Sammy has been excited for months and months to start kindergarten, and when the big day arrived he could hardly contain his excitement! We met up with all his little friends who are in his class (there are 5 of them who all got put together - yay!) and the other moms to walk up to the school together, but the boys were in no mood to wait for us stroller pushers and ran the whole way to the school, and they couldn't wait for us to say goodbye and let them get started! I am so excited for him -- it's the start of a whole new stage of life, you know? He now has a whole portion of his life in which I have little involvement and he's responsible for himself. It may just be 2 3/4 hour per day, but it's a big deal! He loved his first day, though he did admit he quit paying attention because he already knew what they were talking about. But he assured us that he sat still and watched the teacher the whole time. Sigh. His teacher, Mrs. Palmer, seems really nice and has some good ideas for how to get him engaged, so hopefully that will go well. I know it's only kindergarten, but I just feel like it will set the stage for how he feels about school for the future. If he goes through yet another year of not learning anything new, is he going to lose his love for learning? I'm trying not to stress about it, and just give it a chance and see how he does. Today he told me that he tried really hard to pay attention. And he loved the "gingerbread man" activity today, where they chased the gingerbread man all over the school -- a pretty clever way to teach the kindergartners all about the school and the staff, I think!
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Yesterday was also Miss Eliza's first birthday! We had the family over for dinner in the evening, and I was running late getting the food and decorations ready, so Eliza was really hungry and cranky by the time we were ready to eat. A little watermelon and quesadilla made a big difference, however, and by the time cake time rolled around she was really getting into it!
She demolished that cupcake in the end and got as chocolatey and pink frosting-y as any one-year-old could wish. The highlight of Eliza's night, however, was definitely the presents! She loved the book with furry puppies and kitties from Taya and Noah, and she had a few kisses for the baby doll from Mommy and Daddy. But none of those could hold a candle to the purple puppy from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Tarbet. If you press its paws it plays music and talks, and she was instantly in love. This video says it all!
If you'd like to see more pictures of these fun events and more, check out this Facebook album.
I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped with the party! Amy came over a few days ago and helped me make gum paste flowers for these fab cupcakes, and then Ange really saved my bacon by coming a few hours early and helping with the cupcakes, the decorations, the cleanup, everything! I was so bummed I didn't get a pic of her with the cupcakes, too, because she was a major contributor to them! Mom brought the ice cream, Em brought Taya and Noah, Dad helped entertain Eliza so I could finish up, and Grandma Tarbet helped me get dinner ready even though her back was killing her. Dan made a side-pilgrimage for tortillas after I completely forgot to make them even though that was pretty much the whole point of the food and then kept everything running smoothly duringthe party. I just have the best family in the whole world, and I really love and appreciate you guys!
