It's official; Lindy is in Kindergarten!

Kindergarten, Here I Come!
(sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star")

Kindergarten, here I come!
I know I'll have lots of fun.
Lots of things to make and do,
Reading, writing, counting, too.
Kindergarten, here I come!
I know I'll have lots of fun.

--Author Unknown

On Monday, August 23rd, Lindy started Kindergarten.  To celebrate her upcoming big day, we gave her two books at bedtime on Saturday and Sunday:  The Night Before Kindergarten and One Smart Cookie:  Bite Size Lessons for the School Years and Beyond.  Both books are very sweet and well-written.  If you aren't familiar with the Bite Size Lessons series it is a darling group of books by Amy Krause Rosenthal with a cookie baking theme but they are all about life lessons.  Lindy loves them because she LOVES cooking and baking and they use big words and teach her concepts such as being humble, cooperation, trustworthiness, and many others.  The pictures and morals are phenomenal.

No amount of talking had prepared Lindy for what it would feel like to get up at 6:30.  I opted NOT to do a trial run the week beforehand because I felt like she needed her rest and I knew she'd adapt--somehow.  Despite the shock of getting up in the dark, she did really well getting dressed, eating her breakfast, and getting out the door.  She even let me snap a few pictures.

She was definitely contemplative about what was awaiting her

 

 

I am so glad Daddy was there to help with the first day.  I am sure she felt comfort from him in his big hands that I couldn't give because of my sadness.

"Smiling" as we waited in the cry room cafeteria.

At 7:50, we walked from the cafeteria into her classroom.  She immediately sat down and started coloring with the supplies she had left at Meet the Teacher night.  I think I expected more of a formal time to say goodbye but at 8:00 sharp her teacher started addressing the boys and girls and I knew it was time for me to say, "goodbye" to my treasure and let her start this new chapter of her life.

I couldn't wait to pick Lindy up later that day I missed her so much and was so excited to hear about her day.  Despite my finely tuned question asking and probing, I didn't get much out of her besides stories about all the naughty boys. (Ugh!)  She did tell me her teacher read The Kissing Hand and I was so relieved because I had FORGOTTEN to check it out of the library and read it to her.  I did tell her to touch her cheek, though, if she got lonely and missed home.   I am so proud of her for being so strong, brave, and well-behaved and, as bittersweet as this season is for me, I am so excited to see what new and wonderful things await my baby girl.

China Camp 2010

Lindy spent three great mornings with some of her sweet Chinese friends this past week for the second annual China Camp.  See here for highlights from last year's event.  Once again, my very sweet, organized, and crazy BRAVE friend, Shawna, put on another wonderful event for this great group of girls.  They sang, listened to stories, played games, learned about Chinese money, food, and festivals, and did some wonderful arts and crafts.

I am so thankful for Shawna's willingness to open her home and bring our tremendous group of girls and mommies together to celebrate the common bond we share.

Here are some scenes from the week:

Painting her tiger puppet

Playing a fun game!

Passing the tiger and panda

Studying Chinese paper cutting

Coloring the Great Wall with best buddy, Karleigh Mei

The beautiful girls

Fun times!

Showing off their dragons (or was it lions?)

Enjoying a moon cake

Yummy noodles and fried rice

 

 

 

 

 

 

***Girls only***

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.  Proverbs 31:30

Last Thursday Lindy attended the Sweetpea Beauty luncheon at church.  For her this was kind of a big deal because it was her first event with the "big girls."  As a Kindergartener-in-waiting, she is no longer lumped in with the toddlers and preschoolers.  Sniff...

With her adorable friend, Scarlett--a fellow Kindergartener...

Lindy had a great time watching the movie and laughed out loud on more than one occasion.  Don't tell anyone but her parents are closet fans of Veggie Tales and have been ALSO known to laugh out loud at the silliness.   Shhh...I really love the messages these movies bring to kids and this one was great for the little ladies.

Nothing like a good laugh! 

 

After the movie, the girls dined on fancy tiara-shaped sandwiches, fruit, chips, and then they got to partake in a chocolate fountain.  YUM!  There were also delicious frosted sugar cookies for favors.

As you can tell, it was a fun-filled morning for the little sweetpeas.  A big thanks to Miss Kaci for putting on such a lovely lunch.

We're a little tied up around here

Last week--after lots of practice--she did it! She finally did it! She learned how to tie her shoes. However, Lindy isn't just applying her newly acquired skill to her shoes. Nope. That's not how Lindy does things. She is tying up anything and everything that can be tied. Daddy's shoes--tied. Ribbon on my pajama top and bottoms--tied. Sash stolen from blouse in my closet, placed around her waist, and, you guessed it, tied. Thankfully she hasn't located the 112 bolts of ribbon I have stashed away in a drawer.

Also, of noteworthiness, she thinks she's big stuff because she learned how to snap her fingers with accompanying sound. Great! JUST the life skill her royal bossiness needed!

And one last thing my baby is OFFICIALLY registered for Kindergarten.

June & July--it is really all a blur

I'm on the home stretch when it comes to catching up on the backlog for this blog! Woo hoo! When I looked to see what happened during those months, I discovered we were busy but I didn't have a lot of pictures to sift through, other than our trip to the beach.

In June Lindy started dance class. It is half ballet and half tap. Guess which part she likes better? Apparently she likes to be noisy and take out her frustrations on wood flooring. I loved that after one class she could count to 10 in French. I paid a lot more for my French I class in college and that's really all I recall. She seems to be liking it a lot. Her teacher is excellent and not only does she speak French, she speaks the language of little girl--that is princesses, fairies, and mermaids...




On Father's Day we took Daddy out for lunch after church and then I took a few shots of my sweet loves. Don is an excellent Daddy. He loves being a father so much and he is smitten with Lindy. Some people think having a great relationship with your earthly father helps when it comes to having a solid relationship with God. If that is the case, she should be well on her way to having a great relationship with God!




Lindy loves to decorate, refashion things, and make things fancy. One day she decided to make herself fancy.

It probably really was time for me to get rid of the purple eyeshadow, anyway...

During the last week of June we hosted our friends, Stan & Trellis Moore, from Colorado. The Moores were Don's sponsor family in Annapolis while he was attending the Naval Academy. They were in town and we had the pleasure of spending time together. Lindy gave them some practice before they headed out west to see their four grandchildren.


We also got to see one of our friends from our travel group to China. John Bowers was in town as he is one of the managers of Three Dog Night. He was super busy but he got us into the concert and we had a few moments to relive our special time together bringing home our girls. Too bad, Lynn and Samantha weren't there with him. We're going to have a reunion--someday!

June 2010

April 2006

July came and with it another holiday where we wanted to escape but didn't. The three of us donned our red, white, and blue and drove to a local spot to check out some fireworks (not pictured). I had to get some pictures of our little American girl!





A lot of our days were spent laughing and playing together. Oh how I'm going to miss those days.





There. I think I'm as caught up as I'm going to be. Now, let the good times roll for August!

Memorable May 2010 moments

Besides Lindy's birthday, there were a few other picture taking, memory making moments in May...

The day after Lindy's birthday was Mother's Day. After church we had a yummy meal at Texas Land & Cattle. Oddly, Lindy's father didn't take any pictures of Lindy and her mommy together, nor did he take a generational picture of Lindy, her mommy, and her grandma. Sorry to throw you under the bus, hon! ;-) You know I love you, just don't be afraid to click away! However, Grandpa shot a couple.


It has been fun watching Lindy overcome her fears and become more confident riding the bike she got for her 5th birthday. We're in no hurry to remove the extra assistance and I'm perfectly okay with her conservative approach to life!



On May 20th, our little lady graduated from preschool. Lindy attended preschool for a year and a half and absolutely LOVED it. She had wonderful teachers and was around a great group of kids. It was worth every penny we spent. I was really melancholy prior to her graduating as I realized it was an end of one chapter of her life. She's growing up so quickly. We are so proud of all she's learned and how she is developing. We are also so thankful for all the people who have had a hand in teaching her and molding her. On graduation day, there was a brief program for the audience. Our at-home, Taylor Swift-singin', in front of the mirror dancin' entertainer was not quite as thrilled with performing live and in person but she appeared to be singing quietly--despite her stage fright.

Saying the pledge. That alone brought tears to my eyes!

Singing (on the inside)...

Receiving her diploma from her beloved teacher and my dear friend, Miss 'Berta...Hands down one of the finest teachers on the planet. Lindy was the last name called and for a moment I got concerned...KIDDING! I think they saved the best for last.

She may be the littlest one in the group but she has a big, big heart, smile, and personality.

So proud!

Daddy and his girl.

After several weekends of house projects and craziness, Don and I both had an "itch" to do something over Memorial Day but were kind of at a loss of what to do. We wanted to get out of town but didn't want to go too far or spend too much, either...The coolest things to do are all a good 3-4 hours away, it seems. Don put on his thinking cap and decided he wanted to go to a swimming hole. Since I'm not really a swimmer, I imagine I gave him "that" look when he told me his idea. However, I am a trooper and planned our little venture with him which included trying out a place we've heard has killer breakfasts, packing a picnic lunch, and making our way up to Blanco State Park. Let's just say, breakfast was a complete and utter bust. We won't be returning. After waiting for a ridiculously LONG time (over an hour, folks), a server came to tell me that they were out of the special bread to make their "award winning" French Toast but that they could do it on regular bread. I was NOT happy. So, I ate nothing. Memorial Day was becoming memorable really fast! I tried not to make a big deal about it because I didn't want to make Don feel like he was responsible AND having little eyes on me made me remember it is a teachable moment.

We got to the swimmin' hole and I cozied up under a huge shade tree and planted myself in a chair with a book while Don and Lindy entered into the waters...Seriously, swimming in a river gives me the creeps. This sign is only PART of the reason why I didn't get in.

It doesn't say a thing about snakes--but I KNOW they are in there.

PB&J tastes better after a workout!

It was actually a pretty nice day because Don and Lindy played in the water and I got to relax, read, and people watch--which became quite interesting as the day progressed. I will spare the details but I knew WHEN it was time to go.

Sometimes I feel like holidays and weekends are meant to be more than I'm making out of them; however, when I stop and reflect about whom I with and how much I love them, I know I've got a really good thing...