Kindergarten, here we come!!

Today was the Kindergarten tea. Boy, were we excited for this day! We were to find out who the girls' kinder teacher was going to be. I sat there, nervous in my chair, as each teacher read aloud their roster. First teacher came up and read her class list...nope, not in her class. Second teacher read her names, and nope...not in her class. Only teacher left was Mrs. Willey, who Shea O'Donovan had last hear. Yeah! We have Mrs. Willey!!!

Dance Recital

Today was the last day of the current dance session. The girls did so well and have come a long way since starting dance when they were three years old.

Sleepover

Yesterday, the girls had a sleepover with their best friend, Kylee. Her mom Christy and I were pregnant at the same time, and our due dates were six weeks apart. So the girls were born to be best friends. All three girls had a great time together eating, playing, and talking til' way past their bedtime, just what girls are good at doing. They totally crashed somewhere close to 11pm, and slept soundly on the floor of their bedroom.

Disneyland!

Thank God for good ole' Walt! We heart Disneyland!

First Vacation

Last weekend, we took our first vacation to Lake Havasu with 4/5 of our family. (Mia, being as young as she is, decided it was much more safe for her to stay at GJ's house.) We stayed at a resort in Lake Havasu with our friend, and boat owners, Allen and Tasha. They have two daughters, Sheridan and McKenna, who have been going to the river since in utero. We had a great time in the desert heat, and the girls were absolutely thrilled with their new adventure. Their favorite part was staying in a hotel room, as they had never done so before (actually, they did when they were babies, but were too young to remember.) Here are some pitures from our big weekend:

Budding artists

Gracie and Sarah love to do art...any kind of art. Whether it be painting, coloring, or drawing, they are in their element and thoroughly enjoy themselves!

Happy Birthday to Meeeeeeeeeeee!

Yep, that's right. It's my birthday! I'm 37 today, but don't feel a day over 27. So, I'll just say this is the tenth anniversary of my 27th birthday. I like the sound of that better. Today I had to work on my birthday (teaching summer school to 25 struggling Kindergarteners), and, lucky me, I haven't had to work on my birthday since probably 1990 or 1991, when I worked at Disneyland. And that wasn't really like work anyway. I made great money ($5.50/hr) for many fun times in the parades. It was the best job I've ever had. If money was no object, I'd still be there, dancing my heart away. After I quit Disney, I became a teacher's aide, and I always worked summer school, but always had August off. So this morning, I trudged out the door to meet my smiling little Kindergarteners at 7:40am. I spent a glorious morning teaching the ABCs and 123s, then met my awesome family at one of my most beloved restaurants, The Old Spaghetti Factory. Oh man, was that delicious. It was everything I had built it up to be. Creamy pesto dressing with freshly-baked sourdough bread is way up there on my list of favorites. So bad, but SO GOOD!

My best gifts

My best gifts are these three:

Rainbows

Grace LOVES LOVES LOVES rainbows. You can always find a plethora of Grace-drawn rainbows in our house. She makes necklaces and bracelets with the ROYGBP (red-orange-yellow-green-blue-purple) pattern. Sometimes she adds brown and pink at the end, but ALWAYS ROYGBP. She organizes her markers in a ROYGBP row. When we go to Home Depot, it's a treat to pick out paint chips. Guess which colors she chooses?

Literate

Sarah just read her first book ever! No, really! She read

Where Is The Green Sheep?

. Here's what Sarah has to say about that: "I never read a book before. And this is my first time to read a book. In my whole life. Dad only pointed to the words. And he only helped me with two words... let's and take. I feel good."