Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!
I think one of these rings with the girls' names on it would be pretty cool!

School Updates

The girls are three weeks into their new school year and completely loving school. The hardest part for Fiona is leaving school on the days we drop Luli off (Fiona goes 2 mornings and Luli goes 4). Big development for this week is their new snack boxes, Nahnah bought them mini sized lunch boxes from the craft store which are the perfect size for their snack and juice box. It is really adorable watching them carry the boxes into school.

Fiona does really well at recognizing her name stick on the door and putting it into the attendance bucket. She also has to start each day off with a gigantic hug for each teacher. Then she goes off to her craft of play and I have to go over and snag a good bye kiss. She's also making great friends at school and enjoying their daily trips to the farm.

Luli is doing super in her pre-k class, she goes 4 days a week and wishes she could go 7! She works very hard and has also made great friends with her classmates. There are more boys than girls in her class this year and I'm noticing she's playing more with boys and hanging in there with the rough play. Interesting. The first week of school her teachers chose a child to be the "librarian" for the week, I think the role of that child is to pick out books, put books away, etc. Apparently Luli went up to her teacher and said "I guess you didn't realize how much I love books and that I would be a really good librarian." So she was the librarian on week 2! HA!

Swimming Lessons

The girls have been taking swimming lessons together for the past few weeks. It's great having them in the same class and really convenient. They are having a lot of fun and actually making some progress. Fiona always seems more willing to just go for it, while Luli takes some time to adjust and get comfortable at her own pace. Fiona is floating on her back with assistance, with her ears in the water for 10 seconds! Luli made a lot of progress today and actually put her ears in the water during the back float for one second, seriously a HUGE accomplishment for her. We are all really proud. Really my only goal is that they both be swimming for next summer, so we have time to progress at whatever pace works for them. I'll be posting more updates and pictures as the lessons progress and developments occur.

First Day of School!

Summer is officially OVER! How did this happen?! The girls started their first day of school on Monday. Luli is in the pre-k class and Fiona is in the 3 yr old class. The morning started out great, with lots of excitement for the big day. Oscar made a big breakfast with oatmeal, and hot chocolate with cheese and bread. While I got the girls clothes, bags and snacks ready.

After breakfast we got dressed in the dresses they had picked out weeks ago for the big day and their new school shoes (thanks Nahnah and Pahpah). Then it was time for picture taking! You can clearly see the excitement on Luli's face! We did pictures together, pictures separately and a couple in their classrooms. I really can't explain to you how excited and happy they were to go to school. Luli kept explaining to Fiona different things she'd learn at school, songs they'd sing, books they'd read, activities they do, and of course preparing her for the exceptionally loud flushing toilet!

I was wondering how Fiona would do with her first Mommy free class. She did great, but I kept waiting for her to be a little bit skeptical. Then I was like, really Fiona, come on, don't you want to get just a little bit upset? Nope, she didn't. But I did tear up, it was so great to see my baby be such a big girl and dive right in. Her whole first week went great! On her second day a little girl came up to her so enthusiastically calling her name and gave her a big hug. It was so sweet, I love seeing them make friends. I think it's also a nice comfort knowing Luli is right next door.

Luli also did very well this week. She took right back to school working very hard and doing very hard on all her projects. She's really quite focused in school and does very well. She doesn't really want you to linger in her classroom, almost like you're imposing on "her" time. I get it, and I love it. She's such a smart gal, and I'm just so proud of her.

The teachers are really wonderful for both classes and I know they'll have plenty of love and support while they are away from me. I've been enjoying some me time, going to the gym, cleaning the house, working on homework, and job hunting. Now that school has started our days are much more structured and working like a fine tuned instrument. It's nice to be back on a schedule!

Saying So Long

Our good friends, the Ulibarri's, are moving to Arizona. Stormie and I met while we worked at NRECA, she worked in HR with Oscar. Soon after we moved into Del Ray, Stormie and Josh also moved into Del Ray. We spent some more time together and especially after they had their first son, Anikin, we spent even more time together. When Stormie left NRECA she joined our mommy's group and our friendship became even more close. I'm really going to miss her bubbly personality and those little cheeks of Anikin's. I know this is a great opportunity for them and they will be so happy in their new home and close to family. I'm just bummed about being so far away from them now. But I've never been to Arizona and now I have the perfect excuse to go! See you soon Ulibarri's!

Indian Summer Shirt and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Indian Summer Shirt and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

How adorable is this outfit? And how cute would the girls be wearing it? Fingers crossed!

Dana's 30th Surprise

One of my closest friends had a big surprise 30th birthday party in Long Island over Labor Day weekend. Her mother and family had been planning it for months and there was no way I was going to miss this day for her. Oscar took the day off of work so I could leave in the morning and have plenty of time if traffic issues arose (which of course they did). I got to Dana's mom's house around 4pm and met some more of Dana's family who were there to get ready, then we were off to pick up the favors and go set up the reception room. The favors were really adorable, they were little Dana baby picture bobble heads on jars of 80s themed candy (the party was 80s themed). We got to work getting all the tables set with snap bracelets, hackey sacks, bouncy balls, My Little Ponies, and fiber optic lights. It was so great.

The guests started arriving and the DJ was setting up and the food was starting to get ready. All we had to do was wait for the birthday girl to arrive. We had all talked to her through out the week and she definitely had no idea what was happening Friday night! I was so nervous I could barely stand it. I got to get a little bit of video of the reveal, but then my battery died and it ended...but you can see the stages of realization on her face. It was priceless.

Dana was really shocked and she had a great night. We danced the night away and then I ended up staying at her place and we stayed up chatting until 3am! It was a blast and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Dana is like a sister to me and I just love her to pieces.