First day of American Preschool

Our Little Buddy is so far from being little anymore. We have, on our hands, a full grown boy. And that boy started American Preschool today!

Michael was R-E-A-D-Y. All the kids were lined up to go to school, and when they opened that door - WATCH OUT. It was like the storming of the Bastille. The kids were SO-EXCITED. All of the ones I saw. It was incredible! What a blessing! Our last preschool, there was always SOMEONE crying, which I suspect is normal!

So us moms are standing there - hanging out - going - "So...I guess that's it." - no fits to worry about - no crying to make us sad. Did I mention how much I LOVE Michael's preschool?

I got there a little early and saw them come back all in a line from the playground, holding this cool line thing to keep them all together. Michael came out with the HUGEST smile on his face and he was so excited to show his folder with a little certificate, snack schedule calendar, and a crayon drawing of his school.

Then he got REALLY excited because they gave him a book of daily kids devotionals called, "Jesus Loves All of Me." When we got home, we pulled out our lawn chairs, sat in the driveway, and went through some of it. He seemed disappointed that the readings were not exactly related to the pictures of pumpkins/dogs/etc he saw in there. :)

Michael's take? Here's what I got after asking a ton of questions:

Mom: What was your favorite thing about preschool?

Michael: I don't know.

Mom: Did you make any friends?

Michael: Yes! Luke!

Mom: Did you talk to him a lot?

Michael: No.

Mom: Well, did he talk to you a lot?

Michael: No.

Mom: Well, how do you know he is your friend?

Mom: Did they read you a story today?

Michael: Yes! It was about dinosaurs who do not like school. But they are the right size for school.

Michael: I had a snack today that was like a circle!

Mom: Did you like the playground?

Michael: Yes.

Mom: Was there a lot to do?

Michael: No.

Michael: They had 2 slides there!

This is what I have so far. He told me something about Luke having to get the cat down. Have no idea what that was about.

Off to order books through Scholastic! School has officially commenced! Wonder how the next session will go??? When he realizes it's a regular thing?

Onto Level 2!

Michael made it to the next level of his swim class! So excited! He passed level 1 after 2 times (10 weeks total of classes). After nearly 2.5 months of classes, he can:

1) Splash
2) Enter the pool by himself
3) Blow bubbles in the water
4) Submerge his head for 5 seconds
5) Do 5 bobs (go under completely and come up, repeat)
6) Walk/bounce in the water
7) Supported back float
8) Supported front float.

He has started to kick with the noodle (with some assistance). He can dip his head underwater and retrieve a ring (in 2' end of the pool). He loves to jump from the edge of the pool into his Daddy's arms.

Doesn't sound like a whole lot, but I am super proud because it's not like he ever grew up around water much less a pool ( Paris = sea of concrete). He loves his lessons and his teacher. It's awesome!

Master Bedroom - CHECK

Been wondering what I am going to do when I finally decorate my master bedroom. Found some fabric inspiration. So when it comes time (maybe years from now...fabric should be on sale then right?), here is where I am going and no one can stop me:

(Picture courtesy of The Designer Insider blog)

Off to cut Brian's hair now. It has officially reached "helmet" status. Cutting hair makes me sweat. I am an easy sweat-er. Glad I am wearing my dry fit stuff.

Love,
P

P.S. Will be posting some master bedroom room pictures that are inspiring me! This is for my journal of a blog...obviously. One day, I'll go back to blogging for real.

Lovey Dovey

I just have to post that Michael was exceptionally lovey dovey with me yesterday! It was so nice! He woke me up with kisses all over my face and said, "I love you Mommy!" And all.day.long it was like this!

He would play and then run and sit in my lap and give me hugs/kisses and tell me how much he loved me. I wonder what I did?

Either way, I totally enjoyed it. As he grows older, I see him being so much more independent. I have to grab him while he's running around and pretend to chase him to get my hugs and kisses. He is busy playing, learning, and enjoying life. I am happy to watch it all unfold in front of me!

So I enjoyed my day in the sun. It was awesome.

No News is better than Bad News

Do you want to know where I am? I am in front of my new computer. ALL THE TIME. It is SO fast. And the monitor actually works. Incredible.

Been very busy doing the work for my business. Can't wait to show you the website when it's done. I'm about 60% of the way there. Gotta register it with the state tax office next. Then business cards! Gotta be ready to hit the ground running when school/MOPS starts.

Once I get PS CS5 and my old pictures on this computer. WATCH OUT.

Love,

P

Quick Drop In

Yes, I've been MIA! We've been busy makin' memories and taking pictures of them. So here's just a quick recap. I need to photoshop/crop these pictures (-do my thang-) with them but here's a start! All pics SOOC (straight out of camera).

Grammy came to visit for 2 weeks and brought enough activities for 4! First up, gigantic bubbles:
SUPER fun. Definitely put down the camera for a little while to participate. Then decided to get some pics of Grammy with Michael:

Then, on a hot and humid Saturday, July 24th, we wandered over to the Longwood Gardens for their fireworks show. It was amazing. Totally worth the money, which I thought was a bit overpriced when I was buying the tickets...but it was incredible. Here are my favorite 3 fireworks shots:

See that little circle/dot in the left bottom of the sky? That's the MOON.

My all time favorite pic of the night:

Love the way the sky is illuminated red with the people silhouetted and the next firework there in the sky. Just something you don't see everyday!

Grammy took michael to Washington D.C on Mon-Wed and gave us a break at home! I painted my dining room! Pics to follow of their fun visit to DC coming up later!

Following Friday, we all hopped on planes and met in Boston for a family reunion! Team Besancon Boston showed us a great time and were great models:

Need to bump up the curves a bit on that one...but I just love John and Kelli's face there.

Here we are on a bridge in bright sun in the Boston Common! It was a G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S day - highs in the upper 70's, lots of sun - just great fun!

Uncle Bill wanted to inspire fear in us for the Family Olympics by showing us how flexible he was with Aunt AK:

We coordinated our outfits for our family shoot. And here's our one example of the kind of shoes we wore for the shoot:

And proud Grandpa-B
While wandering around Boston Common, I see Brian and Uncle Bill trying to do this with Michael:

Not so sure THAT is a great idea!

And the real star of the show? Q-ball, of course:

Those baby blues are to die for! Need to do some cropping/photoshoping to make it LESS obvious he is in his stroller seat...but Quinn is as adorable for the camera as he is in real life. Perfect-est Nephew E-V-E-R. You can't be in this family without knowing how to work the camera.

Gonna go back and do this in B&W...but I can't resist posting it because every little person should know this kind of love in their lives:

On Sunday, we did Family Olympics. I have no pictures because I was busy doing more of the above with the kids for their families and for my portfolio! :)

Off to download pictures from all the other cameras. Can't wait to see what John/Kelli's friend Stephen did with his Canon 5d Mark ii. -Drool-

OH! And I'll be posting a smugmug album within the next week. Too many pictures that were cute to put in a blog post. Then, I might be able to get back to May 2010 on Smugmug too! Here's to hoping my computer cooperates.

Love,
P