shock to the system

this morning we officially started back to school after being off for two and a half weeks. how wonderful it was to sleep in and hang out all day in our "jammies" - talk about WHAT A LIFE!!! well, reality definitely hit in when the alarm went off for me at 5:30 am not to mention the fact that it was a mere 18 degrees outside...brrrrr! the girls got off to school with no problems whatsoever! that always makes for a great day!

we celebrated our "last day of christmas break" with a bit of a shopping spree and lunch yesterday. the girls got some gift cards for christmas and were dying to go spend them. i promised them that i would take them shopping and to lunch at anywhere of their choosing; which ending up being steak 'n shake. (yeah!) lacey, of course ended up spending her gift card on a play phone that looks like blackberry and disney princess press on nails. i just have laugh because honestly i wonder sometime where in the world did we get this girl.....she is just so funny!

in the swing of things

it's officially the second week of school and everything seems to be going well from our new activities to having to get up every morning, everything is falling right into place as it should. lela seems to be really enjoying her school and loves having homework. she is so good about coming home and doing it. thank you! i just pray that a few months from now we are still this good about getting things done. choir officially starts tomorrow and then we will be in full swing with all our activities. lacey won't start school until september 1, so she still has a couple of weeks left. i have so many things i want/need to do and it's kind of hard having lacey around to help such as painting the new trim that went up. talk about more trouble than it's worth. lacey "tried helping" but ending up making more work for me. i don't know if there was more paint on lacey? the floor? or the wall? i've got to come up with a plan...any ideas?

on another note, lela wanted me to tell you that yesterday at gymnastics she received the "straight leg" award. she was on the bars practicing some move and ms. terri announced to the class that lela got the award for the straightest legs. good job, lela. keep it up!

we're so not in kindergarten anymore

it seems everyday when i pick lela up from school there is something new and traumatic to deal with. it breaks my heart to hear how much she doesn't like school and never wants to go back and this is coming from a child who loves school, loves homework, etc. these are the things we are having to deal with at the moment and it breaks my heart. on monday, she tells me that the teacher yelled at the class and made them all put their heads on their desk and be quiet. she then tells me mom i wasn't doing anything, but i got real sad and wanted to cry. poor lela, she is not use to the whole class getting in trouble because of a few disruptive kids. oh, this is hard. i know in a few weeks everything will be ok, but at the moment it's really hard seeing her have to work through this. when i say i've been there i've been there. my second grade teacher was notorious for always yelling and screaming at us and then cutting the lights off and making us put our heads on our desk. i think about that a lot these days especially seeing our daughter going through it, but then i have to tell myself, "hey, i turned out ok." i realize all we can do is keep encouraging her and letting her know how proud we are of her, but sometimes it's so hard not to just break down and want to protect her from the world. she is our first born. the child with the sweetest and most caring spirit i've ever met and to see all this happening to her is well...just hard. yesterday, it truly hit me we're so not in kindergarten anymore! sniff, sniff

gymnastics and spirit night

today, marked the start of both lela and lacey's new gymnastics career. for lacey it's her very first time ever doing it, for lela it's old hat so to speak. lacey seemed to really enjoy herself climbing, jumping and swinging like a monkey at the zoo. lela on the other hand advanced to the highest balance beam in the gym and proceeded to do a roll on the beam with the help of her teacher. it still amazes me watching her progress in the sport.

after gymnastics we headed home for a quick bite and on to spirit night at bruster's ice cream. it was so nice seeing so many parents out and in support of the school and pta. 20% of everything they sold between 7-9 went to the school, so it awesome seeing everyone taking advantage of it. lela's teacher, mrs. perrotta even was serving ice cream and taking orders. lela was so shy when mrs. perrotta asked her what type of ice cream she would like...typical of her these days it seems.

if you are curious to know how i'm adjusting to being in a large public school. well...i'm working through it day by day. kevin is definitely being my rock during this period of change in our lives. at the moment i feel kind of lost in a sea full of people. for the past 4 years, i knew most if not every parent and child in the preschool. i sit on the preschool board and am a dept chair on our consignment sale committee. now i'm in an entirely different environment where i have no idea who or what is going on in our school and that is extremely hard for someone who wants to help. yesterday it was brought to my attention that two spots have become available on the school council board and i have to wonder if this is the path god is leading me in? i have had a couple people encouraging me in this direction, but do i really want to commit two years? such big decisions. if you would just please keep us in your prayers during this season of transition.