Second First Day of Preschool

Zoe started the 4 year old class today at her preschool.  She was so excited.  Has been since...umm...May 6th, her last day of school.  She thinks she is SO big now that she is 4.  It's like it was a magic number for her or something. 

I promised myself I wouldn't cry today.  Well, that was a lie.  I realized that I am now a quarter of the way done raising her.  Where has the time gone!??  Next week, she'll be headed off to college! 

Anyway, here are some pics of little Miss Priss.

Look at the growth in just one year!!  This is her first day last year. 

 

Happy Birthday Princess

Zoe requested a Princess Birthday party…like 8 months ago.  So we planned to do a princess theme.  Poor thing…summer is just not a great time to have a birthday.  I speak from experience.  You want to have a party outside, but it’s like 125 degrees out there.  So you think, maybe a party in the morning.  It’d only be around 102 then.  And so you decide against an outside party.  So you think, maybe at your house.  But then you realize how many friends she wants to invite, and you start thinking, maybe not at your house.  BUT THEN, you start to think, “We’re in Arkadelphia.   There’s nothing to do.  No Chuck E Cheese, no Pizza Fun place,  nada.”  So back to the house it is.  Then she says, “Mama, since it’s a princess party, maybe we should just invite girls.  I want them to come, but boys can’t be princesses.”.  Makes sense.  The few boys that she knows and is friends with might feel a bit out of place surrounded by the other 20 girls that she wants to invite and their 20 siblings.  So you count out the list.  Only about 30 or so kids by the time you get all the siblings (not counting all the parents who are bound to be there too.  Ok, deep breath.  So now for invitations.  And at this point you realize that over half of them are out of town or have other plans.  Ok, so we’re down to 15 kids.  Then on party day, you find out that one is sick, and one is cranky and wants to sleep.  So three more kids down. And what’s left is this. 

Perfect crowd for a hot summer day when all you have is a slip and slide and a cheap plastic pool. 

So Little Miss wanted me to do a princess cake.  I showed her some pictures of a doll cake, and she just practically bursted with excitement over the possibility she would get a princess doll cake.  And so here we go.  Now to figure out how to do said doll cake. 

 And here goes....

Layers

Crumb Coat

Voila.  A Cinderella doll cake, complete by a saran wrapped Cinderella doll going through the middle. 

And so begins year 5. 

So the party went well.  We played some princess games.  Freeze dance to princess music, thanks to her little cd player book with princess themed music.  Kiss the frog, a twist on pin the tail on the donkey using lipstick (put on with a finger), a blindfold, and a hand crafted frog made by muah.  And last but not least, Hot Crown…hot potato with a crown. 

July Hodgepodge

This is a pictures only post...with some captions.  Pretty much encompasses the month of July...minus some big events throughout that will be posted separately...eventually.  Maybe by November.  :)



Ridin' a tractor with Grandpa!

First bike!!!

Goofy Boy!!!

First attempt at french braiding

Poor unsuspecting Daddy.  Never even knew they were there. 

TADA!

Super Ethan to the rescue!!!



First "Date".  Carson's such a gentleman...driving our little girl. 



Snowcone Goodness

My kids are serious about very few things in life.  Snowcones is one of those things.  But I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

I wish I would have captured it the moment they finished.  Ethan's lips were black complete with a black trail going all the way down his chin.  Zoe's was red.  All.  Over. 

I think I have some laundry to do. 

Swim Lessons!

Little Miss took her first swim lessons this year.  I always tend to underestimate the drama that comes with first time experiences for her.  This time was no exception.  Swim lessons were held at the water park…the same water park she had been at having a blast the day before.  The excitement was radiating from her the first morning…until, that is, she stepped foot in the water park.  Then the tears started flowing, the limbs started flailing, and the screams started piercing through the air.  Oh yes…it was that bad.  I had to pry her off of me and hand her to her teacher who obviously wasn’t very assertive.  HOWEVER…once that moment was over, she loved every minute of it.  She was a little skiddish in the water with things like putting her face in, but overall did very well.  Not anywhere close to being able to swim, but a little more comfortable with the water. 

After swim lessons, we bought one of these new style of life jackets…the ones with the tubular arms and a big strap that goes around the belly.  One of these.  It’s a certified life jacket, but is much more comfortable, and is supposed to naturally teach them how to swim.  Since we have gone swimming with these on, she’s a little fish.  She does “strokes” and is fine being alone.  She can even maneuver herself from one end of the pool to the other…by herself.  This is a major accomplishment for her…this is the same girl who would cling to us and scream the minute she was in water that was deeper than she could stand in.  She should learn all she needs to know about swimming just from moving around the pool in this.  Taking the jacket off of her will be a natural transition…I hope anyway.