Katie's birthday celebration at school

Today I was scheduled to come into celebrate Katie's birthday at school.  All the summer birthdays were being celebrated in May.  I brought in one of her favorite books to read to her class while they enjoyed some "mud" in a cup (a.k.a.- chocolate pudding with crushed oreos sprinkled on top).


Birthday girl in her crown she decorated. :)

Elsa!

Today Katie had her dance school pictures.  She absolutely loves her costume.  It's an Elsa costume from the movie Frozen. They are dancing to the frozen song in their dance recital in June.  They were all so stinkin cute!!

All the Elsa's were crowding around Batman; aka; Mikey.

Here's some photos of the finished product.  I accidently, on purpose bought the whole package.  I just couldn't resist.  They were all so good!

Katie's whole dance class.

Kindergarten orientation

Michael, Katie and I headed to what will be his new school this fall for Kindergarten orientation.  The kids headed towards the classroom to meet the teachers, other kids and do crafts, play with Legos (this had Mikey running towards the door)!  The parents headed in the opposite direction to listen to a power point presentation in the library on the school calendar, what the kids will be learning, how to become involved, etc.

After 25 minutes everyone reconvened in the beautiful courtyard in the center of the school, where refreshments and snacks were being served.  They also had multiple tables set up for volunteering sign-up, samples of the cafeteria menu, purchasing school gear, etc.  It was busy and hectic and hard to check everything out, supervise the kids who want to sample all the snacks and beverages, and talk to the PTA chairmen while introducing yourself to other parents and introducing your kids to other kids.  Phew.  Exhausting!

One of the kids spilled their drink on the table cloth and I turned around to grab a napkin from a nearby table and when I got back to where the kids were Mikey was gone.  I did a quick look around and found him hiding behind a tree, with his shorts and underwear down around his knees, peeing on a tree.  I have NEVER wanted to melt into the ground more than I did at that moment!  AHHHHH.  I'm that MOM!!!  What a way to make a first impression!  I quickly looked to see if anyone noticed and luckily I don't think anyone did or if they did they didn't show it.  I pulled his pants up mid-pee and we flew into the school to find a proper restroom.  We had a good talk about it and his justification was -  "Well, Papa, let's me pee outside."  The kids had just spent the weekend in PA with my parents on their huge piece of property in the middle of nowhere, where it is okay for him to do that.....but I had to explain the difference between outside at Papa's house and outside at school.

Looking back now, it makes for one great story.  Child rearing is hard work!

Asleep on the ride home.  Maybe all that peeing tired him out?!

MOPS Mother's Day Celebration

We celebrated Mother's Day again at MOPS.  It was a fabulous morning, filled with drinking tea from proper tea sets, eating a healthy brunch off fancy china, fresh flowers, and good friends.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

First let me say, Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there that I know; especially my Momma.  You're all amazing, followed by a million more positive adjectives!  We celebrated with a very low key day.  Since we've been so busy lately, it was nice to just enjoy the sunshine and each other.

Baby M and I.  She is 27 weeks.

Bailey, Katie and I.

Kisses for the baby.  Can't wait to be a mom to 3!

Mikey made this apron at school.  See the apprehension on his face.  It's because of the lobster on the counter.  He wanted to help but wasn't so sure once he saw the lobsters move.

Seafood for dinner!

May Fair

This evening we spent some quality family time together and went to the May Fair in New Canaan.  Since we've been so busy with school, packing, getting ready for our move, Scott's crazy work load and schedule and being pregnant it was nice to take a time out and just enjoy each other.

Heading in- the kids were so excited.  They seem to have these pop-up fairs at church's all over our area.  Now, they expect to go to one every weekend!

Big girl riding by herself!

Hoping on the dinosaurs.

When she got so big, I have no idea.

On the cars.  It's always interesting to see which one they fancy.

Katie always picks a girl color one to ride.

Snow cone time.

You can't see it from this picture but behind Katie's snow cone is a soaking wet spot on her shirt.  She's such a messy eater.

The kids and I.  I finally made it into a picture and am not the one behind the camera.

We ran into our friends the Forslands there and hung out with them a bit.

Looking out over the fair from the ferris wheel.

So many rides and people.  They also had a live band, a tent filled with books for sale, BBQ and other food trucks, crafts area, games area and a yard sale area.  So much to see and do.

She loves this ride and she's always the smallest.

Can you see her?!

She has that huge smile on her face!

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MOPS Tag Sale

I volunteered this morning to assist at the MOPS annual tag sale.  It was a cool, rainy morning but apparently everyone showed up in droves in the afternoon to buy, buy, buy.  It was perfect timing for me to donate lots of things before we move!!  I got rid of so much stuff, which is the one upside to moving so frequently.....it forces me to go through everything and not collect clutter.

Afterwards, I stopped for a leisurely lunch by myself and also got a manicure.  Ahhh.  Such a great Saturday spending time on myself, by myself to re-energize, re-assess.  Creating just a few quiet moments to myself really helps calm my inflamed body (thanks to Crohns) and my outgoing, introverted self.  It's what my soul needs.

BTW- here in the northeast a tag sale = yard sale.

A warm coconut matcha tea to sooth my insides.

Setting up all the donated items for the Tag Sale.

Fresh mani.