Back to School!

I am officially a mother of a school-aged child! Hallie started Kindergarten 3 weeks ago and has already had her first homework assignment! Of course, she loves going every day and was upset the first weekend when I told her she didn't have to go to school for two days. She is attending the same school I work, the Imagine-Nau Charter school. Being a charter school, this school's day is longer than the typical public school. She attends school for 7 hours and 15 minutes each day and usually stays longer in the after care program while I finish up for the day. She also has a different teacher for math, reading, and writing and will keep the same three teachers over the next three years. She loves all her teachers and especially loves buying her lunch. After the first few days of me packing her lunch box she asked me if she could buy like the other kids. She likes to "copy" her friends and eat the same things they eat. I'm also fortunate that our lunch times overlap and I often spend my lunch 1/2 hour eating with the Kindergarteners - which is a whole new experience for me since I spend most of my day with teenagers!

Aiden has been lucky and gets to stay home with daddy while Hallie and I are at school. He likes to wake up at 7 before we leave and will stand at the window and wave "bye bye" to us, and then he'll get back in bed with daddy for a few hours. He just turned two last Monday and seems to be getting bigger every day. He is still very hard to understand, but I believe he has an extensive vocabulary that I just cannot interpret. His favorite words are juice, shoes, and cookie. He also spends most of his day amusing our new cat, Tommy. They like to play out on the patio together. Aiden just got some new trucks for his birthday that I'm sure he'll enjoy chasing after the cat with!

We got Slimed!

I just realizd that it's the first week of July and I haven't written about any of the things that happened in June! We ended May be going up to Orlando for 3 days and staying at the infamous Nickelodeon Hotel & Resort. I had mixed feelings about going since I read some not-so-nice reviews on the Internet and was worried the hotel wasn't going to be what we expected. Luckily for us it turned out to be exactly the short little get-away that my family needed. We ended up not even leaving the hotel since there was so much to see and do there. The hotel was equipped with 2 very large pools and waterslides and smaller ones for the little kids. Since my kids are half fish, the only time we came out of the pools was when it started to rain. (Which was never more than hour at a time - just enough to grab lunch or take a little break!) The hotel also had a 4-d movie theater which had a new show to see every 20 minutes. Hallie, Aiden, and I enjoyed one afternoon seeing every movie back to back. The last day we were there, we enjoyed the (over-priced) character breakfast where we had the opportunity to meet Dora, Diego, Blue, Little Bill, and Spongebob while enjoying a very delicious buffet breakfast (which almost made it worth the money!). Then we checked out of the hotel, and spent the rest of the afternoon in the pools. Brian even surprised me and got his bathing suit on and played with the kids in the water. Once we were truly exhausted from the sun, we got in the car and headed home. The best trips are when it's just a short car ride to your own house!

Later that week, on Thursday, I took another day off to watch my little girl officially graduate from preschool. I can't believe how big she's getting and that she'll be going to Kindergarten in August. I'm so proud of her and can't wait to see all of the things she accomplishes in school. She also had her first guitar recital and performed Twinkle, Twinkle for a small audience. She definitely has the muscial talent that runs in my family.

The second week of June was my last week of school and I'm looking forward to staying home and not having to spend 2 hours of each day in my car. Aunt Cindi had tickets to see the broadway production of Mary Poppins which she took Hallie and I to see. We had a great time and spent the night at Cindi's and the next day swimming in her pool. It was a great way to end the school year.

Finally, I was just offered a position at the Imagine Charter School which is 5 minutes away from my house. Looks like I'll get to save some money on gas now and I'll get to enjoy the ride with my daughter who'll be attending Kindergarten in the same school!

Cinderelli, Cinderelli

Today was Hallie's second ballet recital. She performed with the Dance Academy of Stuart in "Mini Cinderella". She's only been at this school since the end of March and did a wonderful job! I am so proud of my little girl! She loved the costume so much she left it on all day - I only got her to take it off when I told her she couldn't eat dinner with it on! Tomorrow we're leaving for a mini vacation to the Nickelodeon Resorts in Orlando. I'm looking forward to hanging out at the pool for a couple days with the kids. Then, we have Hallie's preschool graduation on Thursday - she sure is growing up fast!

May Flowers

Here we are in the middle of May. Hallie is getting ready to graduate from preschool in three weeks and preparing for her ballet recital in two weeks. We just picked up the costume today and she's taking her pictures tomorrow. The theme for the recital is Cinderella and she's got the cutest little mouse costume with a tutu that sticks straight out! I can't wait to see how cute the pictures come out tomorrow!

AIden seems to be growing bigger every day. He's been climbing on everything and has recently learned how to climb onto the top of the couch, reach over the counter, and turn on the faucet for the kitchen sink! He recently got in his top two molars (which makes a total of 11 teeth now!) and thinks he get eat anything! He seems to understand a lot of what we say, but has not really started talking yet. He grunts whenever he wants something and someone is always near by to accommodate his needs. He is truly a spoiled second child!

May is always a long month for me. The kids at school are harder to control because everyone is counting down the days to summer. I planned a short little trip to Orlando for us over Memorial Day weekend just to get a little break in. The best part of my day is when I come home from work and get to spend time with the kids outdoors. Hallie just got a new bike and we've been going on rides together. We've also been planting all types of flowers in our backyard and spend time at night tending to them.

The picture to the right is the kids sitting on the picnic table that their Great-Grandpa Giorgis got them for Christmas!

Spring Break

I love spring break! It's such a tease for us teachers of what summer will bring. We look forward for months for this one week off and then it seems to go by in the blink of an eye. It's Saturday night now - the night before Easter - and I go back to work Tuesday.

We've been in our new house for a month now and we absolutely LOVE it! I think we're all happier here. We each have all the space we need and had no problem settling right in. It's great to be only five minutes away from my parents - I can easily drop the kids off at their house when I need to do something on my own and the kids love being with their grandparents. My mom babysat Wednesday night so Brian and I could go out to dinner to the Melting Pot and see a movie. It's nice to be able to do things like that again!

We spent the other days of spring break getting things done around the house and Hallie was still going to school every day (her spring break is next week). We did make it to the beach one day, colored Easter eggs, and went to an egg hunt. However, Aiden was a little scared and not too sure what to do at the hunt - I'm hoping he does better tomorrow at our house.

I'll be enjoying the last 2 days of my break off, and then Tuesday it's back to my commute. It's only taking me about an hour each way and I'm getting used to it, but I've been filling up the gas tank in my car every other day and I look forward to the day when I can get a job closer to my home.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The days keep going by and I feel like I have less and less time to get things done. We're busy here getting ready to move in less than 3 weeks to a new home in Port Saint Lucie, FL. It's going to be a long commute for me to get to work, but it will definitely be worth it to own our own home and be near my parents. Our 4 bedroom home is also going to be 1000 more square feet than we have now! Hallie and Aiden will get their own playroom for all their toys. I can't wait to get it all set up!

We're celebrating Valentine's Day tomorrow by going to see Cinderella at the Miniaci Center. We haven't been to a show since Christmas time and I know the kids will enjoy this one. Today, we went to a birthday party for Hallie's friend Madeline who's turning 5. She had a blast and I had to beg her to leave. I know she is going to miss her friends when we move, but I'm praying that there will be other 5 year olds near our new house.

One of the most exciting things we did this month, was watch a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis! We took a cocoon home with us from my Aunt Cindi's last Saturday night, and Sunday morning right when Hallie woke up he started crawling out. It was incredible to watch. . . and a little difficult for us to let our new pet go. You can see the picture below of Hallie and I taking the butterfly outside for the first time and giving him a chance to fly.

Last month, I took Aiden, Hallie, and her friend Ashley to the circus. There's a picture of the three of them before the show started. Also, Hallie had her first dance performance of the year at Floranada Day. They did their tap routine, "Rhino Tap". My mom was able to come down and watch the performance with us. Unfortunately, Hallie's going to miss the recital with her class here, but we're hoping she'll start soon enough at her new school that she'll be able to be in their recital. Her new dance school is affiliated with the same school my mom dances at. I'm hoping they'll even let my mom and Hallie do a tap routine together!