school pictures are awesome!

i get to chaperone the bean's class for their first field trip of the year.  and it's a fun one, too - a visit to knott's berry farm.  i'm sure we'll go through all of the ghost town areas and ride the train and the blacksmith's shop and maybe even the replica of independence hall, which totally makes it an educational trip.

oh, and here's her official 4th grade school portrait:

gotta love those school photographers, man.  it's not like you couldn't take one look at her and gently suggest that she fix the placement of that headband, or maybe have her smooth down the little bump of hair at the very top.  it's a good thing she's cute.

that's all i got for today.  i'm sure i'll have lots to report tomorrow, though.  i actually have something super fun to recap from last week, too.

you're excited.  i know it.

my favorite kind of awards show

2nd trimester report cards were posted online a couple of weeks ago.  man, gone are the days when you'd take home that envelope with the report card printed on yellow cardstock folded in half, where the teacher would painstakingly handwrite all of the grades and comments on each student's card.  we'd have to take it home, show it to our parents, have them sign it and return it within a few days to prove that they'd seen it.  even the old lady's report cards were printed out and mailed home.  technology, man.

anyway, since i'd already seen her grades i knew i'd get the email the following week telling me that she was going to be a recipient at the awards assembly.  they always notify parents so that they can make arrangements to be there if they're able to, which is nice.  and it just so happened that the hub's schedule, which seemingly changes every hour, allowed him to slide in towards the end.  this worked out perfectly, because for some reason they decided to do things in some odd order - they started with the oldest kids (5th graders for this assembly) and worked their way down.

she gave me the biggest grin when she came in with her class and saw me sitting in the second row.

i was pretty proud of myself for getting it right this time, because i usually pick the wrong side to sit on.  and even better, the teacher was standing on the opposite end which meant that i'd get a great picture of my kid since she's always the last one called.  you know how it goes when your last name is at the end of the alphabet.

except that of course, i was wrong.  the teacher decided to switch things up and called them up in reverse alphabetical order.  GAH.

that's okay though.  it didn't make the award any less awesome - principal's list two trimesters in a row!  all that hard work and pushing and homework and grumbling and groaning paid off.  she was pretty darn proud of herself when the assembly was over and we were able to go and give her a great big hug.

and isn't everything even better when you're with your friends?

super proud of these girls and their hard work.  and it's so hard to believe that the year is so close to being over.  seems like the first day of school wasn't all that long ago.

and now i need to start planning out summer.  yikes.

first things first, she's the realest

it's crazy that we've now had three first days of school with the bean.  i mean, didn't i just give birth to her?

okay, so maybe it's been almost seven years.  but still...as cliché as it sounds, time really does fly by when you're having fun.  if you blink, you damn near miss it, and then before you know it:

after a long summer of lax bedtimes and easy schedules, waking up for the big day was the toughest part.

but the excitement of the first day and seeing all of her friends got to her, and in no time my little first grader was up and ready to go get 'em.

it was really cute when she walked up and we heard little voices squeal "BEAN!!  bean's here!" and then we were ambushed by a group of excited first graders, all hugging and pointing out new backpacks and shoes and things.  one dad remarked "i just want you to know, your daughter's a total celebrity.  they all saw her from across the playground and - well, you saw what happened."  heh.

then it was time.  the bell rang, they all scrambled to get in line, parents snapped a bazillion pictures, a few had to peel their kids away from themselves.  not mine, of course.  she was ready.  having had her teacher for summer school had also helped her be ready for this.

while she got her learning on, the teen and i ran errands, stopping at party city to pick up a little first day surprise for her sister.

they were very well received.

and one more before the uniform came off:

my baby.  she's growing up too darn fast.

mini spartan-in-training

the bean's annual jogathon fundraiser at school was a smashing success.  the organizers made a lot of changes both to how they handled the actual fundraising in the weeks prior to the big day, and i think the kids really had a great time with it.  they created a fictional treasure hunt, filmed lots of videos that they got to watch at weekly assemblies, and they could earn more clues as they raised more money.  plus, instead of running in boring circles around a track like before, they'd created a course with a handful of obstacles for the kids to conquer as many times as they could in 30 minutes.

as with previous years, the actual jogathon was at a local high school campus.  the bean was super excited for it when the day finally arrived.

the teen and i had signed up for a shift at the activity her class was assigned - a "frozen"-themed jumper.

but because we'd timed it to coincide with when the kindergarteners and first graders were slated to do their thing out on the course, there was almost zero interest in it.  this gave me the chance to run over to the course and watch the bean go through the obstacles.

after a short dash from the start line, there were tires to run through.

next up, a low belly crawl.

her gymnastics training kicked in for the trek across a balance beam.

then there was this rope maze thingy to crawl under and climb over.

about fifty yards beyond that, they were to hop on one foot ten times on each side.

then another little run around a backstop towards the jump roping area.  this is where it got hairy, with all those kids whipping those ropes around as they jumped ten times and then flung them back as they continued on.

there was a second rope maze thingy to get through.

and then their version of a "color run" - volunteers armed with squirt bottles full of colored water sprayed them down as they scampered past.

 yay!  the finish line!

perfect time for a water break.

i don't know how many times she went around, but she worked her little butt off and did quite a few laps.  she was good and sweaty by the time their wave was over, and totally earned herself a snow cone.

meanwhile, the teen and i did our best managing the hordes of kids that eventually descended upon us.  the ticket box finally got some use.

while the bean didn't end up winning the grand prize - a trip for four to the bahamas - one of the girls in her class did.  out of the whole school of K-8th graders, that's pretty darn good.  she did manage to earn herself a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and a day off from school.

we're already planning on hitting disneyland that day.  i mean, we might as well make the most out of an unexpected free day, amirite?

school daze

so yeah, it's actually been a couple of weeks now since the bean's very first day of school in her transitional kindergarten class.  and because we've been so busy with all sorts of other fun stuff, i thought maybe i'd just skip sharing the pictures of that super important day.

but who am i kidding?  of course i have to post 'em - memories like these are exactly why i started this blog to begin with.  i've been perusing old posts from two and three and five (!!) years ago, and the walk down memory lane has been really fun.  and in a handful of years when she's going through her own elementary school promotion ceremony like her sister before her, she'll get a kick out of seeing this kind of stuff.

because the bean has always had a relatively late bedtime in the past, i'd been actively working on pushing it up further and further as this day loomed near.  and we're finally in a nice routine on school nights:  dinner by 7:30, shower at 8, unwinding and relaxing and then in bed by 9.  i know that's still on the late-ish side, but it's working for us.

on that morning, as she munched on some eggs for breakfast, i got her lunch ready.  it is so weird to be doing this again - the teen hasn't had a lunch box in forever.

knowing that the first day of school is always a major cluster at any school, we made sure to leave nice and early.  like the majority of parents there, i had my camera in hand.  since she's not old enough yet to realize that this is supposed to be embarrassing as all hell, she was all too willing to let me take as many pictures as i wanted.

we played a round of tetherball before i encouraged her to head over to the playground and make some friends.

it didn't take long.

although when they headed over to join in the game of tag that a bunch of other kids were playing, she let go of her new friend's hand and hung back to watch.  that endearing gesture of tugging on her earlobe told me she was feeling a little out of her element.

when the bell rang, she froze into place as instructed.  and then when the playground attendants blew the whistle, signaling that it was time to get in line with their classes, she followed the other kids and found her place.

i blew her a kiss and found a spot in the back with the other parents, and watched her as she stood quietly and listened to the attendants as they introduced themselves and gave them some basic instructions about how their mornings would go.  i waved at her as she turned around, and although she  looked a little concerned when she didn't see me right away, worry turned to relief as she realized that i was still there.

then it was her turn to wave happily at me as she and her classmates followed their teacher into the building, off to start their day and learn some stuff.

as for me, i joined the cluster of folks who were heading over to the parents' breakfast.  and apparently, there have been lots of tears shed over the years on that first day.  look, there were tears of joy packets!

the school principal came in to greet everyone and answer questions.  he, uh, also read us a story.  yup.

i'm not gonna lie - i'd been dreading this day for weeks.  preschool was easy - three hours a day, three times a week.  just enough time to get some stuff done and have some me time, and then spending the rest of the day together doing whatever we wanted.  but all of a sudden, i was facing six hours a day, every weekday, with just me.  and the dog.  now, you'd think this was fabulous - more time to myself, right?  and i'll admit that i was already planning ahead, scooping up groupon deals for yoga and barre classes to do while both girls were in school.  but i missed her.  sigh.

and so when q&a time was over, leaving me free for the next five hours, what did i do?  well, i'll tell you:  i took myself out to breakfast.

i managed to kill an hour, enjoying a leisurely meal all by myself, looking at the photos i'd taken and mulling over what else i could do until it was time to pick her up.  and i found myself in the old routine i'd been in during those preschool hours - only this time, i didn't have to stress over getting everything done before 11:30.

when it was finally time, i headed back to school rather eagerly - and not exactly alone.  i'd picked up a cute little toy and put it in her seat so that she'd find him when she opened the car door.

it was fun to watch her delighted expression when the door opened and i was the first thing she saw.

and of course, she was really excited to find my little surprise.

mah baby!  oh, how the time has flown by.  and it only gets faster and faster from here on out.