we swung by sonic for half-price drinks to help us cool down before going in for the preschool's open house. manning is an old pro by now and his teacher also had all three bigs (she remembers me pregnant with manning) so this was just a formality. it was a little weird to only have one room to visit though. love.
i seriously don't know how this bag of candy (aka paper bag piñata) has survived in our house since maddux brought it home from preschool in may! seriously! talk about self control.
but today was the day! we strung it up (in the newly cleaned basement) and let them go at it with a pool noodle light saber. (i wanted to try and give them each a swing before the bag fell apart.)
mason giving it the final blow!
this was pretty fun and would be a good rainy day activity - decorate a paper bag, throw in a handful of candy/small toys and let them swing away. love.
it is always a challenge to come up with a gift 2- and 3-year-olds can make in 15 minutes or so at church that might not be thrown right away. our mother's day gift was simple, but had too many pieces for all of the classes to get it done. so this is what we came up with for father's day. love.
so i wasn't able to get everyone together for a group shot, but here are pictures of everyone off to their last day of school.
once i had dropped the boys off (as early as humanly possible), i raced (as safely as possible) over to madelyn's school across town. the talent show started at 8:45 and preschool starts at 9am. thankfully, i knew that she was towards the end of the show.
the show was interesting. there was a lot of singing, piano and gymnastics and then some more unusual acts - math tricks, a president rap (by one of madelyn's friends who was hysterical) and drumming. and then it was time for madelyn:
she did a good job, but not as well as she did when she was practicing at home. holding the microphone limited her hand gestures and she raced through it. but the feedback from other parents and staff was great and she was thrilled with her performance.
but now it was time to race back over to get boys. here is manning with some of his preschool buds.
madelyn was disappointed that i wasn't staying for her field day, but a friend sent over this picture of the tug-a-war. she had a great time.
i didn't realize how blurry this picture was when i snapped it, but isn't it a cute good-bye to pre-k? the kids all wore the same colors of the rainbow which is what you can't really see in the pictures. love.
the boys and i were heading to the zoo and i had the idea to see if any of their friends from preschool wanted to join us. to my surprise, every single friend was available and we had a decent sized group!
it was a beautiful day and the kids were pretty excited to be there together. love.
the pre-k class does an around the world unit for the end of the school year. this picture of maddux' paper japanese doll was taken by his teacher. i just love the shot of his gelled hair. love.
since i spent the valentine's day parties with manning's class, i promised maddux that i would spend the easter party with him. it wasn't so much a "party" as a snack and an easter egg hunt. his teacher was saying that it fell so weird being on st. patrick's day. all of the kids were in green, but doing easter themed crafts.
the kids all had maddux' favorite donuts. these are pricy little donuts and most of the kids didn't even eat them! it was hurting the moms watching as almost every single child threw away both of their donuts - most without even tasting them. i intercepted maddux' and had them for my breakfast.
the kids were pretty excited about the egg hunt. the weather kept us indoors but they still took a little bit of time to come up with six each.
maddux was so excited to have me there. and i got to see him share his "show and tell."
madelyn might have suggested it, but he really did want to bring madelyn's 'tomb' craft. love.
manning's class had a "night hike" this week. the kids were all pretty excited - mainly because they could wear jammies all week. manning was only on board with the jammies on the first day. he is our one who gets dressed when we have a jammie day at home too.
they read books in their tent and then used flashlights to find nightlife (aka stuffed animals) and sit around a 'fire' in their story room. it was a huge hit!
the littles' valentine parties were on the same day at the same time and i signed up for games/activities in both classes. once the parties got started, i tried to figure out which room needed me the most - manning's.
the kids were super excited and so well behaved.
the kids played games around the room while a few at a time delivered their valentines. we brought one game that consisted of dropping 10 heart beads onto a felt target and counting how many landed on the target. we also brought a bunch of heart beads and pipe cleaners to make bracelets which was a big hit with the 3-year-olds.
as the party wound down in manning's class and they moved on to show and tell, i made my way over to maddux' class.
hot potato with a heart pillow.
the boys loved going through every single item in their bags.
maddux' favorite was this one from his teacher - "smartie pants."
so thankful to be able to help with their parties. love.
the boys have a lot of valentines to make, thankfully, they don't have to add the friends' names. they were more than happy to do it though! we were pretty pleased with the finished products. love.
so today manning woke up and got dressed in what is becoming his uniform - blue "elsa dress," yellow wings with hearts, yellow superhero mask and his olaf sweatshirt and hat. i told him that he couldn't wear dress-up clothes in the classroom because it would be distracting for the other kids. his teachers cracked up when we got there and he walked right in, removed all of his costume pieces and stuck them in his cubbie. his teachers commented about how confident he is. yes, he is. love.
for christmas i asked for a donut pan (picture a muffin pan but with donut shapes) and had yet to try the many recipes that prompted me to want a donut pan in the first place. today was the day.
i baked the donuts (sort of like old fashions), spread them with nutella and added sprinkles. they were a HUGE hit. i cut the kids off after three. it is a good thing that i did because we realized that maddux forgot to pick something for show and tell (he doesn't have it every day and he and manning are on different schedules - sometimes i lose track). guess what? it was "d" week! maddux was very excited to take a donut to his teacher for show and tell. love.
we were working on the preschool christmas gifts and i was expecting the boys to write their names. manning insisted that he could write everything - and he did!
i was pretty impressed; not only with his skill but with the patience to complete all three cards. these pictures just show one of the cards he wrote by copying from the notepad where i had written out what he wanted to write. love.
the church that runs the boys' preschool put on its annual "night in bethlehem." the kids love it and look forward to attending each year. the preschoolers get a sneak peek as the church is transformed (here is a picture of manning's class during their tour). i get to hear all about it in the days before it opens.
the weather this year (warm, sunny) was very different than last year (freezing, windy, rainy) and we were able to leave all of our coats in the car.
our crew listening to the 'prophets.' madelyn even got to hold the "isaiah scroll" until they asked for it.
maddux stayed in the safety of the building and the rest of us went out to see the petting animals - sheep, donkey, calf, llama, goats, chickens, bunnies and a rooster. manning wanted to touch them all. well, maybe he would reconsider the rooster...
we just love getting to imagine bethlehem each year. love.
the boys did awesome during their concert tonight! there were lots of "i love you" and waves for daddy. the kiddos were a lot less energetic for the evening performance (what preschool is at their best around bedtime?) but it was still a show. love.
