First Day of School 2011

Yesterday, August 16th marked the first day of 7th grade for Alex and 1st grade for Olivia.  Last Thursday, Olivia got to meet her teacher and take her supplies up to school.  I am really excited about the teacher Olivia got this year.  I think she will do great.  Olivia is at a new school this year but she can't be more excited.  Last year, Olivia went to Truman due to Crestwood not having any openings for full day Kindergarten.  So this year she is at Crestwood, the school within our boundaries.  Alex gets to go to the new middle school - Truman.  They turned the Truman Elementary into a Truman Middle School so now there are 2 middle schools.  His friends are going to Truman too so he is pretty happy.  Monday, we got to walk the halls of Truman MS so he could find out where his classes are.  This is very important to Alex. He has a hard time just going with the flow.  He has to know specifics about what he has to do, what's expected of him, etc.  He gets very nervous if he has to do something that isn't prepared for.  We saw Lori while we were there and she told him what hallways had what numbers so I know that helped him as well.  I am so happy that we get to see Lori again this year.  I loved having her so closely connected with the kids. 

So Monday night, the kids took their showers and went to bed real easy.  Alex said he wasn't ready to go back to school but I secretly think he was excited to be with his friends and not hanging out at home so much during the day.  Olivia was beyond ecstatic and couldn't wait.  I could believe how easy they went to bed and than on top of it, both of them woke up so easily!  I was pinching myself thinking how could this get any better.  There was no yelling, no running around last minute, it was perfect. 

Since Alex was the first one up and out the door - really, school starts at 7:40 am - who is functioning this early?  Here are his obligatory first day of school pics:

Seriously, where did the time go?  I keep thinking of my baby boy on his first day of preschool at Sacred Heart Villa.  He was 3.  I remember holding him with tears streaming down my face as I was saying good-bye.  The lady there asked me if this was my first time leaving him and through the tears I said "no, he's been in daycare since he was 3 months old."  LOL!  I laugh at this now but I am sure she thought I was a whacko.  Ok, so sue me, I get emotional when it comes to my kids.  So here he is, looking so grown up.  I love this kid so much!!  He is such a great kid.  He does really well in school and really does love to learn.  Here's to a great year buddy!

After Alex was out the door, I started getting myself ready for work and then woke Olivia up.  She got herself dressed and ready to go.  When we went downstairs, I had packed her lunch in her "old" lunchbox.  She didn't like that and wanted to use her new lunchbox from Aunt Debbie.  So we had to transfer everything.  No biggie but this "new" lunchbox is so big!!  This is the first year Olivia will be riding the school bus.  Last year since she went to a school outside of our boundary, we had to take and pick her up every day.  (Thanks to Lori for all the times she brought Olivia home!)  So Olivia was beyond excited to be riding the bus.  She wanted to ride the bus there and then have me meet her there to walk her to her classroom.  So I was happy to oblige.  Here are Olivia's first day pics:

Now here are her pics getting on the school bus!!  Seriously!!  She is too little, my heart was screaming.  But I knew in my mind this was only the beginning to letting her grow up.  She has the nicest bus driver too which just makes it a little more easy on me. 

She went right on up and took a seat and promptly gave me a smile and a wave!  I was seriously fighting the tears at this point.  I walked back to my car and drove up to school to wait for her to arrive.  Finally her bus got there and she got off and ran right up to me!  We quickly walked to her room and she walked right in...and forgot all about me!  LOL!!  She is my fearless one.  She doesn't get nervous to try something new and unfamiliar. She went right in and took her seat.  I tried to get her attention to say goodbye but realized this was what I wanted...for her to feel safe and happy.  So I left. 

I thought about the both of them all day.  Alex knew he could count on Lori if he needed help so I was ok there.  I prayed all morning that Olivia would have a good day.  She had 3 months to acquire some bad habits. LOL!  I left work early so that I could meet Olivia's bus.  As soon as I saw that bus, my heart just leapt with joy!  She quickly got off and said she had a great day!!  As a treat, I took the kids to Lion's Choice for their dip cones.  If you have never had a Lion's Choice dip cone, I suggest you run right now and get one.  They are so good and so cheap!! 

So overall, both kids had fantastic first days!  I really do love the Lindbergh School District. So here's to a great year for kiddos!! 

Girl's Night!

Last Friday night, Alex spent the night at his friend's.  Whenever it's just me and Liv she wants to have a Girl's Night.  We always try to find something fun to do on Girl's Night.  Right before I left for home that day, I had gotten an email from Groupon reminding me to go use my Groupon for Baked Goods Pottery.  It's a place close to home where we can go and paint pottery.  Olivia is all about anything that has to do with crafting.  So this was a perfect Girl's Night. 

We arrived at Baked Goods Pottery and browsed their many shelves for something to paint.  At first, I was just going to let Olivia paint and I would watch but she wanted me to paint too.  So she found a butterfly and I found the letter O.  The girl explained all about the different paints to use and we got our table and started painting. 

This was so much fun!!  Olivia had a blast painting her butterfly.  And she did a great job too. 

So intense!  Then she spotted the aprons and wanted to put one on.

Here is her butterfly with a face.

And her finished butterfly!  Such a great job!

Here is my "O" for Olivia.  I painted it in an orange - her favorite color!

And my finished "O"!

We had to leave them there for them to put in the kiln.  We get to go back in 10 days and pick them up.  I cannot wait to see what they look like!  Olivia is so ready to go back and paint again.  She asked me on both Sunday and Monday if we could go back to paint.  We picked up a mug so that Alex could paint the next time too and Olivia picked out a tiny telephone.  I am so looking forward to going back there.  I have so many ideas.  I love crafting!  If you are interested in painting pottery, I highly recommend this place.  The girl there was so nice.  She showed Olivia the kiln and what the pieces look like before they go into the kiln.  The butterfly and the "o" only came to $17 but my groupon was for $25 so she helped me pick out another item so that I could get the most out of my groupon.  That was so sweet.  The Groupon was only $10 but I got $25 worth of pottery.  Such a great deal and so fun!  Definitely will be a great idea when it's cold outside but the kids are bored. 

Summer

Summer Vacation started on May 31st and today marks the 2nd day of the new school year!  This summer flew by!  I tried to keep myself and the kids busy as much as possible this summer and I think I did a pretty good job of it. 

In June, Alex attended Band Camp the entire month of June - but only in the mornings.  Olivia attended Pom Pon Camp for a week and then was entertained by cousin Angela or cousin Lori the rest of the time.  During the month of June, we had Graduation parties, Birthday parties and a wedding out of town.  Plus I got to go see Kiss Me Kate with Lori at the Muny.  Fun times.

July seemed to have less to do but seemed to go by the fastest.  The only camp the kids did this month was Swim Camp and it was only an hour and a half for one week. But they both had a great time.  This is one camp we will definitely do again.  We went to Little Rock over Fourth of July weekend.  We went to see Jimmy during that visit as well.  It was so good for Olivia and Alex to see him.  We have all missed him terribly.  I got to see 3 Muny shows this month and let me say they were HOT!!  Olivia and I went to see The Little Mermaid and sat in the free seats.  That was fun but a very long wait for her.  However she loved the play.  Then my Mom got us really awesome seats up front for Singin' in the Rain.  This is Alex's favorite musical.  The smile on my boy's face brought sheer joy to me the entire night.  I loved it.  This was a great show as well.  We did have to use our ice packs and frozen wash cloths for this show.  It was a hot one!  Then I got to go see Little Shop of Horrors with Liz and Amanda.  At first I was really indifferent about seeing the show but I am so glad I went.  It was such a fun show!!  So glad I got to experience that one.  The other highlights of July were the birthday's - Olivia's 7th, my 39th and Mom's 59th.  Good times celebrating with the family.

August arrived quickly and the next thing I know, it was time for the kids to go back to school.  We went to the drive-in last Saturday.  It was fun and such a gorgeous evening.  Of course, I am not good with directions and went the wrong way coming back from IL so it took about 15 minutes longer than it should have.  Ugh!  August is also marking an end and a beginning for me.  I am leaving Armstrong Teasdale and going to Wind Capital Group to be a corporate paralegal for them.  I am excited about this opportunity.  It also came at such a great time in my life.  I happened so quickly too that it was like it was meant to be.  I start WCG on 8/29. 

Overall, it's been a great summer! I think we will miss the pool the most of all.  Thanks to my good friend Aimee for the pool membership she gave to us.  We utilized that sucker quite a bit.  The kids loved it.  Olivia turned into a little fish and was even brave enough to jump off the high dive and low dive.  Such great memories we have of the summer of 2011.