Kate Turns 6!

It is hard to believe Kate has turned 6 years old.  These years have flown by!  Here's a recap of how the (week long) celebration went!

Kate's buddy Emmie and her family came up for the weekend prior to her birthday to help us celebrate.  We had a fun, and very busy, birthday weekend!

Emmie, Kate & the little photo bomber!

Lots of practice required!

Loves her new "big girl" scooter!

After getting her first gift and riding through the neighborhood the girls (minus Anna Clare who stayed home with the boys) went to the pool.  Kate, Emmie & Maggie had a ball!  Perhaps the best part was that Kristi and I sat and watched from our comfy chairs.  Too bad we didn't bring wine!

After the pool we went home to cook out and have cupcakes!  I was amazed at how only 3 families created such a big crowd of people!  Clearly we had a great time!

Minus pants after the water table fun!

Kate and her blonde friends!

Finally after a very long day there was no one remaining but the big girls - and they were exhausted from all the activity!  We turned off the Disney princess music, collected the glow bracelets and walked Maggie home - long after everyone's bedtime.  We're thinking next year its a sleepover!!

We continued the week-long birthday celebration the day before Kate's birthday with more cupcakes and several of her gifts.  Kate loved all her goodies and Anna Clare was super snugly with her talking warthog toy!

Gift from Aunt Joy - who clearly only has boys!

At last the big day was upon us.  Which, of course, meant more celebration at school!

Sweet Spaulding Farm Friends

And if we hadn't celebrated enough it was time for our 1st classroom birthday party, complete with lots of sugar and decorations for the class!

It was a long celebration filled with old (if 3 years is old?!?) and new friends, lots of sugar and lots of smiles.  Until next year...

Off and Running!

We have survived the first two weeks of Kindergarten and K2!  The school schedule is so different from the preschool schedule - Kate really wasn't ready.  After going to school 3 days per week for 4 hours per day the transition to Kindergarten is proving to be a challenge.  We're out the door by 7:20 every morning and Kate doesn't get home until almost 3:00 in the afternoon.  She says she likes school but the day is too long.  Which seems to be what every Kindergarten kid thinks from what I can tell.  And this mom agrees!  It seems to me Kindergarten should either start a little later or get out a little earlier for a while and let these little kids get used to big kid school!

Other than being tired from the long days and "bored" by the amount of time spent sitting on the floor Kindergarten is going fairly well so far.  I think Kate is just somewhat taken aback by the fact that Kindergarten is about more than playing and recess!  

Here are some pictures from everyone's first day of school!  That first morning was rough on everyone.  Now I can really appreciate the fact that preschool in Texas began two weeks after big kid school!  It was a little hectic having both girls start school on the same day.  Though I enjoyed my few hours of solitude - hello yoga!!

Checking out her place at the table.

Kate with her teachers.

Someone was so excited to be going in to Sissies school!

Anna Clare's 1st day of school - EVER!

Personally I think the best part about Kate being in Kindergarten is that we're close enough to walk to school!  Technically we drive - to the other side of the neighborhood.  All the moms park and walk the kids to the back entrance of the school in the morning.  Kate and her buddy Maggie think its super cool to have "Safety Patrol" (a 5th grader) escort them to their class each morning.  Because parents aren't allowed in the school after the 1st day - another big change from our preschool days!  

In the afternoons the walkers (all Spaulding Farm kids) get out of school first and come rushing across the street where the 1st of the 3 crossing guards is stationed.  The big kids take the little kids by the hands and make sure everyone gets to their ride home safely.  While the moms of the little ones walk up to the entrance of the school the moms of the older kids don't even get out of their cars in the afternoon.  Its a sweet little system the Spaulding Farm families have in place for their Oakview kids.

Day 2 of school.  Kate with 2 of her "big girl" friends.

See how many kids are walking home to Spaulding Farm?

Last but not least, here are some pictures of the tag attached to Kate's backpack.  So if she should happen to be found wandering lost in the school they know where to return her.  :-)

One last post about summer. (really!)

So now that we're almost 2 weeks into the school year I'm going to go back and recap the last few days of summer!  

Since summer seemed to fly by there were still lots of things to do and places to visit for the 1st time (or one last time) before our days became consumed by early mornings and tired afternoons that we knew the school year would bring.  Here are some highlights.

The Roper Mountain Science Center is a fun outdoor place to visit and play.  One we had never been to before.  There is a fun butterfly garden the girls got to explore, a newly built tree house (complete with rain barrels - so cool!), and lots of trails for nature walks.  We met our play group friends there - many of whom are boys.  This was the day that Kate discovered that 1) boys are kinda cool and will hunt bugs and worms with her and 2) they would do things to help her (like find "treasures" in the dirt or not to fall off something she was climbing on).  She certainly did enjoy playing with her boy friends that day (as she later told her daddy!)

Butterfly Garden

Exploring the trails

Checking out the cool treehouse!

Look closely to see Kate in the midst of these 3 brothers.

Meet the Teacher was a big day for Kate and for Mommy and Daddy too.  Though slightly chaotic she enjoyed seeing her classroom and playing on the playground.  We were all happy to find out 3 neighbors (all boys) and one little girl from her preschool were also going to be in Ms Thompson's class.  Did I mention Kate actually does like boys???

And, finally, with the remaining few hours of summer dwindling down we tried to make every last moment count!  The girls and I visited Gravitopia one last time - the best place ever for getting some energy out on a hot day.  We all had fun bouncing and jumping into the foam block pits!  Kate and I got to enjoy one more mommy-daughter lunch with no "babies or daddies" as she likes to say.  And one last leisurely bike ride in the neighborhood with no where to be.  

Now we'll be ready for a long first year of grade school and the hectic pace that comes with it.  And we'll be looking forward to next summer and the slower pace its sure to bring!

Countdown to Kindergarten

Its so hard to believe that summer is over and Kate heads off for Kindergarten tomorrow.  I think what makes me and Brett the saddest is that before we know it she'll be heading off to college!

Up until this year summer seemed to last forever!  About 4 months to be exact because in Texas preschool got out 2 weeks before the Frisco ISD  and started 2 weeks after the big kids started.  So Kate would be out of school from mid May until mid September.  And we soooo enjoyed our 4 month summer!

This year, on the other hand, Kate finished preschool at the very end of May and starts school tomorrow!  However, I'll save the Kindergarten drama for another post because this is officially my final post of the summer!  I can't even believe it!


Here's the recap of the last month or so of our summer break.

We left at the end of July for a week and a half trip to LBI and then VA Beach.  Once again I was reminded how much I truly love LBI!  I have to say that it has become my favorite beach.  If only it weren't so blasted far away!  Here are some highlights.

Good thing we brought Kate's bike!

First visit to see the water! Purse and all.

No words necessary.

First beach visit was a success.

One of the parks in Beach Haven.

Kate went all the way across for the 1st time!

The carriage was a big hit!

What has become a Faulkner family tradition now it seems, we visited Fantasy Island.  Now if only Brett could stop talking about how his folks gave away all the tickets he saved up when he was a kid.  Seriously, time to let it go!

We also celebrated Anna Clare's 2nd birthday while at LBI.  After a little temper tantrum she loved her cake and the dolls and barbies and ponies she received too!  And the cupcake was, naturally, a big hit!

Happy Birthday Girl!

How could i resist including this shot?

Enjoyed her sister's birthday too!

Love this sweet LBI t shirt.

After a week in LBI we loaded the car up again (just to be clear - I loaded the car up again - in the pouring rain no less!) and headed to VA Beach.  If only we had known that we needed a ferry reservation to cross the Delaware Bay our 6 hour drive would've actually been a 6 hour drive rather than the 11 it turned out to be.  There was some serious been drinking done upon arrival to make up for that slight error in planning!

Girls on our hotel room balcony

Awesome hotel pool!

Though we were only in VA Beach for a few days is was an adventure worth the long drive!  Seeing Rob and Kristie is always fun.  This time we also got to meet Rob's sister Jenny and her family.  It was a fun few days for everyone!

Virginia Beach was quite a lot to take in.  The main strip was well developed with a wide boardwalk for biking and walking, lots of activities on the beach and many, many hotels and restaurants.

Rob and Jenny's families were camping in another area of Virginia Beach.  They were a short and really beautiful walk to a remote and quite breath taking beach.  The contrast between the two beaches was really something to see!  I'm glad we got to experience both in just a few days!

The picture of Kate pretty much sums up our few days in VA Beach!  Lots of fun but not enough rest.  She even slept right through the fireworks over the VA Beach boardwalk that night!