End of Year Ceremony

Cecilia's last day of school was last Wednesday, and on Thursday she had her End of the Year Ceremony.  They sang songs, played the bells (so cute!!!), and received completion certification, and then had cake and punch!  It was a very fun morning!

On the subject of finishing school, we decided a few months ago to wait a year to send her to Kindergarten.  Her school is very pro "holding" if your child has a birthday from March on, no matter how ready they seem to be, and actually everyone from her class that has a birthday after March will be waiting also.  We feel that Cecilia is more than ready academically, but with her shyness and sensitivity in school, we feel like another year might really help her in those areas.  Plus, not that we have to do what everyone else is doing, but knowing the trend of the school, if we were to send her, she could in theory be almost a year and a half younger than many of her classmates!  That is a big difference for 5 year olds! 

This past year she was in a 4 year old class that met 3 afternoons a week, and next year, she will be in preK that meets 5 mornings a week.  This end of the year ceremony had both classes at it, and wow, could you tell a difference in the classes.  The preK class (which will be going to kindergarten next year) were so much bigger than her class, and then performed much better with much more attention.  Just made us more confident in our decision!

 Getting ready to walk in with her class.

 

 Both classes on stage.  It is kind of hard to tell 

size from this angle, but the preK is on right side.

 Proud Mommy and Daddy!

 Lily and Bess!

 Cecilia eating cake.

Lily eating cake.

 Our attempt at a family photo.

Believe it or not this was the best one!

 So happy with her Bessie!

 Cecilia and her teacher, Mrs. Stephanie.

Sisters

I took these pictures at a end of year party for Cecilia's school (post to come).  I was really just trying to get each of their face paints, but I think they are so cute!  They have the same one bc if you can believe it Lily wanted the same one as Cecilia!  But what is really funny is that they are basketballs!  If you know Cecilia's at all you'll know what that is funny!:)

Spring is finally arriving

Those of you that live in Lou know how cool of a spring we have been having; it has just felt like an extension of winter.  We hit the 80's this week (for the first time this year, I think), and it was so nice!  Unfortunately, we are back in the 50's today, but we will try to ignore that.  So the girls and I were outside quite a bit this week. Oh, it was wonderful!  These are pictures from Tuesday (I think); we headed out after nap a little before 4, and did not come in until 7:30 (a late bedtime bc we were having so much fun)!

 

 We started with a little picnic snack on our side yard.

 Sweet Lily eating graham crackers!

My girls!

Then we got out the spin art that Cecilia

got for Christmas!

Lily's turn!

As you can see by the stream of ink coming out

and the look of her picture, you can tell Lily was a 

little heavy handed.

A couple of the final products!

 

Then we headed out back, so I could prepare dinner

while they played.  I'll let you guess whose plate is whose!

A little sandbox fun....

Both girls usually play from the outside like the above

pictures, and Lily HATED it last year if I tried to stick her feet

in it.  So this time, I just mentioned to Lily that

could get all the way in if she wanted, and the next thing 

I knew I saw this!  And she said "Look momma,

I put mu feet in 'dare'!"

They both ended up FILTHY, mostly with sand EVERYWHERE!  My favorite was the sand embedded in their scalps!  Needless to say, it became a bath night!  But what a fun afternoon we had!

Never a dull moment

At nap time today Lily was getting a little rowdy in her room, so I went in to see what was going on.....and she was so excited to show me this: she holds onto the rails, and "walks" her feet up the corner, hangs for a few seconds, and then drops on her bed laughing!!!  Oh Lily!

I also got a video of it, but of course, I have been unable to upload videos on Blogger for MONTHS!  Sorry!
 

And this we have this...what is it you ask?  Well, at dinner the other night, Lily wanted an orange (and had gotten one out of the fruit bowl).  I told her she could have it after she ate a good dinner.  So we eat dinner (and I eat diagonally across from her), and I apparently, I did not notice this had happened (Cecilia had a new box set of books in front of her, so my vision of Lily's plate was a little blocked).  Lily had pried open the orange and started pulling out the segments to eat!  That is hard to do!  Oh Lily!  

"Yes" moment!

So it was raining this afternoon, and Lily wanted to go outside and play.  I told her we could not because it was raining, and even opened the back door to show her.  Well that backfired, and she wanted to go out even more!  I told her no a few more times, and then I thought "what the heck!"  We were home for the rest of the day, it was bath night, and I needed to work in the kitchen anyway (so I could easily keep an eye on her).  I told her she could go out, but she had to stay on the deck, and I made sure it was clear I was NOT going with her.....I know a true "Yes" moment would be me with her, but I did not!

So excited to be out there!

She thought it was such a treat!

Jumping for joy!

I love that she jumps when she gets excited!

My big girl!

Cecilia on the other hand said she would NOT be

going out either.  She was attending a ladybug party.

(her costume is a ladybug)

Her drawing.  This is Rachel and Kirsty,

the main characters from her fairy chapter books.

Out of no where, her drawings have

gotten pretty good recently...in my opinion at least!

Here is one she did at school the other day.
From L-R, me, my mom, Cecilia, my dad, and Christian.
Then Lucia in the front!

Dying Easter Eggs

 Mom, Cecilia, and Brendan pausing for a picture.

(sorry, it is dark - may have to click on it to see it better)

 Dad helping Lily dye her eggs.

 I kind of forgot to explain the whole process to Lily, and she

ended up eating the orange color tablet.  I caught it pretty

quickly, got out what I could, and then we held her over the sink

and made her swish and spit until it came out clear.

Here she is a little later with an orange mouth

and fingers.

Cecilia waiting patiently for her egg.

Lily's Leotard

During the cooler months I like to put onesies on my babies/toddlers for an extra layer of warmth, and so their bellies don't hang out!  Anyway, Lily informed me the other day that it was "Lee Lee's leotard."  Lee Lee is what she calls herself if you did not get that.;)  I thought it was so cute, so now when she is getting dressed she gets very excited to put on her leotard!  And if you can imagine Cecilia likes to correct her and tell her that it is NOT a leotard bc it does not have any "sparkles."  Silly kids!