Kindergarten Open House

Well last Thursday was the Big Day for Campbell, it was finally Elementary Open House! She had been waiting so patiently to have her special night where she could show off all of her hard work. We all had a wonderful time looking at all of her work so far. One funny thing though; The teacher had asked the students what their family liked to do and wrote it on a big tablet in the room for us to read. Campbell's sentence was...My family likes to build bears. What?? Then as I thought about it she was talking about going to Build A Bear. That's my girl!

I also got the best compliments from her amazing teacher. When I asked if she could tell Campbell was one of the younger ones in the class, she replied with "Not at all, I had forgotten she was." Yeah!! Since Campbell has a June birthday I have always been a little concerned being a former teacher and all. I have always felt she was definitely ready but it was nice to get another unbiased opinion. Then Mrs. P said that Campbell was precious and she really enjoyed having her in class. Just what every Mom wants to hear.

Here she is showing off her journal.

I had to take this picture of her leaf to show Daddy. Campbell forgot to show it to us the first time we were in her class and Daddy had to get Kaylee to a softball game so she was satisfied with us going back to her class and taking a picture for Daddy.

Safety City

Today was the day that all third graders in the Abilene area look forward to for all of their elementary years...Safety City Day! Our town has an amazing program where the children get to practice pedestrian rules, along with rules of the road and even fire safety. I still remember taking this field trip with the class I was student teaching in several years ago and how excited they were to be there. Well let's just say that Mrs. Jones class was just as excited as I remember if not more. When the buses arrived at Safety City you could feel the excitement in the air as each child exited the bus. There is a little town set up with buildings, highways and road signs of all kinds. I was placed at one of the cross roads and told to make sure the children stopped and looked both ways before proceeding across the road. I only got my foot run over once which I thought was pretty good.

After completing the City part it was time for the Firehouse. Let me just say it was pretty cool how all of the technology was used for the firehouse. We first went into a room that looked like your typical bedroom. Once the fireman gave his talk the room started to fill with smoke and you could see flames in one of the windows. The children had to practice crawling to the door, feeling the door knob and then proceeding out the window that did not have flames coming out of it. What a great teaching tool! There were several other fun activities but that will be the one that sticks out in my mind.

It was so fun to be able to spend the day with Kaylee and get to know several of the other children in her class. Yeah Safety City!!

Intermediate Open House

A little over a week ago we got to attend Kaylee's Open House at school. It was so fun to see the work she has been doing and have a chance to chat with her teachers. She has two great teachers this year. The Lord has continued to place Kaylee in just the right classes for her each year and we are so thankful. Kaylee loves school so much and you can definitely tell by the big smile on her face. I hope it remains that way forever.

Funny story about this art project: A sweet friend of mine got the job of cutting out the heads of the students after they had been laminated. She said that she almost cut Kaylee's bow off because it was kind of a pain to cut out. I laughed and tole her that she did a great job keeping the bow intact. Too funny.

Football, Birthday and Family Time

A few weeks ago we went to Waco to watch Wylie football and celebrate Papa's Birthday. We were all so excited to get a little time with three of our favorite people. I managed to get a little shopping in with Nana and Kaylee which is always a good thing. Then we celebrated Papa's Birthday with him. As you can see from the picture Papa had plenty of help celebrating. The girls also managed to get in a little baking with Nana. We had a quick but fun weekend.

Blowing out the candles.

The Halloween cookies Kaylee and Campbell made with Nana.

The girls with Great Papaw before church on Sunday.

Fall Ball

During the past few weeks Kaylee has been a busy girl. Cary decided she needed to play a little Fall Ball this year since she needs extra practice while making the transition to 10U this year. So far her team is going through some growing pains while learning how to pitch and hit from a teammate instead of a coach. I am very proud of Kaylee though because she always has a great attitude and does her best eventhough so far their closest win was a tied score the other night. The only bad part for me is that the games they play start around 7:45pm which means they are not over till around 9:00pm which is too late for Campbell and Cary is coaching so I have not gotten to attend very many. Of course I always get a play-by-play from Kaylee when she gets home. All I know is that she loves the game whether playing it or watching it on television. I am so glad that she has found something that she dearly loves.

Kaylee ready to catch!

A Sock Hop Birthday Party

Several weeks ago the girls went to a friend's Sock Hop Birthday Party. They had a blast and I had a great time watching them learn the hand jive, hula hoop, and play with all their friends. My friend Ann went all out with the decorations and fun as you can see from the pictures below.

Kaylee and Campbell posing by the 57' Chevy.

Kaylee and her friend Matthew dancing away.

Campbell trying to balance her hula hoop.

Meet the Bulldogs 2010

On Tuesday night the girls participated in their first ever Meet the Bulldogs. This is a special night for the 2010 Wylie Bulldog Football Players to be introduced. Since Kaylee and Campbell did the cheer camp this year they got to perform before the introductions. They seemed to enjoy themselves almost as much as I enjoyed watching them shake their tail feathers;-)

Kaylee with "M" and Anna

Campbell and Ella

Kaylee getting into the Bulldog Spirit.

Campbell getting her cheer on.

Kindergarten and Third!

Well our morning started bright and early since it was the First Day of School as well as our annual breakfast at IHOP. Yes, we are those crazy people;-) The girls look forward each year to a yummy breakfast before the first day and let's be honest I always wake up early for fear of oversleeping so we mine as well go eat together.

After filling our tummies it was time to head to our first stop which was the Elementary Building. My baby started kindergarten today. I still cannot believe it! She was such a big girl and walked right to her locker which happens to be #1 and put her nap mat and backpack away before going to her seat. We did manage to take a few pictures. Since her teacher "Mrs. P" happens to be a friend of ours and go to church with us, then several of her friends from Pre-K are in her class I felt very comfortable leaving her this morning. Just look at that smile on her face in this picture. Too precious for words;-)

When I returned to pick her up at the end of the day she told me her day was good, asked if we could get a first day of school treat at Target (which she calls the "Happy Place" and I have to agree), she was ready to see her sister and said that she would be going back to have more fun tomorrow. Yeah!! I am so glad that she loves school and pray that feeling continues for many years to come.

My two sweet daughters.

Once we left the Elementary we were off to the Intermediate School to drop Kaylee off in Third Grade. I cannot believe that either! I felt a little rushed with two buildings to go to and try to get pictures but we made it with time to spare. Kaylee was so excited to see her friends and start learning something new since she loves school so much. The first picture is Kaylee with her Homeroom teacher Mrs. J and the second picture is with her Language Arts teacher Mrs. M. They are both very sweet and it helps that Mrs. M was one of Kaylee's softball coaches the first year she played. I really feel like we hit the jackpot on teachers this year for both of my girls. When we walked out of the classroom Kaylee was already smiling and busy working on her morning work. I love that sweet face!

When I picked her up from school she told me her day was AMAZING!! Then I got a play by play the whole way home which I love. Of course she was thirsty too.

Thank you Lord for placing my daughters in the perfect place for them this year and making it easier for their Mom to enter a new stage of life with no one at home. Today I managed to stay busy with friends all day so I did not have any quiet moments, check with me tomorrow to see how I really feel about it.

Pup Squad

On Saturday both of my daughters decided to sign up for Cheer Camp (aka Pup Squad). Yes, you read that right BOTH of them. If you know Kaylee at all then you know she is more of a softball/ basketball type athlete than a gymnast. I have tried every year since kindergarten to get her to sign up and every year there was no interest...until this year. Do you think maybe her sister participating had anything to do with it?

Here is Kaylee with her sweet friends Laurel and Anna. They were very excited to see each other and get started learning all those cheers. I cannot believe they are starting third grade on Monday. Kaylee has known Laurel since the three's class at Pre-K and Anna since before kindergarten. I love that they have remained close and are still so happy to see each other.

Here is my baby with her sweet friends Ella, Morgan and Mallory. I cannot believe these four precious faces are old enough to start kindergarten on Monday. Seriously, where has the time gone? I am looking forward to many future birthdays, cheer camps, play dates and all around fun with these girls.

Both Kaylee and Campbell seemed to have a great time cheering and learning a routine for 2 1/2 hours. The first thing out of their moths though was that they were tired and hungry. I had to laugh. Thanks to all the Cheerleaders for putting together a fun day for my girls.

Look who drew the Lucky Card!!

If you have been around my sweet husband long you have heard him brag about his recessive genes when it comes to our girls. Well it seems Campbell became the lucky one to get her Daddy's eyes in color and vision. I took both girls to the doctor for their Well-Visit before school starts and found out Campbell could not see as well as we thought she could. So off we went to our wonderful friend, Dr. Gabe, who informed me she was nearsighted and hooked Campbell up with these precious glasses.

The first picture shows her cute brown framed glasses with little blinged out hearts on the sides. The second photo shows her wire rimmed glasses which are equally precious. I love this precious face and think she looks great!

So far she has been very excited to put on her glasses each day so I am hoping that continues. Kaylee has been a wonderful Big Sister and told her how lucky she is to get to wear glasses and how only special girls get to wear glasses. I love my girls!!

Kidquest 2010

The week of July 12-16 was Kaylee's third and final week of Kidquest at ACU. Next year she will be old enough to attend Learning to Lead and actually stay in the dorms. Am I ready for that?

Kaylee looks forward to Kidquest all year. She has the best time learning about God, playing games with friends as well as counselors and singing praises to the Lord. I cannot say enough wonderful things about all the people who make this camp possible and go out of their way to make each camper feel special. Just look at that big smile on her face.

These pictures are of the Friday performance where they show the parents a little sample of the things they have done during the week. I love the picture of Kaylee jumping for joy.

* For those of you interested I have post-dated some new posts below this one to try to keep an accurate timeline of our activities this summer. I finally caught up Aunt Trudy;-)

Egypt SBA

Once again the girls got to experience a wonderful SBA/VBS that our church put on the week of July 11-15th. This year the theme was Egypt and they had a blast! There were so many wonderful volunteers who made the week a success, thank you all. There were all kinds of animals, crafts and even some great story telling from Joseph (aka Mr. Ridgell) according to Campbell. Both girls came home each night telling me about what they had learned and each day we listened to all of the songs on CD in the car as we traveled around town. I loved this picture of them with the camel because it looks like he is smiling too. When Lindi asked where the camel came from the man said a land far far away called Waco, TX. Kaylee exclaimed, "That is not far, my papa and Nana live there!" Too funny. I love these girls and the heart they are developing for the Lord.

Princess and the Frog Dance Camp

The last week of June, Campbell got to experience The Princess and the Frog Dance Camp with her Aunt Lindi. (Lindi is one of my BFF's who treats Campbell like her own aka. spoils her rotten.) As you can tell from the pictures Campbell had a wonderful time. They laughed, played and learned something called the Tootie Dance which is still on our daily routine. Dance is something Campbell thoroughly loves and I love watching her have such a great time. We are doubly blessed to have Lindi as her teacher, it just does not get any better.

Here are all the sweet children that Campbell got to spend the week with including her three teachers. This picture was taken on Friday when they had their performance for all the parents to enjoy. I was amazed at how much she learned in one week. Thank you Aunt Lindi for sharing your gift with us!

Swim Lessons x2

Well summer can officially begin since we have completed our swim lessons with the Luttrell's for the year. Can I just say how wonderful the girls' swim teachers are, they are amazing!!

Kaylee was once again in the older class with Lynn this year and continues to amaze me with her ability to know so many different strokes to use when swimming. I am so thankful that she loves to swim and can hold her own in the water.

It was especially fun to watch her jump off the diving board. She told me that she did not know if she was going to take lessons next year because Mr. Lynn kept telling her "good job and beautiful job" so she has probably mastered everything. HAHA! I love the girl's confidence.

This was Campbell's second year to take lessons from Mrs. Sherri and she loved it! There was nothing that she would not do. I think the highlight of lessons for her was when she had class on her birthday and all the kids sang Happy Birthday to her underwater. Who wouldn't love that!! It will be a neat memory for her to have of her 5th Birthday. The other kids seemed to enjoy it too.

Mrs. Sherri has the patience of Job because each time it was Campbell's turn to jump off the diving board she could hardly contain her excitement. I think she would only ask about ten times if she could go yet before each turn;-) I love this picture of her jumping off the diving board because she has the biggest smile on her face!

Thank you Luttrells for the wonderful lessons and your precious hearts to teach year after year!! We will be looking forward to next year. Now our summer can officially begin!

Campbell turns FIVE!!

On June 16 my baby girl turned 5 years old!! I still cannot believe it. This year we had her party at Primetime and most of her precious friends were able to make it so she was happy. My sweet friend, Lindi, made the adorable mermaid cake for her so she was very excited. I was happy because Lindi makes the best buttercream frosting ever;-) All of the children played in the children's play area for about an hour then we enjoyed some pizza and cake before heading to the arcade.

As you can see from this picture one of Campbell's favorite parts was opening the presents. I love a birthday party but I enjoy it more when it is over and I can breathe a sigh of relief for a few months till the next one comes around.

The funniest part of celebrating her birthday early this year was that when her real birthday came around she thought we would have another party at Primetime for the friends who could not make it to the first one. Unfortunately for her not the case. We did go to Chuck E Cheese as a family though.

Here are my two sweet girls at Chuck E Cheese.

Now I am going to list 5 things about Campbell:

1. She is a Princess with her share of Drama. There is no place she would rather be than dancing around the house in her ballet shoes and a costume putting on a show.

2. The girl definitely has an opinion. I do not ever have to worry about her being talked into something that she should not do.

3. She still tells me that she loves me randomly during the day and it still melts my heart.

4. She loves to play with anything and everything. If you have ever given her a toy I can assure you it has been played with a lot. Barbies, My Little Ponies, Littlest Pet Shop, Dress-up clothes, jewelry, and anything girly!

5. Campbell loves her family and especially looks up to her big sister. She gives the best hugs too.

I am so excited that Campbell turned 5 years old because she has been counting the days for months. Everywhere we go she is so proud to tell everyone that she is FIVE.

I love you sweet girl and am so blessed by your spirit (even the strong-willed part). You are my cuddle bug and tiny dancer. I cannot wait to see what wonderful things you are going to learn this year. I pray that 5 is as wonderful as it can possibly be for you.

Rangers Game with Friends

One of the highlights of Kaylee's summer so far has to be the night she got to go to the Rangers game with her Dad and two of her best Buds along with their fathers. Kaylee has inherited her Dad's love of the game and since we do live near Dallas the Rangers are her obvious favorite. On this night they were able to get to the game early for the autograph signing before the game and a few other activities too. In this picture she has the most serious face as she is waiting to crush the ball. Too cute!!

I feel like I was at the game too since for weeks after they attended I got to hear about the game every day. The girl did not miss a beat I can honestly tell you. I have heard many funny stories, she thought Mr. Jason was hilarious. Thank to Mr. James two of my favorite people had a great night. I am so glad that Cary and Kaylee have found something that they share a passion for. I love my sweet girl and all of her interests.

Kaylee's new Love, Softball!

If you have checked my blog at all the past few months then you have see your fair share of posts on softball. While Kaylee did play last year, this was the year that the sport really clicked with her. If there was an opportunity to play then she was there with a smile on her face and joy in her heart. I have to say that I think she is really good and even though sports are not my first love I thoroughly enjoyed watching my first born do something she loved so much. So you can imagine how excited we were at closing ceremonies for the softball season to find out Kaylee made the all star team. They only pick twelve girls who are voted on by the coaches and Kaylee was one of them! She was most excited to get to play a little longer and the trophy was just icing on the cake. I love this softball girl and cannot wait to see how much she improves next year. I better get all my Softball Mom stuff together because I think we are in this for the long haul;-)