*sigh* I just love my little ones!  Emma invited me to her Mother’s Day Tea at preschool today.  Josh said I got more dolled up for her tea than I do for a date with him…somewhat true, but I had a whole hour to myself to get ready.  I did my hair, put on mascara, make up, eye shadow, and even lip gloss!  I was just really excited to be able to share this time with Emma at her preschool.  Here’s a little of the day…

Today was Rodeo Day at Emma & Brooke’s preschool.  They walked into a dude ranch setting with paper cacti along the walls, boots, cowboys, cowgirls, and all kinds of fun stuff adorning the hallways.  They got to ride a pony, wear bandanas & cowgirl hats, and even make a stick pony!  I was in the room with the stick pony craft.  And yes, I was the slowest pony assembler. I guess my days at a sweatshop factory are over, but dang it, my ponies looked good!

This is Emma wearing all of her garb from the day.  She added the rainbow belt and the water gun on her own.  Very inventive!  Love you Emma girl!

My girls go to the sweetest little preschool called Asbury Community Christian Preschool.  It is about 5 minutes from our house & we have come to love it over the past 3 years.  This is Emma’s last year here *sniff  sniff* and I was honored to be a part of their killer fundraiser this year.  I mean there is so much creativity & talent among these mothers you just wouldn’t believe it.

I was brought in to the annual fundraiser a little later than the rest of the committee, but when they had me to one of their meetings, I was blown away.  They were talking silent auction, live auction, lettuce wraps from P.F. Chang’s, children’s artwork  hung throughout the school, live music, etc.  Well, needless to say, these wonderful plans we had were thwarted by a TON of snow.  We weren’t able to advertise like we wanted, the weekend of the event was when a ton of other events were rescheduled to happen, and ticket sales just weren’t what they needed to be to make a profit.  So, in their amazing flexibility, these mothers decided to change the fundraiser dinner & auction to a week-long presentation of the kids’ artwork hung throughout the school hallways and place every item up for silent auction in the school’s lobby for parents to see & bid on.

Oh, and we had a little surprise for the parents too (and this is where I came in): next to each and every 209 pieces of artwork is a matted 5×7 photograph of the child that created the artwork.  And I got to capture them all!  I was so excited to be able to do this for my girls’ school!  Over the course of 3 days in November, I got to meet each and every child that attended Asbury, get them to pose for me, bribe them with Skittles, and just firm up how much I LOVE what I do!  It was an honor.

So….back to the fundraiser.  When parents walk down the hall to drop their children off, they are greeted by their child’s artwork and a photograph of their child.  I mean, c’mon, who WOULDN’T buy that?  These fundraiser committee moms are geniuses!  I was helping out with sales this morning and they got so many parents coming to the checkout table saying, “I want that artwork!  Where do I pay?”  How awesome is that!  I’m excited to see all the great things that Asbury does with the funds they raise this year.  Great work ladies!  Here’s a few more photos so you get a little idea of what it all looks like….

It’s so weird not being a teacher anymore because I still get excited when I see the back to school supply ads & the thought of shiny new name tags & new little faces coming in to my classroom still makes me giddy. However, that is not my lot in life at this point and I am satisfied. I now get to be on the parent side of this phenomenon. Emma, my four-year-old (or “four and a HAF” as she says it) had her first “preview” day last Wednesday. She got to attend school for one hour and meet half of her classmates & get reacquainted with her old classroom. She picked out her outfit, chose her headband, put on her socks & shoes all by herself, and even brushed her teeth three times! And as we were leaving she stole a flower from our community for her teacher. And as Brooke does, she copied Emma in every little detail of the day, right down to the flower theft. Here are Emma’s first day snapshots…

Breakfast of champions:  Cinnamon toast in triangles!

Some cartoons to start the morning out right

And now for some awkward posing…silly girl!

Blowing me a kiss goodbye!

Showing off her bag that she designed

A flower for the teacher

And her hook!

Now Brooke (or Brookie as we lovingly call her) went to school the Friday after Emma for her “preview” day.  She has been practicing her teachers’ names before bed and was excited to use them.  For those of you who know Brooke, you probably knew she would have no problem at all in two-year-old class.  We sent Emma at age two because she was deathly shy.  We send Brooke at age two so she can learn to share & follow directions.  They are just different people!  She was very determined to put her shoes on “aw by my felf” so Amaw was so generous and took her fat feet to Stride Rite & got her 2 new pairs of kicks…complete with Velcro!  I’ll let the photos tell you the rest….

Her new size 6′s

She chose a banana for breakfast…the dog got some too

Brooke’s new bag – Tinkerbell & sparkly letters

Here she is being independent again – putting on the bag

The shoes in action!

Dragging her bag into school

Assessing the situation

She spotted some toys

And she’s off!

So that’s it!  My babies are in school and I can’t believe it!  I also get one whole Friday morning to my own self…what ever will I do????

The Coogans

I had the pleasure of shooting a wonderful family this evening at the Naval Academy Golf Course in Annapolis, Maryland. I had never been there, let alone heard of it. But it is gorgeous! Lori & Bobby picked the perfect place for their two lively boys. Lori “won” me at my daughter’s (Emma) school’s silent auction back in the spring. I was really excited to be in my first auction, and it was a lot of fun. Thanks Bobby, Lori, & boys for letting me share a beautiful evening with you. You all were a ton of fun! Here’s a little preview of what’s to come!

Ah, love!

Navy family

Silly boys!