Girls at play

It's been a long week. A long, long, long, long week. School is out, camp hasn't started yet, and I've had both girls all day long for the first extended period of time in quite awhile. There has been a lot of fighting, crying, and whining...and that's just me. (Ba DUM bum. See what continual days of dual mommy-ing and nights of rehearsing can do? I've lost my mind!) But seriously, the girls have been sniping at each other a LOT this week, and right now I'm TGIFing with the best of 'em because I need reinforcements! (And yes, Chris...reinforcements = YOU.) However, we have had some moments of harmony. Here are a few silly shots of the girls at play.

A Story

Emma wrote and illustrated a story today for her cousin Callie. It's too cute not to share. (I realize I'm turning into one of those obnoxious mothers that thinks everything their child does is so interesting and brilliant that the rest of the world MUST want to hear about it. And yet...I don't care.)

Father's Day

Chris had a nice Father's Day (I hope). We got him a game, let him sleep in, picked up donuts for breakfast, and just generally tried our best to make him feel how special he is to us. Emma drew him a picture and wrote him a poem. Chris seemed to get a big kick out of both of them. In fact, immediately after reading the poem he declared, "This has to go on the blog." So, here they are:

(Translation for those that can't decipher Em's phonetic spelling)

The Wind
the wind is
strong as
a tree branch
even stronger than
that I have no idea
how strong it
is I think
I'm going to puke!

A Kindergartner No More

Emma is now officially a first grader.

It's been a fun last week of school. Every day, Emma's come home with a different thick workbook to keep her busy over the summer...math, science, reading, writing, etc. Her final day was Wednesday, so Thursday she spent the afternoon at a school friend's end-of-year party. Did I mention this particular friend has a giant water slide in her back yard? Yeah, play dates there are VERY popular. :) And this morning was the kindergarten graduation.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the whole graduation ceremony (I mean seriously? I graduation for kindergartners?), but ultimately I was very impressed. The kids performed a medley of songs before going up to get his/her diploma. Emma looked so grown up as she stepped forward and shook the principal's hand. In fact, all the kids were so mature and well-behaved, which is quite a feat considering there are over 200 kids in kindergarten at Disney. I can't believe the teachers manage to get them all to where they are supposed to be, let alone quietly and respectfully. The best part of the ceremony was when the kids recited a funny poem about what each letter stands for in the word Kindergarten. Not only was the poem just about the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life...it was also an eye opener. As I sat there listening to these little people list all the milestones they have reached this year, I finally got WHY the school bothers to do a kindergarten graduation. The teachers want these kids jazzed about school, and I could see by the pride and joy on each student's face that the plan is working well. I'm so thankful Em's first year has been such a positive experience, and all I can do is cross my fingers and pray her enthusiasm for school continues to grow.

Here are some photos from the ceremony and various items from her graduation packet. I was so pleased to see how much effort was put into making each student feel special. We'll have video of the performance in a few weeks. And now...one week off before six weeks of summer camp. It's gonna be a hectic and fun summer for our newly minted first grader!

I don't know why, but every time the school takes an official photo of Emma, it looks like a mugshot to me...

Her diploma! With her last name misspelled!
(If I had a dime for every time I've uttered the phrase "Mathews, with one t" in the last 10 years...)

Poem from her teacher. (And yes, her packet had all the bullet items in it...Mrs. P. even gave her a big hug and then "put" it in the bag for Em.)

Emma's special bookmark

The graduate!

Olivia P. (of water slide fame), Em and Zora

Emma and Olivia M.

Emma sobbed herself to sleep this afternoon, wailing "I miss Mrs. Parker!" over and over despite having just seen her two hours ago. Yikes. It's gonna be a long summer if that continues.

Goodbye for now, Miss Chan

Emma also drew a picture for her Chinese teacher, Miss Chan. She'll be seeing her next year, but she still wanted to say thank you. The drawing was lovely, but what I'm curious about is what she wrote on the back (below). Anyone know Mandarin Chinese? It blows my mind that my six year old can write and speak in a language I know nothing about!

Goodbye, Mrs. Parker

Tomorrow is Emma's last full day of school. She made this picture for her teacher. Oh, how we will miss Mrs. Parker.

Please Don't Stop The Music

Our friend Henry came to stay with us today, and he and Sophie got their groove on...

Happy Birthday, Emma

My baby is 6 years old today. Can't believe it. Can NOT believe it.

We had a party at Go Bananas Friday night. For those not familiar, Go Bananas is basically like Chuck E. Cheese, except they also have rides...bumper cars, a huge train, and even a roller coaster! The kids had a blast. Plus, the place provides everything for you - food, drink, entertainment, cake, pinata, goody bags - so the planning and implementation is totally stress-free. Considering I still have traumatic flashbacks to last year when we crammed 70 people into our apartment at the last minute because of rain, no stress was just what the doctor ordered. Emma had about 12 friends there, which was the perfect amount because the only real challenge of the evening was keeping track of them all. Except for one split lip (Callie), one temporarily lost child (Olivia). and one panic attack (ME...because we'd lost Olivia!), the night went off without a hitch.

Emma, Callie & Olivia ready to GO!

Olivia and Emma gearing up for their first roller coaster ride...first of about 25.

Blowing out the candles in her princess seat.

This is the face of a very happy girl.

Today, Sophie and I brought cupcakes into school for Em's class and her whole class sang her Happy Birthday (see video below). Very sweet. Of course, Emma sobbed as I left because she didn't want me to go, and Sophie sobbed as we left because she didn't want to leave Emma, but I've come to realize that no undertaking can be dubbed a true success unless someone ends up in tears. So...mission accomplished!

Center of attention as her class sings to her.

With two friends from her class, En Joli and Genelle.

Happy Birthday song on video.

Tonight, I will tuck Emma into bed and tell her the story of her birth. I also plan to write the story out on this blog later, so I have it recorded before my memory completely goes. Six years...wow. Still can't believe it.

Happy Birthday, Chris

Today is Chris's birthday. Yay! In honor of the special occasion, the girls performed an original birthday dance for their Daddy. (Emma was definitely the creative force. Sophie mostly mimicked her big sis...and did a pretty admirable job, I might add.) The dance was...um...interesting. Here are some highlights. Happy birthday, honey!

Oh, What A World

Emma and Chris have been working hard all weekend on the last big homework project of the year: a model of the solar system. They painted each Styrofoam planet to look like its real counterpart and glued the whole thing together with sticks of different lengths to best represent each planet's distance from the sun. As a final touch, they added stars. The model is really impressive, and very detailed. (Earth even has each continent painted on it!) The below picture doesn't do the project justice, but at least you'll get the idea.
Not to be outdone, Sophie insisted on painting alongside Daddy and big sis while they worked. Below is the final outcome of her artistic labor.
Next challenge: transporting the model to school tomorrow, wholly intact!

God, I love these girls

Memorial Weekend

We had a truly lovely Memorial Day weekend, most of which was spent with our dear friends Craig, Gen, Sam and Henry. Saturday night the four adults enjoyed a night out. Imagine! No kids! We ate yummy Italian food, saw a hilarious improv show and talked about our children as little as possible. :) Sunday morning, Gen and I got matching purple toes while dissecting the movie She's Just Not That Into You. And Sunday afternoon, we grilled out at a nearby park. Here are a few pics from our city picnic!

Craig and Chris, a.k.a. the Grill Masters

Gen and I show off our matching toes.

We asked the kids to give us their nicest smiles. This is what we got.

However, the most exciting part of the weekend was the Soldier Field 10 Mile. I'd been training for the race since February, and early Saturday morning, I went for it. 10 miles, baby! And I did it! I was slow as molassas, but I finished. The race was intense, and probably one of the hardest things I've ever done. I even ended up jogging closer to 11 miles than 10 because I ran right past the entrance to the finish line and had to double back! (After 2.5 hours on my feet in the hot sun, I was pretty dazed. I'm surprised I still realized I was in Chicago.) As hard as the run was though, there were some definite moments of joy. The path along Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan was truly beautiful. At one point during mile 7, I distinctly remember looking up at the skyline and being blown away at the breathtaking beauty of our city. (I think that was the only time in the race that my mind was focused on something other than how much my body hurt.) The coolest part, of course, was finishing on the actual 50 yard line of the football field and hearing all the people I love screaming for me from the stands. As exhausted as I was, I couldn't keep the smile off my face. I am so grateful to have a body that works, and to have so many people in my life who love and support me. Crossing that finish line, I felt so alive! What a great kickoff to summer.

I am somewhere among these 10,000 racers, chomping at the bit to begin!

And...we're off!

10+ miles and 2+ hours later, here I come toward the finish line!

The end is in sight!
(And no, it didn't take me 3:02:20 to finish the race...I'm not THAT slow. We started in waves and I was at the very back of the pack, so I didn't start running until long after the race had begun.)

This is the face of one very proud - and very tired - woman!

My cheerleaders. Whenever quitting entered my head, the thought of all these beautiful people waiting at the finish line kept me going. Thanks guys, I love you all so much!