School Days . . . In Pictures

Hannah's First Day of Pre-K

All Smiles :-)

The backpack is as big as her!

By the way, have I mentioned her favorite color is purple?!

Walking up to school . . . not at all intimidated.

Pausing to smile at mommy. I can't help but realize how small she looks!

Standing in line at the cafeteria. It was pure chaos!!! But she wasn't fazed at all! She had a great time.

Breakfast!

Ms Gorney helping Hannah get settled into class

Pre-K and Kindergarten classes lined up ready to head home after their first day of school

She LOVED school! She was upset that she didn't get to stay all day!

BUT . . .

After a half day of school and lunch with mommy and daddy, this kid was tired!

School? REALLY?!

So the posts from our trip to Houston are on hold for 2 reasons. First, our official photographer has the other 2 events worthy of mention on his camera and/or computer and has yet to send them to me. Second, a major event has happened in our house . . . Hannah started REAL school. Now, I clarify that this is REAL school because we call Mother's Day Out school too. But I mean REAL school!

I know we've heard parents say this for years, but really . . . it seems like only yesterday I was holding this tiny, helpless newborn in my arms. And now look at her. Getting big (well, at least she feels big) and going off to school on her own. I still can't believe it. She'll be 5 next month but I still don't feel like she's old enough. But enough of my sappiness. I'm getting a little teary-eyed just typing this ;-)

Hannah is attending pre-k at Fairview Elementary School. It's pretty close to home but it's not the school she will continue with. She will go to her "official" school starting next year but they do not offer a pre-k program and the girl was ready to start REAL school! Last Tuesday, we went to "Back to School" night where we got to see her classroom and meet the teacher. I had hoped this would ease some of my anxiety. Boy was I wrong . . . It was PURE CHAOS!!! I barely got to meet the teacher. I DEFINITELY didn't get to ask her any of the million questions in my mind!!!! But Hannah - she did great! She was all smiles as she saw other kids her age and then started putting away all the school supplies we had brought.

Then, we made her sign the paper saying she promised to follow the rules!!!

Wednesday night brought prep for the first big day. For Hannah, that meant a bath then freshly polished fingernails and toenails. Have I mentioned she is a girl? :-)

And can you tell her favorite color is purple? If you have any doubts be looking for the next post. Hopefully that will come tomorrow night.

The Swimming Hole

Another fun part of our recent trip to Houston (and another AWESOME feature at the RV park) was the swimming pool. It was great! It started with a shallow slope and went to as deep as 4ft, 6in. It was surrounded by lounge chairs and palm trees and was beautifully landscaped!

The girls had a great time in the pool. Chloe even became a little TOO fearless of water. Well, as long as mommy, daddy or Papa were close by! And it was great because Meme was feeling well enough that she came to sit and watch for a little while on a couple of the days. I don't think there was a single day we didn't visit the pool. I even got in my swimsuit but I'm glad I'm the blog photographer ;-)

Hannah got brave enough (with a life jacket on) that she didn't want us touching her. And she actually used some of the things Ms Korri taught her in swim lessons last summer! I know we will have to do lessons again next year because she is actually pretty good.

I'm glad my girls are learning at an early age. I grew up TERRIFIED of water (thanks, mom!) but in the recent years have overcome the fear and turned it into respect. I could save my life if it came down to it but Superman was laughing at the way I "swim" -- HOW DARE HE?!?!? If only he knew what it took for me to even start attempting to swim...

Anyhow, here's a glimpse at some of our fun!

Get a Line!

As Superman was growing up, he spent lots of time at the lake with his family. Me . . . not so much. He has enjoyed fishing for as long as he can remember. Me . . . not so much! Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with fishing. I've just never really been around it so I never grew to enjoy it. Superman was baiting, casting, reeling and starting all over again from the time he was able to carry his own pole. (BTW, he's not even home right now. I really do know all those terms!) His mom loves to tell me about his different fishing adventures when he was little. She said that as soon as the car stopped, he would be grabbing his pole and tackle box and heading down to the water before they even realized what was going on.

Since I knew of this love for fishing from the very day we met, I can't complain. But I knew what I was in for when I would catch him singing with Hannah "You get a line, I'll get a pole, honey. You get a line, I'll get a pole, babe." Then I REALLY knew I was in trouble when Hannah got old enough to sing with him and they would alternate lines! It was too cute! But I knew what was coming...

So, when we were packing the car for our recent visit to Houston I was not at all surprised to see 2 fishing poles in the back of the Envoy. And even less surprised that Hannah kept talking about "fishing with Papa and Daddy" all the way there (when she wasn't watching movies of course)! Ya see, the place we were staying had a catch-and-release pond and Papa's RV was parked right on the water's edge.

But this year was a little different. In the past, John barely got to fish because he was helping Hannah bait her hook then watching her more than fishing himself. All that patience finally paid off. This time around, Hannah was baiting her own hook - with real worms (only needing a little help with "pinching" the tough ones) - and casting like a pro. She even caught more than her daddy one day! Was she ever excited :-)

And while this momma doesn't enjoy fishing, I do enjoy this site:

And then there's this one:

Chloe's even starting to get in on the action. But I'm not sure she's going to settle down long enough to really learn it! :-)

Here are some just to enjoy. I hope they make you smile. But I can tell you for sure that as much as I don't love fishing, I do love that Superman has this past time to share with his girls . . . well, at least one of them :-)

The Long Awaited Update!!!

It is WAY to late to be up blogging but Superman is helping my dad wire some lights in his remodel and the girls are in bed. So I figured this would be a good time to update you on the last couple of weeks. It's been a BUSY couple of weeks!!!

To start them off, Superman had a birthday. Not just ANY birthday but the one where he can finally quit saying I'm so old because I'm in my 30's . . . now, he's joined me :-)

We didn't get to have a party or anything (which I was kinda bummed because I had one in the works of my mind!) due to the preparation for a trip to Houston - which will be the main subject of this post and a few to follow. So, since our Sunday School class was having a fellowship and we were all supposed to bring something, I thought this would be fun! And he lucked out . . . no singing, no birthday spankings, no "30-something" jokes . . . just some fun with friends. His actual birthday was a little busy. We both worked that day after staying up packing the night before. Ya see, we were leaving for Houston to visit with his parents that evening as soon as possible! So, we worked and then once we got home, we loaded up the car and set out . . .

By the time we got on the road, it was a little after 7pm. Seeing as how Houston is quite a drive, I'm so grateful for modern technology!

The other thing I'm grateful for on this leg of the journey is that we had already planned to stay the night in a hotel about halfway between home and Houston. These girls were pooped! And Chloe's pillow was just a little too "poofy" for her so she cried for about 30 minutes before she finally gave up and compromised with how to work it!

Fortunately, we all got a decent night of sleep . . . and it's a good thing because MANY adventures followed in the next couple of days: fishing, swimming, playing and hanging out with MeMe & PaPa!

Stay tuned, we'll share one activity each day!