First Day of Kinder

Drop off went great. She was so excited and had been waiting for this day for a long time. So she walked in, got her supplies set up at her cubby, was shown to her chair, looked around, had a brief look of apprehension, but then started playing with the activity on the table. The bell rang, we blew kisses, she waved goodbye- no problems. And I was fine too!

Got a call mid-day from Mrs Sewell saying that Alli was at lunch, was having a good morning and was a very good listener! That was comforting!

I was so excited to pick her up and couldn't wait to hear how her day went- I just imagined she would be bubbling with excitement about everything that had happened at her new big girl school. But as I was waiting in the car line to pick her up, I noticed lots of other parents walking up to the school and I started to worry a little. Was I supposed to park and go in to get her. I was never real clear on the whole pick up process. I mean I know it is okay to wait in the car line to get her but will I be the only kinder parent who does that especially on the first day? Is she going to be the last little kinder student waiting and wondering when HER mom is going to get there? TJ is asleep in his car seat at this point, so there is no changing my mind about this. I'm not going to park, wake him up and walk, so I'm just sitting, waiting and wishing the cars in front of me would start moving...soon please!!! They finally do and we slooowly make our way up. I finally get her in the car, her hair is all messed up and she has a very sad look on her face.

When asked what was wrong, she said "I'm tiiiired" in a very long, drawn out voice.

Some of her other responses about her first day of kinder:

"There are a lot of rules."

"My mind is all out of order because I've been doing so many things."

Not exactly the reaction I was looking forward to. She was in a pretty rotten mood for a couple hours after that and opted to skip gymnastics which I obviously did not object to. But once she did perk up she acted out school all evening. She was the teacher and she marched us around the house to all the different rooms- PE, recess, art class, etc. She really liked PE :-) and can't wait to get to go to art class.

I learned that she earned 2 chips and when she gets to 10, she gets a treasure box prize. Clap....Clap....Clap.Clap.Clap means eyes on the teacher, criss-cross applesauce and hands in your lap. She made a friend but couldn't remember her name and told me that one boy was being bad everywhere they went (I'm thinking that might be the poor little boy that was bawling at drop off time). I explained to her that he might be missing his mom and is not used to kindergarten yet.

Fast forward to day 2:

This morning, we are supposed to drop off in the cafeteria and not in the classroom. Well, Alli didn't believe me and was mad when I was going the "wrong" way. I told her that Mrs. Sewell would come pick her and all her classmates up from their table, and she got all upset saying she wanted me to pick her up. She lined up with the class when Mrs Sewell came but then started crying and came back over to me and started clinging to me (Oh no, please no). A lump is forming in my throat. Thankfully the principal came over to hold her hand and offered to let Alli wear her bracelet. I quickly made my exit at that point, but hid outside the door to look through the window and make sure she wasn't crying as they walked down the hall- thankfully she wasn't.

She was in a much better mood when I picked her up day 2. And yes, I walked up this time even though it was a little rainy. She had informed me that she wanted me to meet her on the walkway, so it could have been pouring and I still would have been walking up to be waiting for her when she came out.

It's going to take some adjusting for all of us (we are slaves to the school calendar now), but I think this is all going to work out! Life is changing and it's taking us out of our comfort zone but I'm looking forward to what God has in store for us.

Birthday hair

Alli says to me today:

"For your birthday, can you not wear a ponytail? Just so you'll look nice."

I guess maybe but only for my birthday.

A Visit with the Westinghouse Family

The kids and I got to go stay with the Westinghouse family a couple weeks back while daddy was visiting his brothers having a guy weekend. We had such a great time and the kids played so well together.

At the park for a picnic lunch and some playtime.

These rocks made for some great photo ops and the girls were all over it!


TJ doing his best to fit in.

Have a mentioned that this girl likes to pose?

Autumn's not too bad at it either!

That's a lot of sweet in one pic. They enjoyed wearing each others clothes- such girls!

At the sea center. More posing!

Having fun jumping off the bench. I'm sure that's whey the people at the sea center have it there!
I love Autumn in this one.

Steph and Shelby

Checking out the views from the boardwalk. It was super hot so we hit the snow cone stand after this. I haven't had a good snow cone since I left Pearland-they were yummy!

Oh and then there were the frogs. The kids found 3 of them in the backyard and held them hostage for the evening. TJ walked in the house with one saying "Look what I found, mom!" I freaked a little. "Get that thing outside."

Shelby was obsessed! She loved them and would get this look in her eye when she was playing with them. It was that "I will love them and hug them and squeeze them" look if you know what I mean. She was cracking me up!

We had to force the kids to release them when they started playing dead. We felt a little sorry for them.

We had so much fun just hanging out for a few days. And I haven't laughed that hard in a long time- the skirt incident, the frogs, TJ the photographer, facebook investigating...

Thanks Steph and Corry for letting us invade your house and thanks for a super fun time. We really need to do that more often.

For more pics and stories, visit Steph's blog.

Played Out!

"But I'm not tired, mom!"

At least that's what he told me when I informed him it was rest time. He said he wasn't going to sleep. He would just stay up and play. Looks like he played until he couldn't play any more.

Our Beach Trip

We took a trip to Corpus Christi a few weeks back...

The nighttime view of the USS Lexington from our hotel balcony. Staying in a hotel is new for us- we usually rent a house, but this was a nice change. Free morning beverage delivery and someone coming in daily to clean up- you really can't beat that! The kids loved the pool too! They think staying in a hotel is awesome.

The kids received complimentary backpacks with all kinds of little toys when we got there. TJ carried that thing around all weekend. It became a little bit of a problem 'cause if he couldn't have it, he freaked.

Enjoying her morning juice in a very fancy glass!

Took a drive out to Port Aransas to play at the beach. The kids are at the perfect age- no fears and very little complaints- definitely a first at the beach.

Hard at work and looking so cute.

Our friends and their little boy were staying the weekend out there too, so they met us at the beach and the kids loved having a friend to play with.

The seaweed was out of control which was a little annoying for me, but the kids didn't mind at all and even found a way to make it fun...

A carnival was in town and we love carnivals!

Shrimporee!!

Lots of rides, games and prizes (that's why we love carnivals)!

I love that they always want to sit together instead of having their own.

We took a morning tour of the USS Lexington on the last day.

Those are some massive bullets.

I thought that was really cool.

And TJ was impressed by the size of that chain they are sitting on. That really caught his attention.

TJ at the controls- a scary thought.

A little more playtime at the beach before heading home.

This time at the Corpus Christi bay- no seaweed!

She loves to strike a pose!

Jumping the waves with Daddy!

We really had a lot of fun.

TJ keeps asking when we're going back. And he says that next time he wants to stay 5 nights instead of just 2 nights. Unfortunately that's not in the budget, but he doesn't seem to understand that.

Puppy Love

Alli has been giving Chili some extra special attention lately...

Today he wasn't feeling good after getting shots at the vet yesterday. I gave him some medicine, a bath, put him on the couch and told the kids to be nice to him. When I came back in the room, Alli informed me she had made him warm...
I'd say so! Not sure if he's cozy and comfortable or sweating like a pig under there.

Guadalupe River Raft Trip

We were in for a fun family summer outing a couple weekends back and had planned on taking the boat out on the lake, but then remembered that a river raft trip was on our "fun things to do" list. Dwaine was excited about actually getting to relax and enjoy the day a little, rather than being in charge of launching the boat, driving the boat, airing up tubes, setting up ropes, and all that stuff that goes along with taking the boat out. So here are some pics of our second ever Dement Family Guadalupe River Raft trip...

The kids being one year older and the river a lot more full (no dragging the raft) made for a better trip than last year.
It just doesn't get any better than this.

And the scenery is so beautiful!


Just like Kevin Bacon in that movie (can't remember what it was called). Looking hot keeping that raft on course. There was that one little incident with the rapids when Dwaine very briefly and unexpectedly went overboard. I've never seen anyone get on their feet and back in a raft that fast. I think it scared the kids just a little- they weren't too excited about any fast water after that. (they were completely safe down in the bottom of the raft by the way). But I was just excited that there actually were rapids. So fun!

Stopped for a picnic and a little swimming and found an old log that made a great diving board for the kids. Dwaine decided to climb up to the high board- such a kid.

We finished off the day with dinner and frozen custard at Freddie's. We were all completely exhausted but only a little sun burned. It was definitely worth it. Can't wait to do it again!

Arachnophobia!

As the kids and I unloaded from the car after being gone at VBS for the evening, Dwaine said he had something to show us...

Yes, that is a giant tarantula that was hanging out in our backyard!! EEEEK! And I don't mean way out in the back 40, but right up in the patio area on one of our potted plants. Glad Dwaine found it and not me- I would have freaked out!

First Graduation Ceremony!

Alli celebrated her first graduation! She completed her kid's day out preschool class and will be moving on to kindergarten!! This is big exciting stuff.

Whoa! Is that her preschool or high school grad picture? She looks so much older with that cap and gown on! Scary little flash forward when I first saw that pic!

Looking so adorable saying the pledge of allegiance.

Receiving her diploma from Ms Paige! Then, she gave both of her teachers a big hug!


Now that is one cute class pic!


Proudly showing off her accomplishment.

The ceremony was super cute with all the kids performing a couple songs they've learned over the year and a slide show featuring all of the students individually. Somehow I managed not to cry.



Then we headed to Chuck E. Cheese with her friends for a fun end of school party. I love the expressions on their faces. We are going to really miss this group- she made some super sweet little friends and none of them will be going to the same school together. Thankfully, we will see some of them at church, but I guess we'll have to make some new school friends in kinder!