New blogs coming...

We have been slacking on the blog for the last few years due to the convenience of Facebook, but I am going to get back into the swing of things soon!

Skyler's Graduation!

Friday, May 29th, 2009 and Skyler is now officially a 1st grader! We all piled in the auditorium to watch all 4 kindergarten classes perform. My favorite was the class that sang "1st grade, 1st grade" to the tune of "New York, New York!" Very funny! They even had a little Rockettes line of kicks! Skyler's class was last, and they went up holding letters that spelled Kindergarten Stars (since mommy was a teacher helper I can proudly say I made the S T A R and S!). There letter each stood for a statment about Kindergarten. Then they were called up to get a diploma. Skyler loved her teacher Mrs Ulrich, she was wonderful and I loved working with her every week. After graduation we went back to the classroom to say good-byes, and then came home for a celebration lunch of diplomas and stars! :) We ended the evening with a traditional evening out to Friendlys for dinner, then a Sarasota Reds game with all her other schoolmates. All the kids were there and they got to run the bases when the game was over. What a fun day!

Our Big Project Part II

Finally we had a level floor and we started laying the tile. It took a few weeks of working on it in the evenings, but finally it was done!

Our Big Project

So after a successful run at tiling the bathroom, we decided to tackle the kitchen. The old tiles were cream colored, super shiny and super slippery, not to mention the grout that was old and dirty. It was horrible to keep clean and dangerous for us to walk on when it got wet. So I hacked at it one morning and found a lot were coming up in one piece, or breaking into just a few pieces. We had one minor injury, when Bryce decided to try and help by picking up a cut piece and cut his finger pretty good. He was brave and let us put the liquid bandage on, so he got to watch a movie and Chic-Fil-A.


Once that was all done, we had no tile but tons of old thinset to chip off the floor. A friend loaned us his chisel, and it was HARD work. We had a 2 inch bit that would literally "jackhammer" the thinset right off the floor, with tons of muscle behind it. This is the main reason we will NEVER retile a floor again.

"Run for the Sun" jog-a-thon

The last day before Spring Break Skyler's school had their annual jog-a-thon! It was a special day at school, and it was a beautiful day, overcast and windy. The Kindergarten and 1st grades ran first, at the 9:30 slot so I took Skyler to school that day so I could watch. All the classes had stations positioned around the track, where they would get a tally mark on the card on their back for each lap. The first lap was a walk lap, with Principal Crump leading the way. Then they were off!! Most of the kids ran the first few laps, and after a few of Skyler's laps Bryce joined in to run/walk with her! She was excited when they started handing out orange wedges and cups of water along the way. I didn't see her final count but I think she did 16 laps. When they were done, they gathered around their teacher Mrs Ulrich, and then walked to the courtyard where they all (even little brothers and sisters!) got Freezy Pops.

Kindergarten stars in...The morning meeting!

Every day Skyler's class has their morning meeting, with announcments, birthdays, etc. Once in a while their will be a school wide morning meeting, with one grade in charge of the program. All the parents that can attend show up, and wait to file into the auditorium (pic 1). The Kindergarten classes each took a section of the meeting, and Skyler's class took the birthday announcements. They lined up, and Mrs Ulrich asked Adam and Skyler to demonstrate a New Year greeting (pic 3), with your arms going up like fireworks, you lean to your neighbor and say, "Happy New Year!" They they all sang a special Happy Birthday song to all the birthdays that month. The last picture is Skyler's class after the meeting.

My dad retires...

After working as a pharmacist for 30 years, the Sweetbay my dad worked at closed, forcing him to retire. He was months away from it anyway, it was just sooner than he expected. So we gathered the family for a retirement party, to celebrate his first "retirement" from Eckerd, and then his retirment from Sweetbay. I made the cake split for that reason, and used big Tic Tacs for the pills, and cut Mike and Ike's in half for the colored pills. He was surprised when we all showed up, and everyone had brought gag gifts of hobby ideas.

Daddy-Daughter Banquet

So Suncoast Academy had their very first Daddy Daughter banquet on Feb 12. Skyler put on her very best dress, and daddy took her all dressed in a suit. They had a yummy dinner, dancing, and then a daddy-daughter dance to the song "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman. Skyler told me before she went out the door, "I can't believe I am going to dance with Daddy!" The 3rd picture is her friend best friend Trinity behind her, last picture is Skyler's 5th grade book buddy.

Family Pictures

Well we finally headed out to the beach for some family pictures Saturday. It was extremely bright, windy, and the kids kept running off between shots (hence the bird pictures). We are happy though with the end result. If you want to see the web album here is the link.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sixftsix/20081108?authkey=-4HhDAJRJPU#

Enjoy!

Skyler starts kindergarten

Well, the day I have been dreading for 5 1/2 years is finally here. I am sure its only the first of many milestones, but it starts with this one. Skyler was excited this morning with "Mommy, when do we go to school?" being the first thing out of her mouth. We got dressed, relaxed with oatmeal and a TV show, then it was time for a picture before we loaded in the car.
When we pulled in she was all smiles, and we made our way to her classroom. I got a little teary eyed, and noticed a few other parents as well. Some lingered longer, but I knew I needed to leave eventually so I decided on one more picture.
I went in, gave her a kiss, and asked if she was nervous or excited. She said excited, but the apprehension was on her face. I snapped a picture of her before waving bye and leaving, it was easy with her being in the first chair by the door. I went out in the hall and talked to Ryun, thinking, "I did it! I didn't loose it!" THEN.......I saw my friend Lisa, who had just dropped her daughter off for the first time at school.......and out came the tears! After a minute I had calmed down, and was ok. We went and had donuts and OJ at the "Boo-Hoo Breakfast", then we left. I have thought about her all day today, when she was having lunch (complete with "I Love you Skyler, Mommy" napkin), quiet time, playtime, and now as she rounds out the last hour of her day. She will get on a bus and I will be picking her up at 4:02, just around the corner. Then it will be dinner out at Friendly's, as per family tradition.

Water Day at church

Saturday was Water Day, where the kids get a last hurrah before school starts with lots of water slides, popcorn and snocones. It rained when we got there, but cleared up for the rest of the time until 10 minutes before it was supposed to be over. Then in the evening we all went to eat dinner and out to the beach. I showed the kids a sand crab and coquina shells that bury themselves in the sand. Then it was home to shower and go to bed.

Say Hello to Toby!

Meet the newest family member, Toby the kitten! He was brought over by the neighbor boy after his mom said he could not keep him. We immediately said yes! He told us her name was Misty, but further studying proved that she was a HE. The boy next door said he and his friends were walking near a "crack house", when someone threw kittens out the door. All the friends grabbed a kitten took it home. He is a sweetheart, playful as any kitty, but when he has had enough, he comes and plops down on my chest and rests his head under my chin. He loves being around us, and once when he thought everyone had left, I heard him let out little pitiful cries at the door. The kids love him, almost too much but luckily he is playful enough that he can take all of the attention. Since he does not have a collar yet Skyler has been nice enough to put a pony tail holder around his neck. She even changes the colors every now and then.