Tot Time - a year in review

Elyse's final day of Tot Time was Monday. On Wednesday they had a year end picnic for all the family's at Tot Time. Elyse had a great year at Tot Time. Not only did she learn a lot but she had a lot of fun too! Here are a few of my favorite pics from the year.

Here she is on the first day of preschool with her teacher Mrs. Monhollen.

I had to help in the classroom twice each semester and on those days - Elyse was the special helper and got to bring something for show and tell. Here she is getting ready to do the calendar at the beginning of class time on her first day as special helper.

And of course the first thing she chose to bring for show and tell . . .soccer blankie and kitty!

They had music about once a month at Tot Time. Elyse loved music days. She loves to sing!! They did a really cute Christmas program and we laughed so hard because we could hear Elyse over all the other kids! I thought it was just us being able to pick her voice out until Mrs. Monhollen came up to us afterwards saying that she thought we had a singer on our hands! Mrs. Monhollen chose Elyse to be the sun in the program because of her "sunny" personality. She did a great job as the sun - moving down the line as they sang a song about melting snowmen. It was a really cute program and I'm so glad that we have it on video. Here are a couple of pics from the program.

What would a kids Christmas program be without them singing Away in a Manger?!?

The second time that Elyse was the special helper she chose to bring a lump of coal for show and tell! I know that sounds odd - but we had just been on the North Pole Express the day before and she got a lump of coal from the conductor of the train - which apparently she thought was show and tell worthy! Show and tell time #3 - she decided to take her kitty keyboard that she got for Christmas. She even took the microphone that is hooked up to the keyboard and sang a song for the whole class - it was so cute!! Here she is with the kitty keyboard at show and tell time.

They did various field trips throughout the year: Teusinks Farm, the fire station, Meijer, roller-skating on-site, gymnastics, dance, etc. Here are a couple of pics from the gymnastics field trip. Here she is getting ready to jump into the pit.

Here she is jumping along the trampoline. I love this pic with her hair going straight up in the air and her tongue sticking out!

Last day to be special helper. Here she is being the calendar girl.

Field trip to Miss Jodi's dance. They had so much fun this day!!!

Their last field trip was to Dutch Village. Of course her favorite part was riding the swings and the carousel.

Here she is with Mrs. Monhollen at the picnic.

She had a great teacher and a great year at Tot Time. I was a little sad to think that her year of preschool was already done. Where did the time go? But I am excited for her as she looks forward to going to Lakewood School next year. She is really excited to start kindergarten and of course - to ride the bus! I am excited to continue to watch her learn and grow in school. For now - we will enjoy the freedom that summer brings and as excited as she is about the fall - I hope it doesn't come too quickly!

29 lbs of all boy!

Well - evidently I need some help with this blogging thing - as I had typed up what I wanted to say and then went to add pics at the end of my post and they put them at the beginning of my post and I can't seem to figure out how to move them? So - we will start with pics from Andrew's birthday party on Saturday. It was a construction theme and all of the kids got to decorate their own construction hat. Here is Andrew showing off his hat.


The cake was delicious - but Andrew was just interested in playing with the diggers that were on top of the cake.

A picture of the cake before it was cut.

What a good boy - he even reads the cards!!

Playing with his new ride on digger.

Andrew and Christopher check out the ride on digger while it is still in the box.

Andrew looks at his new tractor book.

And this is how my post was supposed to start:

My little boy turned 2 yesterday - where did the time go? He is full of energy these days and definately all boy!! He weighed in at 29 lbs at his check up - I thought he was getting heavy to carry around. His check up was an adventure - he basically cried almost the whole time. He didn't want to stand on the scale so I had to stand on the scale by myself and then pick him up - and they figured out the difference. He calmed down a little bit once we were actually in the exam room - but then I had to undress him and he screamed like it was torture! The nurse practitioner walked in and I just said - We are so happy to be here! She was so patient with him, as I'm sure he is not the only 2 year old to cry during the whole visit (by the way - Elyse never cried - except when she got shots). Andrew was happy to get dressed again and go see the "fishes" in the waiting room. He is right on track with everything. He is talking like crazy these days - usually about diggers, dump trucks, firetrucks - you get the picture. He kind of says his ABC's - he gets up to L, M, N, O and then kind of gets lost after that but picks back up when you start singing "now I know my ABC's". It's pretty cute to hear him sing. He counts - but not always in order. He loves to climb on just about anything and if he can't quite get to where he wants to be - he is very resourceful - usually heading to the bathroom to get the step stool to help him reach whatever it is he is trying to get at (hum - chocolate chip cookies cooling on the counter maybe?). He has also tried to use the handles on the drawers in the kitchen to climb to reach something on the counter. I'm waiting for my first trip to the emergency room with him - as I know at some point - it will happen. Although several months ago he did manage to fall down our entire flight of stairs for the second time (he was 9 months old the first time that he tried this) without even a scratch and as Jeff got to the bottom of the stairs - Andrew was already trying to crawl back up. The fact that he was crying and crawling back up the stairs told me that he was just fine - he just needed some cuddles from mom and he was off again. He is a busy boy but he does love to give hugs and if you are laying on the floor - he will quickly come over and lay on top of you and give you a big hug!!! I love those big hugs!!! It's also fun to see him and Elyse interacting more as he gets older. I guess they are typical siblings - as they can play so good together sometimes and other times they just fight over toys. Elyse used to be able to "boss him around" but not anymore - he can hold his own!

They are both growing up so fast - I try to cherish each stage (well, maybe not the toddler temper tantrums) and soak it all in - because time flies when you're having fun!!

to blog or not to blog . . .

So - I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while now. Today I finally sat down to create my blog. I titled my blog Robin's Reflections - as I hope to use this as a type of journal for myself. I intend to use my blog to post my reflections on life as a wife, mother, friend, follower of Jesus etc. and therefore be able to look back on where I've been and where God has brought me to today. Of course - I could so this the old-fashioned way and buy a journal for myself and write down my reflections but I hate my hand-writing and typing on the computer is much more enjoyable for me. Plus - this way I get to include pictures! Thanks for reading my first post.