JC's First Snow!

So little snow that you can't even see it in the picture! It lasted maybe 15 minutes! But we saw it and chased it and tried to taste it!

JM was at school, but she got to see it too! Apparently she went to the nurse's office to get chapstick with a friend. Ummmmmm Can we say Napoleon Dynomite?? But the nurse took the girls outside to see the snow! How nice! And of course I am secretly pleased the nurse did that but at the same time baffled as to why Kindergartners go to visit the nurse so often! And for...chapstick...!

Her First Field Trip

JM left for her very first field trip this morning! It's not a foreign concept. We've definitely taken our share of outings in the pre-school years, but not without Mom! You weren't supposed to bring siblings if you were a parent wanting to come, so I opted to stay hope and do some much needed chores with JC. Yeah JC is thrilled. Actually she owes me money for 2 stuffies she bought on clearance for Halloween for she and JM. ha A whopping buck it cost her!

Isn't my JM so grown up? Oh and they were going to Sweetberry Farms - somewhere we've been before, another reason I don't feel I am missing out!

JM is wearing one of her "souvenir" shirts from Disney World. Remember I said the kids bought one $10 item and that was the end? Well its true, but Mia and I went shopping at the Disney outlet and other stores here before we left and got great deals on t-shirts (like $3-$5 each), sunglasses, bags, jwelry etc and the girls got something each day of our trip. Of course I wouldn't by the $15-20 shirt at Disney World - Are you crazy? But with all the stuff they came home with you'd think we went crazy at DW!

Have fun my beauty on your field trip!

Her First Homework

I guess ome Kindegartners have already had homework, but not us, til today! I was almost dismayed. I mean come on, Kinder is just fun. Although, this was really easy and JM is beyond this so it wasn't a big deal. I suppose to give those who need it extra practice and to get you used to doing something like this after school. So JM was totally upset to have homework an didn't want to do it - Where did she get these feelings? Then she starts doing it and I think could have done the whole book. Silly girl. A school girl for sure.

Fake First Day

As her teacher Mrs. C said, this is her fake first day! JC started school yesterday but since I was so busy with my first day in my class I forgot the photo op. JC's class meets Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, so it was much easier for me to make a bigger deal out of it on Wednesday, the day my class does not meet.

Her outfit makes me laugh. It was cuter yesterday. She chose the hairstyle today. And the clothes sort of match, but JC loved it because it was comfortable. I think she'd enjoy coming to school in jammies.

Coming to school was hard today though as it was a good 2 hours after JM got on the bus, so we lounge a while then go to school and at that point I don't think either JC or I felt like going. The other days are different since I go to school too and usually get there early. But, once JC got there she was in school mode and helped pass things out.

And now it's just me. the first time in almost 6 years they are both in some sort of school at the same time and I am not! What to do, what to do. I'll feel SO guilty if I don't do something constructive.

Meet Toothy!

Last Friday JM lost her very first tooth! When we first discovered it was loose JM and I were a bit emotional! Happy emotion, but still almost weepy about it!! What a milestone! She's growing up!

Last Friday it was so loose that hubby wanted to yank it or tie a strink on it or something. JM was freaking out! There was a tooth already coming up behind it so we needed to loose it! But, I know my JM and I know it's a lost cause when she is in panic mode. So, we gave up and I wentto help her brush her teeth and it just fell right out! YAY! Now the bottom one next to the lost on is loose too! In this picture you can see the new one growing in (front bottom right) so its actually hard to see where it was lost.

What did she get from the tooth fairy? An Australian coin. Apparently that is what country she was in last and she forgot to mak ethe conversion. Apparently we have to go to Australia to spend it now. :-) This was fine by JM - she truly han't gotten the idea of value and saving just yet, so having a story about the money is more fun.

And just in time I ordered "Toothy" as JM named it. My friend S has a monster making business and she makes monster tooths with a pocket in the back for the tooth fairy. JM loves it and now I probably have to go buy a real monster. It's a "Design your own monster" site. Check it out! Even if you don't purchase its fun to play with the designs..Although I know she'd love it if you made a purchase! :-) It's CurlyQ Cuties.

My Little Carpenter

Also known as my little mechanic. JC loves power tools! And hubby love showing her how to use them! He is re-doing yet another old piece of furniture. He always does a great job. Usually takes a year, but it's perfection! :-) Good thing he has a little helper.

Who's That Girl?

Last night I needed to clean up as we were having some friends over today. I asked JM and JC to clean the playroom while I straightened the kitchen. This means I'll be in there in a few minutes begging them to do something. I could hear JM saying to JC " Don't make me do this all myself!" My prediction is that JM won't do anything becasue JC won't help.

After a few minutes JM comes out and says she's done.. Really? I go check..It was SPOTLESS!!!!!!!!!! She'd put away everything in correct locations. I was floored. This never happens. JC exclaimed "And I didn't help at all!!" ha Yeah, JC you should be so proud.. But JM chirped up and said she helped a little then asked what else we needed to do. Who is this girl??

She then helped me put away all her clothes in drawers and assisted in giving JC jobs. Wow, I hope this cleaning child stays a while! I was SOO proud and she knew it. She got M&Ms as a treat and lots of hugs and spins around the room. I hope she truly understood what a great choice she made! I was beyond thrilled and was able to get more done since she did such a great job. Just praying that wasn't a one time thing!! It just MADE MY DAY!!!! Can you tell what makes me happy? I am definitely one of those people that love extra help around the house or appliances that help me clean easier as gifts. Hope my girls read this as they get older and think - HEY I know what to get my mom for the next holiday!! ha

Slumber Party

Well, I think technically the girls had their first slumber party with kids! Hubby and I went to a Longview wedding of an old school friend of mine and since my parents, the usual sitters, were invited to the wedding we asked Hubby's sister to "babysit" and they just spent the night. Two of her kiddos still live at home. M & S are 9 and 13 I think. M might be 8. I mix her birthday up with another niece..anyway.. They always seem SOOOO delighted to entertain JM and JC and of course spoil my girls with loads of attention. As you can see they went crazy with markers. The girls had a great time! Photo credits to Uncle M! :-)

Strike!

The girls went bowling for the FIRST time! The shoes made it for me! They are so cute! We went to a fancy place called Mel's in Georgetown. They had a "Mom & Tot" deal. We have to go back another day and use the game tokens!

We were with our playgroup. I was the biggest loser in the group as I didn't use bumpers when I played! :-)

Peatown

The church got a NEW sign.

But this is the OLD church where we got married! Basically a one room church and I thought it was charming.

Plus Bette and Papa got married there too which made it a special place.

We went to the Christmas Eve service which JM was only TOO happy to do when she found out we were headed to the church where we got married! We've only passed and pointed in the past since we normally go to Mia and Poppy's church when in Longview. This church actually only holds monthly services at an irregular time.

The girls were angels. (They fell asleep during the service!)

North Pole Flyer

Did I mention JM wanted to ride a train for Christmas? So, since we celebrated Christmas Sunday morning, and we were scheduled to ride the North Pole Flyer on Sunday night, I had Santa write a litle poem about how we needed to go catch the train that night! We had ONE hitch. Mia and Poppy were to go with us (we bought these tickets in the summer so even they were super excited!) but Mia got super sick!!! ACK. Poppy still went, but at the last minute we called our frend S to come enjoy the ride with us cuz Mia just wasn't up to it. Missed Mia, but of course JM was SO thrilled to see her buddy S.



It was FREEZING outside! Literally. Sort of unusual really. Santa passed out gifts. There were treats to eat (check out JM peaking to see what!) and a guy comes through to officially punch our train tickets.

We ran SMACK into these ADORABLE kids wearing the same jammies! haha And we knew them! Our friends A & D from our play group. We explored the train a little and got to feel the cold air as we traveled. JM and S were very much convinced we were NOT at the North Pole. Smart girls since we didn't get past Liberty Hill! They enjoyed talking about the "mountains" and "China" though.

Mrs. Claus came through too as well as carolers and story readers. It was a fun trip. One of those local things your glad you try out. I don't think we will make it a yearly tradition though. It's sort of pricey, but I am glad it was a fun way to exerience the girl's FIRST train ride!

First Day of School

My girls started their first day of Mother's Day Out today...and so did I! Yes, you read that right! I am teaching the 2 year olds at their Mother's Day Out! We just go 2 days a week. All I can say as God has blessed me in many ways and I think he just dumped a boat load of patience on me! The girls LOVED school! Thank goodness! And with my new job I had no time to fret and worry too much about how they were doing which is likely a blessing! Oh and JC refused a picture this morning and obviously I was in a rush to "get to work" that I didn't force her! But, she was wearing the same thing as JM. :-) It was the sparkly shirt of choice today!

Oh and JM came home and told me the lifecycle of a frog...cool! And they ate "ants on a log" like frogs. Julia just sucked the peanut butter off and left the raisins and celery, and yet she wants me to run out to the store and buy celery so we can do this at home?? I think not!

JC did nothing at school. No crafts, nothing. But she had a good time! haha Geez wander what they did!? She says she likes her teachers though!

Anyway - YAY!

We Missed You...

We missed you sweet rain! Been a while!

And after the rain dance the girls needed a warm bath and JC is back floating in her bubbles. And Yes Mia she is supervised!

In other news JC can snap! Something she taught herself to do due to a book she really likes that has a kid snapping in it. JM still hasn't quite caught on how to do it. The bad thing is JC has learned to snap for attention, like if she wants me to get her water or something..like I am a waiter. Yeah not fond of that part of the snapping! :-)

Art Museum Requests

JM has had it in her mind that she'd like to go to an art museum. She also specified it should be free. I am not exactly sure where she learned this, but art museums aren't usually free in bigger cities, so where do we head jut before we leave Longview? The Longview Museum of Fine Arts! Admission: FREE, Size: SMALL! Perfect!

I left the camera had home so I didn't manage to mark this occasion, but JM was quite interested and looked at everything. She mostly enjoyed sculptures or bright art work. JC was ready to leave pretty quick though.

After this adventure I realized we were near my old school, Trinity School of Texas, so I drove the girls by there. They seemed to like seeing my school. I pointed out the different buildings and where I took art and such and the building Mia used to teach in.