Old School

It was a HUGE day in our house, Patrick started kindergarten today! As far as I can tell, I was the only parent sobbing at drop off. Thankfully I had some lovely oversized sunglasses to hide my tears. Patrick was so excited. He loved it, proclaiming that he was happy there was "no math" and that his favorite part of the day was "recess". How is it possible that my little guy is off to big kid school?

Molly's also growing up quickly, she's dangerously close to being potty trained and is showing interest in sleeping in her big girl bed. My babies are growing up and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Hold me!

School's Out For Summer

I've been a little weepy all day today. Patrick had his last day or preschool. He's officially off to kindergarten in the fall and I don't think I am ready. A few weeks ago Tom signed him up for AYSO soccer which resulted in me bursting out in tears. How is my little baby old enough to play soccer and be sent off to school every day? A school where he won't be singing and riding bikes and playing with play-doh, but instead will be learning reading, writing and arithmetic. A school where circle time will be mandatory, and not just suggested. A school where someone else will judge his work and rank him against his peers. It all makes me so sad. It's so grown up. And he's my baby.

Patrick's class had a little party today. His teachers told me they would be sad to see him go, that they enjoy having him in their class. He'll be around this summer for camp, but it isn't quite the same. Patrick's favorite teacher will be leaving a few weeks into the summer, to pursue her dreams (she's going to grad school). It's an amazing opportunity for her and we're thrilled for her. But there's a part of me inside that is sad because Molly will never have her as a teacher. Which brings me back to weepy...

I'm not sure it has all sunk in for Patrick yet. I don't think he understands that he isn't going to see all of his friends next year in kindergarten. That he will have a new routine, new teachers, new friends, a new school. Hopefully he will have happy memories of his time in preschool.

Little Seahorse

We took a lovely little day trip down to Monterey today. I had been anxious to see the new seahorse exhibit. It was way cool, check it out if you get a chance. They had everything from teeny tiny baby seahorses to sea dragons. The sea dragons were particularly amazing. They look like they are covered in ruffly leaves. Patrick took one look at them and asked if their look was for camouflage. Smart kid!









This week is Patrick's last week of preschool. I cannot believe my little baby will be starting kindergarten in the fall! It will be so strange to have him gone 5 days a week. Patrick seems pretty unaffected by the changes going on. This summer he'll be attending camp at his preschool, back with his favorite teacher. He's looking forward to that. And then in the fall Molly will start 2 days a week! That will give me the time to volunteer at Patrick's school, we've decided to send him to the public parent participation choice school here. So I'll be at the school 3 hours a week. I'm crossing my fingers that it all works out. In the end we figured that any of the choices we made involved a leap of faith, and this was the one that felt most comfortable at this point. We'll see!

Hello It's Me

I still haven't bought a new laptop but I did want to post 2 quick pictures. We're all doing well. In addition to worrying about kindergarten for next year I am now worrying about summer camp and what to do for that. Last year I signed up Patrick for 3 or 4 weeks of summer school, which probably wasn't enough for either one of us. Molly's vocabulary is rapidly expanding, it seems like she picks up a new word or two every day. Her newest words include "appie" (apple), "sippy" (sip), "pree" (pretty) and "bing" (bling). Now who would teach a baby to say bling? ;)

A few weeks ago Patrick went to a birthday party where "the real life Spiderman!" made an appearance. Patrick was in heaven. Spidey was kind enough to pose for a quick picture with his biggest fan.



And Molly continues to be completely stubborn about her hair, despit the fact that it hangs in her eyes when she pulls out her hairclips. Tom held her arms down so I could put in little piggies the other night. She screamed until she could get out the rubber bands. Sigh.

Where Did I Go?

My laptop had a small crash last month and while it's somewhat recovered, I cannot load any software on since the CD-ROM drive is completely broken. So no photos, and I know what's what you all come for anyways so I haven't been updating. Bad me. I hope to get a new laptop soon.

So what's new int he last month? I've pretty much been focused full time on Patrick's schooling for next year and the big decision between public school and private school. I've spent way too much time on this, you wouldn't believe the applications for kindergarten. For the private school you even need recommendations! For a 4 year old! It's crazy. We ended up applying to a public choice school that provides a "progressive education", a Catholic K-8 school, and a private K-12 school. We won't hear anything on any of the programs (the public one has a lottery) until sometime in March. I have a feeling my anxiety level will not do down until we sign on the dotted line somewhere.

Patrick is doing well, he has started to do a little bit of reading. He goes back and forth between being really interested and being completely uninterested. I'm trying not to push. Batman, Legos, and Matchbox cars are still obsessions. New obsessions include Barack Obama and Chinese New Years. Go figure. We talk a lot about kindergarten and Patrick seems to be excited, but I am going to miss him so much when he is gone every day.

Molly is stubborn. That's the one word I would use to describe her these days. It is a battle to get her dressed in the morning, to change her diaper, to get her to eat, to get her in her carseat, etc. She loves her big brother and they play together pretty well. Their favorite game is chasing each other around the house. Molly's current obsession is shoes. She likes to change her shoes several times a day, and if you come over she will want you to take your shoes off so she can try them on. I've signed Molly up for preschool in the fall, starting in September she will go Tuesday and Thursday morning, just like Patrick did. I hope it helps her come out of her shell, she doesn't have as much exposure to other kids as Patrick did at this age. And for that I have mommy guilt.

In grown up news, our bathroom remodel is finally completely done. Tom's been busy at work and we're thankful that he's in an industry that seems pretty recession proof. I've been sewing more and cooking more and working on perfection my domestic goddess skills. I have a looong way to go.

Happy New Year!

So Long Mickey Mouse

We're back from Disneyworld! Patrick had an absolute and complete blast, he soaked up every single little detail and loved it all. It makes me want to take them back when Molly is 4 because it seems like such a perfect age for the Disney experience. Plus, at 40+ inches Patrick could most most everything. Patrick's favorites included Thunder Mountain Railroad, the monorail, the Kilimanjaro Safaris, Star Tours, and meeting the princesses (hubba hubba, he has stars in his eyes). Molly's favorites included running around after Patrick, the model trains at Epcot, the monorail, and frozen strawberry fruit bars. It was a wonderful time to go, the lines were pretty much non-existent everywhere we went. We missed the hurricanes, but did get a taste of Florida's rain which was really quite spectacular (I am thankful it doesn't rain like that here!). We all had fun but it was go, go, go all week and when we got home on Saturday night we were exhausted.

Here are a few of my favorite pics. I took about 500 pictures, and uploaded about 100 to flickr (including pictures from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party), so please look over there too!















It's back to the grind here for all of us. Patrick is now in school Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings, and until the end of fall he'll be taking science classes on Thursday mornings. I think I am going to sign my fearless Molly up for gymnastics while Patrick is in school. My plan to get her down to one nap a day seems to be working, which is better for preschool pick-ups but unfortunate for me because I used to nap with her in the mornings sometime while Patrick was at school.

And on the house front, our hall bathroom is getting completely torn out in about 2 weeks. If you have never seen it it is quite possibly the smallest full bathroom ever known to man. It's the last big house project we have left, I'm really excited to finally get it done. Tom and I are going to pick out tile tomorrow, whoo hoo!

Summertime

Patrick's last day of preschool was on Thursday. I was so sad. He's had an absolutely amazing teacher this year and I was very sad to see him leave. Next year he'll move to a new room with new teachers and a new schedule (MWF). This summer he's spending a few weeks at "camp" at preschool and through the city. We also have a few weeks with nothing planned, I'm hoping we can do some day trips to Great America and the zoo. I may even study up on public transportation since the price of gas is so insane.

Here are a few pictures from Patrick's last day. This is Miss Tiffany, Patrick's teacher. We are going to miss her!



These are Patrick's 2 best friends at school. Braden is on the left and John is on the right.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's less than a week until Christmas and we're as busy as the elves! Last week Patrick had his preschool holiday concert. He's really been enjoying singing Christmas carols so we were looking forward to the show. Of course he was the one kid in the back row making faces, picking his nose and singing at the top of his lungs. Lovely.







On Sunday Danielle had her gingerbread party, Patrick and I both made houses. When he shows them to people he points out his his is the "crazy" one, hee hee.







We finally got our tree this weekend. You may notice that the top third of the tree looks a little crammed, all of my Christopher Radko ornaments are safely tucked up there and out of reach of little hands. We also got a small second tree, I've always wanted to do a smaller tree for my collection of moon and star ornaments. This year we finally got around to doing it and I love it.



















And last night we had a surprise visitor! There was a knock at the door and lo and behold, Santa was there! Patrick promptly ran and hid under the coffee table until Santa announced that he had brought presents, Patrick scrambled out as quickly as he had hidden and happily posed for pictures. He's really learning how this Santa thing works!



Patrick has been very concerned about how exactly Santa will get down the chimney since he recently saw for himself that our chimney has a cap on the roof. Daddy had promised that he will unscrew it on Christmas Eve so Santa can make his way down easily ;)

Still on the to do list this week... wrap a zillion presents, make some cookies for Santa, decide on a menu for Christmas morning breakfast, go to the grocery store and finish a little Christmas shopping, all with a 3 1/2 year old and a baby. I'm full of the holiday spririt, oh yes I am. HA!

All Shook Up

We had a big earthquake tonight! It was a 5.6, centered in San Jose. Molly was already in bed, and Patrick was getting ready for bed. We gathered up Patrick and waited under a door frame (non-native Californians have laughed at me when I've done this in the past, lol!). It was a long earthquake, about 30 seconds and the house just rocked and rolled. No damage here thankfully! So now Patrick and Molly can say they are true Californians, having lived through their first big quake.

Yesterday Danielle came over to carve pumpkins with Patrick. I had purchased a pumpkin carving kit, complete with tiny little carving knives, last week and Patrick was just about to bust with excitement over finally getting to open the package (after carrying it around and even sleeping with the sealed package one night). Patrick got his pumpkin done but both knives ended up broken in the process, oops! Check out Patrick's super cute apron from Danielle. Molly has a matching orange one for next Halloween. Molly didn't help with the carving but she looked cute!





Today Patrick's preschool had a Halloween sing and wow, Patrick is quite the social butterfly. Instead of singing along with his classmates, he played the air trombone, complete with puffed out cheeks. My mom says he does this every week in art class too, usually encouraging the other students to join in his air band, then he starts conducting them. Several of the other parents commented to me that their child talks about Patrick all the time, and one of his little friends has even started calling him Patches. Awwww...









And today the director of Patrick's school was dressed up as a dalmatian. Aren't they a cute pair?