Learning Tree Quilts 2011

These are this year's quilts that the Learning Tree preschool classes made to auction off to raise money for the preschool. I absolutely LOVED the one that Rachel's class made -- Dr. Suess Things 1 & 2 -- SO CUTE! I would have so loved to have had this quilt. I got a close up shot of Rachel hands on the quilt. Just loved this idea and the fabrics and colors. All the classes did a great job this year! Lots of awesome ideas! :) I am so going to learn how to quilt one of these days...

Mother's Day 2011

It was a wonderful Mother's Day this year. :) It started out with two very excited kiddos meeting me on the stairs as I came down in the morning to give me the cards they had made for me and the gifts they each had for me - Noah a sweet frame he had made with his class at school and Rachel a magnolia leaf that she loved. So very, very sweet. I loved each of the cards they had made for me and they both offered to make me breakfast - so cute. When Doug got up they also gave me a gift certificate for an hour long massage. Very cool! After I had excercised and gotten everyone ready we headed out to lunch at McAlister's. It was good as usual and not too crowded. After lunch the kids and I headed over to Mom's to spend Mother's Day with her and Christina's crew. So good to get outside and watch the kids run and play. We took some pictures and talked and laughed. We all talked to Amie - wishing she were with us - as usual. We missed you A!! Later that evening Doug joined the rest of us at Olive Garden for dinner to finish our day of celebrating. It was a very nice, very relaxed, happy day. Thanks to everyone who made it special!!!
We want to send out Happy Mother's Day wishes and love to Doug's Mom, who spent the day with her mom in St. Louis. We missed you and hope you had a very special day too!!!

Kindergarten Registration

I got Rachel registered for Kindergarten this morning! Wow, it seems so incredible that it's time for that.... Seems like only yesterday she was a little baby. :) She is so ready for it though. She is doing great - reading and writing already and we are so proud of her! She absolutely loved preschool and I know she is going to do great in Kindergarten. We had to register at Sam Houston Elementary, which is the city school zone we are in for Maryville, but have a petition for change of zone in for Foothills Elementary where Noah has gone the last couple of years. We love that school and hope to keep them both there. After registering and scheduling her Kindergarten Screening we met some friends at the park to play. Rachel loves playing with my friend Laura's daughter Mekenzie. They play so well together. :)

Field Day @ Foothills Elementary

The girls and I went and watched Noah participate in Field Day at his school today. It was fun to watch him run the races and participate in gymnastics, yoga, and a health lesson before lunch. We ate lunch with him in his classroom with his friends and afterwards his class got to have fun on the inflatables and the climbing wall outside the front of his school. He had a great time - I could tell because he didn't stop smiling all day! Love him so much. :)

Mother's Day Tea

This is a picture Rachel painted of me. :)

Reading of "I'll Love You Forever".

Today I got to attend a Mother's Day Tea at The Learning Tree with Rachel and her class. It was such a special program and I loved every minute of it. There were tears - of course. Can't seem to ever control them when stuff like this happens. We arrived to a beautiful setup in the classroom for the moms - special decorations and a sweet table of food. Name cards had been set out for where we were supposed to sit. Then we got to watch a dvd of pictures of the kids with their Mother's Day projects. I can't wait to get my copy of the dvd! Then Ms. Kim read off of a handout that they had put together of why each of the children's mom should recieve a diamond ring and when she read it the child would walk in and give their mom a rose and a giant diamond ring. So sweet! Rachel was so cute as she came in grinning from ear to ear. Then we got to see pictures that the kids had painted of us and there was a conversation on the back - How old I was, when I was prettiest, when I was funniest, what I liked to cook and also what I liked to say. I loved hearing all the kids answers - so, so cute! The kids helped act out the book "I'll Love You Forever" (one of our absolute favorites at our house) while Ms. Kim read it out loud. They also did a skit with pictures they had drawn to the song "What A Wonderful World" and sang another sweet song for us as well. It was a great time. Such a sweet and special day for me and my Rachel. :)

Osama Bin Laden Dead

Doug and I turned on the tv last night to the announcement that President Obama would be speaking on breaking news in just moments... As we watched, it became apparent that Osama Bin Laden had been found and killed in Pakistan. We have been waiting for years for this news... it's been a long, long time coming.

The following is an excerpt taken from an article on CNN -

"The highjacked jet planes that roared out of the clear blue sky one sunny September morning 10 years ago killed nearly 3,000 people, but the hurt they did spread far beyond the immediate death and destruction at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The damage was mental, psychological and spiritual. And the death of Osama Bin Laden at the hands of of U.S. special operations forces may help to start some healing, said Christian and Muslim religious leaders, relatives of victims, and a generation who grew in the shadow of 9/11. " (Article by CNN's Eric Marrapodi, Jason Carroll and Ali Velshi contributions).

Rachel Lost Her 2nd Tooth!

Rachel lost her second tooth today! She was sitting and finishing up breakfast with Noah, Kate, Emma, Chloe and Lydia when she turned to me and said, "Mommy! My tooth!". It's been just a month since she lost her first tooth and here the second is falling out. She was so excited to leave her tooth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. So, so cute. :)