First Day of School

It's back to school for everyone!  After a super fun and busy summer, we are back to a routine...  Let's start with Trevor:

Trevor started his second year of preschool with Teacher Cathy.  We love her!  It is a little strange that this will be our last year with a child in her class...  As expected, I drove up to the house, and Trevor did NOT want me to get out.  He is big and can hop out of the car and ring the doorbell without me!  So I had to let him have his independent moment, then get out to take pictures.   

Charlotte is a big 2nd grader!  Her teacher is Mrs. Nethercut (that's who we were hoping for) and she has some of her best friends in her class.  And as you can see, she FINALLY lost her top front tooth the week before school!  

And Mr. Scott...  He's in 4th grade!  He has Mr. Haskins, which will be his first male teacher.  So far we are both very impressed.  Scott's best friends are also in his class, so he is thrilled.

Now 3 days into the week and all the kids are happy and excited to be back!  I love our school :)

Finally her turn!

Charlotte has been asking me for MONTHS to feel if any of her teeth were wiggly.  It is a little distressing when you are the only one in your kindergarten class who didn't lose a tooth.  And with first grade only a few days away, she was getting a little anxious.  Even though I told her I thought they were getting more wiggly, inside I was concerned that we were still MONTHS away from the first Tooth Fairy visit.

Then - out of nowhere - Charlotte comes to me and says, "I think my tooth is super wiggly right now!" And sure enough, it was!  So we grabbed some gauze (which my kids think is necessary when pulling out teeth, thanks to the Berenstein Bears book), and I got ready to start yanking.  Scott then said, "Wait!  let me go get my iPod so I can take a video!" I said sure, and figured I would start trying to pull it out, since Scott's teeth always take multiple attempts.  But with the first little tug, it popped right out!  I wish you could have witnessed the pure, raw emotion Charlotte felt at that moment...  But since I was lame and didn't wait for Scott, the moment passed.  Not only do I not have record of it, but Scott was ticked at me for at least 24 hours.

That girl was in bed within a few minutes, knowing she needed to get to sleep before the Tooth Fairy came.  Why can my kids lose teeth every night?  But did you know the Tooth Fairy can do Origami?  She made 2 super cute hearts out of $1 bills.  But Charlotte was not impressed -- she just wanted the cash.  I'll let the Tooth Fairy know for next time.

Here is the one video I did get...  Unfortunately there wasn't much enthusiasm left after calling to tell Daddy and Grandma.

Another First Day of School!

Scott and Charlotte are off to 3rd and 1st grade!  Charlotte still hasn't quite figured out how to smile normal since her tooth fell out...  They are both really excited for another year at JAA! After the tears and sobbing during the last day of school in June (I'll post about that later...maybe...), it was wonderful to see them counting down the days and SO enthusiastic about going back.

Charlotte is 5!

If you think this post looks awfully familiar, you are right. In our family, we have a big friend party every other year. So this is the family party year... Charlotte wanted to celebrate with the fam (Heidi included, since they may as well be twins) at the most magical place on earth -- CHUCK E CHEESE! And yes, this same celebration happened April 2009:


Wait... In my search for the post about the 2009 party, I realized I never did write about it! Probably because Trevor was 2 weeks old at the time. Anyway...

The theme of the night was all Rapunzel. It was SO convenient Tangled was just released on DVD a couple of days before the party! Charlotte and Heidi were in heaven with pizza, Rapunzel cake and a cup full of tokens. Happy birthday, my girl!

C & H

The other day Charlotte and her BFF Heidi were playing, and this was the scene, which is very typical:

So as I'm sitting tonight, thinking about what to blog, I thought it would be fun to post pictures of my favorite twirling 4-year-old girls. From the time they were born, Charlotte and Heidi have shared the same love for princesses, Dora, baby suits (aka bathing suits) and other extremely fashionable outfits, dancing, Candy Land, and catchup. And fortunately I am a big fan of Heidi's mommy, which makes it even easier to let these cute girls hang out as much as possible. If you were to ask Charlotte if she would prefer to go to Disneyland or Heidi's house, it would be a REALLY tough decision... Aren't these girls adorable?

First day of preschool (year #2)

Charlotte has been so excited to go back to Teacher Cathy's for preschool! I convinced her to wear a matching outfit this morning, but I'm guessing most outfits for the rest of the school year will be much more creative... My little girl is getting so big!

The Big Preschool Show

Charlotte wrapped up her first year of preschool last week! Her little class did a show, and like I expected, she did NOT want to participate. But at least she stood... wait... at least she sat next to her classmates while the rest of them sang cute songs and did the alphabet. Very adorable. I would post the video, but there's not much to see if you are hoping for Charlotte to do anything. My mom reminds me frequently that I was the same way in preschool, and somehow I managed to turn out ok (sort of).

I've said it before, and it won't be the last time you'll read it -- We love Teacher Cathy! Can't wait for another year (and 2 more after that with Trevor)!

Pink and Purple Princess Party

The party week continued and Charlotte had her first friend birthday party on Friday! It was a long week for her, waiting for the main event. And since she doesn't quite get the meaning of "tomorrow" or the days of the week, saying the party was on Friday meant absolutely nothing to her. But the big day FINALLY arrived!

Charlotte's 3 friends, Heidi, Courtney and Claire all arrived and were greeted with the most awesome pink/purple reversible sparkly tutus you have ever seen! Thanks, Grandma! Then the girls did a little project where they each painted a wooden frame, then decorated them with princess stickers. We have done this little craft a few times and it is cheap, adorable and super easy - even for little kids. So each girl went home with a cute frame, and when we send out thank you notes, I'll include the picture of the girls together to put in it. Aren't I creative? It doesn't happen often, so I have to make a big deal about when it does...

Can you tell Charlotte is a little excited to be 4 years old now?





(Melanie, sorry Charlotte saved her weirdest smile for this picture. She really does love the princess jewel fishing game!)

My 4-year-old Princess

Yes, it was Easter Sunday, but today was also Charlotte's birthday! She was very excited this morning that she could now say she is 4 YEARS OLD! Since we were lucky to have 13168 Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Michael here this weekend, we had her family party tonight. Of course it was all princess...

Everyone choose their favorite princess to eat on the cake. Charlotte chose Princess and the Frog (she never uses the real name). The only ones left over were Mulan, Belle and Cinderella. It is probably a good thing I didn't use this cake for her friend party this week because I could easily see 3 and 4-year-old girl tantrums over not getting the right princess.




And here she is with her exciting gifts! Now that I am done with this post I will go take her helmet off...

Important lesson learned

Charlotte was SO excited to go to the Little Gym for her dance class. And with her newly discovered confidence and willingness to actually participate, I was talking it up too. She was all dressed from the moment she woke up in her leotard, tights and tap shoes.

Then Mommy thought... Wait. It is Presidents' Day. Oops! The Little Gym was closed. Charlotte was so disappointed (as was I). So how did I suggest that we make things better?

"Let's go shoe shopping at Target!"

It is amazing how a cheap pair of Tinkerbell flip-flops can turn things around! And Charlotte learned that shoe shopping can cure some of life's disappointments. It is as true for a 3-year-old as it is for a 35-year-old.

Snow in Roseville!

Since we live pretty far down in the foothills of the Sierras, we do not get snow. Growing up, I remember it snowing just a few times, with one HUGE storm in particular that knocked out our power for 3 days. So it was a pretty big deal when we woke up to this:


After our exciting Tahoe trip last February, Scott and Charlotte were especially excited to see snow. We just got a dusting in Roseville, but up the road a bit further and Grandma and Grandpa's house it was a Winter Wonderland! So we bundled up and went up for a visit so Scott and Charlotte could make snowmen, snowgirls and snow angels. Can you tell they loved it? Even Trevor enjoyed it - although all he was interested in was eating the snow.