Kayley's 1st Day of Kindergarten

So today was THE day...the most un-anticipated day yet for me I think! Kayley went to Kindergarten. Don't get me wrong, I know the girl has to grow up eventually and school is involved as I don't feel qualified to home school nor do I want her to miss out on some public school experience. However, it still doesn't make it any easier! I've seriously been dreading this day for a long time and stressing and worrying about it like crazy..trying not to show Kayley my worry as she had started to show a little bit of nervousness too recently. She luckily went to bed very willingly last night (usually she goes to bed just fine, I was just worried she would be too anxious to go to sleep..I was for sure not getting anymore than 3-4 hours of sleep.) But she woke up very willingly too and was very happy. Side note, my kids normally don't wake up till 8:30/9 on a daily basis, so to get up at 7:30 is quite the feat...myself included! Cora woke up a few minutes before we left and I was going to have her stay home with Daddy while I took her, but she really wanted to go with us, so she got dressed very quickly and joined us. The school was crazy busy to say the least. Apparently some people had poured sugar into the school buses gas tanks the night before, I'm assuming hoping to call off school for the day. So all the students had to be taken to school by their parents, making it a mad house in the parking lot. We started to walk her in, stopped to get a picture in front of the school and then headed in. I tried to test her to see if she remembered where her classroom was and I was impressed that she remembered. As she walked past another room by hers she saw a boy she went to preschool with and got really excited that he was in her same school. I told her she could eat lunch with him and have recess with him and she got really excited. We sat down at her desk and she met the boy that sat at her desk. I then asked her if she was ready for me to leave, she replied with a "not really" in her quiet voice that usually is followed by tears. So we stayed a little bit longer and then I headed out and waited for her to look up at me in the hallway, waved good-bye to her and she was ok it seemed. I then headed home to cry to Nick while re-telling him the story. All in all it was a good day. We picked her up and she said she had a great time. She got to see her friends from preschool during lunch and then for some reason they didn't get to have a recess today with all the craziness, so she is looking forward to having it tomorrow. She's excited to go back, so that's a good sign! I made it through one kid going to kindergarten, on to the next two, but thankfully not for a while from now!

Kayley & Cora's Birthday Party

This last Saturday the girls had their birthday party and let me tell you...it was fun and a bit stressful, but what party isn't stressful?!?! At least at this house it seems! If you remember from an earlier post about Rex's birthday party, it had to be changed to a different day last minute due to him having a fever, Nick was on call for both hospitals on accident that night and had a callback in the middle of the party, and on top of it all had a co-worker let go to make for a very stressful day at work for him! So, I was very glad that the girls had decided to do a party together this year to lessen the stress...or at least make it a stressful day for one day instead of two days! They pretty much have the same friends anyway so it worked out perfectly this way. And they both wanted a pool party, so that makes it easier too. Here they are posing in the morning of their party after I had finished making their cake. I've decided now that I might always make their cakes this way. It's an edible cake topper from ebay. Really cool, and really easy! Just make your cake and put it on top. And the girls of course loved it and got to pick out exactly which picture they wanted on top of it. I also had to add this picture of Rex. My friend was so nice to take pictures for me to lessen some stress for me...let me tell you..it's great knowing someone else is taking care of your picture taking while you are busy with everything else! But I had taken a few pictures before she started taking them and this was one of Rex that I had taken that I wanted to put in.

And of course there was tons of swimming at the party...the best part about a pool party...you don't have to plan as many activities. I only had to plan one game, then presents, cake/ice cream, then let them swim the rest of the time! It was fun to watch all the kids compare what they could do in the pool and then try to out-do the next kid. Talk about peer pressure!
And the craft...the one thing I had planned and tried to make it as simple as possible...it almost ended up being the most stressful part! I had the idea to have the kids find hidden jewels (that Flynn Ryder had hidden) and then make their own prince and princess crowns. I had found some jewels at the store that were self adhesive to make things easier, but apparently had bought the wrong box and didn't notice it until the party started! So I had to have Nick grab some glue sticks from home, he brought me glue sticks, but the glue sticks for my hot glue gun...and he didn't answer forever because we randomly had a flat tire in the van so he was stuck at home trying to fix it...I know of all times!! And these were brand new tires we had just put within the last month! Anyway, he finally came back and I went home to get the correct glue sticks and the kids ended up enjoying the craft.
And here they are displaying their crowns....even some of the babies joined in...notice Rex down in the bottom left trying to play too! A big thank you to Grandma for solely watching Rex!! It was very relieving not to have to worry about chasing this fast crawler around whether outside or inside the pool.
And of course the presents. The girls had a blast opening their presents and they had such fun presents from all of their friends. You should see the sides of their beds, they are sleeping with pretty much all of their new toys and the sides of their beds are cluttered with toys, but they love it!
So all in all...it was a very fun party! And I have to admit I really like the idea of them having birthday parties together from now on...only one party to stress about and now I've been able to try to ease into Kayley starting school in a few days without having to double stress about planning her party as her birthday is the third day of school. Which is a very good thing as I'm pretty stressed/worried already with her starting school. Anyway, they had a great birthday party and had so much fun celebrating it with their friends and family!

Paradise Park

About a week ago we went with my friend Jessica and her kids to Paradise Park in Lee's Summit. It is a really fun place, and the girls could really stay there all day playing. We only got to play with our friends for a couple of hours before they had to leave, but we stayed and played a little bit longer. At noon they had a little storytime/craft thing that the girls just loved! They read a book about cows, made a cow puppet, and then made their own milkshakes. I wanted to make my own it looked so yummy! Then Kayley discovered that this room she had been playing in for quite some time had Dorothy chairs...these were chairs she had already been sitting in, so it was funny seeing her reaction when I told her. So she couldn't get enough pictures with the Dorothy chair. They were really cute and I'd love to have them for our house, but I guess we'll just have to continue to go see them at Paradise Park! Rex's favorite part was the water play part!

Cora Anne turns 4!!!

Four years ago tonight Nick and I were staying the night in the hospital trying to wrap our brains around why we were so blessed to have another healthy, beautiful baby girl. I know everyone says get as much sleep as you can with a newborn, especially if you already have children. However, I had a really hard time taking Cora back into the nursery for the night so we could go to sleep. So much that I had to have Nick come with me to take her to the nurses and I have to admit I cried a little bit on the way and the way back. But Cora is such a wonderful little girl. She is so loving, so much that it takes her a long time to say goodnight to me because she gives me tons of hugs and good bear hugs too at that. She is very easy to be willing to share with her siblings. She is a bit more of a dare devil than her sister has been on a few things, but is still a dainty, princess. She loves gum and anything with mint flavor, very much unlike her sister and her Dad. She loves, loves, loves babies and has since she was big enough to hold one herself. It was like a dream come true to have her baby brother and actually be able to hold him like a baby. Every now and then I'll catch her trying to hold him like a baby and of course he hates it. She always asks for a new baby when it comes to Christmas or birthdays. She always says, "I just want one more baby!" She has always been very expressive and I love that about her. Sometimes I really can't believe she is already 4 years old but of course I can't imagine life without her! In 4 years she has gone from this....

to this....She told Daddy last night that it was her last night to be 3 years old and when she woke up presents would be here for her. She came running to the side of my bed this morning ecstatic to open them! I was really proud of her as I told her she could only open one present as we had to wait for Daddy to get home from work to open the rest. But of course every 5 minutes or so she'd ask me again if she could open just one more present. I almost caved as I know it was so hard for her to wait, but I knew Nick really wanted to be there to watch. So as soon as Nick could get home from work he did and he called her on the phone and said he was on his way and get ready to open her presents!

This is her opening some of her presents. She loved every one of them!
Remember how I said she was very expressive!? Check out her face here!! And I have to say that this year Kayley was really good about not getting mad that Cora was opening presents and she wasn't. Last year she had a really hard time about it and we ended up letting her open one of her presents early. They have been really good about sharing Cora's presents.
This year Cora and Kayley decided to have their friend birthday parties together...which I love because I only have to plan one birthday party! But I told Cora we were still going to have cake and ice cream tonight with family and she requested a Hello Kitty cake. I've been very proud of her for agreeing with Kayley on them both having a Rapunzel themed party as she has requested multiple times to have a Hello Kitty party. So of course I thought real quick today on how to make a Hello Kitty cake. I think it turned out pretty good. And Cora thought it was super yummy. I kept finding her sneaking into the kitchen later tonight with a fork grabbing a bite here and there!
And...still expressive...I've always loved her dimples, which are shown really well here!
Her trying to blow out the candles on her own...
Thanks to the help of her big sister, she was finally able to blow it out!
All in all it was a great day and not that stressful! The Walker family joined us for dinner (Cora requested Cashew Chicken) and cake and ice cream and then we all went swimming. It was so fun and relaxing to visit, enjoy each other's company, and celebrate Cora's birthday. Ashlyn even went under water after watching Kayley and Cora go under...and they have just learned how to confidently go underwater thanks to one of their friends that joined us at the pool last week. Michelle and I were two very proud Momma's as it has taken all three of them a while to get this confidence! And I would say it was a successful party and Cora enjoyed all her presents...and is still sharing them with Kayley even while they sleep...here they are sharing her new air mattress! So cute! We sure do love our Cora! Happy Birthday Cora Anne!