First Day of School

Today was Emma's first day of Pre-K at Episcopal Collegiate and Josh's first day as a Junior at Grace.  Emma has been very excited about her new school especially after finding out last Friday that one of her best friends from Grace, Gwen, would also be at ECS and even better, in the same class.  Brad tried to get some pictures of the kids before we left this morning.  Josh pretty much only wanted to give us his backside so this is the best we got with him in the photo.

Emma, on the other hand, was more than happy to pose for some pictures in her new school uniform.

Grace is on the way to ECS so Josh got dropped off first this morning.  We were a little unsure of how he would react to sister not coming in with him but he ran right in, found his cubby and then was off to play in his new class before I even left the building.  I stopped by on my way out to say goodbye but he was too busy to care. 

Since it was the first day, we walked Emma in to her new class this morning.  After spending about an hour there last Friday during orientation, Emma felt completely at home and like Josh, was off and running.  She did show us her cubby but for the remainder of the time that we were there, it was Brad and I chasing her around the room asking about different stations.  She is so excited about her teachers, Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Towe. 

After the regular school day, Emma goes to the Wildcat Club so we found her out on the playground this afternoon and her grin was from ear to ear.  We signed her out and then she walked us over to the art room to pick up her stuff and already, it was like she owned the place.  Needless to say, she had a great first day.  Emma said she made one new friend, Addison, and was excited because there were cupcakes for a birthday. I asked her is she saw her other friend that came from Grace but is not in her class and she said, yes and that she played with him but the and I quote "emphasis was on Gwen."  After she made that statement, I asked Brad if I had heard right at which point, Emma tried to dumb it down for me saying that she meant she mostly played with Gwen.  I laughed and told her that she had said it right but that I was just trying to make sure I knew what she said.  Josh really seemed to enjoy his new class as well since he is treated more like a big boy.  Mrs. Shannon told us when we picked him up that he was more like his sister than she realized in that he has to add a little something to every statement, discussion, etc.  Wonder where he learned that from?  I think it will be a great year for both kids.

Wordless Wednesday - Emma's Alter Ego Lancey

Sleeping Josh

Time to start playing catch up again especially after a big vacation and visit from Bo and Gram last month.  For now, a couple of photos that capture the many sleeping positions of Josh!

So Proud!

This big kid is so excited and so proud of himself for good reason.  Thanks to him being so big, I have bought my last package of diapers.  Woo hoo!  After Emma potty trained, we took her to the toy store to pick out a special present.  Of course we had to do the same for Josh and he was a hoot in Toys R' Us.  I don't know how many toys he picked and then when he was asked if that was what he wanted would respond "maybe not" and put it back.  I really did not think we were ever going to leave and he had one of the women working there cracking up.  Josh finally ended up with an army jeep with some soldiers, a police car and a police riot squad truck with two police officers.  He did have some buyers remorse the next day and is really hoping for a helicopter for his birthday.  We are very proud of our big boy!

Dance Recital Part 2

After a great rehearsal on Saturday, it was time for the real deal on Sunday afternoon.  Emma's entire class did so well.  I think aside from just loving to dance for a crowd, Emma's favorite part of the recital was wearing make-up.  She could not stop looking at herself in the mirror.  Emma had a great second year of dance and loved having Miss Karsen and Miss Lindsay help teach Ms. Carrie.  One thing for sure, we are going to miss Libby next year!  After the recital, Brad got some cute photos of our little monkey and a few that make her look way too big for my liking!

Excited to dance!

Libby, Miss Karsen, Miss Lindsay, Emma

Cute Monkey

So grown up!

Love this!

Dance Recital

Emma 's spring dance recital was the weekend of Brad's birthday and also the Tour de Rock 100 mile bike ride.  Thankfully for Brad, the weather was much more conducive to 100 miles in the saddle than it was the year before and he managed to knock quite a bit of time off the previous year while still feeling like he had some pop left in his legs.  We did get to see him around mile 9 down at the River Market.  Emma and Josh loved watching all the cyclists fly past them.  After we caught Brad, the kids and Brad's parents walked around the Clinton Library grounds a bit while I raced home to get Emma's costume for her rehearsal. 

Yes, I managed to get everything into the car other than the costume.  After I returned, we all headed over to the rehearsal.  Brad's parents and Josh sat up in the audience and watched all the dances.  Josh did great and loved seeing the dancers.  Emma's class did a tap dance to "Talk to the Animals" and it was adorable!  I managed to get a few photos from the rehearsal.

Mammoth Springs

Mammoth Springs is located just south of West Plains across the Missouri border into Arkansas. We decided to make a quick pit stop on our way home on Memorial Day. Let's just say that Emma was tired and not so happy about much of anything. Josh, picking up on her attitude, was more than happy to pose with his sister for a photo. He is deifnitely a stinker. While we were hoping for naps from both kids on the way home, surprisingly the only one who napped was Emma. She was a tired girl after a long weekend of fun. Everybody did rally by the time we got home so we rounded out Memorial Day weekend with our first trip of the summer to the neighborhood pool.