And she's off to Second Grade!

We were nervous -- she was not... and in the end, she was just fine!

Saying goodbye to Uncle Jim and Aunt Clare....

And the boys she's been dying to escape ALL summer!  :)

Quick photo with Mommy:

And off we go!  Jim and Clare offered to watch the boys so she and I could go off on our own this morning.  I also had a parent orientation/coffee to attend. So it was great to be on our own!  E is still in his PJs!

And she's off!

This is her school -- Blossom Hill Elementary School.  It's a K-5 grade school.

Baby girl looking at her class bulletin board:

A close up -- can you find her name?

Isn't she so cute?  We picked out the entire week's outfit already...

She's heading in with her class.  This little girl in front of her ended up crying and didn't want to go in!  She's probably the outgoing girl in the class and really isn't very shy at all!  :)

She's looking for her desk:

Still looking:

Teacher to the rescue:

As i was leaving, I had to snap one last photo... She was a bit teary eyed.  After the coffee with the principal, (whom I met and was a JOY to speak with!) I saw her again and she was happy as can be!

I am so proud of her.  It's not easy starting a new school after making friends in Kindergarten and First Grade.  Friends are important to me and I know she feels the same way.  I know she will be fine!

Stay tuned for more photos of her first week!  And this evening - an update of her first day's experience!  New school, new teacher, new friends!!!!

Afters chool we all went to pick her up, MD, E, Clare, and myself.  She came running towards me with a huge smile on her face... and a small cup of Skittles!  Hmmmm.... sugar at the end of the day -- smart teacher!  :)

This is her teacher, Ms. Jenelle Dini.  She is new to Blossom Hill School this year.  She seemed really nice when I briefly spoke with her in the morning.  Morgan seemed to like her very much.

She didn't have a lot to say this afternoon.  SHe just said she had a fun day!  I am okay with that.  :)  She apparently made a friend and they had lunch together.  But then the friend found an old friend and left Morgan by herself during lunch.  :(  I guess she said she sat on the bench with her lunch box the rest of the lunch recess.  :(  But she didn't seem sad about it.  It was just a statement she was making.  So I don't think she was affected by the afternoon incident of sitting on the bench by herself.  Tomorrow, I suggested that she ask her new friend to introduce her to that friend so that they could ALL play together.  We'll see how that works out.  Overall, I think she had a good day and will enjoy this teacher and the new school.

The night before the first day of school...

Corinna, Clare, and Jim had us over for a wonderful dinner...

in honour of MG's first day of school tomorrow!  And guess what else happened during dinner?
Tooth #7 came out!!!!!
Pictures to come tomorrow...

Lisa's Tea Treasure

After a successful cookie sale last year, the girls were finally able to enjoy an afternoon  here today.

I only have time to show you this beautiful picture of my baby girl right now... because tomorrow is her first day of school and I need to get to bed!  More photos to come...

She's holding their mascot -- DJ (Daisy Juliette)

Her meal:

My meal -- If I may be honest... I could have eaten 2 plates of this stuff!  Dainty is not for me!  Really, it was good.  But I wanted MORE!!!!

The moms.  Pardon my big fat arm in the way!  (MG took this photo) From left to right: me, Nancy (Emily, the helper's mom), Cindy (troop leader and Cassie's mom), and Melinda (co-leader, Olivia and Emma's mom, and my very good friend)

Lisa (on right) will kill me if she knew I used this photo, but it's the only one I had.  It's not very flattering with her lips like that!  But she doesn't read my blog...That's Collen in purple (Dominique's mom)

Yummy sundae dessert!

I had the brownie with vanilla gelato -- too rich (but yummy) and the gelato was freshing!  For once, I did NOT finish my dessert.  Shocking, I know!!!!

Cindy surprised the girls with their new shirts...

She is the best bargain shopper!

And there you have it! After lunch and tea we met with Vince at a nearby location and he took photos of the troop, girls, and girls with their mom.  When he finishes editing them -- ahem, in  another month or so -- I will add them here for your enjoyment!

Seeing Russell again

Aside from the sad beginning, I really LOVE the movie Up.  So when they offered a free outdoor showing, we were there to enjoy it all over again!  Russell...  he cracks me up!  MG, MD, and E love the scene where he first meets Mr. F and knocks on his door.  My favorite is when he does the Wilderness Explorer cry... cawww, cawww, roarrrr!!!!!  :)

Here are Jenna and MG getting comfy...

Braden and MD enjoying their popcorn... and really focused!

The gang who came out to join us: Liz, Colleen, Julie and their clan!

Another view of the gang:

We all had a great time!

Need a good laugh?

A blog I follow introduced me to this.... HILARIOUS stuff!!!!
Go here and read up!

My 3 Jumping Beans

We practically had this place to ourselves!

(see E in red?)

(Well, one little boy befriended me (and then he eventually played with E) and claimed that this day was the most fun he has ever had while coming to this place.  (because i was actually IN the jumpy things playing with my 3 and him as well!)  :)  FYI -- He came with a sitter who literally SAT the entire time he was there.  She never once stepped foot into the place and at one point, she was GONE for like 10 minutes!  She didn't even check on him or tell him she was going to the bathroom.  At least that was where I hope she went!)

Anyway, MG's last few days of summer vacation is drawing near.  I wanted to take her to this place since she's never been and the boys always spoke about it around her.  (Quick update -- she got into Blossom Hill Elementary School.  We find out Friday whom her teacher will be!)

This place is awesome!  I had a great time too!  See for yourselves:

They climbed this long, tall ladder thing: 

And ALL 3 did this:

She would not even give this a try a year ago... Today, she claimed this was AWESOME!!!!  She did this over and over and over and over... you get the idea!  :)

At first he needed someone to go with him, by the end of the 3 hours (yes, we were there that LONG!) here - he was fine on his own!  "By my own self!"

What a day we had!  I'm sure she will want to come back... but when?!  School starts Monday!

Off to Kindergarten!

This is my adorable nephew, Peter.  He lives in Georgia and will turn 6 at the end of September.  Today was his first day of Kindergarten at this school.  His dad, Michael, sent me these photos with this to say:

Attached are a few photos of Peter on his big first day of Kindergarten.  He was excited but started to get nervous as he entered the school bus!  Poor Ryan woke up later in the morning and asked for Peter  - I think it will take him a while to get used to Peter being at a new school.

Isn't he so handsome?!

It took me a few minutes after seeing the pictures that I realized... Karen and Michael did not accompany him on his first day of school!  He rode the bus by himself on his FIRST day of school!  So, of course, being the sister that I am... I called her at work and asked her.  Karen explained that they had already attended an orientation together, they had already met the teacher, Peter was quizzed many times before today on what the drill would be, and he would be fine.  He was given a name tag from his teacher with his name on it.  He would get on the bus, ride to school, get off the bus, at school he would be met by another adult who would then take him to his classroom.  Wow -- sounds so complicated!  Karen said she asked him for many nights before school started, "Who is your teacher?  What room are you in?" 

So, I was anxious to see how his first day of school went... I called at 4:30 their time (they are 3 hours ahead of CA)... and he sounded very happy!  It sounded like he had a fantastic day.  He was very happy to speak to us and said the whole day was his favorite part!  I asked him if he sat with a friend on the bus and he explained that all kindergarteners needed to sit at the front of the bus.  (Maybe he has an older friend he couldn't sit with?)  I am so proud of him!  Good for you, Peter!  I wish you a wonderful year in Kindergarten!

To update you... MG starts school the 30th... so we are in our last week of summer vacation.  I hope to get them out for a few more fun activities before she starts 2nd grade!!!!  Yikes!!!!!

Happy Birthday Quach3!

It was very last minute "planning"...  But with the help of Matt and Leo, we were able to pull this party off!  Decorations of the food table courtesy of Matt:

I still use this sign I made last year... you'll be seeing more of it!

MG and Olivia with MD in background enjoying the pool.

Everyone took turns using the body crayons

and jumping in the bounce house...

They requested cupcakes instead of a cake this year.

This was the only way I could think to personalize it -- E loves Thomas right now:

I'm sure you can guess whose cupcakes these belong to!

Silvermist (a fairy from the Tinkerbell movie -- that she has yet to see!).  I didn't even know she loved her so much!  Clues have been given to me to start her Halloween costume... ahem... Something in the lines of, "Mom, may I have a blue dress and a pair of wings?"  Hmmm.... wonder what she wants to be?  ;)

"Happy!"  -- All their wonderful friends who came out to celebrate with them.  We kept it small since 1) it wasn't our house, 2) we were on a tight budget, 3) and 3 different group of friends kind of frightened me!

Waiting patiently for the singing...

Isn't it great that they did it at the SAME time?!

Uncle Matt passing out the cupcakes to everyone.  The frosting recipe can be found here.  I really like it.  The children commented that it tasted like vanilla ice cream.  

I think they enjoyed it!

What do you think?!  Ed said Ryan (corner in red) only ate the frosting and handed the cake part back for him to finish.  Smart, huh?!

They look content...

Now for more excitement:

Hitting the pinata!!!!  I tried lining them up from youngest to oldest but my mommy brain got the best of me and I sort of forgot who was supposed to go where...  

Ryan:

E:

Nikash:

MD:

James:

Sydney:

Annelise:

Kiran:

Emma:  She has a good arm!  Watch out!!!

MG:

Alex:

Olivia -- she was all business!  Get out of her way!

Jenna -- she also has a great arm and eventually cracked the pinata!

Everyone for him/herself!

The 3 friends from kindergarten... now all grown up and going to 3 different schools.  But still keep in touch.

Gifts time!!!  Let me explain that I did not intend to open gifts at the party because I knew how crazy and chaotic it would be to try to keep track of all 3 children and their gifts.  But MG opened one gift.. which then led to more gifts opening up... by then I couldn't stop them!  So instead of writing things down, I took pictures of all their gifts as they opened them.  I was running around from one child to another as a new gift was being opened...Mel, Astrid, and Lisa -- thanks for your help in keeping track of a new gift being opened!  Here's a quick teaser...

This is from Corinna and Dave:

From Jenna:

from Olivia and Emma E:

from Auntie Linda and Uncle Rob.  There are more photos... but I am getting kind of tired.  So, thank you cards will go out soon!

At the end of the day... this was the best part of the party -- these three taking turns hitting the poor clown's head!  Hey -- they were entertained while I had some "fun drinks!"

What a wonderful day full of wonderful friends.  Thank you all for coming to share the excitement with us!  Thank you Uncle Matt and Uncle Leo for hosting in your backyard.  The children had so much fun.  The parents did too -- especially since Matt began making "fun drinks!"  Here's to a pina colada that tasted like a yummy smoothie that I didn't realize I was having an alcoholic beverage.  I was calling it a "fun drink!"  Silly me!  Then  Leo made toasted almonds... now those tasted alcoholic.  It was NOT a "fun drink" for sure!  But it was sure fun to drink it... slowly!  I slept well that night! ;)