School's Out For Summer!

From tiny acorns do mighty oak trees grow...

Yesterday was Katie's LAST DAY OF PRESCHOOL! Hard to believe. She has been going to First Methodist since she was nine months old and we have cherished the experience. Her sweet teachers have been just wonderful: Mary and Martha, Ms. Jane and Ms. Virginia, Ms. Brenda, Janice and Jamie, Ms. Rebecca (or as Katie called her, Mr. Becca) and Ms. Cindy. And Ms. Shelly, the art teaching music wiz who has made so many memories for us. We have an art gallery and a treasure of songs because of her talent and love.
Last year, on a whim, Katie, Anna and I went to Toys R Us on the last day of school. Then this year before Christmas vacation we saw the Princess and the Frog after the Christmas program. So yesterday, we went from the program straight to the toy store to pick out Last Day of School Presents and THEN went to see Shrek 4. Awesome Day. Awesome new tradition. I loved it just as much as they did. If not more.
Today, they are playing so well together... I just had to write some of it down. Katie named her new zebras Sparkle Star and Zoey-Anne. Anna was being the big bad wolf, "I huff and puff and blow AWAY!" And then they got into an argument about who got to be the rock in the Dora adventure they were making up. In an amazing display of maturity, Katie suggested that they BOTH be rocks. So they curled up and laid in silence on the ground for a while. I think we'll be playing "Rock" a lot this summer.
Off to the pool!

All Growed Up

My babies are hiding. These sophisticated young women keep appearing in my kitchen.
Some favorite moments of late...

Katie asked what we were drinking the other night at dinner...
"Dada, are you and Mama drinking wine?"
"Yep"
"Well, I think it is really Jesus's blood."
"No, this is a white."

In bed, getting ready for sleep...
"Anna, who do you love?"
"James. But he live so far AWAY. In cowfornya."

Unpacking her backpack full of end-of-year treats...
"KB, why did Miss Cindy give you all these wonderful things?"
"I think it is because I am a kindergartner now, Mom."

Looking at Anna's lunchbox with her name on it...
"That my lunchbox!"
"Yep, what does it say right there?"
(pointing at each letter) "I. eat. my. lunch."

They are swimming and biking and scootering and coloring and speaking Spanish and painting and doing such WONDERFUL things. We're looking forward to a great summer.

Make it work

Proof that plenty of hours of Bravo have had their impact on the girls. We're learning to follow the immortal Tim Gunn's mantra - Make it work.

Katie wanted to build a circus tent out of clay, "and it has to be red and yellow and blue and all the colors and stripes and it has to be really really big for the whole circus."

"Well, Katie, we only have a little clay left and it is only black and white."

"Ok, let's make a grey baby elephant!"

Anna was following along the clay adventure and making sweeping statements like, "It a plane!" "It a clown!" etc. as she tried to sculpt different forms. She was disappointed with each one and was getting a little frustrated until she started happily rolling little black balls of clay. I asked what she was making and she gleefully announced, "RAISINS!"