Family at Heart

Sunday afternoon, we attended our second and final birthday party of the weekend.  J’s little brother A, turned two.  We had a great time at that party too.  A and J got some great playing time in.  I got some great pictures.  Hubby got to visit with some fellow software guys.  It was perfect.  A also got to meet a couple of new kids.  Happy Birthday Big Boy!!!  I can’t believe you are two already!

The birthday boy! Thanks for including us in your big day.

Saturday afternoon, we attended a classmate’s 6th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.  It was very nice to really get to sit and chat with the moms.  I want to get off to a great start with each of them.  I mean, potentially, our children could be attending school together for many years. All but three of the kids from class were there.  It is a very small class, so we certainly want everyone to get along and for the kids to be close.  So far, no  problems at all.  Even the teacher mentioned to Hubby and I that the kids in her class get along very well.  That is always good to hear.  A had a great time.  Hubby stayed with her as she played the games.  The place was packed!  We really didn’t want her running around alone.  I appreciated him doing that.  I really liked the mommy time that I got to share with the other mommas.

A had made a little book for G.  Everyone was pretty impressed with it.   Who wouldn’t be?  I mean, it even had a picture of all the kids sitting around the table at the party

This is T. She is A's best school friend.

Yay!!!

Crowning the birthday king.

She has fun no matter where she is or what she's doing. And she's never too busy to pose for a picture

This is A's gift to G. He is reading the book she made for him.

It took a few minutes to get through it It was awesome!!!!!

We headed out to Taylor airport on Saturday morning for their annual fly-in, but only after an early lunch at our friend’s restaurant in Hutto   The fly-in was nice, but I think Hubby was a bit disappointed.  They really had nothing new and exciting, just the exact same setup as last year.  A enjoyed the bounce house and we walked around and looked at a few things.  We really didn’t stay long, but had a nice time all the same.

On Friday evening, I had a mom’s night out with the mommas from our playgroup.  A and I were coming directly from a school event, so I got her some food and we headed to the bookstore.  Hubby got her from me there and I walked next door to meet up with my girlies.  Anyway, A and I were in the kids’ section and she was up on the stage they use for storytime.
She decided to put on a show.  At first, I was her volunteer.  I noticed two moms watchng us and smiling.  They had three children there.  I saw the kids become interested in what we were doing and told A that maybe they might want to be in her show and be her volunteers.  So that was all it took to get her talking with them.  She had them all up on stage with her, holding fuzzies (stuffed animals), and raising their hands.

They were having a great time.  The moms came over to me and started asking how old A was and they kept saying, “She’s amazing.”  They went on to tell me that their children have expressive-language disorders.  They said that A was like a natural little teacher and speech therapist.  They just couldn’t believe how well the kids took to her.  Apparently new kids they meet lose interest pretty easily because they don’t talk very much.  But A didn’t seem to mind or even notice.  She was just having fun with them and treating them no differently than she treats anyone else.
The moms said they were watching and were just in tears.  They wondered if we would ever be interested in meeting up again and letting the kids play.  I of course said, “ABSOLUTELY!!!!”  We exchanged information and I floated out of that store.  I know that we have a very special little girl, but to have complete strangers see that in all of two minutes, well that would make any parent feel validated and encouraged.  We honestly couldn’t be more proud of our A

Friday after school, I took A to the mall for a bit.  We were due back at school at 3:30 for the new playground celebration. Since this is our first year at school, we didn’t ever see the old playground, but apparently the new one is a huge improvement.

Everyone at the school is so excited about it.  I must say, it is very nice.  Lots of families were there to look around and the kids were all having a blast.  I had changed A out of her uniform and I am so glad that I did.  She was playing in the sandbox and with the bubbles with reckless abandon
Hubby drove down and joined us.  We had another very nice chat with A’s teacher.  She is so awesome.  And we got to meet several other parents as well.

Bubbles everywhere!

A with her little pre-k friend O.

Cool new playscape.

Sandbox time!

Very nice turnout.

Our little kindergartener

Is this kid posing? Surely not.

This is A's drama and music teacher. They already adore each other.

A with her sweet teacher.

Loving the playground.

Thanks KHS for the cool stuff to play with

Hubby captured a few pictures of a perfect rainbow after a rain shower the other evening.  Gorgeous.

A has been so excited about how her teacher delegates classroom duties.  There are four helper positions each week.  The children’s names are drawn randomly for each position and of course they will all have a job before the rotation starts over.
The first week of school, A was the line leader.  After that, in successive weeks, she was the door holder, flag holder for the pledge, and was the teacher’s assistant for week 4.  She can’t wait until she’s eligible to serve again

Our little monkey loves to go rock climbing at Main Event.  She had been asking to go for a while.  We had tried to go during Labor Day weekend, but it was packed.  So we picked this past weekend to go.  She was ecstatic of course.  She hadn’t lost her touch.  She was climbing up the hardest walls there, well on the right side anyway.  No way I could do the straight-up ones.  I was doing great to go up the slanted ones when I climbed earlier this year

Taken in the game area while we were waiting for the next round of climbing to begin. Deal or No Deal is her favorite!

Go Baby, Go!!!!!

Daddy helping A

She loves to go climbing!

Sweet face

Her energy is endless once she gets started too. She impresses us every time we go.

That's our girl getting ready to ring the bell, and that wall is straight up!!!! You go baby doll You make us so proud...not just with your climbing, but in everything you do.

M and Z hosted a bead necklace playdate at their house last Friday, the 18th.  A had a great time making her necklace, doing stickers, and playing upstairs.  It was a good turnout too, so she got to play with lots of playgroup friends.  Thanks M and Z!

This is fun!

I'm trying to work here.

A sitting next to her buddy Z.

Concentration!

More pictures...

I looked down and Z had laid this out to go on his necklace. So sweet!

A and Jamie (her Webkinz that goes everywhere with us).

Making her picture. I kept it of course

I picked up those little growing capsules at the dollar spot at Target the other day and A just had a blast with them.  She always does.  I just love watching her get so excited!