Nathan's First Day of Kindergarten

Seriously?! My baby boy is starting kindergarten?! When I was teaching, I used to always make fun of those moms who cried when their kids started kindergarten...now I'm one of them! Although, thankfully, I didn't cry in front of him, I only got teary eyed when I met my friend Jennifer in the cafeteria for donuts...I was telling her how Nathan kept wanting to give me kisses...and the last one I gave him, he told me to kiss him right on the cheek and not wipe it off (I usually wipe his face if I get lipstick or lipgloss on him). That just about made me break down! Nathan was really excited and a little nervous, but he did not cry one bit. I was really proud of him. It helped that we walked to school with his best friend Jake who lives right across the alley from us. 

This will be an interesting year because Nathan's school is starting a new program called "Spanish Immersion." He will have class in English with Mrs. Holditch one day (today was English) and then Spanish with Sra. Melendez the next day. He will alternate like this the whole year and continue in the program through 6th grade...as they get older, they get more and more Spanish. The goal is to have this group of kindergarteners completely fluent in Spanish (reading, writing, speaking) by the time they enter middle school. They will continue a similar type program there too. It does seem scary to me, but I think it will be a really great opportunity for Nathan. Now Wayne and I will have to learn Spanish! And once Charlotte starts Kindergarten, she will do the same thing so the two of them will probably conspire against us!!!

Notice Nathan's new shoes...we went shopping this weekend, and they each got new school shoes. Nathan thought he was SO COOL! 

Ballet Camp

Every mommy can't wait for their daughter to start dance. There is nothing cuter than seeing a little girl in ballet shoes, tights, and a leotard! My friend Alison, told me about a dance day camp that was being offered at the studio that her older daughter takes dance. It was a Cinderella themed day for girls aged 3-6 and was from 9:30-12:00. I thought this would be the perfect thing for Charlotte to try to see if she really enjoyed it before we signed her up for REAL dance lessons. I also passed along the info to Charlotte's friend, Audrey (who was in Charlotte's class last year) to see if she would want to do it with Charlotte. Her mom loved the idea so we got both girls signed up. I already had the leotard and tights but needed to get ballet shoes (every time I said ballet SHOES, Charlotte always corrected me and said, Mama calls them ballet SLIPPERS) Ok, so we needed to get ballet slippers. Charlotte was so excited when we bought them and wanted to wear them for 2 days straight! That's a good sign!

On the morning of the camp, we got all dressed, and of course she looked ADORABLE! Nathan and I took her to her class and met Audrey and her mom there. I was worried that Charlotte might cry, but she was happy to be with her friend. I dropped her off and went to Alison's house so Nathan and Trevor could play, and we could visit. At 11:30, we all went back to the dance studio to watch the "performance" that the kids learned. They were so cute! They each got to wear big pink tutus and silver crowns. It was all very simple, but so much fun to watch! There were a few times that Charlotte was supposed to turn, but she just stood there, and Nathan would call out and say, "Turn Charlotte!" I just about died laughing! Afterwards, Nathan and Trevor gave her big hugs, and she told us she had a lot of fun. Now I need to sign her up!!!

Coo Coos

Nathan and Charlotte love to go to Coo Coo's, a bounce house place. We are usually there with friends, but on this day, it was just the 3 of us. It was fun for me because the two of them played together the whole time and took turns doing what the other one wanted. I love to see them have fun together! And Nathan was in the best mood, and actually WANTED me to take pictures of him. WHAT???? SERIOUSLY???? I gladly snapped away!

Happy Birthday Nathan

On August 13, Nathan was officially 6 years old. We had his friend party two weeks ago, and today is his family party with Mommy, Daddy, Charlotte, Grandmother, Mama and Papa. Nathan and Charlotte planned out his party all by themselves. We went to the store a few days before to pick out a cake mix and frosting. Nathan decided on a yellow cake (because Birthday Cake is his favorite yogurt flavor at Berriluscious) and chocolate frosting. Really, I should have just served the frosting to Nathan because that is all he wants to eat...he could care less about the cake! He also picked out Lego candles and let Charlotte get some glittery princess icing to help decorate the cake. They decided to have chicken fajita tostadas for dinner and he picked out flowery paper plates to serve our food on because Mama and Grandmother would think they were pretty. When we were getting everything set up the night before, Nathan came up with the idea of having a Lego themed party since we got lego candles. He wanted to display all of his Lego creations on the kitchen island. It was so cute! And since this was his party, I let him do whatever he wanted. So Nathan and Charlotte worked really hard to get all of their Lego creations put back together again. They never really take them all apart, but over time, little parts fall off or get lost, so this was a great time filler for us. They worked for an hour fixing things and making new ones. It was so cute to see all of Nathan's complex creations, and then Charlotte's simple 5 brick ones, but she was very proud of all of them!

So on the day of the party, Charlotte and I made the cake...Nathan only wanted to decorate it. And then we arranged all of the Legos on the island, and decorated the cake. They had so much fun having free reign with the sprinkles...to them, less is NOT more!

Nathan was so excited for his "guests" as he called them, to come over. But first, we had to take Charlotte to Toni and Guy to get her hair cut. She was such a good girl, and Nathan was the best big brother to her. He was so happy to finally be 6 years old, that he really took on the part of the doting big brother that day. Charlotte was excited about her haircut, but also kept making sure that I was going to let her sit on my lap while Mr. Anh cut her hair. So Nathan stuck by her side the whole time. When she went to get her hair washed, Nathan sat right next to her and said, "Don't worry Charlotte, it's just a little bit of water, and it won't be too hot" By this time, Charlotte was completely comfortable with the whole process, but Nathan WANTED her to need him to comfort her. It was so funny! When we sat in Anh's chair, Nathan said, "Mr. Anh has his scissors out, but don't worry little girl, he's just going to cut your hair, not you." Anh was really sweet and kept telling Nathan what a good brother he was. Finally, Nathan sat in the lobby with my phone and played some games until Charlotte was finished. After she got her hair cut and fixed, she hopped down and went to find Nathan. I was still talking to Anh for a little while and then went to the lobby to pay. One of the women sitting there told me that when Charlotte came out, she went up to Nathan and said, "How do I look Nay Nay?" and then Nathan looked up and said, "Wow! You look so pretty!" My heart just melted because this lady said that they were so sweet to each other, even though I wasn't even there. I was very proud of them.

So now it's party time! Mama, Papa, and Grandmother came over and we swam, visited, ate, and opened presents. Nathan was very grateful for everything and loved being the center of attention!

 

Nathan got birthday money from his grandparents and was very excited to go to the toy store to buy some things. But Wayne and I know from experience that when he has the option to buy what he wants, he gets very overwhelmed and can't make up his mind. When we take him to the toy store as a reward for something and tell him he can buy one small thing, it's easy for him to choose. So, Wayne came up with the idea to have Nathan think of all of the things he's been wanting and to make a list of several things, and then Daddy would go by Toys R Us on his way home from work and see what he could find. Nathan LOVED that idea! He was able to come up with lots of ideas. Charlotte didn't really understand that this was just for Nathan and chimed in that she wanted a pink and purple princess baby. I told her that this was part of Nathan's birthday money, and when it's her birthday, she can do the same thing. Well, Wayne told me that Nathan went up to him and asked him to use some of his money to get Charlotte a pink and purple baby. How sweet is that?! So when Daddy came home that night, both kids were very happy!!!! They each got what they wanted. We told Charlotte that Nathan bought her the babies (Wayne got her a set of twin baby dolls, one with a pink bow and one with a purple bow) with his birthday money. She went right over to him and gave him a big hug and said, "Tank you Nay Nay."

IPhone Pics

Playing "Baby"

Bath time with Pearce

 

 Playdate with Skylar...the girls are princesses and Nathan is Prince Charming

Mama took Nathan and Charlotte back to school shopping for backpacks and lunch boxes, and Nathan sweet talked her into this Super Mario Brothers Lego kit.

Playdate with Andrew at the Perot Museum 

My bedroom for the last week because my two little angels keep waking up at 3:30 on the dot and sneak downstairs to our bed. And I'm too tired to take them back up so it's become a habit. So, this last week, I've been sleeping outside of Nathan's room, and every time they wake up, I put them back in bed. The first 2 nights were exhausting, but now they are back to sleeping all night. THANK GOODNESS! Tomorrow is my last night upstairs so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the habit has been broken...I'll just have to be consistent in taking them back upstairs if they come down again...it's just so hard when I'm so darn tired! 

Little Miss Charlotte looking so sweet