What a great friend...

From my earlier post, I have a great friend who gave me some awesome advice.  She did some research on full day Kindergarten and told me all about it.  

She also gave me a great quote that I had to share, it said:

"It is a gift to our children if we help them realize that they are capable of getting through difficult moments, and teach them the pleasure of knowing that they have mastered something that was outside of their comfort zone."

Thanks Brenda for helping me through a really difficult day.  You are amazing!!  =)

Update on my sad girl...

So, I called the school today and asked them how Isabella was doing.  The secretary at the front actually went back to Isabella's classroom and checked on her.  She came back and reported that she was doing great.  I was really surprised after our morning and it made Mommy feel a little better.  I was also so surprised at how awesome the school is about little things like that.  =)

Then when I went to go pick her up she came bouncing out the door and was so happy.  I was like, where did my little girl from this morning go.  Of course, I was so happy to see her so happy!

I went up to her teacher and asked her how her day went and she told me that she had a great day.  She also told me that she moved Isabella to a different group and that now she has a different partner who is as nice as she is.  I'm glad that she considers my daughter nice.  =)  Isabella talked about Giselle the entire afternoon and how she likes her a lot.  I think this helped make her day better.

I was very worried because on top of dealing with her new school schedule I had to change her gymnastic schedule and she has a new teacher.  But to my surprise she was so excited to meet her new teacher and couldn't wait for gymnastics.  Gymnastics went great for both of my kids.  Chase did 30 minutes of his 45 minute class all by himself.  I was quite surprised since the class started out by him yelling, "I don't want her I want Miss Jessica."  All I could do is laugh!

So my bad day turned into a really good day.

My sad girl...

Today was a horrible day for Mommy and Isabella.  Before we left the house she got upset and said that she wanted me to stay at school with her.  When I told her that I couldn't she didn't want to go.  She sniffled a little on the way to school and in line at school she started crying a little bit.  We gave hugs and kisses and then Mommy told her that as she walked away we'd do our special I love you sign.  So as she walked away with tears in her eyes she looked back and gave me the I love you sign.  Mommy can't handle this!  I got in the car and just lost it.  I feel like I'm breaking my little girls heart!  Poor little thing.  

Isabella says that she loves school but that it is too long.  Which I have to agree with her since she goes from 8:00am-3:00pm.  I know that it is just going to take adjustment but Mommy and Isabella are having a hard time with this adjustment!

Any suggestions on how to handle or deal with this better would be much appreciated!! 

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First day of BIG girl school...

My baby girl is now a big girl.  She had her first day of school here are some of my favorite pictures of it.

Isabella picked out every detail of what she was going to wear on her first day from her outfit, to her shoes.  She had to pick out every detail.  Isabella wanted to wear her blue dress with her white shirt and with blue socks.

This is her Minnie Mouse backpack and lunch pail that she picked out.  She was so excited to put things in her backpack and get it ready.

She wanted to wear her apple hair ties and she wanted her hair in pig tails.

Thanks to Grandma Hockey Isabella had a brand new pair of sketcher shoes to wear on her first day.  Isabella was so excited to have a cow charm on them.  (It broke off 1/2 through her first day.)

Isabella and Kayla met in the parking lot to walk into school for the first time together.  They looked so cute together.

Here is Isabella waiting in line for school to start.

Every Monday they have an assembly before they go to their classrooms. (Parents are invited to it.)  Today the teachers sang a song, they did the school cheer, the teachers introduced themselves and told us what college they graduated from, they sang happy birthday to all the kids who will have a birthday this week, they did the pledge, two teachers sang the National Anthem, and then the Principal spoke for a few minutes and they were dismissed to class.

Here is Isabella's class at carpet time.

Isabella and brother saying goodbye to each other.

My big kindergartner standing at her desk after completing all of her morning routine.  She had to take her chair down, put her pack back up, put her lunch away, and put her lunch card on the chart.  She did such a great job.  Then the parents were asked to leave so they could finish the rest of the day by themselves.

Chase and I both miss Sissy being at home.  I asked him today what he'd like to do with Mommy and he said to go pick Sissy up from school.   I knew that he'd miss her.  =)

Gilroy Garlic Festival...

I have always wanted to go to the Garlic Festival so this year my Mom came down and we decided to go.  We had a lot of fun despite the heat and the terrain.  I ate garlic chicken, garlic fries, and garlic bread.  I also ate GARLIC ICE CREAM.  Surprisingly it was pretty good.   Not something I'd go out of my way to find and eat but it didn't taste bad like I expected it to.  You could taste garlic in it.  Isabella and Chase ate up all their ice cream.  They loved it.   =)

Isabella and Chase rode on a few rides and then we left.  It was fun times!  =) 

Kindergarten Tea

Isabella had a Kindergarten Tea on the Thursday before school started.  It was about an hour long and we did so many things.  When we first got there she gave her teacher, Mrs. Tiede, a gift that we put together for her. (Thanks Brenda for the cute idea!)  After that Isabella signed in on the sign in sheet and took a picture for the teacher.  Then we found Isabella's desk.  Isabella was so excited to see all the fun things that were hers!  Then we made a self portrait of Isabella out of construction paper.  I was having a hard time trying to figure out what to do with the hair and thought of curling the paper.  I love how it turned out!  =)  Then they went on a tour of the school.  They found the bathroom, drinking fountain, and where they line up.  We went back into the classroom for a cookie and apple juice and then Isabella and I went on a scavenger hunt to find her name in the room at least 3 times and the library.  It was tons of fun!

Gymnastics..

Because of Isabella starting school their are a lot of things changing, one of them is gymnastics.  We are going to gymnastics now after Isabella gets out of school which means we will not have Miss Jessica as our teacher anymore.  Mommy is very sad because we love Miss Jessica and she is the only teacher we have had at Gym Stars.  

On our last day I talked to Miss  Jessica about Chase moving up to the 3 year old class so we don't have to change teachers again.  She said that she thought he was ready even though I didn't believe it.  Chase and Kayden were the only two kids in their class last week so Miss Jessica told Angie and I to sit out and she would see how they did.  Surprisingly enough they were amazing.  They did awesome.  We must bring the worst out in our kids.  =)

So, starting this week Chase will be in the 3 year old class by himself with a new teacher and Isabella will also have a new teacher.  We will see how it goes!

Last day of swim lessons

Isabella has learned so much from her swim lessons this year.  She can swim across an entire pool all by herself, she can float on her back by herself (she did this on the first try), and she can dive off the diving board and swim to the edge.  I am so proud of her.  Thanks Katherine for all your hard work.

More Boating pictures

Here are some more boating pictures and a few pictures of Chase.  Chase loves to swim in the Delta.  He is a little fish but he doesn't like the tube, he won't go off the slide and he of course doesn't want to jump off the house boat.  But, you can't get him out of the water because he wants to swim, swim, swim!

Our crazy girl...

This summer, we have come to find out that our Isabella is our little dare devil.  The past few times that we have gone out to the water, Deon, Danny's cousin has been out there with his houseboat.  He is always so nice and insists that we come by and hang out.  Isabella loves to go on the houseboat because she loves to go off the slide and loves to jump off the top of the house boat.  She is crazy!!!  

Tubing...

We have been on the boat a lot lately.  We have a lot of fun being on the boat as a family.  This is Isabella's favorite thing to do on the boat.  She loves to go tubing with everyone.   Here are a few of my favorite tubing pictures.

72 year old wakeboarder...

This is my father-in-law, Les.  Nope that is not a typo.  He is 72 years old and is ripping it up on the water.  He's hecka funny because he always makes that face!  =)  I just hope that I can do 1/2 of what he can do at 72.

The day before the big day..

I can't even begin to imagine my baby girl going to Kindergarten tomorrow.  When her pre-school ended, this day seemed so far away.  At the time, I was so excited for her to start school but now as I sit in a quite house at 8:30pm (anyone who knows us knows that our kids are in bed usually at 10 or 11pm. ) I am beginning to realize how much I am going to miss my baby girl and wish that this day wasn't here yet.  

Some of the things that I am going to miss:

Morning cartoons - I love it when the kids come in to my room in the morning and lay with me in my bed and watch cartoons while Mom still tries to get in any more minutes of sleep that she can.

Lunch time - I am going to miss Isabella having lunch with Chase and I everyday.

Afternoon time - I am going to miss our time that her and I spend together right after she wakes up from her nap and before Chase wakes up from his.

Just her in the house- It is going to be weird just not having her in the house.  Hearing her laugh and joking around with her brother, hearing her signing a song, hearing her fight with her brother, hearing her role playing with her brother as the Mommy.

Just the thought of my daughter being with someone else more awake hours in the day than with me is killing me.  Also knowing that this is the start of 13 years of this and when she finally finishes it she will be an adult.  Ahh, I just can't think of that anymore.    I just need to remember that she is going to have the time of her life and I know that she is going to love every minute of school, she is just that type of person and I am so thankful for that, but I am still going to miss her SO much!

I love you angel girl!  =)

Angel Michael...

I was given the opportunity to photograph a special angel.  About two weeks ago, I went to photograph Michael who has SMA (type 1) at George Mark Children's House.  The moment I walked into the room I noticed his eyes.  They just light up a room!  He was such a QT and the longer that I was there the more I saw his special spirit shine through!  I am so thankful to have been given this special opportunity to photograph one of Heavenly Father's angels!  Thanks Kelly!!

If you'd like to read about him click below:

Michael's Obit

Shocked!!!!

I just discovered this evening that a 3rd grade teacher that I worked with when I was teaching at Joseph Widmer Elementary school was arrested for molesting students as young as 8.  You see this a lot on the news but it never happens where you are. 

 I just can't believe that Mike would do somthing like this and some news that I found out today makes me know that he is innocent.  It just makes me sick that someone can ruin someone's life this easy!  He was a great teacher that went above and beyond! (changed on July 24th)

I rocked the world today...

So, Morgan one of my old 4th graders who is now in high school tells everyone on MySpace through bulletins how she rocked the world...

I thought it was a cute idea and now I am going to tell everyone how I rocked the the world today...

Woke up to my two beautiful kids in my face...

Took them to my friend Brenda's...

Went to a newborn photo shoot...

Ate lunch at Nation's burger while on my way to San Leandro...

Casted a 3 month old baby, Michael, who is going to pass away soon...

Took pictures of Michael...

Hung out with Kelly (Michael's Mommy), just to listen to her talk...

Went shopping at New York and Company in Tracy on my way home...

Got an almond pretzel from Aunt Annie's which was my dinner...

Drove home from Tracy...

Kissed my kids goodnight...

Finished the castings...

Watched the Season Finale of the Real World...

and here I am...

I think I officially rocked the world today...=)

I also learned how lucky I am to have two healthy kids.  It just broke my heart to watch her precious son fighting many odds to stay alive.  He has such a special spirit.  He was such a joy to be around.  His big brown eyes lit up the room.  He has the cutest smile and was such a trooper.  I just can't imagine being as happy as he was and going through what he is going through.

I also met a wonderful Mother.  Kelly was a joy to be around.  It was awesome to watch her interact with her son and see how loving and caring she was.  She is a woman of strength, determination, and love.  I loved chit chatting with her and listening to her story about her life.

We all go through trials in our life and just need to make the most of everyday we have here on earth.

Have a happy Thursday!

1st Dance class..

Isabella started her first dance class today.  She is in a summer jazz class for 4 weeks.  She's been wanting to try it out and I told her she could only pick one activity to be in so she has to choose between dance and gymnastics.  This is the perfect little taste of dance so that she can see if she likes it or not.  The pictures aren't too great because they are taken behind glass with no flash but at least I have some of her first day!  =)

She didn't smile much so I though for sure she would complain about it and it was really funny because she loved it and says she likes it better than gymnastics.  I asked her why she looked sad and she said because too many Mommies were watching.  Too funny!  So, we'll see at the end of her 4 weeks if she is going to choose dance or gymnastics.  It is totally up to her. 

Daredevil...

That should be Isabella's middle name.  We were at Brittany's on Monday night for a BBQ and swim and this is the second time that Isabella has climbed onto the top of the rock formation and jumped off.  She was jumping off and doing splits by the end of the night.  The first time we swam there she even tried to flip off.  She is such a daredevil!  That is all her Daddy in her!