Ode To Eisenhower

Today as my precious Eisenhower friends are starting back to school, and I am not with them, I thought it would be fitting to do an "Ode to Eisenhower" post. I have resigned with NPS to take a position teaching online school with a charter school. I am very excited about this new opportunity because it is allowing me to be home with Olive, however, leaving Eisenhower has been a very hard thing to do. You see, Eisenhower isn't a regular school, it is a magical learning community filled with the most amazing people! It is truly different and it is because of the founding principles, the heart of the teachers and the amazing tradition. I am so blessed to have gotten the chance to teach there for the past 6 years! I am a different person because of the influence of the people at Eisenhower. I rounded up pictures from my time at Ike to share and most of them we are wearing costumes, that is part of the fun of being a kindergarten teacher.

K team 06-07 Halloween

Danee', Deanna, Kim, Sara (Lindsay wasn't here for this pic)
Apparently, "back in the day" a few of the teachers got the idea to turn their school shirts into t-shirt dresses, so thanks to a little idea prompting from our principal, our team did this for our Halloween costumes. Stephen's Mom sewed all of the dresses for us!

Halloween 2007

The characters from Mrs. Wishy Washy

Lindsay, Danee', Kimi, Kim F., Casey

Kim F. was our fabulous long term sub for Deanna when Molly was born.

Wacky Wednesday 2008

Deanna and Danee'
I am not sure when this pic was taken, but it always makes me giggle! It was pouring down rain so we had put our hoods up and stuck our purses in our jackets! Apparently I have a BIG purse!

Halloween 2009

"Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate!"

Kimi, Maggie, Danee', Michelle and Lindsay

The hardest part for me to "leave" is getting to do all of the extra fun stuff with the kids! Like having Johnny Appleseed come to visit. Stephen has always been a very convincing Johnny Appleseed!

And performing skits so that the kids believe that I am a real princess!

Fabulous friends at the Teacher of the Year Banquet 2009

Shannon, Julie, Danee', Audrey and Deanna

(please note that I am pregnant in this pic, not just chubby!)

Back to School Night 2009

Maggie, Danee', Kimi, Lindsay and Lynette

Lynette was my long term sub when Olive was born. Because she was born in August, I missed the first few months of school. I wanted to be a part of BTSN though, this picture was 12 days after she was born! Man, I look TIRED!!Wacky Wednesday 2010

Maggie, Lindsay, Kimi and Danee'

Olive got to come to school to visit my class in May. They had been asking me to bring her for "sharing" all year. They were SO EXCITED to meet her :)

Every summer, the past and present Eisenhower teachers are invited to Grand Lake to the first principal of Ike's home for a fun long weekend. It is such a great experience building relationships with past teachers and learning how things used to be done and why. It is a great honor to be able to spend time in Judi's home knowing that she is one of the main reasons Ike is as wonderful as it is, is because of her vision and hard work. It is also a lot of fun!

This is the Lake Group Summer 2010 Wacky Wednesday 2011

Danee', Somer, Kimi, Maggie, Lindsay, Sarah

We were blessed this past year to have WONDERFUL assistants, Somer and Randie. Randie was taking the picture instead of being in it.

Celebration of Bob Day~ May 2011

During Spring Break, our wonderful music teacher, Bob, passed away. He was a very incredible person who touched every child and teacher he came in contact with. His love of music and passion for teaching was second to no one! At the end of the year, we held a special celebration of Bob. One of the parents at school made special shirts to help remember him.

Caboose!! Get it? Ha!

I am so thankful to have gotten the opportunity to work at Eisenhower! I met the most incredible teachers and families who have changed my life. Some of my closest friends are fellow Ike teachers. I love each one of you dearly! Thank you for changing me! I hope that you have a wonderful school year! The children who are lucky enough to go to Eisenhower have no idea how blessed they are to have such incredible teachers!

Cookies and Milk

I baked cookies yesterday so that Olive could have cookies and milk when she got home from school. She was so excited!

I think she enjoyed her special treat!

First Day of "School"!

Today was Olive's first day of Mother's Day Out. I have to admit, I was so nervous about this. We were so blessed to have Miss Terri keep her since she was 4 months old! I knew that was a blessing, but I didn't realize how big until we started talking about "school". Now, I know that there are Moms sending their sweet babies to real school and I can't imagine what that feels like! Olive woke up this morning in a weird mood and she was really clingy and cried most of her morning routine. This is really unusual because morning is usually her favorite time. I was able to convince her to let me put her down for long enough to get some pictures on the front porch! I want to start the tradition of front porch first day of school pictures!

Hmmm...do I want to go to my new school or not? That is the question.

Doesn't she look thrilled?

Getting ready to get in the car, she cheered up a little bit for a picture with Daddy!

I think this picture sums up how anxious she was! If you have ever been in the car with Olive, you know that sitting quietly and staring is not the norm.

When we got into the parking lot, there was a Sherrif's car with it's lights on that had pulled someone over and considering her fascination with "emergencies" this was a great distraction.

I think that God gave us the parking space that we got because there was a very sweet little girl getting out of the car next to us who is in Olive's class and she smiled at Olive and said hi!

When we got into the class, she was very timid and just watched what was going on. I tried to point out everything special and wonderful about the classroom in an effor to convince her that she was okay.

I tried to get her to play with blocks, but she just wanted to sit in my lap. Luckily, her new friend starting playing in the kitchen and Olive wanted to join her. This is what she was doing when we left! I was so thankful there were no tears or a major breakdown!

Who knows what will happen Wednesday morning when she goes back, but we will take what we can get! I can't wait to pick her up this afternoon and to find out how her day was!

I Want to Ride My Tricycle! I Want to Ride My Trike!

Honey got Olive a really spiffy new red tricycle for her birthday! She thinks it is pretty great! Stephen put it together and brought it out to her one evening. She was so excited about trying it out!

Daddy showed her the coolest part, the bell!

Daddy is working really hard trying to show her how to pedal.

Pedal! Pedal! Pedal!

She would rather just scoot around and was perfectly content to do it!

Thank you Honey for the tricycle! She loves it!

Two? Where Did 2 Years Go?

Olive has been 2 for a week now, and honestly it has been pleasant! I had heard horror stories from friends that the day their child turned 2 it was like a monster joined the family. Now, don't get me wrong, Olive has her fair share of tantrums and "ugly" moments everyday, but there was no scary transformation. (yet) She has actually started using her manners regularly and it makes my heart so happy everytime she says "thank you Mommy" without being prompted! I am so blessed that I have gotten to spend so much time with her this summer and I am looking forward to spending even more time with her this school year. It blows my mind how much she has changed as well as what she can do!

I still think of this...

the day she was born! We were so excited to embark on this big adventure of parenting and so happy our baby girl came into the world happy and healthy. That year was full of joy and firsts, moments we were thrilled to experience, but will never experience with her again. And our hearts grew bigger and more full of love than we ever thought possible!
A whole year went by...
and we celebrated her first birthday! She was still an unsteady walker with chubby little cheeks and what we thought was a lot of hair! She said some words, but hadn't developed into the constant chatterbox that she is today. And our hearts grew bigger and more full of love than we ever thought possible!

And a second year went by...

She has blossomed into a fun, free spirited, wild at times, chatterbox of a little girl! I sit and look at her and just wonder where our baby went! It seems like overnight she developed the ability to talk and she hasn't stopped using it! She is so full of life that it makes even dark days seem bearable! We went to the doctor this week for her 2 year check up and she passed with flying colors. She weighed 22.6 pounds (17%) and was 33 inches long (21%) and despite her refusal to eat, she seems to be progressing just fine! She still loves to be outside and this is where she would prefer to spend her time, but as she has told us everyday this summer, it is "sooo hot" so we typically only head out in the evenings. She likes to "read" books. She likes to hold the book and turn the pages as fast as she can, she really isn't into listening to the story right now. The only books she will actually look at with us reading are her "ABC" book because she points to each letter to identify it and "Jingle Bells" because we sing it as a family every night before bed. She mastered jumping some time ago and loves using this skill. She is a speedy little runner and has mastered going up and down steps on her own. This still makes me nervous because she looks wobbly, but she insists on doing it herself. Her obsession with numbers is still around and she will point to and identify numbers no matter where we are. She loves counting out loud and can go to 13 on her own, then she needs a little help to get to 17 and then she can take it from there to get to 20. She has a big vocabulary that continues to grow daily. I think my favorite word she uses is "emergency" it is just so funny to hear that big word come out of her mouth clearly and in the right context! She is quite the little singer and can be heard singing in her crib instead of napping, singing in the bathtub, the backseat, pretty much anywhere she is. Her favortie songs are Twinkle, Twinkle, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, He's Got the Whole World In His Hands, Jingle Bells, The ABC's, and This Little Light of Mine. I love hearing her sing! She is very into drawing and coloring right now. She likes to "write" her name which is really just scribbling as she says "O-l-i-v-e". She likes to have us write her name on her creations as well. She thinks everything is funny and likes to laugh hysterically whenever she can. One of her favorite phrases right now is "silly ____(fill in the blank with whoever is nearby)". She is a big ball of energy who never slows down!

We never realized how much we could love someone else until she entered our lives! We are incredibly grateful for the past 2 years and the change that has happened in us because of her and we can not wait to see what the next year holds! Welcome to being 2 Olive Kay! We love you more than you will ever know!

Splishin' and a Splashin'

Pop got Olive the coolest water table for her birthday. We got it out one evening and she couldn't get enough of it! We learned quickly, it is best to wear a swimsuit or just a diaper for this activity!

I think it is safe to say, she LOVES it!

Hey Good Lookin', Whatcha Got Cookin'?

Olive adores the kitchen in her tree house, so for her birthday we got her a kitchen for her room. We waited until a few days after her birthday to give it to her. She was so excited and has already spent hours making delicious soup and cookies!

"Oh My Goodness!!!"
Jesus and Marcos helped Daddy put it together and they were apart of the grand reveal. She kept saying "Thank you Marcoseuss!"

"Thank you Daddy!"

This little lady is in kitchen HEAVEN!

Be looking for this girl someday on "Top Chef"!