the one with the castle

once upon a time, some kids built a castle.  it was a lovely castle made of the finest sand and ocean water.

the castle was so lovely it even had a little mote and a real, live sea star.

but everything that goes up must come down.  so the kids pounded the castle back to the ground.

the end.

precious faces

allison just made up our bed.  the child has finally faced the light. granted, she just smacked her irritating brother two minutes prior.  he deserved it.  she said he squirted her with a water gun.  um, okay.  just keep making up our bed and you can get away with a lot more.

i'm having a hard time believing that summer is over half done.  where does the time go?  now, i have to scurry around and make sure all registrations are in order for school and fall activities.  because when we get back from the beach, school will start, playschool will start for allison, her birthday will be around the corner, and round and round we go.  father time, have mercy on me.

these kids are growing up WAY too fast.

ka-ciao

disney.  how do they do it?  the first movie is always the best.  sequels have hard acts to follow.  but, whatever the movie lacked to it's predecessor in storyline, disney made up for it in animation and creativity.  i loved the international themes and references to two of our favorite cities, paris and london.  and was i the proud mama when my kids even pointed out to the whole theatre they knew their international landmarks and monuments.  hey look big ben!  the london bridge! the london flag!   double decker bus!  london taxi! a beefeater! the queen! the london eye!  the eiffel tower! the atlantic ocean!...i flew over that! yes, the whole theatre heard.

prior to the movie screening, we all met for photo ops and body art application.  distributed VIP treats and found our seats.  after the film and sugar consumption, the kids headed straight for the race car games in the video arcade room.  once, we herded them outside the theatre, it was time for a game of gas can tag and spy kids.  all the kids behaved wonderfully!!

.....until we all got home.  all moms agreed.  we left our well-behaved movie critics at the movies.  but they all acted great in public.  that's all a mom can ask for.

isn't he just the cutest!

our little einstein.  now i've been telling ya'll he's the brightest, most intelligent, sweetest, cuddliest little boy since he was......well, since one week old!  and what mother wouldn't be proud of this precious child!?  davis' preschool class did so good at their graduation.  SO GOOD!!  i will have to transfer the videos from our camcorder to cd before i can upload.  but they were adorable and animated.  i give them four stars!

diplomas awaiting graduates:

the class of 2024 walked in to pomp & circumstance and took their places on stage:

sang a few songs:

received their diplomas:

proudly displayed their graduation poem:

had a watermelon reception afterwards:

hugged the teachers goodbye!:

mrs. powell (above) & mrs. clark (below) - we'll miss you.  thank you for everything!!!

standing outside boiling springs elementary school.  kindergarten, here i  come!

bizarro world

yesterday was a frazzle day.  you know the kind.  days when you have tons of little things on your to-do list to get done in a matter of, well, minutes?

• forget to take out trash.
• remember to take out trash at 1 am
• put watermelon in frig before bed
• remember to put melon in frig at 1:05 am
• wake up late
• rush davis off to school
• shower
• put allison in bath
• cut up watermelon
• get allison dressed
• take watermelon to davis' school
• fold and hang laundry
• pick up graduation balloons
• davis' more at four graduation

in the meantime, allison needed help in the bathroom.  this is normal.  her poo was blue.  i'm talking toilet cleaner blue.  this is not normal......run to get the phone......call the doctor......get the camera to show the doctor exactly what was wrong.....i'm thinking absorption problems.....chemical imbalances or worse, chemical consumption...........doctor, "did she eat any food coloring lately?"......"ummm....uhhh.....ooohhh.....yeah. okay,  that makes sense now."  but blue poo still makes for a very bizarre day.

so parents take note.  here is a little story about if you give a child a cupcake.

if you give your child a cupcake.  she will likely eat the icing.  if she eats the icing, it will probably get on her face.  if the icing is black, it will make a cute mustache.  you will probably want to take a picture of the icing mustache with your camera.  you will want to take a picture because you will forget a few days later about the cupcake with black icing.  until your child has a bizarre poo and you rush to call the doctor.  the doctor will ask you about food coloring and you will remember the chocolate cupcake with black icing.

warning:  I am about to post pictures of blue poo.  typically, i would never want to share this kind of thing on a public forum.  but it was just so bizarre and funny (after the fact), it must be shared.  if this post helps one parent in the future not freak out about bizarre poo, then it will serve a purpose.  now of course, i will post the picture in the smallest frame possible, but you have been warned.

in the beginning

middle

and end.

its the end of the year as we know it

year end children's choir concert

dance recital

preschool graduation

tball picnics

swim lessons

vacation bible school

playdates

daylight savings time means later bedtimes

birthday parties

and so it goes.......

i have SO MANY videos and pictures to upload! my goal is to try and do at least one a day.  so without further ado, here is the preschool choir concert:

allison was not so amused by having to wait and, i guess, share the stage with others.  here are two before & after pictures of the performance.

waiting to take the stage:

 why do we have to stand here with the light in our eyes?:

veni vidi vici

we came. we saw. we conquered outer space.  thank you KidSenses!

a shooting star

a star is born? not just yet. a shooting star? a little more like it. blink, and you may miss her. look away, and she'll be gone in a flash. trying to take pictures? good luck! i've got blurs of tulle a plenty.

allison's big dance recital was a huge hit! wonderful reviews! a sold out performance of parents, brothers, aunts and grandmothers packed the theatre. and the performances continued at home after the recital and at the restaurant. thank goodness we had the back room to ourselves!! otherwise we would have missed davis' beat box, allison's breakdancing, the book of manners rap and this little light of mine.

davis held out until 5 o'clock. by then the attention on allison broke him and he needed affirmation that he has the no.1 boy of the day. even allison asked me right before bedtime, "is my big day over?" i told her it was and when i asked her if she was tired of all the attention being on her, she simply said, "jyeh."

i can confidently say that we caught her up on any attention she missed from years of not being the first to do anything. funny enough, the biggest treasure of the day were the painted, plastic punch flutes at the reception. don't sweat the small stuff? it's always the small stuff.

and of course you can see the entire performance here:

deja vu to you too

there is something familiar about today. seems as if i've been here before. seems as if i've gotten the same phone call before too -

(teacher) "stephanie?"

"yes?"

(teacher) "davis fell and hit the picnic tables again on the playground. you need to come get him. he'll need stitches again."

"i'll be right there."

only this time, i knew EXACTLY where to take him and who to call to let them know we were coming. again.

not only coming back to the doctor's office for the the second time this week. (the first appointment was for kindergarten health assessment & 5 year old well-check.) but for the second time to get stitches in the head. only this time it was the other side of the head. and he got three staples instead.

well, the lesson for the day is......(because we obviously didn't learn it before)......when davis takes on a picnic table, the table WILL win.

and yes i did ask. ....."is my child the only one who has this problem or does it happen a lot?" thinking that it happens more often and we might need new tables at the school. but, no, it just seems to only happen to davis.