kindergarten.

you have GOT to be kidding me.

i have a kindergartner.

actually, now i have a kindergartner in her second semester.

seriously.

HOW DID THIS EVEN HAPPEN?!?!

we picked out her clothes {purple shirt bling-ed out with 'kindergarten rocks!' in pink rhinestones, denim shorts, silver toms, pink bow}, got her backpack all ready and i even woke up on time for the first day of school {thanks to a little four week old at the time who had me up at 5:30am!} 

so glad he was around - otherwise we all know she would've been late on her first day.

we had orientation earlier in the week to take all of her supplies and meet her teacher! the school she attends is the same town i graduated from and i literally know 97% of the faculty {'cause i went to school with most them... not kidding} - so of course, she got the teacher i didn't know ;) 

but we heard so many good things about her and are so glad she's in her class!

here she is at her table! they got to play with playdoh the first day! winning.

standard pic with mom on the first day!

and with dad, too!

she was so ready for us to get out of there.

i had all of my errands done {that were intended to keep me busy all day} by 11:30am.

including picking up dinner...

this is how we do first days {or celebrations of any kind, really} of pretty much anything we can.

cake for dinner.

she had a great first day! she did come home and tell me no more bows - no one wears bows in kindergarten.

i have no idea who these girls mothers are, but i can guarantee you they are seriously disturbed for not putting bows in their daughters hair.

absurd.

blasphemous even.

i waited until later in the week to go eat lunch with her at school - i didn't want her to get upset or want to come home or anything {what was i thinking?? really... like she'd want to come home over playing with her friends all day... smh.}

she refused to look at me for this pic. but that didn't stop me from taking it of her first time getting a school lunch.

you'll thank me for this later, tu.

and the first few weeks - this is how she spent her afternoons when she got home...

because it's hard work having TWO recesses AND lunch AND giggling with your friends all day :)

oh! here's one more shot with a bow in her hair! this is the last one, my bad.

she wanted to send this pic to ashes since ashes picked out her shirt {which is actually a dress that is 3x smaller than she wears}.

 

she loves school.

and to date has only missed ONE day.

because i made her.

i told her she could cash in all the days she didn't miss when she's 14 and wants to stay home.

consider it documented here.

field trips : pre-k 3

ava's class took a field trip this past semester to the cafeteria over at the college campus!

ava & abby - hamming it up in their adorable chef hats!

they are watching the staff prepare food for the day! they did so well with keeping their hands behind their backs!! they didn't touch a thing!

right after this picture, they got to go into the walk-in refrigerator/freezer! they loved it, even if it was cold :)

after they toured the back part of the kitchen - they then got to go out front & watch them make pizza!!

and then they got to experience the most important part of the field trip...

eating some yummy pizza!!

did those kids mind that it was 9:45am?!?!

um - negative - like anyone was going to say a word about eating pizza for their snack - hello!!

group shot of the class - such a sweet group of kiddo's!

they also baked them some warm fresh m&m cookies!!

i can attest to their deliciousness ;)

notice ava in her 'bear backer' gear - matching hairbow & all!!

and i LOVED this picture of them all in a row walking back to school!

they have the same ring-hand-holder-thing as john&kate+8!! so cute ;)

___________________________________

a few weeks later, they took a field trip to the local fire station!!

this was nothing new to ava - since she'd been there before, but it is always a fun outing!

ava & della with their turn in the fire engine!

della's dad is a firefighter & gave the whole class the grand tour :)

here is another firefighter dressed in his turn-outs to show the kids what a firefighter would look like if he had to come to their house to fight a fire!

they were all enamored with his gear & asked so many questions!

ava's class with her fabulous teacher, ms. ruth :)

after the fire station, we all headed over to pet smart to look at the animals!

ava is writing her name on her checklist before the tour!

oh yes - did i mention she can now write her own name?!

she's a genius.

ava & adisyn checking out the fish

i told ava i wanted to take her picture with her favorite fish in the store & these are the ones she picked.

when i asked her 'which one, exactly?' she said 'oh, i don't know - i just like the castle.' 

hahahaha!!

the class got to pick out two new fishies to take back to school with them!!

ava & adisyn taking turns holding 'princess' and 'cowboy' ;)

they were all so excited to see a doggie get groomed!!

they all look so sweet up there ;)

after the field trip, we ended the outing with a much deserved trip to chik-fil-a!

it was so nice to let the kids play & all the parents visit & get to know each other!

not to mention some delicious food... ;)

old navy fashion show : spring 2010

when i run into friends & acquaintances in town, they jokingly tell me 'we always see y'all here!'

usually they are refering to a. target. b. hobby lobby. or c. old navy.

i don't necessarily buy a lot of clothes, but i do go in there quite frequently to see what has been marked down to $1.47. because that's usually they only way i'll pay for it - dirt. cheap.

when ava was first born, we lived 2.5 seconds from the local shopping area & we would just go up there to pass a little time & get out of the house.

who knew friendships would be born out of our little random trips?!

we visited most with ms. tina {the manager at old navy} & became fast friends ;)

this spring, she invited ava to participate in a fashion show to launch their spring line!

ms. tina picked out ava's first outfit!

here she is prepping in the dressing room :)

she was pretty excited to get out there in front of everyone.

she was doing one of her signature 'pose's' in the above pic.

don't try to replicate peeps - it's already been patented.

like zoolander.

see?! here's her signature pose!

the fabulous ms. billie overstreet took the professional pics of ava & I AM SO GLAD SHE DID!!!!

they are fabulous!!!

love this one!!

haha - she caught ms. billie taking her pic ;)

when ms. tina asked us to participate, she let me come in the store & pick out an outfit for ava - from head to toe.

here's they outfit i put together for her to wear...

AAAAAAADDDDDDOOOOORRRRRAAAAABBBBBLLLLLLLEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

she's about to twirl in this one.

because that's what twirly skirts are for.

i love, love, LOOOVVEEE this pic of ava!

it is one of my favorites EVER!!

thank you so much, billie!!

and here's the rest of the fab models!

{ms. billie's kiddo's are on the right - pretty FAB huh?!?! their momma raised them right.}

i honestly think they all had a fun time! no meltdowns at all!!

ava was pretty excited that ashes came up to watch her walk ;)

the three of us - post catwalk.

here is ava with the wonderful ms. tina!!

after the show, us girls took a little trip downtown to see what fun we could stir up in ava's fab new outfit ;)

did i mention she REFUSED to take off her outfit & we literally had to rip the tags off of it to pay for it?!

she obviously has some serious s.t.y.l.e.

love this pic of the three of them ;)

we made our way to the local coffee shop & while we were waiting for our drinks, tutu tickled the ivories.

and of course, she had to get her fix, too ;)

don't worry - it was just hot cocoa.

but she loved having a cup like the rest of us & prancing around with it!!

{to see billie's post of the original pics, click here.}

she's awesome.

{evidence}

You just never know what you'll find when you go through 496 pictures that your 3 year old took...

Let us take a glimpse at some of my favorites, shall we??

These flip-flops are 2 sizes too small & she refuses to let me have them.

In fact, when I put them in the 'donate' bin, she sneaks in there & takes them back out.

Just had her nails 'did.'

As did I.

Broken keys on the keyboard, anyone??

Okay, so I snapped this one of her! She was feeding her baby while we were playing in her playhouse & it was the quickest camera I could grab!!

That girl is the sweetest thing!!

Probably cooking some Lego's as usual.

Notice, this pic is of me cleaning her playroom {which she was supposed to be helping me with, but instead decided she'd document it in pictures}.

Max & Ruby....

Ruby & Max...

This is obviously evidence of her sneaking in the goodie cabinet while I'm taking a cat nap!

Her favorite cereal!

D.Might looks so much like his dad in this picture!

I honestly hope someday we will actually wear the same size shoe!

D. will not know what to do with himself...

Practicing her 'self-shot.'

Oh this one I just llllloooovvveee!

I dug out my Wizard of Oz characters awhile back & she hasn't let them out of her sight since!

{Belle & Cinderella are also in the line-up}

{The Wizard of Oz is her favorite movie}

HAHAHA!!

This picture cracked. me. up!!

The Wicked Witch is giving Glenda the 'what-for!' Hahaha!

Traffic jam.

PopPop in true form.

Not. Even. Kidding.

I have NO IDEA how she figured out her camera did this, but I PROMISE this is exactly the way I found on there!!

Love that girl...