Sock Curls

One of the delights of having a little girl is getting to play beauty shop pretty much 24/7. Emily is remarkably patient and lets me try out all sorts of goofy hairstyles and braids on her. I recently read about sock curlers via my favorite website, Pinterest (what a time-sucker that place is!) and decided to try it out. The results were incredible! I've tortured Emily with pink sponge curlers in the past but think that I'm going to stick with socks from here on out. Her hair is naturally curly to begin with (although the weight of it kind of drags the curl out now) so it always holds a curl really well. So proud that my Pinteresting worked out! That's not always the case, as this blog illustrates! You can see the original post about sock curls here.   An FYI - I decided to use multiple socks instead of one and clip them in place with hair barrettes.  Hope you're having a good hair day!

Ready for  bedtime - much more comfortable than curlers!

Finished product...a headfull of bouncy curls!

Last Day of First Grade!

Well, it's official....Emily is no longer a first grader!  She finished her school year with flying colors, and even earned a certificate for being The World's Fastest Adder for her sweet addition skills.  We're so proud of everything that she's learned this year - she's adding two digit numbers in her head, reading chapter books all on her own, lecturing us about various famous Americans and scientific principles, and "writing like my mom," as she puts it.  (Big smile on my face as a I type this because I plan to spend the ENTIRE summer writing like a madwoman!  Perhaps she can help me.)  Our school started a new last day tradition this year - a water gun attack on the school buses as they pull away from the building.  We've always gone out to wave goodbye to the students as they pull away from the school, but this year we launched a surprise attack on the buses (and each other!) with squirt guns.  Loads of fun and a great way to send the students off on summer vacation.  When I first arrived at elementary school, I was surprised by the number of students who were in tears as the buses pulled away.  They're honestly sad to leave us, which speaks volumes about how much our school loves the students.  The water gun fight was a great way to put smiles back on their faces and send us all home laughing, especially since the idea of having a second grader brings a few tears to my own face!  Hope your last day of school send-off was as fun as ours!  We've got loads of great activities planned at the White House over the summer, so check back often!

Headed down to class for the last time

Ready for action - look at that stance!

Taking aim with the assistant principal.  Emily totally hosed a bus driver who was foolish enough to leave her door open.  She said that she didn't think it was fair that no one was soaking the drivers, so she decided to even the score.

Reloading!

Time to go home and dry out

Celebratory doughnut on the way home.  I've gained ten pounds since they put in a Dunkin' Donuts at the end of our street.

Getting a little love from Ringo after a celebratory dinner at Chin Chin, her favorite. They make the best Shirley Temples!

Spring Fling

Our school hosts an awesome Spring Fling each year.  Emily has always enjoyed going, even before she became a student at our school, and this year was no exception.  Pony rides, crazy hair, giant hamster ball, radar speed pitch....you name and she tried it.   Big thanks to all of the teachers who included whistles in their prize boxes - she has REALLY enjoyed driving us wild with those!  We stopped for a quick Mexican dinner afterwards (where she incurred lots of curious glances due to her face paint and wild hair) and barely made it home before she collapsed from too much fun.

Number one thing she wanted to do:  Crazy hair!  Thank heavens it washed out OK!

Number two thing she wanted to do:  Pie Mr. Bailey in the face.  Success!

Bobbing for doughnuts

Fantastic face paint

A pony ride with Razzle.  It was fun to hear the fifth graders argue about how they should be exempt from the weight limit.  Poor indentured servant ponies.

Quick trip down the giant slide

And last but not least, after a LENGTHY wait, a ride in the giant hamster ball!

Happy Mother's Day!

How lucky am I to be the mother of this precious girl?  I can't believe that I've had this wonderful job for nearly seven years!  My goodness, time really does fly.  She and Donald surprised me today with a fabulous set of wind chimes that are tuned to our wedding song (cool, right?) and a new CD that I've been wanting - some of the goofy music from the Soundscapes channel that I love so much!  I'll be surrounded by wonderful music thanks to those two!  We also celebrated with a big family brunch, breakfast being just about my favorite meal.  I got her to sit still for one serious picture with me today in exchange for two silly scarf pictures.  Happy Mother's Day to all of my mom  and mom-to-be friends!

Biking at Callaway

We took Emily and her bike down to Callaway to enjoy some lovely springtime weather.  She had fun biking around the gardens but wore herself out!  She crashed out in the car on the way home.  I know how she felt - I was pretty worn out, too!  Following her around on her bike in completely inappropriate shoes just about did me in.  Doesn't she look triathlon-ready in her helmet?

Happy Birthday Abby!

We celebrated Abby's birthday this year with a family dinner and lots of fun.  She got a beautiful new bike and spent some time riding around the yard while Emily chased Bobby with a can of silly string.  He's always such a good sport!  Can't believe our girl is getting so grown up!

Two sweet girls

Love this picture- Aunt Liz always gives the best gifts!

Happy Birthday, dear Abby!

Look at that speed!

Bobby takes care of the new Fur Real pet.

Showing off her new wheels

Providence Marketplace

Emily and Abby traveled back in time again this year at the Providence Marketplace.  So much fun!  They always enjoy getting to ride the camel and make all the funky crafts that the marketplace has to offer. You know that I'm scheming for a way to bring that big loom home with me - I just haven't found a purse big enough to sneak it away in yet.  I could be weaving all my own clothes at home on that thing!  The chicken legs are always a big hit with my little carnivore and the sugar cookies are Abby's favorite.  They came home with full bellies and a bag full of fun stuff they made. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Trying to peg Goliath

Pressing out some olive oil

Stomping of the grapes!  Don't worry - they're rubber!

I hope they remembered to pay their taxes!

Raising Butterflies

Donald ordered a butterfly hatching kit for Emily and she just raised and released her first...litter? Not sure about the group word for butterflies. Will need to do some research on that. They come as caterpillars in a tub of sticky peanut butter stuff, spin their way to the chrysalis stage, and then hatch out as beautiful painted ladies. We had to keep our habitat hanging in the upstairs bathroom out of the way of our two boys, who were very interested in the hatchlings. It was great fun to see the caterpillars grow and change and to eventually release them to live in the backyard. You should try it! Just keep them away from your cats!

A safe habitat for butterflies!



Something smells delicious!



They're hatching!

Lovely painted ladies

Future broadcaster

Our little girl won a guest spot on the morning announcements at the school's silent auction this year.  It was quite convenient, as I am the sponsor of the morning broadcast team!  She, along with four other students, got to appear on the morning news to give a book review of a book that was recently purchased for the school's media center.  You like that literacy tie-in, don't you?  At any rate, she chose to review Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Dog a Donut.  Such a cute book, and such a cute broadcaster!  She was very excited to learn that UGA has a broadcasting program. Who knows?  She may be the next rock star turned broadcaster turned veterinarian.

Wolfie and Emily stop for a quick pose at the news desk

Wolfie knows his way around the broadcast room because he comes to school with us every day!

So calm and collected - I couldn't believe it!

Dad got to come and see the show, too!