October in Review

Hi there everyone!

Sorry I have been missing, but these past two months have been very busy with school, work and storms. Thankfully, we had no issues with the storm.   I hope you all had a great October and November.  I figured I give you all an October in review to see what we were up to.

First up, we had a trip to Sesame Place with our friends.   The entire park was decorated for Halloween and they even had Trick or Treating stations.  It was really cute, what wasn't cute were the incredible lines.  We waiting 1.5 hours for one ride.   Even so, Michael was a trooper and didn't mind as long has he got to go on the rides.

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We then decorated for Halloween!  My little helper was very excited to decorate with Mommy.   We also had fun harassing Jaime with the fake spiders.  Daddy is not a spider fan.  

First Day of Kindergarten

We officially have a Kindergartener!

Michael started Kindergarten a few weeks ago and was thrilled to go to big boy school.

(Hansel the cat was thrilled to photo bomb my pics)

I shared a few first day pics with my family, but have finally gotten around to writing a post on the day.

There were tons of smiles from Michael and a few tears from me.

I took the day off from work so I could drop him off and pick him up.

Of course, I had to work around the school bus, since that was what he was most excited about.

"Only big kids get to ride the bus, mom."

Last year, I downloaded the "First Day" templates from How She Does and LOVED it.

Here is pic from last year.

Gearing up for Kindergarten

I've been somewhat emotional this week.

Like, almost sobbing into my salad at dinner, emotional.

How can my sweet little boy be starting school??

Yes, he's been in daycare since he was 3 months old, 

BUT

now he will be "in-transit" and taking the school bus and going to a big kid school.

How?

I'll set that aside for Thursday.

K-Day.

Today was a nice ease mom and dad the kids into the transition

with Meet the Teacher Day.

We got to drop off our supplies, scope out the classroom, roam around the school and 

obviously meet the new teacher.

My little fish

Swimming, swimming in the swimming pool.

Or should I say, learning to swim.

Michael just finished Beginner Swim classes!

In one month, my little man went from having tentative, non face dampening, 

knee deep only, water fun,

to jumping with confidence off the diving block into the deep end, 

with short bursts of underwater swimming.

It truly is amazing what 8 lessons can do.

* and new goggles and practicing with mama after class *

That and a great coach!

(go Coach Tom)

This is Michael on his first class day.

He wasn't interested in taking off his water shoes, getting his face

or hair wet, or attempting the pool noodle on his own.

Clipper Hair Cut Success at Home!

Take a look at my handsome little man and his fresh new haircut,

done by me!

This is a big deal.

After a few

TERRIBLE

at home trims I have given him, I vowed not to torture him again.

Exhibit A:

Poor baby, his bangs were a hot, crooked mess. 

He looked like Friar Tuck.

Notice he is flipping me off.

Ever since, Jaime insisted we needed a pro to cut Michael's hair.

But this kid has a TON of hair and it grows so fast.

Visits to our local place were either every 3 - 4 weeks or

my kid ran around like a mop head 

(albeit, cute mop head).

I was catching up on my blog reading when I stumbled upon THIS

post from Young House Love and how Sherry cuts John's hair.

It was a really good tutorial and gave me new hope.

Only thing was she uses scissors.

That had been my downfall before. 

See Exhibit A.

A few weeks later, as I was running my hands through Michael's really-needing-to-be-cut hair,

I decided to google boys haircuts and clippers,

since I had a perfectly unused clipper kit in the closet.

If I can see it done, I'm sure I can do it.

I found two great tutorials that gave me the confidence to try again!

Besides, it's summer and no one would question it if my kid went to school with a buzz cut.

Buzz cuts hide all mistakes.

The first site is Frugal Fun for Boys and THIS post has great pics and videos.

The second site is Heavenly Homemakers and THIS post has a wonderful picture of hair angles.

Using all three posts and reviewing the video several times, 

I set out to tame Michael's tresses.

(hey, it was fun to say)

I forgot to take a before picture.

His hair was long around the ears and had no shape.  

Basically a long, fuzzy brown ball.

I started at the bottom and used the size 3 guard all around the back and sides of his head.

I figured I could make it shorter if necessary.

I then used the size 4 guard at the temple and top back of the head.

I like his bangs longer, 

so I used the size 8 guard for the front and cut the top.

I decided to go back over the bottom with a size 2 guard to tighten it up.

Lastly, I cleaned up the sideburns and back hairline with a Jaime's beard trimmer.

It really was just like the videos.

Granted, Michael giggled and flinched throughout the process,

but at least I didn't mess up his hair or have to buzz him. 

I did have to give him the hairy eyeball a few times.

Jaime came to supervise right at the end and was very impressed.

He even said I can cut Michael's hair all the time.

I think he was happy about saving the $15 per cut.

If you already cut the hair in your family, do you have any tips?

If you can work up the nerve, try it.

You may surprise yourself and save some cash. 

XOXO,

My Little Graduate

We celebrated Michael's Pre-K Graduation on Wednesday.

It was an adorable little ceremony at his daycare for the 24 students in the class.

Teachers Miss Rae Leigh and Miss Kelly did an excellent job with everything!

Below is the Ceremony portion of the booklet we received.

It had the names of all the children,

ceremony details

and a small message to the kids.

So sweet.

Here are all the anxious graduates.

You can see that Michael is pumped to sing the "Toy Story" theme song.

We didn't think he would belt it out like he did.

But then got very serious as Miss Rae Leigh read the awards.

Here is Michael receiving his special award,

Class Anchorman.

Since he likes to report all the news to the teachers, parent or anyone that will listen. :)

Jaime was proud and leaned over and whispered "Stay Classy, San Diego"

We love the movie Anchorman.

I love his smile and how he is reading his award!

Here you see the kids celebrating and at the end of the ceremony.

They were all dancing to "My Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"

My little graduate!

Michael posing with Tita.

And then with me.

I promise I am wearing clothes in this picture.

We bought Michael an Avengers Lego Set to celebrate.

He was thrilled. 

So thrilled that he slept with the entire box.

Exhibit A: The top arrow is his head. The bottom arrow is the box.  

LOL.

And to see how much he has grown,

this is his first day of Pre-K picture.

And this is his last day.

sniffle sniffle.

He looks like such a big boy.

sob.

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you, little man.

XOXO, 

Angry Birds Party

The Angry Birds Party was a big hit!

I had a pretty ecstatic 5 year old on my hands.

Before we get to the party pics, 

I wanted to share one last craft, the goodie bags!

And as the kids tell me, it's the most important part,

besides cake,

and presents. :)

I started off by buying some red and blue bags at Target.

I then pulled some graphics off the internet and enlarged them to fit.

Get the face downloads HERE and HERE

Cut out your faces and bring out the bags.

Glue the faces as shown.

I used Elmer's Glue.

Take a sharpie and add the little feather bumps over their heads.

Happy 5th Birthday, Michael!!!

Happy, Happy 5th Birthday

to my Smart

Sweet

Sassy

Handsome

Inquisitive 

Little Man.

You made me a Mommy and made my life complete.

Every Smile,

Every Cry

Every Question

And boy are there a lot of questions!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past 5 years.

3 Days Old and already smiling

One Month Old 

Play Ball!

Yesterday morning was Michael's first Tee Ball practice.

Let me just say that this kid was excited!

He asked to play and has been repeatedly asking when practice starts for months.

Not bad for a almost 5 year old.

Jaime and I, being the proud parents that we are, had to get this day on film, video and blog.

It was supposed to rain, but the weather ended up being perfect.

Here is our little man, all suited up and ready.

We were one of the first families at the park and got to chose Michael's number.

Jaime picked out #6 for Michael.

Apparently that is Ryan Howard's number on the Phillies.

Yeah, like I would know.

While we waiting for the other families, we heard lots of dads asking for #6.

Jaime just smiled.

Michael did have two classmates on his team.

I think that made the whole experience even better.

Camryn and Michael did the whole practice together.

The silly kids. So cute!

Waiting to learn how to run the bases.

Michael heading home and Camryn cheering him on!

Along with Jaime and I.

Waiting their turn and cheering on the other kids.

Batting practice.

Look at the form. :)

Throwing practice.

He really like this station.

Even though he kept telling the coach, "I can do it myself".

sigh.

After a brief talk with me, Michael listened the instruction and was throwing great!.

  Look at that look of pride. 

Here is the whole team. 

We had a great morning, even if practice started at 8:00 am.

This should be fun for all of us.

Now I just need to remember to pack chairs, drinks, snacks and hats.

Yay, Tee Ball!