Ciao Italy

Elizabeth has had a wonderful opportunity to spend the last 3 weeks in Rome studying Italian and Opera. Today she travels home. I can't wait to hear all about her trip, and hopefully I will have more pictures to post soon. For now, here is her group she traveled with (other Duquesne voice students) in front of the Opera house in Rome.

Kindergarten Orientation

Last week we went to the "Big Kid School" for Kindergarten orientation. The kids were supposed to wear the name tag they were mailed, and make one for their favorite stuffed animal. Of course, we had to take Wa-Wa instead of just any old stuffed animal. After all, she is part of the family.

I have had mixed emotions about Michelle going to kindergarten. Let's face it - most mom's have mixed emotions. But with Michelle, I've had to approach this from a different angle than I did with my other kids. She has a September birthday, and the cut off is the last day of September. So, that means, she will be one of the youngest in the class. And, we just haven't had the whole 5 years like most kids have with mom. Don't get me wrong, I love all my kids, but I was kind of happy about sending the other's off to school. However with Michelle, I have questioned this decision over and over, mostly because I just feel like she needs a little more time to just be little.

There were several things that helped me make the decision to go ahead and send her next year. First, she is so ready - she loves learning, she is so excited to be there, and she is excited to be a "big kid". Secondly, it's only a half day. Our school is one of the few in our district that still goes half day, so I thought, at least we will still have that half day together. And lastly, she will do her speech therapy at the school, so it made is a little easier to go ahead and send her next year.

When it was time for the kids to leave, they called the orange teddy bears first. Michelle had to wait until they called the yellow teddy bears, and when they did she jumped up, ran to the line and then turned around to say , "Bye Mommy!" No fear, no hesitation on her part. She was ready!

After the kids left, the principal got up to make a big announcement. Next year, our school is most likely slated to go to full day Kindergarten. I was the ONLY mom in the room that didn't let out a cheer! I live in a very, very, very fast paced city. Everyone has to be first, everyone is in a hurry, everyone here is an overachiever. I just wanted my daughter to be little for one more year, to get just a little more time. I was not a happy camper.

So, while I still think she will go to kindergarten next year, my heart is a bit more heavy. I am sad to loose this last year of time with her. Nothing will be for sure until the school board hearing at the end of the month, and I am probably the only mom in our county who hopes the budget is not passed, or at least amended to just keep our school at half day kindergarten.

Sigh!




Doesn't she look like a big girl? (sniff, sniff, .... sigh!)


Not the best picture ever, but I will say this - she was very excited, had a great time, and can't wait to go to "Josh's school" next year. Myself, on the other hand, I can wait.

Looks like the Tooth Fairy is coming over tonight!

Michelle lost her first tooth this morning! She has been wiggling the 2 front bottom teeth for a couple of weeks. It was the least traumatic first tooth loss we have ever had in the Cole family. It just sort of fell out! She is pretty sure the tooth fairy will bring her 4$ since she is 4 years old. And then she has informed me we need to go to Target so she can spend her money.

It's fun having a little person in the house!

Easter Memories

We had a nice weekend. Bill took Josh and Michelle to Ft. Belvoir for an Easter egg hunt with our little friend Luke. There were a LOT of kids there. I mean, from the look of the pictures, every BRAT in Virginia showed up to hunt eggs! Bill said it was literally over in just a couple of minutes. But the kids had fun, and that's what matters.

Michelle at the starting line - ready for action! Go get those eggs, girl!

I think she found 2. Josh found 2. Luke (who was in a younger category) found 10, then his Daddy made him quit. Luke was kind enough to share the "loot" with Michelle. Our weekend was cool and a little rainy, but Saturday afternoon the sun came out and Easter day was beautiful!

I LOVE that my big kids still like to dye Easter eggs. They will tell you it's just to help out the little kids, but I can see they secretely let those creative juices flow and have fun.

Michelle was a little confused when I told her we were going to dye Easter eggs. That word "dye" was new to her, at least used in that way. After a few minutes, she finally made the connection. She told me she knew why the eggs were going to "dye" - because Jesus "died" on the cross for our sins, so we were going to "dye" the eggs. I guess 4 year old theology isn't always spot on, but at least she is trying to make the connection. She loved reading the true story of Easter, and she understood that Jesus loves her very much!
The Easter Bunny brought lots of candy, and here was the best part - the Pretty, Pretty Princess Game for our pretty, pretty princess. If you have never played this game, you need to find a 4 year old girl, grab the game and play! It is SO...MUCH...FUN!

A little over 4 years ago, when we decided we were going to have another girl, I started dreaming of the day we could play Pretty, Pretty Princess. Elizabeth loved this game when she was little, and Michelle now loves it too! Candy is fun, but there's something very special about fake jewelry and crowns!

We had a great day at church and then went out to eat our Easter lunch at PF Changs. Not the traditional Easter dinner, but our family loves it, and well, it is the Year of the Rabbit!

I hope the hope and joy of the Resurrection lives in each of your hearts throughout this coming year!

Leaving the Brats at home!

A couple of weeks ago, my mom came to visit for my birthday, and she watched our kids while Bill and I had a wonderful 4 day weekend in Chicago. Alone. Did I mention with no kids? 4 days of uninterrupted conversations. 4 days of grown up fun, not kid fun. Yea, it was wonderful. Don't get me wrong - I love my kids, and I love being their mom. But I love this wonderful man I share my life with, and it was really nice to relax and reconnect!

We went to Chicago because neither of us had ever visited, and I LOVE the radio show "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me". It's a PBS news/game show, and I download it every week on my Ipod. It was fun to get tickets and see them tape it live. We also went to see an Off-Broadway Show called "Working". O On Friday night, after the show, we went to the top of the John Hancock Tower for some late night drinks. We NEVER stay out past midnight, because it's not worth paying for it the next morning when we have to wake up early with the kids. So, this was a treat for us. The Skylight Lounge was on the 96th floor, so we had a beautiful view of the city lights. On Saturday we did some sight seeing and went to a White Sox Game. I actually like baseball, so it was a fun outing for us. But it was chilly, and we were ready to be inside by about the 5th inning. I feel silly, but I can't figure out how to turn this picture so it's vertical. But it's too cute not to include, so just turn your head. On the trolley tour! Millenium Park Maybe we can get away again soon! Sigh - well, at least a girl can dream.

Sugar Chickens

Yesterday Michelle asked me if she could have a "sugar chicken". For the life of me, I could not imagine what she wanted. I knew we were having chicken in the crockpot later that evening for dinner. I couldn't believe she could actually detect that smell, and there was certainly no sugar added to the sauce I had used to cook the chicken.




Then it dawned on me - it's almost Easter, so she must mean...

...PEEPS!

She loves those little colored sugar chickens!

Wedding Day!

This past weekend, my father-in-law married a lovely lady. It was a nice day, and fun to see our family participate in the ceremony.

Michelle was the flower girl. She wore a dress my mom had made years ago when Lizzy was this age/size, for my brother's wedding. She loved wearing her pretty dress and took her duties seriously. She walked up the aisle, picked up a huge handful of flowers, dumped them right at her "Bumpa's" feet, then sat down. It was very cute!

Bill Jr. provided the music for the prelude. He played 3 Spanish pieces on his classical guitar, and it was a very nice addition to the ceremony.

Lizzy sang a very pretty song and I played piano for her. It was a nice way for our family to play a small part in the ceremony. Josh did not have a direct role, but he enjoyed himself at the wedding. Pat, my father-in-laws new wife, also has a grandson named Josh. He is 6 days younger than our Josh, and they are like 2 peas in a pod. Double trouble!

We wish Bumpa and Miss Pat many years of happiness!