Lauren is back to school

Today was Lauren's first day in third class! Well that just flew by! She's grown so much over the summer! I can't wait to see how much she learns and thrives this year in school. 

This is the first year that Lauren will be in primary school on her own, but she doesn't mind at all! She's made lots of new friends and she's settled in nicely!

Our photo was taken before we did our hair so it's a little messy!!!

First day of Montessori, first day of primary school and third class 

Dylan starts secondary school

Dylan started secondary school this morning. I can't believe he's started this new journey in his life. He's st the start of a new journey now and I hope he enjoys e dry minute of the new opportunities presented to him. We are very proud of him and serve excited to see what he will achieve!

Good Luck Dylan!

First day of school, last day of primary, furst day of secondary school 

Dylan's graduation ceremony

Today my first born graduated from primary school. It is a rather surreal experience! It feels like yesterday when I walked him up the hill in his fresh new uniform, he was nervous of what to expect....the years have flown by. 

Dylan has had a lot of hard work and challenges in primary school, but he faces them and he did his best. He excelled at sports and loved history and English, he made so many friends and was always one of the most popular and well liked children in his class.

 I think overall his primary school experience was a good one for him, he learned about himself and proved himself resilient during two school changes because of our work moves. 

He has gone from strength to strength, and now in late August he will walk himself in on his first day of secondary school, he will make his own way and be responsible for his own work and actions, he will move away from our guidance and more towards making his own educational decisions. It is hard as a parent to hand over the 'reins' so to speak, but I hope we have equipped him with the skills to make good choices, and most importantly that he knows we will always be here to help and guide him no matter how big he gets..... because he will always be my little boy, even if now I tend to look up in height to him these days!

we are so proud of you Dylan, we are proud of everything you do and we are proud of all of your achievements... every one 

Dylan receiving his Primary certificate 

Well done Dylan.... we love you 

Hosting the Communion Breakfast

 Every year we celebrate the First Holy Communion in our school, we throw the Communion breakfast for the children making their Holy Communion. Each year the first class parents host this event, meaning that when your child goes into second class the next year, and makes their communion, the favour is returned! It works really well, and our school has the most wonderful community. The array of cakes and homemade treats always humbles me, to see other parents go to all the trouble always makes me smile. We brought some baked goodies and we helped to set up the hall for the party, and I snapped these photos.

 

I actually cannot believe that this time next year Lauren will be making her first Communion, and Dylan will be making his Confirmation .... The time sure does go by very fast....

 

 

What a really lovely day all the children and their families will have! The school hall looks absolutely beautiful!

Spring has Sprung!

Last week was the first day we were able to get out and bounce on our trampoline! The kids had to do ten minutes of activity every day as part of the P.E programme in school, so because it was so lovely out they chose bouncing!

They are so excited for the weather to improve all the way so that they can get back out and bounce their cares away lol! This is such a great exercise but I have to make sure they are on the trampoline separately to avoid injury!

Looks like spring has sprung!

 

 

Happy Monday everyone!

End of school year surprise

Yesterday was the last day of the school  year. Dylan finished fourth class and Lauren finished senior infants. We got their school reports and they were glowing, Dylan has come on leaps and bounds academically, and the teacher mentioned he has been working so hard. Lauren's teacher mentioned that Lauren should be commended for all of her hard work, and that she was a pleasure to teach, both teachers pointed out that my children were a great addition to the classroom and that they were good, caring children. To say we were proud of them would be an understatement! We were ecstatic.

 

They went off to their respective class parties, Lauren's class were having a 'teddy bears picnic' so cute! They were so excited going off to school. They are so excited to be getting their summer holidays, and they are getting their surprise when they get home from school for their amazing school reports, and all of their hard work this year.

 

Last day of school picture, I can't believe how much they have grown

 

 

When they got home I had their trampoline bought! there were squeals of excitement! even though it took over two hours to put together by my friend and I, it was worth every difficult moment to see their faces of pure happiness! They deserve a special treat, and I hope they have a summer full of fun on their new trampoline!

 

This morning they were out bright and early enjoying their trampoline! I may have also had a turn! The best part is they can truly enjoy the garden and their time with me this year as I will be staying home with them for the summer, I am so grateful to be able to do this, and I am treasuring every single moment, this is a gift that I have wished for since Lauren was only a little over 1! So since it's officially the summer holidays, we better get to having fun!
 

 

Lauren's first day of preschool

My little girl has become a big girl and it seems like overnight! Today she seems taller, older yet it's only been a day since she had her first day of preschool! I can't quite believe she's this big. I am so proud of her, she went in on her first day and when it was time for me to leave she said goodbye, gave me a kiss and sat down with her teacher. She didn't bat an eyelid,  all around her little people were welling up and blubbing, clinging to parent's legs, but not Lauren. She marched right in, sat down and said goodbye with a smile and not a single sniffle. I'm so very proud of her. A little part of my heart aches though as I watched her walk in on her second day this morning, because she's getting bigger and growing up and not my little baby anymore. But they must grow! And I am so proud of the special little girl she has become. Her strength of character and determination are admirable, and she loves her family. She and Dylan have a great time together that are great friends, but they kill each other too!

So that's another mile stone down.... I appreciate the old saying now 'you only have a loan of them' because they really do grow up too fast. Here is our precious youngest member of the family on her first day of preschool.

All ready to go

 

 

Mummy and Daddy cuddles before preschool

 

 

 

Our big girl

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren we love you so much and we are so very very proud of you for taking to this new challenge and change in your little life so well.... We love you x

Dylan and Lauren's Artwork 2010/2011

It's important for me to document Dylan and Lauren's work. Dylan has moved onto a lot of reading focused homework - dictation and sentences, but in term one he focused a lot on artwork, working on forming his letters and shapes. So I've made his artwork into a slide show, and of course some of Lauren's contributions!! Including her first time finger painting, and their handprints! I just love to remember every single thing they do. I know in time the edges will curl and the pages will get lost, memories will fade, and so this is a wonderful way to remember everything!

I love my little babes!

"Art & school Work"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

Christmas cheer and little people living here

It's getting colder here everyday, the leaves are gone and an icy wind has replaced the crisp chill! I'm looking forward now to all that this season brings. I love the slow trickle of changing window displays and Christmas music sneaking in, and people preparing, and then before you know it.. bang.. Christmas is here! I can't wait to put on some Christmas music and put our tree up! We usually do it once we have Dylan's birthday over! I like him to have a dedicated amount of time for his birthday, before Christmas starts.

Lauren is also changing fast! She'll be 21 months old this month. I can see that she is a toddler now, not a baby anymore (although she'll always be my baby!)  It only seems like yesterday I was writing that she had started to say a few clear words. Now she is stringing three words together and is getting her point across quite clearly. She is definite on what she does and doesn't like. Especially when it comes to her favourite shows on TV. Luckily they both like Peppa Pig, so they'll compromise on that. Although when TV time is over, all I hear for about half an hour is ' petta gone, pettta gooone,' 

She has become obsessed with Santa since she discovered who he is. She insists on watching that film 'Elf'' all the time. She'll walk around with the box asking for it! it's quite funny! On Monday while I was getting her ready I was singing 'Santa baby' you know that old song! and she loved it. Then when we were in the car on our way to get Dylan, all I hear from the back seat is... 'santa baby, la la la, Santa baby laaaaa,' and she kept singing that bit all the time! It is the cutest thing to listen to.. It really makes me smile.

She's really getting into her books now too. She'll sit down and look at the pictures and talk about them. My mum got her a Peppa book and she loves it. I thought she was asleep at nap time last week, but when I went up to check on her, there she was with her Peppa book in her lap 'reading' away! She'd managed to get it from her shelf! I am loving this phase of her development. She's becoming more caring and loving. She'll reach over and hug you or kiss you spontaneously now. She is also becoming a Daddy's girl, she says 'Daddy's gone work.. very busy,' and when she hears him come in she jumps down and runs through the house shouting 'Daddy, Daddy, Daddy home,'

Her eating is getting a bit better, still not great but better. I'm giving her more at breakfast, and I've started giving her supper. So I know once she gets those two good meals, I'm happy for her to graze during the day. That way if she only picks at her lunch, I don't worry too much. She has been eating her lunch for the past two days though, so yaay!

We're really looking forward to her second Christmas this year. I just love having a daughter and I am thoroughly enjoying each new day with her!

Here's a few pictures of her from last weekend... looking all adorable!

I am finding it hard to believe that my first born, my baby boy will be six in a matter of days! He is getting bigger, and he's becoming so kind to those around him. We are still having some behavioural issues, but we've started a new star chart and that seems to be doing the trick so far. I'm so proud of the wonderful person he's becoming, he's so loving with his sister... they are so cute together, Dylan opens out his arms to her and she runs to him laughing, she adores him!

He had his parent-teacher meeting yesterday, and it went really well. His teacher seems to be really fond of him, judging by how she talks about him. She says he is doing really well with his sounds, letters, numbers, reading and blending. She says he is very popular with his peers, and he behaves well. She is very happy with him and has no concerns. I was so happy to hear this, because I've been having some attention problems with him recently, and I was getting really concerned. I find it hard to get him focused on his homework, and I was worried he was acting that way in school too! but thankfully he is doing great. His teacher says he is progressing well. Which is a huge weight off my mind, I've had to work on the letters and sounds in the past with him, and it's definitely paid off... yaay! She's given me some extra things to work on over the term.

We got his Proof for his T-shirt design, and I'm really happy with it. I'm just going to change the 'aged 6' bit to just '6' by request of the birthday boy! He's also got his beloved Buzz Lightyear all over it! so he's one happy boy. I'm going to go ahead and get it printed up. He'll be adorable in it at his party!!

I got a picture of him before he went to to school this morning, because he was looking so cute all bundled up in his winter clothes. But I see the 'serial killer gaze' has become a fixture recently in his photos! he always looks slightly sinister in photos these days!!! I hope it won't last too long, because I love his cheesy camera smile!

Here's a copy of the proof for his T-shirt design... it's too cute!!

So enjoy the changing of the season..... We've definitely felt the change in the season around here, both in the weather and the Christmas cheer... and in the little people living around here!

School plays and races....

This week we had Dylan's school play and his sport's day! His play was great, he was a boa constrictor and he had to sing the funniest song. I was so proud of him I was nearly in tears...

His sport's day was great too, he won a medal for winning the race. He was so delighted with himself, he's getting a few medals now.

In Lauren's world, she's getting her back teeth and so she's been tired and cranky for a few days now, poor petal, she even fell asleep on the couch this week, while she was eating her snack!which she never does...

So, summer holidays start today.... two whole months of fun... Derek is taking a week off next week, so we're going to have a week of family day's out. I'm really looking forward to that. Then Dylan will have one week of Summer camp in July and two in august, which will give mummy a much needed break. The summer is going to be great. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with the kids, now all we need is some good weather.. finger's crossed! Here's to exploring, making things, running around, days out, laughter, smiles and summer fun and most importantly... making wonderful memories!