Hot Air Balloon

We were up close and personal with the Re/Max hot air balloon today!
A few months ago one was supposed to come to Hannah's school but it rained and they had to postpone the visit. Today Haylee and I took Hannah to school so I could finish up some work for an end of the year gift. We found out the balloon was there so we stayed around until it was Hannah's classes turn to go outside to see it. It really is quite a sight! I've never been so close to one before....they are HUGE! The balloon is 7 stories tall! They had it tethered very well but sometimes the wind would kick up just a bit and the balloon would lean like it was going to come down on the kids and they would all start screaming. And I didn't realize how loud the burner system is. Evidently some of the kindergarteners were too afraid of the sound and wouldn't come outside.
Hannah and Haylee really got a kick of it...especially when I told them their daddy has taken a ride in one before! That made it extra cool! =}

Water, water, everywhere...

Our past few days have been full of fun water activities! Last week a friend from Haylee's preschool invited us over for a pool party. They have a lovely pool in their backyard, plus they brought in a really cool water slide! Haylee had a lot of fun splashing around with her friends!

Haylee and Jacalyn playing on the water slide

Haylee relaxing on the slide... tee hee

Haylee and Madison playing in the jacuzzi

After that it was Splash Day at preschool. The last day of school is nothing but fun for the kids! We have 2 water slides and some baby pools with toys. We also have lunch brought in from Chick-fil-a. It's such a fun day! Some of you may remember what happened last year...not so fun. This year we had no problems! =} Here are a few pictures from Splash Day...

the water slides we had for the kids

Haylee at the top of the slide

Haylee and Megan hanging out in a baby pool

Haylee making a "splash"

This weekend the girls so badly wanted to go to our neighborhood pool. I have a weird thing about our pool...I won't go on weekends or evenings. I know, I'm a bad mom! I just don't like to go down there when it's crowded! It's too stressful for me to try to keep an eye on the girls when there are so many people around. I like to go during the day, around 10:30 or 11am. Hardly anyone is ever there! So, they wanted to go down this weekend....Memorial Day, to be exact. No Thank You! There wasn't a spot to be had in the parking lot. So I talked them into playing in the sprinklers in the backyard. Here they are...

waiting for me to get the sprinklers going... isn't this big round towel cool? I just picked it up at a garage sale and I LOVE it!

the girls running through the sprinklers... Elmo wasn't working properly but they still had fun

And finally, today Haylee hosted an "End of the Year" pool party for all of her classmates! We invited everyone over to the pool. Everyone brought their own lunches and we were there for hours. So much fun! We got there at 10:30 and guess what... we had the place to ourselves!! Haylee loved having her friends there, playing and being silly. Unfortunately, her preschool class will be divided amongst at least 4 different elementary schools so she'll only have a few at her new school. But we're going to try to get another pool party together about a week before "big girl" school starts so they can see each other again.

Megan and Haylee, ready for the fun to begin!

most of the group...that is Jakey jumping in on the right

playing in the baby pool area

eating their lunches together

So much fun in the water! We love it!

2 Graduations...

Last night Haylee graduated from preschool!

I can't believe how quickly time has passed! It was an exciting night as she sang in the program and then even donned the cap and gown for the "graduation" ceremony!

our little scholar

her graduating class just after getting their caps and gowns on and the teachers mugging behind them

hugging Miss Yanel...she is a great teacher and Haylee will definitely miss her!

"Gramma Kitty" (Gina Cook) came to cheer Haylee on (Haylee's tiara says "princess grad"...so cute!)

Hannah also had a graduation of sorts this morning! She graduated from level 1 Spanish! She is so lucky that she gets to take Spanish in 1st grade! I had to wait until highschool! Her Spanish class is every Wednesday morning and today was the last day. They invited parents to come in and see what the students were learning. Haylee and I went in to observe and I was impressed! The teachers are very good and the kids really have fun! Here are a few photos from this morning:

Hannah and her class reviewing what they have learned this year

Hannah and her Spanish teacher....each student received a certificate and a "goody bag"

Also, good news!!! Hannah's school has just gone from "recognized"(meets 75% standard for each subject) to "exemplary" (meets 90% standard for each subject). One of the goals of the principal was to take the school from Good to Great...and she and the staff at E.P. Rayzor have done it!

Just about 2 weeks left of school for Hannah! Summer, here we come!

Fun Run & Field Day

It was the 2nd Annual Boosterthon Fun Run and Field Day today! Thanks to generous friends and family, Hannah raised over $230 for her school. She ran 34 laps... a little over 2 miles! Not only is it a fundraiser for the school but the students have a lot of fun participating! The theme this year is DREAM BIG! Each day the Fun Run team teaches the students about a different value:

Diligence
Responsibility
Enthusiasm
Appreciation
Make a difference

She was really excited to participate and Haylee and I went to cheer her on!

Hannah and her friend, Emily, before the run (notice the lovely sweat band with a built in watch that Hannah is sporting...one of the things Hannah earned as she turned in pledges)

the 1st graders and 5th graders doing the "DREAM BIG" cheer before the run

Hannah and Veronica running for the big bucks

Hannah getting her tally marks on her back...
each time they run a lap they stop and get a mark on their back to keep track of how many laps they complete

After the Fun Run they had field day. There were a lot of fun games for the kids to play. One of the games didn't last very long so Miss Jones decided to take Hannah's group on in a race. What a fun teacher!!

"ready....set.... GO!"

Here are a few other Field Day activities....

trike races

sponge races...soak up water, run to another bucket, squeeze it out, run back...see who can fill up the bucket first

picking up marbles with your toes and putting them in a upside-down floating frisbee... see which team can sink their frisbee first (Haylee is getting a birds eye view of this for next year)

beach bum relay...dress up in hawaiian shirt, life preserver, towel, goggles and pail, run down and back, etc.

There are so many great staff members at Hannah's school...here is Hannah posing with 2 of her favorites:

Mr. Jones (P.E. teacher), Hannah and Dr. Tolin (music teacher)

Hannah has 2 class pets...Haylee insisted I take a few pictures:

"spiderman"... the class named him... so original!

"webster"

(Miss Jones told me she took these little fellas home with her when they closed the school due to swine flu...evidently her classroom is kept a little cooler than her home because she said they were quite active at her house, climbing the walls, etc. I told her I would have put everything but the kitchen sink on top of those flimsy plastic bins they are in!!! YUCK!)

Haylee and I really enjoyed spending the morning at Hannah's school with her! I can't believe there are less than 3 weeks left!

Ice Skating with the Girl Scouts

Last weekend Hannah's Girl Scout troop went ice skating!

here are the girls with their skates

Hannah has never been ice skating and she was so excited! We drove up to Frisco to meet the troop. They had a mini lesson (off the ice) on how to fall, how to get up if you fall, etc. Then off they went! They all did well! Hannah only fell a few times!

here's one of those times

The lesson lasted 1/2 an hour and then the girls could stay for "public skate" if they wanted to. Hannah would have stayed the whole time if I let her! She had so much fun, even when she was falling. She never complained, never whined, just got right back up and kept going with a smile on her face!

Hannah, the instructor and Elizabeth

I actually put on a pair of skates and joined her during the public skate time. Haylee wasn't sure if she wanted to be out there but in the ended decided that she'd stay with Lisa (the troop leader) and watch us from the side lines. It was a lot of fun but man, my ankles were sore from the skates! I was proud of Hannah! She's quite a trooper!

Go, girl, go!

Let's go to the hop (oh baby)....

Hannah and her friend, Veronica

Hannah's school had a Sock Hop on Friday and I took the girls. The Sock Hop chairperson, Heather G., did a fabulous job putting it together! The school gym was converted into a giant dance floor with Heather leading the craziness! Hannah and her friend, Veronica, doing the Twist

There was also a limbo contest in between dances...

how low can ya go...

The lunch room had food, a fake injury station manned by Nurse Becky,

this was actually fairly realistic looking...after the Sock Hop a few people thought Hannah had really hurt herself!

an area to make a craft and a "soda shop" manned by the teachers.

some of Hannah's classmates and their favorite teacher, Miss Jones!

Outside there was a hula hoop contest,

Hannah, hula-ing her heart out

musical chairs, bounce houses, a jail (where you could pay to have someone "arrested") and a bubble gum blowing contest which the girls and I worked for the first half an hour.

There was even a sighting or two of Elvis!

We all had a great time! Remember, at the beginning of this post when I said I took the "girls"? Haylee was there also...she just clung to my leg almost the entire time. I think the crowds were just too much for the poor thing! But if you ask her if she had fun, she'd say "YES!" in a heartbeat!

The Petting Zoo at preschool

The petting zoo came to preschool this week! Cathy's Critters comes each year with her menagerie and the kids love it! She brings guinea pigs, ducklings, chicks, baby pigs, bunnies, goats, a llama and a pony. Those poor little animals are man-handled by the children for a few hours but they don't seem to mind. Haylee isn't too keen on the animals if you'll remember back to this experience. But she'd pet something if someone else held it for her. Here are a few pictures from that day:

Haylee petting a baby bunny held by Miss Angela (Jakey's mom)

a baby chick stuck it's head in a food cup, getting every last bit...and don't adjust your monitor, those chicks ARE colored!

Little Aiden being greeted by a baby pig...they were so sweet, I wanted to take one those baby pigs home!

Haylee petting a little guinea pig that Miss Jamie was holding...Miss Jamie would have taken it home if Cathy would have let her!

bravely petting a goat!

Madison feeding "Magic" the llama...he would take the cup right out of your hand, tip it up and eat everything in it!

riding the pony "Sedona" while Miss Cathy leads them around

Also, poor Miss Cathy lost a duck during our visit. No, not due to being loved on too much by the children, but it flew away! She said that was the first time it had ever happened! Normally her ducks are of the pekin breed and too heavy to fly, but this was a cross between pekin and mallard. It didn't seem to have too much trouble taking off.

So much fun having the animals come and visit! Can't wait until next year!