Olivia's Preschool Graduation

On Tuesday morning, Olivia and her friends in the Owl Class had their preschool graduation. We were asked to put the kids in "bright colors" for the Spring Sing and Olivia picked out her owl dress, since she's part of the Owl Class. She loves that dress and looked so cute for her performance. She also had to bring a white dress shirt of CK's which we rolled up the arms so it fit her. When put on backwards, it looks like a white gown for her graduation. So sweet!

Prior to the graduation, the entire school had a Spring Sing, which was a lot of fun to watch and very sweet. Over the past few weeks, Olivia has been singing a variety of adorable songs that she's learned from Miss Jess and that she and her classmates would be singing to us prior to the ceremony. The Spring Sing was so sweet and all the kids did a great job. Some were more interested in performing and singing while a few just stood shocked that they were being watched by all the parents. Olivia really enjoyed it and sang her little heart out. She had so much fun and I'm surprised that she's such a performer, since she seems so shy in most situations. I think she's coming out of her shell.

Following the Spring Sing, the younger classes headed back to their classes while the Owl and Elephant classes (the 4 year olds) and the Bear class (5 year olds) "graduated." They called each child individually down the church walkway to come for a hug from their teacher and then join their fellow graduates on the podium. It was so sweet! I'm so glad they held the graduation on Tuesday instead of the actual last day of school, since I was already getting sad over the idea of Olivia not being at such a great school next year. I know she's excited for Kindergarten and I think she'll do great and have fun, but Noah's Ark and her teachers have been a fantastic fit and I wish we'd found it a year earlier.

Following the graduation, we went out to the lobby and had cookies and punch together. Miss Michelle and Miss Jane also compiled an amazing folder for each student with their work and photos over the year! It's so cool and such a great scrapbook to have of Olivia's year at Noah's Ark! After we visited and thanked the teachers, we took our kiddos and went to Chik Fil A with Hannah, Evan, Collins, and Spencer and their moms. We ate, visited and the kids played. It was a fun visit and I can't believe the kids only have two more days!

On her final day of school today, Olivia brought gifts for Miss Jane and Miss Michelle. I wasn't sure what to get them, so went with a gift card to Market Street. I also had Olivia write a "Thank you" card and told her how to write each letter so it read "Thank you, Miss Jane" and "Thank you, Miss Michelle" and then had her draw a picture in each of the thank you cards. I also wrote a note to each of them in the cards and thanked them for such a great year.

Olivia is ready for Spring Sing and graduation

With Miss Michelle, the world's best teacher!

With Miss Jane

The Spring Sing

Ready to graduate from preschool

This picture completely captures Olivia and Hannah and their crazy, silly relationship!

All the Noah's Ark graduates!

Our little graduate

Showing off her scrapbook

Papa and his girl

The three of us

With her buddy, Evan!

Crazy kids

Evan, Hannah, Olivia, and Spencer just before heading to Chik Fil A

Olivia with gifts for her teachers on her very last day of preschool!

Mother's Day 2016

We had a really fun and relaxing Mother's Day weekend! On Saturday, we watched Sofia and her Pink Pirate team mates win their age group in soccer and then returned to the house to relax in the backyard while the girls played. Sofia pretended she was an author and illustrator and Olivia was a jewelry designer. She designed and made jewelry and Sofia wrote in the newspaper about her jewelry.

A few days before Mother's Day, I received an envelope full of pictures of my Mom from my Aunt Cathy! She's in the middle of planning a McConnell/Fulton/Brumfield family reunion in California in June and we've been talking regularly to talk about plans. It was such a wonderful surprise to receive the photos and most of them were those used in her memorial service. They are all really great photos of my Mom with a few with my Dad and they are just great to have. It was perfect timing too and I enjoyed so much looking through them and sharing them on Facebook. I showed the girls the photos with my Mom and Dad and told them stories about my Dad and what he loved to do and what he was like. They are used to hearing me talk about my Mom but I don't get a chance to talk about my Dad as much, so it was fun to share memories with them.

On Mother's Day Sunday, I woke up, made coffee and sat in our backyard enjoying the morning. Sofia actually woke up earlier than she normally does on the weekend and showed up with the book she loves reading to me "Matilda" by Roald Dahl. She read to me for a bit and then she and Olivia presented me with their Mother's Day gifts they had made. I suspect Olivia's gift was made minutes before she gave it to me, but it was very cute. Sofia also wrote me a note of thanks from both she and Olivia. It was very sweet. On Thursday, Olivia came home from school with a write-up about "Mom" which was very cute!

After getting ready, we went to Meeting and then CK took us to Cool River for Mother's Day Brunch, which was really delicious! Of course, it was a ton of food so we all left feeling very full and as if we never wanted to eat again. We returned home and relaxed briefly before I took both girls to get a pedicure. Sofia went with me on her 8th birthday, even though she isn't really into pedicures and "girly stuff" and ended up really enjoying it, although a lot of the treatment tickled her too. Olivia is always begging me to paint her toes and fingernails and loves all the "girly stuff," so I knew she would have fun. They were able to start all of our pedicures at the same time and both girls had a great time. As expected, Olivia loved it and Sofia was like an old pro. She put my sunglasses on at one point and actually looked like a teenager! I couldn't believe it! At the end, Sofia ended up getting flower stickers on her big toes and Olivia had a flower painted on her big toes since her toenail was too small to hold a sticker. It was a fun outing and something fun to do with the girls. I'd originally asked CK if I could work in the garden all day, but it was overcast and a bit rainy out so the pedicure was perfect. After the pedicure, we returned home and just hung out.

Hanging out Saturday afternoon after soccer.

The author and jewelry maker

My Mom and Dad - Love these pictures!!

Sofia reading to me on Sunday morning....

Olivia's school Mother's Day gift

The Mother's Day thank you note from the girls....

Sofia's homemade Mother's Day gift

Buddy!

Olivia's gift given to me on Mother's Day -the ink was still wet on this portrait of me. So sweet!

The girls and I on Sunday morning

Brunch at Cool River

Pedicures! So fun!

Sofia suddenly looking like a teenager!

The finished product!

Purplicious Awards

Although Purplicious' soccer season was over more than a week ago, we finally held the end-of-season award ceremony and pizza party at one of the parents' house on Tuesday afternoon. It was a crazy day with Sofia having her 3rd grade field trip to the Perot Museum followed by a visit to an archery studio with her Girl Scouts after school. She absolutely loved shooting with a bow and arrow and had a great time, but the archery studio was about 30 minutes drive away, so we were about 40 minutes late to the Purplicious party! I felt bad because not only do I take the photos, but I had the coach's gift as well. Everyone chipped in $10 and I bought him a gift card to a restaurant for $75. It was hard to decide what to buy for Coach Ryan since he's a competitive body builder, so I'm sure he doesn't eat out very often. However, the gift card gave him and his family three different restaurants to chose from, so hopefully he finds something he likes. Along with the gift card, I printed off a photo of him coaching the girls and had each of the girls sign it at the last game, which he wasn't at due to a body building competition. The card really turned out super cute and I included a few additional photos I'd printed that I thought he'd like to have.

So, not only did we arrive super late to the party, but we really only should have stayed about 15 minutes before zooming off to Kindergarten Round-up at the elementary school so Olivia could meet the teachers she will have in the Fall. Of course, we were the only ones who had this obligation since most of the girls on the team aren't starting Kindergarten or will be starting at another school, so I was getting nervous as all the girls played and ate pizza. Finally, one of the parents suggested we pull all the kids in and do a team photo and then hand out awards.

The team photo turned out really cute and the girls are all so sweet and listen well. After the photo, he invited all the girls to climb on him, which the girls loved and went crazy! I'm surprised he didn't get hurt from all those girls jumping and climbing on him! Then Coach Ryan gathered the girls in a semi-circle on the driveway to hand out awards. He thanked the girls for their dedication and said he looked forward to next season together and then started to pass out the trophies to each girl. As he did, he spoke for a few minutes about each girl and what he found to be special about them and their soccer. It was really thoughtful. For Olivia, he thanked her for always listening and doing what he asked of her and said she is super fast and could be a great soccer player if she got her foot on the ball more. So, hopefully we can work on that for next season. It was really sweet of him to talk about each player, even if the girls were just focused on their trophies.

After the trophy ceremony and before the girls could jump up and run off and play, I thanked Coach Ryan, told him we'd be back in the Fall and said goodbye to all the parents and hurried over to the school. We had 15 minutes left of Kindergarten Round-Up and CK was there waiting for us. Of course, Olivia refused to wear her soccer uniform to school and had to change into a dress and sandals. She's very particular in how she looked. We changed quickly before arriving at school and headed to the Kindergarten hall. It was so fun to see Mrs. Schultz again, who was Sofia's 1st grade teacher, and talk with Mrs. McMeans and Mrs. Maddox. Whoever Olivia gets will be a great teacher for her. Hannah was there with her family, so Olivia ran around Mrs. Maddox' classroom and acted crazy. We finally reined her in and headed home! It was a long, fun day!

The Purplicious Team Photo!

Climbing all over Coach Ryan after the picture

The only photo with Mai, who was not interested in partaking!

Coach Ryan talking to the girls before he passes out the trophies

Telling Olivia how good she is at listening and hopes she gets her foot on the ball more next season.

Her trophy

Olivia checking out her trophy

Olivia and her trophy!