Kate is Three!

Last Friday (September 12th) was Kate's third birthday.  

I can't help but feel like she went from this:

The day she was born.

to this:

overnight.  

For the record, Kate agreed to wear the "three" shirt for this picture, and then took it off and put on a dress.  She is in an "I only wear dresses" phase.  

For months, she talked about having a Minnie Mouse birthday party.  I kept asking if she was sure about the theme, and she always said yes....until I ordered a Minnie Mouse cake and decorations. Luckily, she went back to Minnie Mouse, and she was certain about her decision!  Phew!

I assembled this adorable house the night before, and she was very excited about it in the morning! It is getting a lot of use; I'm very happy with it!

The house came with markers to decorate the outside, but she hasn't had any interest in doing that yet.  She did color a little on the inside.

Kate was very happy with her gifts!  In addition to the house, we also gave her a name puzzle, Minnie Mouse Memory, a Minnie Mouse dress up doll, and a Calico Critters carrying case/house.

Kate's birthday breakfast was Six Sisters Funfetti Birthday Pancakes.

If you log in to the blog, you can see our Happy Birthday song here.

You will also see and hear Kate singing to herself (I love this so much; it is so very sweet that she sang to herself) and you will see and hear Collin telling her not to sing to herself.  I almost stopped the singing and told her that she ABSOLUTELY could sing to herself, but I didn't.

After Collin and Reagan left for school, Kate spent some time playing in her house, and then we went to one of her favorite places - the Fall River Children's Museum.

After the museum, Kate helped me make Minnie Mouse marshmallow treats.

I am SO incredibly happy that I get to spend every day with this sweet, funny, loving, kind, adorable, vanilla ice cream loving three year old because she is just awesome and I cannot imagine my life without her and all of the joy she brings each day.

This didn't happen on her birthday, but the other day, she just started singing "Mommy, mommy, I love you.  Mommy, mommy, I love you," and because she kept singing it, I was able to capture it on video.   My heart melted.

 

She is just so sweet!!!

Stay tuned for more about Kate's third birthday!!!

A Dirt Bath

Kate loves dirt more than any of my other children ever have.  I can't help but wonder if maybe my other children loved it just as much, but I wasn't as willing to let them enjoy it this much!

The last few soccer practices have been held at fields with plenty of exposed dirt for her to enjoy, and boy has she enjoyed it.

She scoops it up and rubs it all over her body.  It actually looks like she is using it like soap, scrubbing her skin with the dirt.

 She throws it up in the air, rolls in it, and massages it into her hair.

She has the time of her life playing in the dirt, and when we get home, her bath water looks like mud!  It's all great; look at that happy girl!

Swim & Gym

Last week, Kate had her first experiences with activities of her own!

First up, she had swim class.  Kate was very excited to go to swimming.  I explained everything to her beforehand, and she could not wait to get there.  We arrived a little early so that I could show her around, and she was even excited to rinse off in the shower before heading to the pool.  When we got to the pool area, we found a bubble for her to wear and sat on the bleachers to wait for the instructor.

Here she is, still excited to get started!

Kate's swim teacher came over and introduced herself to us.  Her name is Miss Courtney, and she is super friendly and warm, and she immediately made me feel comfortable.  There is one other child in the class, Maddie Ann.  Miss Courtney took both of them over to the wall, and Kate was still happy.

 Kate did great until she had to get in the water without anyone holding on to her.

 I could see the pain on her face.  It was difficult to watch, but every time she looked at me, I gave her a thumbs up and a big smile.

She held it together until Miss Courtney had her sit on the wall to wait.  She immediately ran to me, screaming and crying.  After a few minutes, she calmed down and went back in the water.  Miss Courtney promised to hold on to her and this seemed to help.

Kate has told me many times since that the pool is scary and she doesn't want to go back, but she tells everyone else (including Tom) that it was fun.  We have read a book about swimming lessons, and talked about how Miss Courtney promises to hold her and keep her safe; I'm hoping this helps her feel comfortable enough to swim again.

Kate also had her first gymnastics class.  It isn't a structured class, but more of a play group with an emphasis on gymnastics.  Kate LOVED every minute of this!  She was actually the only child there that day; she didn't mind one bit, but I hope a few more children show up for the next class.

Firsts and Lasts - Another School Year Begins

Another school year began this week.  As much as I try to freeze time, or just hold on to a certain day, I don't have that kind of power, and so time goes on and these kids just keep getting older.  Even though it can be sad for me at times that they are getting so old, I am very grateful for their health and all of the wonderfulness that is wrapped up in each one of them.  

Reagan and Collin started school on Tuesday.

Reagan has Mrs. Ashton for third grade this year.  Collin had her, so we know exactly what to expect, and we are looking forward to a great year!

This picture of Reagan and Kate is just too funny.  Kate has been obsessed with Reagan's new shoes, and she was angry because she wanted to wear them!

Collin has Mrs. Ahern for fifth grade: I haven't met her yet, but Collin likes her so far.  Fifth graders are grouped by ability for math, and Collin has Mrs. French for his top level math class.  I'm still having a hard time grasping the fact that this is his LAST year of elementary school.

They both like their new teachers, and they have friends in their classes.  Reagan is still sad that a bunch of her friends were redistricted to Chace, but I'm sure we will be making plans to see them, and in the meantime, she is happy to have some other friends in her class.

I didn't make a special breakfast on the first day this year, so I had my heart set on a special after school treat.  My original plan was to make school buses out of Twinkies, but I couldn't find Twinkies.  I did find Madeleine cookies, and I was running out of time so I made do.

Collin and Reagan had no idea what they were!!!  When I told them they were school buses, they said they "kind of look like buses"!!!

Tyler started school on Wednesday.  Another last - his last year of high school.  I just don't feel like that is possible, but it's true.

He was thrilled to pause for a picture as he headed out, and he only let me take one!!!

I am looking forward to all that this school year is sure to bring, and I hope that they learn a lot, work hard, do their best, make new friends, and enjoy their time in school.

Labor Day Weekend at the Beach

We went to the beach twice over Labor Day weekend.  Saturday was a little breezy, but very nice compared to Sunday.  That didn't stop us from having fun!  Mark joined us both days, and that added an extra bit of fun for the kids.

That's probably it for the beach this year!  We only went a few times, but we made the most of our visits!

Boo is One!

We celebrated Boo's first birthday last week (August 28th) with a special (store bought) treat.

I think he liked it!

Z is for Zoo and Zebra

We had plans to go to the Roger Williams Park Zoo last week, so we skipped over the letter Y, and started Z for Zoo and Zebra.  We actually saw zebras too, so that was kind of cool.

Kate loves animals.  She really enjoyed feeding the goats; she hugged, pet, brushed, fed, and snuggled them as much as she could.  I thought for sure this was her favorite part of the zoo, but she insists that she liked seeing the zebras and giraffes the most.  

I gave Kate two Z for zebra pages to be used two different ways.  She used dot markers for the first page, and label stickers for the second page.  This was the first time she did this with the stickers, and she did really well.  Kate was able to peel the stickers herself and place them within the circles on the page.

 Kate did some math by counting animal crackers.

She kept asking to glue something, so I figured why not glue the animal crackers onto the paper! She was thrilled!

We only have one letter left - Y!