Preschool Graduation

You know, when I first heard of preschool graduation, I thought it might be a little over the top. Having experienced it, though, it was SUPER cute. I really love that our school (and evidently every other preschool in this area) does such a cute event for the kids and their families.

It started with a cute little processional. Unfortunately, I caught the photo right as she was waving at us, but you get the idea:

Such a little lady

They sing a couple of songs before they get their certificates. The hats were a bit of a distraction, but she sang and did her party really well. (Sorry for the poor quality photo)

They did a little slide show where they show a baby photo next to the graduation photo of each graduate. Here’s a photo of Ellie’s slide:

 

As each child’s name was called, their teacher’s had written a little label describing each kid. As the kids in front of her went, I was wondering what hers would say. I know what she’s like with us, but I wondered what the biggest quality she displayed at school would be. There were various ones in front of her, “Mr. Energetic”, “Miss Perfectionist”, “Miss Popular”, etc. When it was time for Ellie, they said:

“With her kind heart, she is always looking out for her friends. She is Miss Compassionate, Ellie Wiebe”

I was one proud Momma.

Accepting her little certificate. When I ask her to tell anyone about the graduation, she just tells the about the candy she got in her little certificate bag. :)

Ellie and Ms. Kari

Just like Emma, Ellie had a really great year at preschool this year. Since it’s my blog, I’ll brag for just a moment. She knows all of her letters, all of their phonetic sounds, her numbers up to 30 (and beyond), she knows how to rhyme, she knows her spacial relationships (above, under, next to), how to spell all of her colors, and a bunch of sight words. Socially, too, her teachers agreed she was all set for kindergarten! We’re super proud of her all the way around. I’m definitely a bit sad to be saying goodbye to preschool and entering the kindergaten/grade school world, but I think we’re as ready as we’re gonna get!

Emerson’s End of Year Party

Thought I’d toss in a couple of sweet photos from Emma’s end of year party at her school. I just adore her at this age. I’m trying to soak it all in. Her language is so adorable right now, and she has such a strong little opinion. I’m sure that will get irritating in the tween/teenage years, but right now it’s mostly cute. :)

Her sweet teacher helped them make these cute little flip flop cookies.

Emerson had a fabulous year at her sweet little kids day out program. She LOVED her teachers, and I think she finally learned to keep her shoes on towards the end. She came away with cute little phrases (like “gentle hands and gentle words”) and sweet little songs. We’ll definitely miss school over the summer, but we look forward to seeing Miss Melissa and Miss Jodi around KidCare next year!

The Woodbury’s are in Texas!

Our friends, the Woodbury’s, are about one year into a two year stint in London. We’re definitely missing them, but we love connecting when they make it back in town. Shelley’s parents are the BEST, because they offered (for the second time) to watch all the kids while the adults could go out to dinner. With the Woodbury kids’ cousins there as well, they had quite a handful!

This is the scene we came home to – looks like she has it completely under control, huh? I’m sure they were like this the whole night…positive….

We tried to get a photo of the four of us. Emma wanted the camera first and here’s the result:

Ellie saved us, though:

The boys missed each other SO much that they wanted to dress the same. Isn’t that cute?

I didn’t realize that Brylie got in on our silly face photo.

Sweet friends!

Sweet little man. Maybe we’ll have another little friend for you here soon…

It was so good to see you guys! Looking forward to hopefully connecting again before you head back!

Celebrating Remy and Tucker

My good friend Remy is expecting her first little one in about six weeks or so. A few of us got together to throw her a shower to celebrate Tucker’s impending arrival. We all had a great time, and we can’t wait to meet you, Baby Tucker!

I made the little mini cupcakes since it was a morning shower. Turns out, I unwrapped them too early and they were a little dry, but they were still eaten… :)

My other project was to make these bookmarks which served as the “favors”. Each one had a different date to be praying for Remy and Baby Tucker. They were also used as a way to guess the due date, and some people (who shall remain nameless) chose several to increase their odds. Ha!

Our ridiculous attempt at a belly shot. My little person wasn’t really poking out enough to count, but we tried! :)

This photo makes me smile.

Pretty good haul!

We hung the clothes on a line (as many as would fit). Thought that was a cute idea that Rachel came up with!

Thanks for sharing Baby Tucker’s special day with us, Remy! We love you, and can’t wait to meet your sweet little man!!

Muffins with Momma

May 3rd at preschool was Muffins with Mom day. Since I have two kids that have it at the same time, I invited Mom to join me and switch off. It was super sweet and fun to see all the little projects they made for me.

 

 

 

Ellie’s class had a sweet little song about their moms

Then, we were invited to join Ellie’s class for chapel. As we’re walking in to sit down, Ellie and I are asked to hold the Bible during the pledge part. That means Ellie and I go up on stage and hold the Bible up during the Bible pledge. I didn’t realize that Ellie would get to say the prayer, too, but she did. It was THE sweetest thing, because she said “Dear Jesus, Momma has a baby in her tummy and I pray that the baby stays safe and healthy and that we have a good day at school. In Jesus’ name, amen.” Her voice was super quiet at the beginning, so most people missed it, but I was right there and it was really sweet.

Princess Emerson Turns 3

Emerson has been SO excited for her party. Since her actual birthday was on the Saturday before Easter, we decided to delay the party until the following Saturday. Try explaining THAT to a 3 year old! We did a traditional Crouch countdown (where you write the numbers on pieces of toilet paper and let the child pull off one square a day) which helped her understand the difference in her actual birthday and the party day. She talked for days and days about when all her friends would come over. It was super cute. She requested a princess party, so a princess party it was!

Step 1 was the invites. I designed these simple invites that seemed to go over well:

Next, we made our OTC order (love that place) and started working on the castle facade. I also made the girls Pricess Emma and Pricess Ellie shirts for the big day. That turned out to be dramatic as I ruined one of them at 1am the night before the party. After going to bed in tears, King James saved the day by hitting up Walmart first thing the day of the party and I was able to recreate it in time. Whew!

Here’s the pretty birthday princess in her homemade shirt:

With big sister:

 

Our guests arrived to the Wiebe Palace through the following entrance:

James took a fridge box from Lowe’s (for free!) and painted this on. Seriously, didn’t he do the BEST job?! I was SO impressed.

The royal banquet table with jewels strewn about. :)

The princess cake! Several have asked how I did it, so I’ll tell you. I made 3 varying sized layers of round cake (the princess requested strawberry cake) and stacked them with almond buttercream between.  I realized it wasn’t going to be tall enough for Barbie’s legs, so I took one of my cake boards, cut it to size with a hold in the middle for Barbie’s legs to come through. I set that on top of a round cake pan and sewed the little silver skirt from some remnant fabric I had on hand. (First time I’ve combined my sewing and cake decorating hobbies!) Then I cut each layer in half and cut a small hole in the middle to piece around the Barbie. Voila!

The first activity was for the kids to make their own crowns. There were stickers and jewels to put on them. It seemed to be a hit! (Random side note: We were blessed to have two sweet sets of twin girls at our party. Above is Madeline and Mackenzie and below is Kendall and Emery.)

 

After some fruit and cinnamon rolls, the kids played outside in the Royal Court. It was a little damp from the dew and not enough sun, but with some bubbles and balls, the kids had a great time. We then cut the cake the took a little group shot (minus a couple who weren’t into the paparazzi)

Our one prince was intrigued to explore the forbidden wings of the castle. :)

Then we cut the cake! (Does anyone else notice a baby bump in this one?)

And birthday girl opened her presents

Closing her eyes waiting for the big present from Momma and Daddy! Turns out, I didn’t get a photo of her WITH said present. It was a cute pink Scooter. She’s been sharing Ellie’s and she loved it.

Last but not least, we passed out the party favors. I found this cute castle on sale at Hobby Lobby and we got wands for the princesses with swords for the princes and attached some royal themed finger puppets and little bubbles to each with the little tag. I thought they came out cute, and our little guests seemed to enjoy them:

We definitely missed the friends who couldn’t be there, but thanks so much to those of you who could! She had a great morning and loved every minute! Now this tired Momma needs to start thinking about Ellie’s….