friends

C is 1 very lucky girl. Since moving to AZ she has made some wonderful friendships with some wonderful girls. I talk to the grandparents all the time and I know they can never keep her many friends straight. So I thought I would introduce them all.

Sierra lives just 4 houses down. She just finished 1st grade. Even though she only moved here in December her and C have become fast friends. One morning I got to walk both of them to school. They of course had to fight over who could hold Jake's leash.

Of all C's friends Sierra is the one who acts most like C's sister. They can argue with each other like cats and dogs but the next minute they are sitting side by side reading a book together.  I think C was trying to show us her blue tongue. 

We had a graduation pool party with some of C's neighborhood friends. Jeremy is such a good Daddy in the pool. Unlike me, he always gets in and plays with the kids. Here they are making waves and turning our pool into an ocean.

Addy, Sienna, C and Sophia. Sienna was the first friend that C made here. And her mom was the first friend I made. 

A few from our Girl Scout troop. Emari, Anna, Sophia and C. 

Anna and C. These 2 girls are not in the same class at school. But are in Girl Scouts together and have also been taking dance together for over a year.

Anna and C in their pajamas at Peter Piper Pizza. They were suppose to have a pajama pizza party with  their Girl Scout troop but it got cancelled at the last minute. So we headed out for some pizza and play in our jammies anyway.

Happy girls coming back from Sophia's birthday party.

I picked up C and Ellie from school one day and had some Target popcorn waiting for them in the car. They were excited!  C tells me all the time that Ellie is her best friend. But Ellie does not live in our neighborhood and C only sees her at school. I think she is her favorite friend at school.

But I would say Emari is probably C's best friend. Her and Sophia. Though Emari and C are much more alike. Emari is a very sweet girl. C had worked hard at achieving a goal we set for her. As her reward she got to have her VERY FIRST sleepover and chose Emari. 

Some crazy dress up before bed.

I am not sure what they are doing here as Jeremy was taking the pictures. But I think they were voguing. You know, like Madonna.

Oh and the vampire teeth C is wearing make it more classy!

Nothing like hanging in the pool with one of your best friends.

One of the wonderful things about C's friends is all the moms are friends with each other. And the little girls are all friends with each other. It makes get togethers lots of fun.

Me, Beth (Anna's mom), Janine (our old neighbors in Bloomington. And her daughter, another Anna, is our favorite babysitter), Janie (Emari's mom), Amber (Sofia's mom--and our lovely host for this particular evening) and Angie (Sierra's mom). I am so blessed to call all these wonderful ladies my friends. 

All the kids in the hot tub.  Such a fun, fun night.

I have been very blessed to make wonderful friendships in all the places Jeremy's job has moved us. But AZ has been by far the best place we lived.  I have wonderful, close friends. Friends that I know I can count on for anything. Friends that are there for me in good and bad. I'll leave you with my favorite friendship quote--even though I am not a fan of Winnie the Pooh.

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh?" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's hand. "I just wanted to be sure of you.”

I am so thankful that both me and my girl can be sure of our friends.