A First & A Last

Yesterday was a first for Sophie.  Her first field trip.  First bus ride.  First.

Yesterday was a last for me.  Last Kindergarten field trip.  Last kid I'll experience freaking out with excitement to ride a bus.  Last.

(Sorry, I am feeling a little sentimental that I am "graduating" to a new phase of motherhood.  A wonderful and still enriching phase, but a different stage nonetheless).

Despite my nostalgia, yesterday was so great.  Sophie's class got to go to a local pumpkin patch for a day on the farm.  It was so fun and we had so much fun together.

We rode on a hayride pulled by a tractor, picked our own pumpkins right off the vine, played in a corn maze and pet some fidgety goats.

We ended our date at Chick Fil A with some other moms who are also "graduating" with their last kindergartener.  So fun.

 

It was a perfect day.

I am finally feeling better.  My back is healing.  I found out that I tore a muscle in my back.  I have had to literally stop all activity, but I am getting stronger everyday.  I feel that it is a great sign that I am no longer aware when the next 4-6 hours has arrived for another round of ibuprofen.

So...I guess I am not a granny afterall...well, at least I was thinking that until last night.  Sophie and I were watching TV and a lady in her late 60's/early 70's came on the screen. Sophie told me that I kind of look like her.  I asked her, "Really?"  She replied, "Yeah mom, your skin is getting all wrinkly like hers."

Awesome. 

Thanks for that Sophie!! The joy of motherhood......

(I guess my years of perfectly bronzed skin is catching up with me???)

Pinkalicous Party for Sophie

Sophie turned 5 last week and she got to have her very first friend birthday party.  It was really fun and we decided to call it a "Pinkalicious" party.  The book Pinkalicious is one of Sophie's all-time favorites--a story about a girl who despite her parent's refusal, eats too many pink cupcakes and actually turns pink. (I love reading this with her.  She squeals with delight every time).

Last year for Lauren's 9th birthday, we did a similar party theme.  I made aprons for all 11 of her friends and although it was really fun, it was a lot of work for me.  So much work that I vowed I would never do that again, but low and behold, I found myself trying not to curse on my sewing machine doing the exact same thing this year for Sophie's party!!  This time however, was much easier.


We started the party with Lauren reading the story to the girls.

We played a little freeze dance and then "Pin the Cupcake on Sophie."  I had a photo of her blown up at Staples and the kids took turns sticking the cupcake on Sophie's mouth.  It was really fun.

Then it was time to decorate cupcakes...well okay, this year I simplified and had the girls decorate sugar cookies instead of jumbo cupcakes.  They loved it and the cookies all turned out so cute.

What girl party is complete without a little face painting?

It was a really fun party.  The stress level was low...probably because only 4 friends showed up...so much for RSVPs.  Sophie loved every second of it and she felt like a princess, so mission accomplished.  Lauren was a life saver and she was there every step of the way to make sure that the girls were having fun.

Overall, it was Pinkalicious Perfection.  Happy Birthday Sophie!!! xoxo

4-Year-Olds Tell It Like It Is

I have always been fairly particular about my hair.  This is not to say that I have not had my share of bad haircuts and let's be honest, bad hair colors...most notably grades 8th-10th. (Thank you again Marisa for experimenting with "sun-kissed highlights" and learning that Hydrogen Peroxide is not the same stuff the professionals use. Ouch!)

No, I will not post pictures...

Since we moved to Colorado, I have had two bad haircuts and two bad hair colors. It is not too obvious to other people, but something has just been wrong and I am going crazy.  I don't feel myself and in an attempt to stop obsessing, I am dealing with it and trying to tell myself no one else can see what I am freaking out about. 

We are going to Utah in a few weeks for Thanksgiving, so I decided that rather than attempt another local stylist failure, I was just going to wait it out and let the Utah stylists aka "Hair Magicians" fix it when we go home.  However, truth be told, my color is terrible and in certain lighting, there is a hazy red tone, but no one can see it right???

Well this morning, Sophie drew this picture of me....  Her finishing touch was a nice red halo around my head.  I asked her what that was and she quickly responded, "It's your hair mommy.  It's black and red." 

Wow.

It goes without saying that I just returned from the salon and although it is not perfect, at least the red halo is gone.  Thank you Sophie!!

Preschool for Sophie

Today was the day! Sophie has been begging us to put her in preschool since the day should could talk. We found a darling preschool here in Broomfield and despite being on the wait list, we got in. Romney and I had heard great things about this school and a few months ago when we were here looking for a place to live, we were caught peeking in the windows of this school and after getting an impromptu tour, we knew that it would be the perfect environment for our Sophie.

Sophie has been my little buddy.  She goes with me everywhere I go.  It doesn't matter where I am going, she wants to be with me.  Even if I try to sneak away and run a quick errand, she can always hear that garage door opening and she comes running out to join me.  I am going to miss that.

I guess it is time for her to make new buddies...