New Rooms

The Sooy kids seemed to have been getting a bit big for their shared room so a few weeks ago we started the process of giving the kids' their own spaces to stretch out and grow!

Some before pictures:

Sean was moved back into his old room and Clare stayed in the shared room.

Probably the most exciting part of the transition is that Seany has bunk beds!

Clare has decided to sleep on the bottom bunk for a few nights while Sean gets to sleep up top!

And Sean loves to fall asleep to the glow of the blue lava lamp:

Blizzard of 2016... part two

The kids' schools were closed on Monday and with two kids at home, two feet of snow on the ground, and an "alternate" train schedule in effect, I got to stay home with the kiddies.  We started off the morning pretty lazily, watching cartoons and playing tennis and bowling on the Wii.  On Sunday, I saw posts on Facebook from other local mommy friends that there is a big hill over at the local high school that makes for great sledding.  I took the kids over at mid-morning to check it out and it was AWESOME!  The hill was just the right for all ages - there were kids from toddler to high-school there having a good time.

The kids' last run after two+ hours of sledding and climbing up the hill - they went together this time and wiped out spectacularly!  That was the end our of sledding fun.  Afterwards, we went home and everyone napped for a couple of hours!

Firsts!

Seany lost his FIRST tooth yesterday on the way to soccer!  After a trip to Wawa, Sean bit down on his pre-game snack and the tooth was left dangling precariously from his mouth.  Daddy was able to help Sean out when they got to the fields.  Sean carried on with his next-to-last practice and game before... getting to Clare's last game where she got her FIRST trophy!

First day of school

Sean's had a good week of First Grade and Clare is loving Pre-K!

Class of 2014

Seanybear graduated from Pre-Kindergarten last Thursday! The warm, rainy weather didn't deter Sean's grandparents, great-grandparents, and Auntie Mary from coming out to watch him end his pre-school career.  And despite feeling all-around rotten (she had been sent home with a fever that day), Clare watched too. Wisely, the school rented a huge tent so we could enjoy the ceremony without getting soaked.

Before the children came out, the school's owner and principal, Mr. John, gave a speech recalling the "exit interviews" that he had with each of the students.  Here's the clip about the conversation he had with Sean:

He asked Sean what he wants to be when he grows up and Sean said he wants to be a baseball player, specifically a pitcher but he likes to hit, too.  Sean said that Mommy loves flowers and that her favorites are daffodils and clover (Yes, this is why we let clover take over our lawn).  Sean also said that he thinks Mr. John is about 100 years old (yikes!).

After the speech, Sean's class filed out of the building:

After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, Sean's class sang several songs...

...and then it was time to give out the diplomas!  Here's Sean receiving his diploma and shaking hands with Mr. John:

After returning to his seat, Sean immediately used his diploma as a spy glass, of course :-)

After the ceremony, it was time for the school picnic.  There was a lot of yummy food and of course, a cake!

Sean ran around with his buddies for most of the picnic.

Clare perked up a little when we brought her a plate with a hotdog and fruit... and cake, of course :-)

We tried to pin down the graduate for photos, but by this time it was sunny and warm again and he just didn't want to sit still.  At least we got a snap with Mom-Mom Jackie and Pop Pop Pop!

Congratulations, Sean!  Here's to a fun summer with our soon-to-be-Kindergartener!

Kindergarten Registration

We registered Sean for kindergarten this week at our local public elementary school!  We met up with some of Seany's friends from Pre-K before going inside the school.  

We filled out some paperwork, then Sean went off with a teacher for a one-on-one interview.  He passed his screening with flying colors!  While I met with the school nurse to go over Sean's medical history and vaccinations, Sean's future teacher read a couple of books to a small group of children.

Sean decided he likes this new school and he was excited to hear about the "Kindergarten Tea" we get to go to in June.

After registration, we went out on a little lunchdate with one of Sean's best pals and her mommy.  These two have known each other since the infant room:

After lunch, we went to our town's "big playground" where the kids ran around and around playing games of tag, "Star Wars", and "Princess and Bad Witch".

Merry Merry!

We hope all of our family and friends simply have a wonderful Christmas time!