I have a Graduate...

Today was Kelsey's kindergarten graduation. I didn't realize how emotional I would be! I cried the entire time! Since I am one of the 2 the room moms for her class, I had to speak at the end of graduation and present her teacher with the classroom gift. As soon as I started thanking her for the wonderful year and telling her how much we all loved her I started crying!!! Hello embarassing! Then the other room mom started crying while she was presenting the gift. I looked into the audience and all the parents were crying!!! Jeepers! For me, the tears were of joy and sadness. Joy because this year Kelsey has learned so much and grown so big! She has lost teeth and grown even taller. Miss Gurney has increased Kelsey's love for learning and love for school. Kels walked into Kindergarten knowing her ABC's and the sounds they make. She left Kindergarten reading level 3 books!!! I am amazed at her progression. She loves to read and is a whiz at math! I must admit, I am sad that next year she will be in 1rst grade. She will be spending more time at school than she will be at home. Then after you throw dance and friends in she and I will not get to "hang out" very much :-( First grade is when you are officially a "Big Kid". I know its silly, but I will miss eating lunch with her! We have eaten lunch together everyday for 6 years and I have loved each and every bite with her. I will miss you Kels! Lunch just wont be the same!!

I want to take a moment and publicly thank the two woman that have turned my sweet 5 year old into a confident and proud 6 year old. Miss Gurney and Miss Heidi Stoddard (Kelsey's dance teacher). As a mom, you pray that the teachers who influence your child are kind, considerate, and loving individuals who help your child learn and grow. You want them to think your child is as special as you think they are. It is always difficult to trust a stranger with your most precious gift. This year Miss Gurney and Miss Heidi have truely cared about Kelsey as more than just a student. They both took an interest in her and went above and beyond to make her feel special. When Miss Gurney came to one of Kelsey's dance performances Kelsey was beyond ecstatic! I thought it was pretty amazing that with 30 kids in her class she wanted to come and watch Kelsey perform! She said she had never gone to one of her kids activities before, but Kelsey talked about her dance school so much that she wanted to come and support her. Dancing is a huge part of Kelsey's life and this year under the direction of Miss Heidi she has learned to feel confident in her dance abilities and enjoy performing. She smiles and glows when she is onstage and I am positive it is because she knows Miss Heidi is offstage grinning from ear to ear. Miss Heidi is all about positive teaching and always finds a way to single the girls out and make them feel special about what each individual girl does best. She and Miss Gurney both are amazing woman who have touched my heart. I will never forget how they treated my sweet Kelsey. As she continues to grow, she will take with her the lessons these two incredible woman have taught her. And for that, this mom says Thank You for treating my greatest blessing with such love and compassion. You will both always have a very special place in my heart.

All About Maya...

It seems like all of my blogs recently have been about Kelsey! Many of you may be wondering, What is that sweet Maya up to lately?? Well let me fill you in!

Maya has been enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather!

Maya has been helping us in the yard.

Maya has been playing hair salon with Kelsey!

Maya has been tiring herself out!!! Our Maya is the most angelic child. She is brilliant, happy, kind and very thoughtful. She tells me everyday how much she loves her family. She is my "little best friend"; we hang out together all day everyday. I love you Maya! You bring such joy to our family!!!

Waiting for Mr. Postman...

Kelsey had auditions for her team placement for the 09-10 dance year last Saturday. She told me she did "GREAT!!!" in her auditions; as moms we cant watch the girls audition so I just took her word for it! So since last Saturday, Kels has asked me every day if we could check the mail to see if her letter came (they mail the results). Finally yesterday all of her friends had received their placement letter so we were sure hers would be in the mail. Well the postal service came and went and NO LETTER!!! Kelsey was in tears at the mailbox! She came home and drew a picture of her letter that said:

Translation: I hope that my mail comes. I had to keep myself from laughing! I told her that it would probably come tomorrow and to stop crying. She said, "I have been waiting for mail with my name on it and its not coming." I think she was more excited to get her very own mail than to see what team she made!! Finally the long awaited letter came today! She opened "my mail" and started shrieking "Its Pink and has a BOW!!!" Then she said, "I cant read, what does it say??" I told her it said she made the Mini Star team and she was thrilled!! Congratulations Kelsey!! We are so proud of you!

The 3 Musketteers

This is Kelsey, Sadie, and Hailey or as I call them the 3 musketteers. Sadie and Hailey live next door to the right and left of us and they are Kelsey's best friends. They play with each other almost daily and they are the sweetest girls. Like all 6 year old girls, they argue, tease and whine from time to time, but 10 minutes later they are BFF's again. I am so greatful to live in a neighborhood where my children have built solid friendships with their neighbors; and bonus for me and Adam, the parents are great too!!! I wanted to post this picture because Kelsey said the sweetest thing on Saturday. She said, "Now that the weather is hot that means I get to have summer and play with my BEST FRIENDS ALL THE TIME!!!!" Like all kids, Kelsey equates warm weather with no school or dance!!! She loves school and her activities but she is ready for a break. So with only 2 weeks left of school I say keep the warm weather comin!!!!

The 80's are back...

The Dance Club (where Kelsey dances) had their annual Team Year End Party and this year the girls had to pick a decade to dress from. After thinking it over, Kels and I decided it would be fun for her to dress like she was from the 80's! She was very unsure of the cut-up sweatshirt and multi-colored eye shadow. She didnt believe people wore their hair ratted and she was extremely hesistant about the side ponytail I gave her!!! I think she looked very authentic! After showing her the Flashdance DVD cover she finally believed me. A special thanks goes to my neighbors Lorie and Laurie, it was a group effort to gather 80's articles of clothing!!!!

Training Wheels Are Off!

On Sunday Adam took off Kelsey's training wheels and taught her how to ride a 2 wheeler. I was a nervous wreck so I stayed inside until she got the hang of things. She is doing very well, and she and Adam are practicing every day! We are so proud of you Kels! Great Job!

Kelsey's Field Trip

On Friday I was a parent chaperone for Kelsey's spring field trip with her Kindergarten class. We went to our town fire station, where the kids learned about fire safety, and our local grocery store, where they learned about baking breads and how to keep food fresh! The kids had so much fun; they asked very thoughtful questions and they were very intruiged about how the food was kept cold! It is so neat to view things through 6 year old eyes!!