Mateo's 1st day of Kindergarten!!!

Wow! Wow! and again Wow! Do I really have a Kindergartener? Yup, today was living proof. Woke up, got ready for school, left, parked, walked him up, dropped him off, and he literally walked away, happy, not sad and a Kindergartener!! Was away for the longest day, from 8-3:30...picked him up and he was still smiling, and talking, and wired. Where was the little boy we expected to be beat, tired and maybe not wanting to go back? Still looking for him.

If you know Mateo, you know he can be a moody little dude. And you can NEVER predict what his mood will be like when he wakes up. Add to that, a little boy who clung onto me for the 1st month of preschool as a 3 year old, and cried the 1st few days as a 4 year old. I have been tearing myself up, dreading about and thinking about this day, and hoping it would go well. We have talked up Kindergarten like you wouldn't believe. He has talked about wanting to go back to his old school and not go to a new school. He wanted to go where his friends would be. We talked about how fun it would be, how cool it was gonna be to make new friends, how he was going to learn how to read and could read books to Marco pretty soon. At his new school the kids gather with their class outside the gates in the morning and walk in as a class. Parents are NOT allowed to go in with them to ease the transition. I have been thinking about this for weeks. They warned us at back to school night, walk away quickly, it will make things easier...really...uugghh!

Now fast forward to today. Last night we took baths early, picked out clothes, prepared his backpack and lunch box, got ready for bed and struggled to get to sleep. Finally, he slept! This morning, I so wanted him to wake up in a good mood...and YES, he was happy, slept good, and ready. We got dressed and had breakfast. Breakfast of champions - Fruit loops and "white" donuts. Yum! (if you remember we had white donuts on his birthday too, definitely a special occasion food). Daddy even stayed home today for the big day. We got ready, left for school, parked, walked him up, (not once, ok maybe one time kinda he mentioned not wanting to go but I think he was more doing it to get my reaction) passed him off to his teacher, he found a friend to talk with, and daddy and I were history. He never looked back. (And just a little note for me to remember, as we passed the high schoolers walking in, that is what brought tears to my eyes first, fast forwarding to that day....uggh...lol). Probably would have been in tears but wanted to spare him so he wouldn't want to turn back.

Fast forward to 3:30. Got to the school, lined up with our cards to pick him up. Saw him walk out of the gates with that look on his face to see if we were there but still smiling. Got to the front of the line, his teacher brought him up and said he had a great day. And he started talking and never stopped.

Went to dinner at Black Bear. Had chocolate chip pancakes again. Was surprisingly wired.

Then ended his full day with the 1st day of soccer practice, which he went to happily. Practiced, had fun. Got to play at the park for a little while and finally home. And still wired and not tired....WHAT?

After a bath and books...finally the little man passed out. Says he's ready to go back tomorrow...fingers crossed!!!

Breakfast of Champions!

1st school lunch

Still smiling (much to my relief!)

Not crying, just rubbed his eyes

Walked right up, my big little boy

The end of the day and still smiling!

Basically, Keep out~!

Little man's choice for dinner

1st day of soccer practice, they're so darn cute out there~!

Marco wanting to try on Mateo's shin guards

Mateo's 1st Kindergarten project ~ now proudly displayed in his room

Wheew! That was a long day

A date with my little man

Today Mateo and I had a "Teo and Mommy day". Something he loves. Me and all my attention all focused on just him.

We started it with haircuts for both of us. Mine cause I needed it and him,

a fresh do for school.

Then we went to Black Bear Diner for pancakes. A new favorite for him (yes, you will see this again in tomorrows post as it's where he picked to go for his 1st day of school dinner too). He had yummy chocolate chip pancakes, and I had a cubs meal, yummy.

Followed by yummy dessert.

Then to the grocery store to buy stuff for lunch.

A whole new concept, eating lunch at school every day.

Super fun time spent together and may need to incorporate this into a monthly routine.

(Don't worry, Marco and I will have our Marco and Mommy time on a daily basis

while Teo is in school).

State Fair

Last year we went to the State Fair for the 1st time. After that we said we would make it a yearly tradition (only downside, the heat....bleh). This year I chose that date to be a Tuesday. Initially I chose it because Choo Choo Soul from playhouse disney was going to be there and I new the boys would love it. Then I thought it sounded like a good idea cuz it was a weekday and might not be as crowded. Well, I was WRONG...who knew that Tuesdays are kids get in free days at the fair along with $1 rides. Well apparently the rest of the state! Because let me tell you, they were ALL there! Some lines were longer waits then Disneyland... Really??

Well it ended up that daddy couldn't get it off and had to work, so the boys and I headed up with our good friends and had a great time...despite the crowd.

I know Mateo was a little in awe with the show. Mainly because he has only seen them on TV and was a little surprised to see them in real life~!

The kids rode a pony (not Marco tho, poor little guy, still too small). Played with hay, pet fish and turtles, almost got to watch a cow deliver a calf (still got to see a new calf tho), ride rides, and eat yummy fair food. All leading up to some very tired children!!

Working on trees with daddy

Mateo has been wanting to work on trees with Daddy. So daddy let him pick out a tree that would be just his. One he gets to work on, trim, water, take care of etc. And spend time with daddy doing it. He had so much fun and loved showing off what he could do~!

The before

Real concentration

This is serious business

Mateo's bday invites

As we all know, I am a crazy person when it comes to birthday parties. I love the details and the planning. Well here we are again. Mateo's 5th birthday is creeping up on me. I have had the idea in my head for months, well really probably since his last birthday. And here I was thinking I had all this time and now we're almost there.

Well I have been searching for ideas, shopping, planning etc etc for a few weeks. I have so many fun ideas planned I hope they all work out. Only problem is, this won't be a 2 hour party...so I hope his guests are ready to have a GOOD time.

Here we are in the beginning stages and I have all ready made two boo boos. One, i forgot to add one key word in something I ordered, so my mistake and I have to reorder. I'm sure I will use the wrong ones at some point for another party (as I know there are many in my future).

Boo boo #2 ( now you have to realize, I spent most of our vacation (at night) working on the invitation with an incredibly patient lady). So here we are at home, final invite received, I send them to Costco...all is going well, and when Jeff picks them up.... WRONG DATE! Ugghhh, I uploaded the wrong ones!! So now, I have the envelopes ready, part of the invite ready and on hold for the second part as it was too late to have them reprinted today. I guess the postives to that are 1)costco will take the "wrong" ones back, so no $$ wasted, only time and 2) I am still pretty ahead of the game in timing for sending them out.

But I must say, this is one of the funnest parties I have planned so far. I can't wait for the kids to enjoy themselves and see how it all turns out. Lots of fun stuff, surprises, treats and more!!

I mean who doesn't love the CIRCUS!!

And with all this said, I will still be scrambling the last few days before~~

Disappointed

So it seems our t-ball season has come to an end. Unfortunately it ended the same way it started ~ a little disappointing~!

The 1st 2 games were cancelled due to rain, uncontrollabe, I understand.

Our team was VERY disorganized, unfortuanately as a result of our coaches. I know, not nice to say, but true. We managed to have practice every day of the week, including Saturday. No set practice days. Never new when practice was for the week until a few days before. Hard to plan for in general, not to mention when you work nights.

I believe primarily, due to all this, our team wasn't very "tuned" in. An unfortunate thing for the few who really wanted to play. One being my Mateo. We missed one game (due to it being a make up and we were out of town). Still mangaged to make it to the disorganized practices. Again, you could tell how disorganized our team was once we were on the field and watching the other teams. One of our coaches managed to miss more games than us.

And I guess the icing on the cake, Again due to uncontrollable circumstances we missed our final game due to rain ( I know, who'd of thunk, rain in June). Not to mention that it was my snack turn and I made baseball brownies that I now have in my freezer. Well we were told make-ups would most likely be the following Saturday (this upcoming Sat) and we agreed to cut our vacation short so Mateo would not miss his final game and the pizza party where their awards would be passed out.

Well I did say the season ended in disappointment as well ~ the make-up game was tonight, Wednesday, and he missed it all!
I didn't tell him, lucky enough he probably won't remember to ask (watch him prove me wrong). And yes, yes, I know, it was all due to weather....but really, a WEDNESDAY night??
Sigh, we can only hope next season is better, especially since he loved it so much and was one of the few who actually loved to play the game let alone get distracted in the dirt!

Woo Hoo~ Our Summer Vacation officially begins~~

Today is day one of our "summer vacation" (not from school, but for our family). The original plan had been to go to Hawaii, but after a lot of thought and some sadness on my part, we are choosing to wait until next summer! Marco will actually be able to enjoy it more and better all around for all of us ~ so we went with another plan.
We have many "trips" planned this summer but this is our 1st. Our trip to San Diego (a former home and love for me) and Legoland. Mateo has been counting down the days.
Our ride down actually went pretty quickly, but Marco didn't enjoy it too much. And yes, notice the pup in the picture. I guess he's part of the family right??

This is how we roll on a road trip :-))

One of my all time fave places to eat!

Yum... fresh tortillas

Mateo had to have a picture of these balloons

What I call, Marco's "chillaxin" pose

I found these super cute chairs in the grocery store here buying snacks and Mateo was so happy

I'd say Mateo is "chillaxin" here too


Now off to tons of fun this week!! Who's more excited? the boys? or me??

Derek's 8th Birthday Party

Derek had his bday party at Chuck E Cheese. What kid doesn't love that. Fun for the boys, but exhuasting for mommy and daddy!! Marco's getting an early jump start and loved it! We can't wait to spend time with them this summer while both the boys are out of school!!