Flag Day

On Tuesday morning, Stella's kindergarten class put on their Flag Day Concert.  They have been practicing for this since February and we have heard NOTHING but patriotic songs being sung at home, in the car, in the yard.... well, you get the point.  All of their practicing paid off.  It was such a great show and all of the kids did an amazing job. 

All of the kids (there were 3 kindergarten classes on stage) made their own red, white, and blue t-shirt in class and got to wear a visor.  It made for a very cute performance! 

Here they are singing "America the Beautiful."  (Stella is sort of in the middle at the very beginning.) 

Stella even had her own little speaking part that she has been saying over and over and over and over at home.  She LOVES to watch this video:

Here is a picture of Stella with her teacher, Mrs. Magnoli.  I always describe Mrs. Magnoli as the quintessential kindergarten teacher.... she is ALWAYS smiling and has a cheerful voice.  She is truly the sweetest woman I've ever met and was a perfect teacher for Stella.  Stella loves Mrs. Magnoli!

After the show, Stella had fun hanging out with two of her best friends Klea and Kelsey.  Both of these girls are in Stella's Daisy Scout troop too.... we spend lots of time with Klea and Kelsey!

On our way home from school, Stella spent a few minutes showing off her classroom which we don't get to see very often. 

We were so proud of Stella!  She did such an amazing job on stage in front of so many people.  It's hard to believe she will officially be a 1st grader next week at this time.  *sniff, sniff*

Breakfast of Champions!

Worms and Daisy Scouts

We're all spending a lazy Sunday morning down in our newly-rearranged playroom (I am my mother's daughter... I get WAY too much satisfaction and have WAY too much fun moving furniture around rooms!).  Yesterday, my poor children were innocently playing in the playroom when Mommy started sliding the futon all around the room.  I think they're used to it by now. 

Anyway... it's a cool, rainy day outside (but that doesn't stop Kelsey from mowing the lawn) so we're just hanging out inside.  Yesterday's weather was the same, so we went on a mini-adventure to New Haven to have some world famous New Haven style pizza for lunch at a good friend of our's favorite place -- Modern Apizza.  We've noticed that a lot of the pizza places here serve apizza and not straight up pizza.  And, I might get kicked out of Connecticut for saying this, but I'm not a big fan of the New Haven style apizza.  My perfect piece of pizza would have really thick crust that still almost doughy with lots of sauce.  Apizza is thin, with a little bit of sauce and burnt.  Seriously.  Burnt.  Our favorite local pizza shop will burn cook your pizza well done unless you tell them not to.  But, I don't want to ask for it this way for fear of being laughed at by the pizza delivery guy.  It's like asking for a Bud Light in a frosty mug at a local pub (sorry Dad.  I know you like your frosty mugs...).  

So, back to my point of this entry.... worms and Daisy Scouts.  You know, a typical day in the life of me.  Friday was a gorgeous day, so while Stella was at school and Max was napping, Colby and I headed outside to do a project that we had been talking about for awhile.  We made a wormery.  I got the idea from another Mommy blogger (you can check it out here if you really want to).  Colby is constantly digging in the dirt looking for worms, so this project was perfect for him.  First, we cleaned out a jelly jar and alternated putting sand from the sand box and soil in it. 

Then came the fun part.... digging for worms.  Colby had no problem finding 4 worms to add to our wormery.

   

                                        

We added the worms to the jar and watched them dig down under the dirt and sand.  We put some compost on top (peach skins, grass clippings and dead leaves) and then drizzled a little water on top.  Then we wrapped a black piece of paper around the jar so it's nice and dark in there for our worm friends. 

  

Every few days we'll peel the paper off and see what's happening in there.  Supposedly we'll start to see some trails from the worms pulling the compost down threw the layers of sand and dirt.  I know you are all super anxious to find out what happens, so I'll keep you posted!  :)

Friday night was an exciting night for Stella.  We had the bridging ceremony for the Daisy Scouts.  Although Stella wasn't bridging up to become a Brownie yet (she will next year), she still got some cool pins to add to her uniform.  We did the ceremony with all of the Girl Scout troops from her school and each troop got to do a little performance on stage in front of their parents.  It was a fun night and the girls all did a great job.

The Daisy Troop all dressed up in Girl Scout Cookie costumes and did their own rendition of "Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar."  It was very cute. 

After the show, everyone enjoyed ice cream sundaes.  It was a really great night and we were really proud of Stella. 



Stella with her friend Kelsey (her mom is the other troop leader with me)



Summer Lovin'

Is it me, or does summer seem to come earlier and earlier every year?  When I was a kid, I don't remember ever having to wear shorts to school because of the heat.... Oh.  Wait.  I grew up in Maine. 

Here in Connecticut, summer is in full swing even though the season doesn't officially start for another couple of weeks.  It's been HOT this week.  Today is in the 90's and they're calling for tomorrow's temps to hit 100.  Yikes.  I am not a fan of heat and humidity.  When it is hot and humid outside, I turn into a witch with a capital B welding an afro.  It's scary.  This is part of the reason Kelsey and I didn't live in North Carolina too long while we were dating.  I'm afraid if we did settle down there, there's no way he would have put up with me past another summer. 

 

Anyway, the kids don't seem to mind the heat and just want to play outside in the sunshine.  For the past two days, we have set up the slip-and-slide on the big hill in our front yard just like we used to do when I was a kid. 

And the kids had a blast flying down the slip and slide into a big puddle of water.  And, I had fun watching them.

Max liked keeping cool by sitting in his little kiddie pool eating a homemade popsicle.  I'm sure it felt good on his swollen, teething gums.   He loved splashing in his pool and playing with some toys, but then he got curious about what Stella and Colby were doing, so he ventured up to the slip and slide..... and thought it was the best drinking fountain in the world. 

Max did take a few trips down the slip and slide, but he didn't have quite the same technique as Big Sister.

Max had more of a sit-on-your-bum-and-scoot-down style.  He also tried the crawl-down-on-your-hands-and-knees method which was equally as fun for him. 

 

So we ended up having a great afternoon in the heat.  I'm sure our slip and slide and kiddie pool will get a lot more use this summer.

Those Giggles I Was Talking About

Here is proof that Max's giggles are the sweetest thing..... 

Big Sister Stella can always make him laugh.  

5 Things I am Thankful For Today

Again, I apologize for not posting more often on this here blog.  Between a semi-mobile Max and the school year ending, things have been a bit crazy in the Gilmore household.  It's a good kind of crazy though.  Well, most days anyway..... 

I haven't done one of these "5 Things..." posts lately, so I thought I could fit one in before I pass out tonight.  Today was an action-packed day filled with the last Daisy Scouts meeting of the year and a dress rehearsal for their bridging ceremony that will be this Friday.  Needless to say, getting 30 girls (including all of the Daisy scouts, Brownies and Junior Scouts from the school) together and listening simultaneously to a bunch of unorganized, crazy leaders was a little difficult.  Let's just say that of our 9 Daisy Girls, 4 cried at some point during the rehearsal.   Stella included.  I'm spent. 

Anyway, here are my 5 Things to be Thankful for Today:

 

1.  Recently purchased plane tickets to LONDON!  Woohoo!  For those of you who don't know, Kelsey's dad took a year long teaching position just outside of London and so his dad, mom, and sister will be moving over there starting this August.  And WE get to go visit in April.  Yippee! 

   

2.  Colby's sweet little words.  I am so thankful that he has recently started speech therapy to work on some of his pronunciation, but a very small part of me is sad that soon he will be saying things the correct way.  I love to hear him call for "Geh-geh" (Stella) and "Mat" (Max).  His little voice is so sweet. 

3.  Max's giggles.  At this very moment, Max is peeking his head around the laptop and giggling at me.  Is it 10:15pm?  Yes.  Should he have been in bed a long time ago?  Yes.  Are his giggles still super cute?  YES.

4.  Stella's small side.  When one of our kids is feeling maybe a little sad or tired and just needs some quiet time or some snuggles, we say they are "small."  Stella was very small tonight after the rehearsal thing.  Sometimes it's nice to know that your sassy little 5 year old sometimes just needs a hug from Mommy and some snuggle time with Daddy. 

5.  Kelsey.  I am thankful for him everyday.  He is the greatest husband and best daddy any of us could have hoped for.  He works very hard so that I can stay home with the babies, and for that I am forever grateful.  And lately, he's been working a lot on himself too.... and I am so proud of him for all of his accomplishments.  I am a very lucky lady. 

Good night.

Jen