Pre-K and Clifford

Last Monday was C's first day in the Pre-K class at her daycare.

We honestly weren't expecting this until the fall but her other class was getting full and they needed to move some of the kids around.  C was thrilled!  A few of her BF's had already moved up so this made the transition super easy.  Well for her at least.  I'm having a hard time realizing that she is so close to going to school for real but this class is a good head start for us.  

Her new teacher is hard core about getting them prepared for school and makes them stay in line no matter who they are.  There is no babying and no favorites like in our other classes.  She scares me a little but C seems to love her and the class so it looks like I'm the only one who needs to suck it up.

We did get to have some fun over the weekend with the class "pet", Clifford.

Each student gets to take Clifford home over the weekend and on Monday, turn in pictures of your adventures.  No pressure at ALL to have a fabulous weekend so you don't seem like the lamest family EVER to a bunch of 4 year olds.  And it didn't help that C started the weekend off saying 'Clifford's sad.  He misses his mama and daddy' so I felt even more pressure for Clifford to have a good time so he wouldn't be sad and he would like us!  

So we made everything seem super exciting like our trip to the DMV on Friday afternoon.

Our lazy Friday nights when we are in our pjay's at 5:30pm and sitting around watching movies and eating popcorn.

C did provide us with some entertainment on Saturday afternoon when they played dress up and put on a show.

I bet no one else has put a tutu on Clifford.

After church on Sunday, we took Clifford to TSC to see the baby chickens. 

C LOVES when they have the chicks and begs every year for us to get some.  It is a little hard to walk away from those cute little things but then I remember what they look like all grown up and how they smell and well, NO THANK YOU!

Later that afternoon, my mom came to town because C and I needed a break from the NCAA tournament and needed more adventures for Clifford so he wouldn't be sad.  (Seriously at this point I felt sorry for Clifford because he was always sad and missed his mama.  Should I be worried that this is coming from my child's imagination or should I be more concerned that I'm worried about a STUFFED animal?)

We took him to the library and read him some books,

then went to Sams, the mall and out to eat.  Not the most exciting weekend ever but hey we did our best and C thought it was the greatest thing ever to have Clifford at our house.  I'm just glad it's over because worrying about Clifford has taken its toll on me.

F-O-U-R

Thursday, Cecilia turned 4.  As in 1,2,3,4. 

This year has hit me harder than any other.  Maybe it's because she is becoming more independent each day and acting more like a little person than a toddler.  What ever the reason, I'm struggling.  But before I end up in a puddle, I'll share how we celebrated C turning 4.

I decorated our house a little more than I normally do mainly because we couldn't decorate at the place that I had her party.  Which was fine.  It made our house a little more festive.

Of course C didn't mind one bit.  She loved everything being pink and Hello Kitty.

After I got off work, Brent and I took C bowling.  This was actually at her request.  She has been asking us for a couple of weeks to go bowling and we thought her birthday was the perfect time for her first experience.

She LOVED it and couldn't get enough!

 She was pretty good too.  We had the bumpers up but she kept it down the middle the majority of the time.  The first bowling experience was definitely a success!

The three of us, along with my parents, went to dinner at Cracker Barrel (another one of C's request) and then headed back to our house for gifts and cake. 

Since I had ordered a big cake for her party, we just picked up a small little cake for the 5 of us to enjoy.

C made her Pap work for his cake.

Who needs clowns when you've got a Pap that will juggle on your bday!

Then it was time for PRESENTS!!!

On Saturday, we had a party with all of C's friends at a local ceramic painting place.

Lots of her friends came and all the girls seemed to have a good time.

C and her friend Lucie

The girls were super serious about painting and hardly made a sound.

                     

They got to play while we cleaned up the painting mess.

And then it was cake time!

I was in LOVE with her cake!  We are super lucky to know a pretty awesome girl who makes amazing cakes that not only look fabulous but taste just as good as they look.

C got SUPER shy during the Happy Birthday song and I tried not to have a breakdown.

C also got this cute little plaque with her name on it and all her friend's thumbprints who attended the party.

So sweet!

Our fun wasn't over after the party.  One of C's dance friends also had a party Saturday so half of our party did a quick change and ran across town to party #2.

Her friend, Darby, had a Princess Sophia party and all the little girls got to dress like their favorite princess.

 The girls made necklaces, ran around like crazy and spent some time hanging out with Princess Sophie herself!

C had so much fun, we nearly had a meltdown when the party was over.  I reminded her that she still had one more party to attend the next day.  Yes that makes 3 birthday parties in 2 days!  We are just wild and crazy like that!

Lucie, pictured above with C, had a fun party at Tumble Town where all the kids got to run around, do flips and jump on a trampoline.  I got zero pictures because for once C wasn't attached to my hip and ran off to do her thing.  She stayed busy hopping from one thing to the next and having a blast! 

  

Whew!  After a weekend like that, it will take me until next weekend to recover but we had a lot of fun celebrating with all C's little friends.

Lately

Since I was last here, we had a BIG time with snow storm.

If we would have let her, she would have stayed out there all day.

She kept telling us she never wanted the snow to go away.  That's her daddy in her.  I'm over it in about 2 hours.

We've been in craft mode making favors for C's birthday,

and Easter artwork.

This week is a little busy gearing up for C's 4th birthday.  We've got special plans on her actual birthday plus a party with her friends this weekend.  And not only do we have her party but 2 more birthday parties this weekend for her friends!  I told one of the mom's I wasn't expecting this kind of craziness at their age but it should be fun!