it's official!

kam proudly walked her kinder paperwork into school this morning and turned it in.  it's official.  my baby girl is going to kindergarten.  boo.  she is so excited.  me, not so much.  hate that everyone is growing up!  hard to believe i have been home with the littles for five years now.

100 days of school

mck is posing with her "100 days" project. it had to be a 3-d representation of 100 items. she did an animal cracker zoo! she had lots of fun grouping the animals together while i hot glued them . . . probably because she ate every broken one she came across! it turned out pretty cute!

written by mck!

for her latest project mck wrote a book . . . after reading a non-fiction book about fire she had to create her own book about fire. she wrote a short story about freddie who went camping and needed to build a fire to stay warm. she wrote the story all on her own (with encouragement for ken!) and drew all the adorable pictures. the girl is a rock star when it comes to projects. she'll sit down, work for several hours and knock it out! the book is just adorable!

kam is an author!

our little kam wrote a book! she has been working up to this at school for awhile now . . . coming home with several unfinished works of art. but this time she finally finished the book AND sat in the author chair AND read it to her class. she was so proud of herself! she came home and read it to us for story time last night! now her book is right next to her bed, "so i can read it every night!"

our zoo veterinarian!

yes. that is mck with a lion and a dr. kit . . . ready to head off to school for a day of pretending to be "dr. mckenzie bailey, head zoo veterinarian".

and yes, this is the same 6 year old who doesn't like any of the animals that we have . . . except for maybe the chickens because they leave her alone! couldn't believe that's what she picked for career day. (on a side note, i did get several comments that "i have to pick a REAL job. so i can't say i want to be a fairy . . . but that's what i really want to be." love that girl!)

our little start student

mck was the star of the week . . . her poster was complete with purple, glitter, and a big giant "m"! could it be any more "her"? she put words that describe her all around the "m" and couldn't wait to share it with her class! gotta love this girl!

mck"s first book report

mck finished her first book report on a chapter book she read with her reading group . . . a book report sandwich! so cute. she had lots of fun making it . . . and was so proud to be finished a few days early (only because i made her!). it is so awesome to see her falling in love with books!

aunt sarah drove from nac to see the girls and have lunch with them at school. it's become an annual tradition. they were so excited to see their cool, young aunt stroll into school! thanks aunt sarah!

first day of school 2011

reality hit at 6:15 this morning when i had to get the girls up and ready for their first day of first and third grade. summer is officially over.
ken and mck looked adorable in their coordinating (not matching - their choice!) outfits. so grown up! daddy had to miss out on the first day chaos because of a dr. appt. in houston, so we had to snap extra pictures for him. the girls were good sports even though it was so early. they wanted to make sure daddy saw how cute they looked!
we had special sprinkle donuts then loaded up to take the girls to school and walk them to their classes. they knew just where to go and just what to do. they were happy to have us there, but didn't need me. i sure do hate this growing up stuff . . . but it is awesome to see my two beautiful confident kiddos strolling into their classrooms.
in the evening we celebrated with a dinner of mac and cheese and hot dogs (their choice) and special cupcakes that the little kids and i made. it was a perfect start to a great school year!

a visit from the backpack fairy!

the backpack fairy made her annual visit . . . times FOUR this year! :) she left sweet notes and filled the kids backpacks with lots of fun goodies . . . erasers, water bottles, mini pillow pets, squinkies, a special book, fun tissues, lunch wipes, hand sanitizer, and more.
the kids had so much fun opening their treasures. the girls loved the squinky stuff and b couldn't wait to get water in his water bottle. then it was off to bed to get a good night's sleep for an early wake up tomorrow!

meet the teachers 2011

ken and mck were all smiles to meet their teachers tonight! i cannot believe how independent both of them are now. they knew just where to go and were not scared to walk on in and introduce themselves. they are both going to have a wonderful school year. i still cannot believe i have a 3rd and 1st grader.

backpack shopping 2011

as much as we are in complete denial about school starting in a month, we went backpack shopping . . . we had to get a good deal! :) the kids had fun picking them out . . . and grammy offered to buy them! :) b.c. is so excited to sport blue camo, kam got an adorable cupcake one, mck chose purple with funky things all over it, and ken chose owls . . . cause she knew aunt sarah would like it! :) the kids even sported the new packs around the outlet mall for the afternoon! gotta love it!

mother's day pre-school tea

what a fun way to celebrate mother's day a little early with my sweet kam! :) a mother's day tea at pre-school! complete with homeade goodies and mint iced tea! :) and the sweetest gift - a butterfly magnet with a beautiful saying. what a sweet afternoon! :)

cutest cowgirl!

kam dressed up for western week at school . . . i'm thinking she might be the cutest cowgirl ever! :) (don't you love the pose? she's really into that latley!)

ken's second grade program

what a fun performance! :) "that's all folk!" was a cool collection of folk songs and dances by the second grade classes. the kids looked like they were having so much fun it was impossible not to smile! :) ken was SO excited about the evening! :) and to make everything just a little bit sweeter, susan and her family came to watch too! :) ken felt so special! :) we all went for ice cream afterwards. a perfect evening!

ken's rodeo field trip

we caught a glimpse of ken heading to the bus for her second grade field trip to the austin rodeo! she said it was wonderful . . . although when asked what was wonderful, she couldn't really say! :) she said they were late getting there, the tour guide didn't know what they were doing, they missed a few things . . . but it was a day away from school! :) and she liked eating in the arena! :) what fun! :)

mck"s kinder texas day!

mck was so excited for a fun day at school . . . texas day! she dressed in her cowgirl best (minus the boots which were too small!) and headed to school! kam, b.c., and i headed up for a peek at the fun! :) we got to see her square dance . . . ooooh! so cute. she did great with a sweet old man dressed in green! we watched her with a pony and listening to a real cowboy singing songs. she loved making a bandanna and the hay ride! what a great celebration of texas! :)

kam's christmas party

you would think she was being tortured . . . but no, this was kam's pre-school christmas party! can you tell how happy she was? i think she was just plumb worn out! they had had a little too much fun with p.j. day and lots of activities . . . she just wasn't too interested in waking up from her rest or eating any of the party food! she eventually snapped out of it and had a slight smile on her face as we were getting in the car to head home! :)

back to school!

from start to finish today was a perfect day! the girls woke up happy and so ready to go back to school! they got dressed, ate breakfast, and opened their gifts from "the backpack fairies"! we even left the house all dressed at 7! we got to school early and had a chance to take pictures and walk around the school and not rush things. we left after lots of hugs and headed home. kam and b.c. were excited to be the only kids . . . and although i wasn't expecting it, i kind of enjoyed the day too. it was quiet . . . and with only one kid that talks, things were quiet and no one argued with me!

i was thinking about the girls all day long . . . and worrying about mck! the day seemed to move really slowly! kam and i made "happy first day of school" cupcakes and played a lot together . . . b.c enjoyed climbing all over me and crashing trucks! the babies took good naps and i was able to get a little bit done around the house. then we packed up and headed to pick the girls up!

the school was a ZOO! it was crazy and SOOOOOO HOT! but the kids were happy when we saw them and had great things to say about their day! we went for ice cream at dq with g and r . . . a tradition now! and then came home to play! kam and b.c. were in bed and asleep by 8:05! mck was asleep by 8:35. . . and ken is so excited about tomorrow that it's 9:20 and she still can't sleep!

hope this is the first of many great days this year!

fabulous first days!

our kinder kid!

mck had a wonderful day! she even woke up sort of happy! :) she looked adorable in the outfit she and ken picked together . . . and the braids were just icing on the cake! she was so brave and did so well! she squeezed my hand all the way to her classroom, hung up her bag and took out her lunchbox and then settled down on the floor with a friend to look at a book! no tears, no whining, just a hug and a kiss and she was okay! i was worried about her all day long . . . when i picked her up she had nothing but good things to say! she had a great day! she even got a really sweet note from her teacher saying that she did a great job! wow! :) go mck! :) she is ready for day two tomorrow! :) sure do miss my mck!

our second grader . . .

ken was sooooo ready for today! what can i say? she is a nerd like her mom and was anxious to get back to learning! she was thrilled to see friends too! she was sooooo excited and was anxious for me to leave her classroom and let her get started on her day! she was already chatting with friends when i left! she looked too cute . . . but too grown up! she went through every detail of her day . . . and everything that everyone said . . . and every friend she did or did not see! :) she can't wait for tomorrow! another successful first day!