Lilly's 6th Birthday & Party!

Today is Lilly's 6th birthday!  I can hardly believe that she is 6!  It doesn't seem like that many years ago when we were traveling to CA to see her, or celebrating her 1st birthday there, or watching her first Christmas show at daycare.  Six seems old.  And mature.  And ready to party!

We celebrated with her this past weekend - first with all her friends at Pump It Up and then later for dinner with all our family.

Our real gift to Lilly is a date that we are in the processing of arranging.  But we also threw in this limited-edition, safety-green long-sleeve tee from my CIMI trip (due to an ordering snafu, we ended up with a lot of shirts too small for any of our middle school kids and, thus, no profit, but that's another story...)

Happiest of Birthday to you, Lilly!  We love you so much!

Teacher of the Year?

Each year, as part of our Vail Pride Day celebration, there is a teacher and a support staff of the year chosen from each site.  Nominations are taken for a few weeks and can be done by staff, parents, and/or students. 

I've been nominated 3 years before and each year was called in for a Teacher of the Year Interview with the Assistant Superintendent amongst other big-timers.  I've always loved being nominated as this occupation is one with few individual recognitions.  Likewise, I've always hated the interview as it takes up an entire plan time and feels like your interviewing for a job you already have.  And, each year, I've always dreaded winning and having to walk up on stage in front of hundreds and hundreds of people.

This year I was not called in for an interview so I assumed I had not been nominated.  I was both bummed and surprised by this because I feel this has been my best year so far.  Teaching only math has been good for me and the students!

Fast-forward to the Vail Pride Day luncheon as they are recognizing the nominees and winners from each school site, and I am (standing) stuffing my face with beans and rice (Friday during Lent meant no mini-chimies for me).  When they get to RVMS, there apparently were no other nominees so they skipped right to the winner: me.  I guess the easiest way to win something is to have it be uncontested and that's what I did. 

It was a strange walk to the front of the room and I had to laugh a little to hear a very familiar "Alright KP" from my old softball coach, Laura.

It feels like a cheep win, but I'll take it.

Baseball!

This afternoon my dad took me to a UofA Baseball game and we had a great time!  This has always been "our thing" whether it's UofA, Spring Training, or even Diamondbacks.  It's honestly been a couple years because it's hard to get away from that long with small children, but I'm glad that it's back!  I'm really hoping we can get to another couple games this season and keep the tradition going!

Valentine's Day!

Thursday was Valentine's Day!  I used to think Valentine's Day was kind of lame, but now with kids I think it's a lot of fun!

I had Dunkin Donuts for us when we all woke up and each girl got a new book. 

We sent a bag of chocolates to each of the girls' teachers and a rubber duckie to each classmate with one of the cards shown here.

The Beginning of Lent

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season.  I decided that I would give up Starbucks, which in turn means Shyla will be giving it up as well.  

Here we are enjoying our last Starbucks, on Fat Tuesday, and looking sad when they empty:

Ash Wednesday happened to me my monthly curriculum meeting which meant my mom picked up the girls.  She took them to get ashes but Shyla refused.  At least she didn't yell at Father Harry this year.  Harper, of course, was agreeable and got her ashes, then I stopped after my meeting as well.

It was nice to actually be able to reflect before getting my ashes, instead of the normal rush and trying to keep the children out of the fire.

Wish us luck....

A Week in the Life ....

Last week was .... trying.  Here's how it went down:

SUNDAY: I went out for a 4 mile run and came back after 1 mile because my knee hurt so badly.  This made me depressed and upset.

MONDAY: Normal work day.  It was really cold and windy so (thankfully) tee-ball was cancelled.

TUESDAY: Normal work day followed by Shyla's tee-ball pictures at 6:45 PM.  Shyla goes to bed (kind of) at 7 PM so that made for an interesting night.  But, she was really great and I had a lot of fun with her!

WEDNESDAY: As I was walking 30 wild sixth graders to a pep assembly I noticed that I missed a call from Daycare.  That's never a good thing.  Turned out Harper had been throwing up, when I got to her she was pale and "urping."  Poor baby!  It was also the first of 2 nights that I needed to make an appearance at Fuddruckers for my club's fundraiser, so as soon as Stevie got home I took off.

THURSDAY: Harper stayed home with my mom and they had a great day.  Grandpa Steve had surgery early in the morning which meant Stevie was with him on Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Friday night; thus making me a single mom.  The girls and I went back to Fuddruckers - I never even ate because it was impossible to get both girls to sit down simultaneously.

FRIDAY:  Normal work day and I was ready for the week to be over in the "easiest" way as possible so I declined on an invite to Trail Dust Town with friends and instead the girls and I brought pizza over to Chelsea's and we played there.  We stayed a few minutes too long, though, which resulted in a Shyla/Zac meltdown.

SATURDAY: Ahhhh, Saturday.  This was a good day!  We had a good tee-ball game, a good family lunch (Stevie was back, yay!), a good afternoon nap, followed by a good evening pedicure!

Even when we are having trying weeks....we are still feeling incredibly blessed and finding fun in everything, as you can see!

Shyla's 2nd P/T Conference

Last week was Shyla's 2nd Parent/Teacher Conference of Preschool.  For some reason, the teachers were only scheduling the conferences during the middle of the day.  This made it a challenge for me to get there and nearly impossible for Stevie.  

I wish he had been there to hear all the wonderful things her teachers, Ms. Brandi and Ms. Jessica, had to say about her! 

It was a quick conference and they were, once again, really organized with her portfolio of skills.  I should have taken notes, but here are the highlights that I remember:

• She is basically achieving at a 5 year old level for all skills.
• They are very impressed that she almost never argues or has disagreements with other kids.  With the exception of Zac, but even this is rare and I think is to be expected.
• They are continually impressed by her dancing and singing.
• She LOVES Bryce and her closest friends are currently him, Makayla, Maela, Addison, and Alex.
• She definitely feels that she belongs and she is happy and thriving.

This, of course, is a huge relief for me and it was a really wonderful conference.  We will meet one more time in the Spring.

I'm super proud of my little girl!