End of Year Brownie Camp-out

Abby's Brownie Troop had an end of the year celebration and opted to campout in one of the girl's backyards. She had a huge backyard...perfect for camping. Brian was at the Ranger game that night, and I had an early Canton trip planned the next morning, so we decided not to actually spend the night (not to mention that my idea of roughing it is staying at the Holiday Inn). So, Emma, Abby, and I joined the festivities and left just after we finished the smores. That was the best part, afterall. Even though we didn't spend the night, we still had tons of fun!

Lunch Line

I thought it might be a good idea to take Emma to Abby's school(her future school), and let Abby walk her through the lunch line. Anytime I have lunch with Abby, I always bring her lunch from a fast food place as a treat. Emma has never had the opportunity to go through the line. It has been difficult to find food on the menu that might be remotely possible for Emma to consume (she is very picky, but I don't know where she gets that from) :). We picked a safe one..breakfast for lunch day. Abby ordered French Toast Sticks for both of them during the lunch count, and she was so helpful to her little sister, explaining everything as we went through the line. Emma loved her lunch, and Emma said she wants to buy her lunch every day in Kindergarten!

RoughRiders

Our small group attended a Friday night RoughRiders' game. This was actually our 2nd attempt at the game. The first game, we waited for over an hour, and the game never even got started due to rain that just wouldn't quit. For our make-up game, we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful temperature outside; it was perfect! Until the rain came....luckily, this rain shower only lasted 10 minutes or so. Enough to get us all wet, but we stuck it out in order to watch the fireworks after the game, and we all had a great time!

Field Day Take 2

Abby's original Field Day was during the Swine Flu scare, so it was rescheduled for a different Friday. K-2nd was held in the afternoon. The sun was hot, but there was at least an occasional cloud or two. I volunteered to work one of the shifts while Emma went to my neighbor's house, and then my neighbor worked the opposite shift and her daughter came to our house. It was a fun day!

More to come

Just a little note that there will be a whole bunch of activity over the new few days as we aim to get caught-up in the happening's of the Butler's... so stay tuned.

Emma's Last Day of Preschool :(

Emma finished her last day of preschool, and it is all so bittersweet for me. I am so exctied to not have to write that preschool check each month or make the 50 minute round trip drive to her school that I've been doing for the past 6 years. It will be nice to have both girls in the same school (for the next 3 years anyway), arriving at the same time and dismissing at the same time.

I am so sad that my baby won't be with me next year. I know she will love Kindergarten, and she is so ready to go. I am not ready though. :(

PTA Program

Abby's grade level performed at the final PTA Meeting of the school year. They had 4 of the classes sing "Zipidee Doo Dah " while dressed in "summer attire" with their beach towels and sunglasses. The other 4 classes dressed in "baseball attire" and sang of course, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Published Author Reception

Abby wrote and illustrated a book in her first grade year that was eventually published during this school year. This afternoon (right after our extended family birthday party), Brian took Abby to a reception they had for all of the young authors (Emma and I headed to one of her BFF's birthday parties and had to miss out on the reception). Her school had a presentation where they recognized each author, and they were able to hear from a husband and wife author and learn about their personal story of publishing a book. We are very proud of our girl!

Happy Birthday, Abby...Again!!

I decided that having a girly-American Girl Doll birthday party with lots of silly girls and trying to combine that party with Abby's 4 boy cousins, plus aunts, uncles, and grandparents, would probably be too much. So, we split it into 2 parties. After church Sunday afternoon, on a beautiful 75 degree day, we had our extended family over for lunch and birthday cake for party #2. The kids (and our dog especially) had a great time playing together and celebrating Abby's birthday.

American Girl Birthday Party

Abby decided she wanted to have an American Girl Birthday Party. After doing some googling, I found a great deal of information from other moms on how to have your own American Girl Party at your house. I started researching a few months ago, and I had a lot of fun planning it. Abby had 7 of her friends over on a Friday evening. We made a craft, had an "All American" Dinner Menu of hot dogs, PB&J sandwiches, fruit kabobs, chicken strips, curly fries, mac and cheese, and sugar cookies. After cookie cake, we learned about each historical AG doll and played a game from each doll's time period. It was a lot of fun, and Abby was very thankful to have her friends help celebrate her birthday!

Happy Birthday, Abby

Lucky for us, the girls had a "Swine Flu Break" from school that just so happened to fall on Abby's actual birthday. Abby requested "blue" pancakes for her birthday breakfast (blue is her favorite color, so just a little food coloring needed). Before Brian left for work, she was able to open all of her presents. Her Great-Grandmother, Nana, was so kind and sent her a new American Girl Doll and her accessories. This was the highlight of Abby's day. We then headed to the American Girl store where one of our presents was to get her doll's ears pierced. With newly pierced ears, we went upstairs to the American Girl Bistro and had a nice lunch complete with the waitress and hostess singing "Happy Birthday" to her. The day ended with a trip to Cici's Pizza for dinner. Happy Birthday to our sweet, wonderful 8 year old girl!

End of Soccer Season

Emma had her end of the year soccer party at Peter Piper Pizza....along with every other team in her soccer league; there wasn't an empty table in the entire place! It was at the very beginning of the swine flu scare, and there was a terrible thunderstorm going on outside, but this didn't keep people away. The parents on her team are so supportive of all the girls; I love being part of a team that is always so upbeat and positive. We had a great season; her team went 7-2-1; great job, Emma!