Chores Calendar

A few months ago Sammy asked me while we were driving in the car if she could have a baby brother.  She begged and pleaded for another baby in our family and since I'm so quick on my feet I suggested a fish instead.  She quickly gave up on the brother and became obsessed with getting a fish.

I drew out a chores calendar and every day she brushed her teeth or helped pick up she added a sticker to the calendar.  The deal with that once she had completed the month she could get a fish.  But, before a recent work trip we were passing by the pet store and I caved.

After she filled the hand drawn calendar, I suggested we get her an actual chores calendar and we went online and picked one out.  Being the rule following, determined girl that she is, she was ecstatic about the calendar and apparently had shared with her class that it was coming and when it did, she would bring it in to class.  The days that she waited she was so worried her calendar wouldn't arrive before the weekend and she insisted the Dave send her teacher this note she wrote:

Luckily the calendar arrived later that day and I took it in for her to proudly show all her friends at school.  

Full of Life

We recently were sent the link to the photos that were taken of Carina's class.  As we scrolled through kids with half smiles and barely looking at the camera, we then got to Carina's two photos:

I mean seriously, could she be any cuter? She is at an especially cute phase right now with a hilarious, high pitched voice that she uses to chatter non-stop. She loves to dance, sing and follow after her big sister.  She really is a delight to be around and is always making us all laugh.  You can tell the happiness and love she exudes by her pictures.  

And...those teeth! Soon I am going to post a photo of her Daddy and Grammy to show exactly where those teeth came from! They will most definitely require braces but I believe they add to her big personality.  

Kindergarten!

Today was Samantha's first day of elementary school at Columbine Elementary.  She is carrying on a family tradition because this is the same school her Dad and Tia Molly went to as well.  She has been anxiously awaiting her first day of kindergarten and the anticipation has been building these last few weeks before school.

We drove to Dave's parents house and from there walked over to Columbine with Sammy's entourage of me, Dave, Carina, Grammy, Pops, Sara and Michael.  Good thing she has a few people who love her right? We took some photos, she played at the playground and then she lined up and they took them into class. I waited until she walked away before I cried, but just for a moment.  We are so proud of her and what a kind, smart, fun, little girl she is.

The program at Columbine is a bi-literacy program and half of her class is English as a second language.  She has her core curriculum in English with the other English speakers and then the class is mixed with Spanish and English speakers for homeroom, arts, music, etc.  We are all excited for her to begin learning Spanish.

She was worn out at the end of the day.  She is a very focused child to begin with and a full day of undivided attention is going to be a lot for her, but when Grammy picked her up she exclaimed "It was so much fun!". Our little baby is growing up, hard to believe 5 years ago we were doing this.  We have all come a long way.

You can see all the photos we took from her first day here.

My Baby in a Big Girl Bed

Last week Carina got her very own big girl bed.  She has slept in there without a problem for the past week. She is such an easy going kid and she just rolls with the punches.  I have been impressed at how easy transitions are for her.

I will admit to feeling pretty emotional about taking the crib down.  And, I've been going through all her baby stuff to give away.  There are many parts of this next phase of our kids' lives that I'm excited about...no more diapers, getting sleep, traveling, camping, movie nights, etc. But we all know I love babies and it is sad knowing we are past that time now for our family.

This video is pretty cute, you can see how excited we all are as the bed is unveiled!

Camping

We don't take advantage enough of all the beauty in Colorado but last weekend we got away from Boulder and took the girls camping.  We went off the Peak to Peak highway to Rainbow Lakes.  Dave and the girls went early in the afternoon to set up camp and I met them later along with Sammy's old friend Drew Hyde from school and his family.  The kids loved sleeping in the tent, roasting marshmallows, going on adventure hikes and playing hide and go seek in the woods.  It is always nice to get away and was a fun, family adventure for us all.