First Day of First Grade!

Today is Katy's first day of First Grade! She is excited and ready for a new year! She got to meet her new teacher, Mrs. Gulley, last week at "Meet the Teacher." As it turns out, Mrs. Gulley and Mrs. Mitchell (Katy's Kindy teacher) are besties- yay!

I can't wait to see what this year brings!!

Happy 6th Birthday, Katy Grace!!

Happy 6th Birthday!!

This.Girl!! 

She's SIX!! 

She's sweet and she is sassy. She is beautiful and she is smart. She is fiesty and she is kind. She makes us laugh and yes, there are times that she can make us cry (because as any parent will tell you, Love is a beautiful, messy mix of emotions!).

Katy has accomplished so much in year five! She has learned to read proficiently. She can add and subtract simple equations. Her questions get more intricate- the answers not so simple or rote. She is making friends and learning her way in the world. 

Today, I am excited for Katy! I am excited to see her reach and surpass her potential! I love her independence. I love her sense of self-accomplishment. I love that she is feeding her mind and becoming a beautiful soul. Year Six is just beginning and I can't wait to see what the future holds!

Happy, Happy Sixth Birthday, Katy!! We love you more than words can describe!!

Wordless Wednesday- One more sleep 'til she's SIX!!!!

First Day of Kindergarten- The Sappy Version

First Day of Kindergarten, August 27, 2015

Today was Katy's first day of kindergarten. It was her first "real" day of school adventures, memories and the start of a lifetime filled with learning.

It was her first day- the precipice of something new and (hopefully!) exciting! She was so confident and excited boarding the big, yellow school bus- just like a big kid! The world is her stage and she is ready to charge full-speed ahead!

She is ready; So ready! She is so smart and so perceptive! Her mind is hungry and fertile for learning. Her vocabulary, alone, rivals that of some adults- truly! I cannot wait to see and bear witness to all of the growth and development that will most-assuredly occur over the course of the next ten months.

Today was  my first day, too, though. You see, it was my first day of the beginning of learning to let go.... Of giving up complete control and handing her off to multiple capable hands.... Of depending on others for the fate of my daughter- our one precious possession that was never really our's to keep in the first place... Faces and names that I have not yet met, let alone carefully screened, observed and/or observed..! All in the name of creating a whole village of learning. Life lessons, book learning and everything in between.

Five and a half short years- gone in the blink of an eye! Yet, so much pure, raw love, effort, sacrifice and HARD WORK to get us to this point in time. Oh, those long, sleepless nights...! Lost sleep is just the beginning, though... I fear- nay, I'm am SURE!- that there will be more sleepless nights in the future as Katy grows up and hits each tangible and intangible milestone. Her first sleepover, learning to drive, first date, first heartbreak, college and God willing, marriage, babies and more!!

Five and a half short years to pump everything possible into our little girl to make sure that she is ready to meet and greet the big, wide world. A world that isn't always kind. A world that isn't always nice. A world that may teach my child about subjects that I may not necessarily want her delving into (right now- or ever!). A world that doesn't always make sense- even to my adult self, let alone a child!

Five and a half years short years to be her first and primary teacher. Manners, social graces, playing nicely with others... Respect and kindness... Letters, colors, numbers and words.... Books, books, books and more books....! Teach them young. Be consistent. Teach your child your family's values, or the world will do it for you.

Five and a half years to go from helpless infant to strong, confidant Kindergartener; ready to meet the challenges ahead! What if she struggles to fully understand an academic concept? What about bullies? How will she handle the long school days? Homework- how will I deal with homework in our seemingly, already full schedule?

Five and a half years and she still seems like a baby to me. In fact, she is my baby. She seems so small, surrounded by those older, rowdier children. She seems so young, and so immature when compared to those around her, pushing, scrambling and racing around the playground...

Five and a half years and a million and one emotions tumbling around inside me. Blogger Mama by the Bay says it best in here post,  "Dear New Kindergarten Mom."

Look out, World, here comes our beautiful, kind, intelligent, strong Katy Grace!!

May she be mighty and kind, empathetic and perceptive.

May she be hungry for knowledge, and thirsty for more. More trips to the library and less trips down the road of doubt and worry. Never be afraid to learn more (New subject, New concept, New hairstyles or trends).

May she be strong enough to stand up for what she believes, yet intuitive enough to know when to back down. There is a time and a place to be right. There is also a time and a place to be kind and graceful.

May she feel loved and be love. May she be the hands and feet of Jesus to those who need it most. May she never forget or lose sight of what is important. Faith is important. Love is important. Always.

May she always know that her father and I will always have her back. Also, know that we will never stop worrying and loving her. Late nights, difficult days... We.are.family.

May she know how and when to laugh, but also appreciate a good cry (and a pint of Ben and Jerry' s.)

May she have a reason to get dressed up and feel beautiful both inside and out. Beautiful for who she is, not what the world dictates. Yet, still not be afraid to get her hands dirty- To work with her hands, to create beauty and see the beauty in the world around her.

May she ask more of herself and more of those around her. She is worth it.

May she not be afraid to say, "No." May she not hesitate to say, "Yes!" Yes to opportunity, yes to friendship, fellowship and love.

May she savor life to it's fullest and not shy away from what is hard (hard to do, hard to say, hard to be and become.)

May she remember where she came from- that she will always be our little girl. May she be hopeful and expectant of her future. Work for it, Girlie- it's your's for the taking!

Happy, excited, sad, hopeful and afraid.... Today marks the beginning of our family's next chapter in life.

 First day of Kindergarten, August 27, 2015

Katy's First Day of Kindergarten!!

First day of Kindergarten!

Look out Kindergarten, here comes Katy!! 

Lil' Miss is beyond thrilled to start elementary school and she is so excited to become a "big kid" and ride the school bus. She was assigned to Mrs. Mitchell's class. Katy will also have a student teacher, Ms. Hardister. Their classroom 'theme animal' is the zebra.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round..."

Several weekends ago, we went to Target to purchase a pink, sparkly Barbie backpack. Originally, I had wanted to buy her one online, but Lil' Miss insisted on going to the store, "...for the experience..." of selecting her own special backpack. Hee, hee, hee.... only Katy!

Sporting her new sparkly pink Barbie backpack!

She may not fully understand all that is to come, but she's ready for the adventure of something new! She knows her letters, she knows her colors; she's ready to learn more!

Soooo....! Here's to a great start to Katy's road to learning! Cheers to untapped potential and discovering all that there is to learn! Here's to reading, writing and arithmetic! I can't wait to see what the future holds for our daughter!

Discovery Place Kids- Countdown to Kindergarten!

Kindergarten Ready!

Last Friday, Lil' Miss took part in the Discovery Place Kids, Countdown to Kindergarten!

Alongside her best bud, Connor, Lil' Miss played the night away! She enjoyed running from center to center discovering all that the museum has to offer. She played in the fire truck, the veterinarian center, the grocery store, water play and she even "changed a tire" in the car care center.

Besides the regular DPK areas, Lil' Miss also learned to navigate the cafeteria line and listen to a story. There were even "princesses" on hand to meet and greet the upcoming kindergarteners!

Katy can't wait to start Kindergarten!

Preschool Graduation- Last Day of Preschool.... EVER!!

 

Preschool "Graduate", May 20 2015

Diploma time!

We are so, so thankful for these two patient and loving teachers who have guided, shepherded and taught our daughter, this year! THANK YOU, Ms. Laura and Ms. Amy-Lyn!

Today was Katy's last day of Preschool! Ted and I went to her Preschool "Graduation," this morning and she did a great job of singing, smiling and dancing! 

I am so thankful for the love and guidance that Lil' Miss received at St. James Lutheran Preschool these past three years. Thanks to the wonderful staff, Katy has had a wonderful, positive preschool experience (and by extension, so have I). I am grateful that Katy always looked forward to preschool and that her introduction to the school experience had such a positive impact on her life. I am so, so thankful for her teachers that helped teach her, guide her, mold her and just loved her for being uniquely Katy! Thank you!

She has really grown and blossomed in just a few years at school and I know that she's ready for Kindergarten, next year! It is so hard to believe that we started on this Preschool adventure just three short years ago.... Now, if only time would just slow down just a little bit....!

10th Wedding Anniversary

April 23, 2005

A Decade! 10 years- that's how long Ted and I have been married! 

Excuse me for a moment while I get a little nostalgic...It seems simultaneously long and short (in a good way, of course!). There are moments where I think, "10 years- Wow! That's a long time!" Then, there are moments where I think, "10 years- they just flew by in a blink of an eye!"

There's a sense of accomplishment that comes with hitting the double digits milestone. In some ways, I feel like we've "arrived." As in, we've had enough life experiences together to truly understand how to make our marriage work. We're hardly marriage or love experts, but we are definitely in this forever.

Our life, now- as opposed to 10 years ago- looks a lot different than it did back then....We've had ups- the birth of our beautiful daughter, Katy! We've had downs- the whole condo debacle! There has been a lot of laughter and a lot of tears along the way. We've changed states and cities. We've changed jobs- and in my case, jobless by choice. We've moved, we've traveled, we've cruised and we've enjoyed our little family. I wouldn't change any of it for the world... Happy 10th Wedding Anniversary to us! I can't wait to celebrate many, many more!!

Wordless Wednesday- First Library Card

Happy 5th Birthday, Katy Grace!!

February 18, 2010

February 18, 2015

Happy, Happy, HAPPY Birthday to our sweet Katy Grace!! With her birth, she made us parents and completed our little family. These past five years have just FLOWN by!! Every day is an adventure with Lil' Miss and I'm so glad to be on this journey with her.

Katy enriches our lives beyond measure and I truly cannot imagine life without her laughter, her imagination and her unending supply of questions. She pushes me to be better because she is always pushing the limits- in good ways and trying ways. She has such a capacity to love and be loved- I love watching the world through her eyes.

She makes us smile, she makes us laugh and yes, sometimes cry. Everyday there is some funny anecdote or saying that she says that makes us wonder, laugh and scratch our heads. Just the other day, she came up with this thing where she'll shaker her hips in a circle when you say "hot chili sauce." Hilarious! Seriously- I'm still laughing!

Daily, she is learning and processing and taking in this great big world. The world is her stage and she isn't shy about taking it by the horns! She has a zest for life that I pray she never looses. With every task that she sets her mind to, she sets out to accomplish and conquer. 

I am so proud of the way that she sets goals and does her best to reach them. Take for example, her recent determination to learn to ride her bike without training wheels- one week- that's all it took her, once she set her mind to it! Or, her desire to save up enough money to to buy her own American Girl Doll. One year later and umpteen many quarters later (she gets a quarter for each chore that she helps with around the house) and Lil' Miss proudly picked out first doll, today. Amazing!

Here is a list of some current Katy statistics:

Favorite Show/Toy- Currently, she's Frozen obsessed- like most girls her age. Of course, she still loves her My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic

Favorite Books- She still enjoys Berenstain Bears, but we're into American Girl books, too.

Favorite Color- She's still really into Red and Pink.

Favorite Food- Chocolate, chips and salsa, pepperoni, cheese and crackers. And, let's not forget onions. Lots and lots of onions.

Current Bedtime/Wake up- Katy goes to bed at eight PM and usually wakes up around 7:15-7:30 AM (of course, it's never a full-all-the-way-through night of sleep... for her, or us...)

Height/Weights- Height- 43.5" (70th Percentile). Weight- 48 lbs (88th Percentile).

Current Clothing/Shoe Size- Size 5t clothing, size 11 1/2 shoes. She still LOVES to dress up fancy and prefers to wear dresses over pants.

Currently on Her Nightstand- American Girls, Felicity and Wizard of Oz.

It has been a great year and I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for Katy!

Happy, Happy, Happy 5th  Birthday, Katy Grace!! Daddy and I love you beyond measure- a million times a million!!!!

Katy Learns to Ride a Bike (Without training wheels)!!!

Katy learned to ride a bike! Without training wheels!! And, boy, is she FAST!!!

Recently, one of Katy's friends learned to ride without training wheels and Lil' Miss got it in her head that she'd like to give it a go, too. We told her that once we took the training wheels off, we wouldn't put them back on. She would HAVE to learn or she wouldn't be able to ride her bike.

Well, we took the wheels off last Saturday and less than a week later, she's yelling, "I got it, Mother!" And zooming off into the distance!! I'm so proud of her!!!

Look out, World, here comes Katy!!

Disney Cruise Line, Very Merrytime Cruise- Then and Now

 

Castaway Cay, Bahamas, December 2012

Castaway Cay, Bahamas, December 2014

First Day/Last Day of (Three-Year Old) Preschool

First Day of Preschool- September 4, 2013

Last Day of Preschool- May 23, 2014

My, what a difference a year makes! Look at how grown up (and sassy!) she looks, now!

**Once again this year, I took the skirt of the dress that I made for Katy's first day of preschool (back in September), and refashioned it with a new, bigger bodice, to create her "last day of preschool" outfit. (Thanks to my friend, Natalie of The Sassy Pumpkin, for the hard-to-find My Little Pony fabric scraps! :-)

Last Day of (Three-Year Old Class) Preschool- May 23, 2014

Last day of (Three-Year old) Preschool, May 24, 2014

Ready for summer!

We love you, Ms. Kelly and Ms. Gwyn!

Today was Katy's last day of the (three-year old) preschool. Lil' Miss had a GREAT year, this year! A large part of her success was due to the love and guidance that she was shown by her teachers, Ms. Kelly and Ms. Gwyn. THANK YOU, Ms. Kelly and Ms. Gwyn, for loving our girl and taking such good care of her. She has thrived over the course of the school year and we are so grateful for the opportunity she has had to learn and grow and play in your class!!

Happy 2014!

Good-bye 2013, Hello 2014!! Just four short years ago, the All Things Katy! blog was started. Now, 1,366 posts later, we are still here, still posting and still documenting the, "giggles, spills and life with Katy Grace!"

The end of one year and the beginning of a new one is always a good time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. 

Here are some family highlights of 2013:

-Our little girl turned THREE! This has been such a fun year with Lil' Miss! She's at a really good age, now, where she's just independent to do most things on her own, yet still young enough to still love to snuggle.

-In February, we moved. New year, new house, new neighborhood! We love our new neighborhood and are so blessed to be able to live so close to Ted's work, to have access to a playground and a pool in the summer. We actually know our neighbors by name and it's nice to know that our they are willing to lend a helping hand when needed (as evidenced by our summer tree incident).

-We went to HAWAII in March!! Thanks to our gracious hosts, we had a wonderful vacation! Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime memory maker! We went to a luau, visited Pearl Harbor, swam in the beautiful Hawaiian waters... so fun!

-Ted and I celebrated anniversary number eight, in April! In some ways, it seems like we've been together forever and then, other days, it seems like it's passed in the blink of an eye...!

-Katy started swim lessons in May, and by the end of August, she became quite the little fish! By the end of the summer, she was swimming underwater, blowing bubbles and swimming the width of the pool, unassisted! Amazing!

-In June, Katy got her first taste of Ballet. She took a summer ballet class at Miss Donna's School of dance and she's been hooked, ever since.

-Katy and I joined my sister and her family for a mini-vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC, in August. The kids had a blast playing together, swimming in the pool and enjoying the beach.

-In September, Katy started Preschool in the three year old class at St. James Lutheran Preschool. She loves her teacher, Ms. Kelly and has done WONDERFULLY since day one! I am so, so, so thankful for a smooth transition and a place that Katy enjoys and looks forward to going, each school day.

-Our family celebrated Halloween on the High Seas on a Disney Cruise. Lil' Miss dressed up as Cinderella with Ted as her Prince Charming and myself as her Fairy Godmother. We love to cruise!

-The Tinkey family descended upon our home in November to celebrate Thanksgiving, together. It was a whirlwind weekend, but lots of fun. 

-Nanny and Poppy Jones joined us for Christmas, this year. Besides recovering from a nasty cough and her first ear infection, Katy had a great Christmas week!
-When Katy went to the doctor's for her ear infection, they weighed and measured her. As of December 2013, she now weighs, 35 pounds and is 39 1/4" tall.

Here are some current blog highlights:

-All Things Katy! has had 1,366 blog posts since it's inception, four years ago.
-The most popular blog post of all times was the Money Saving Mom's Budget- Book Review with 523 page views.
-The second most popular post of all times was Katy's first birthday, Cookie Monster Birthday Bash way back in February 2011.
-I averaged about 26ish posts per month. Of course, some months are more "post-worthy" than others. Interestingly, October seems to be the month that I post the most (I would have bet December).
-For 2013, I had 33 "Wordless Wednesday" posts. So, not quite 52, but more than half...
-For 2013, I had 22 "Muffin Tin Monday/Bento Box" posts.
-In 2013, I said good-bye to the Nuby Blogger Program (Katy has outgrown that stage of her life- so sad!) and hello to pattern testing!
-In October, All Things Katy! held its very first giveaway, sponsored by Shutterfly. We didn't have many entrants, but it was something I'd never done, before and it was fun to be able to giveaway something through the blog.

Whew! What a year!

And now, onto another adventurous year... Happy New Year 2014!!

Monsters University- Katy's First Visit to the Movie Theater!

Katy's First Movie Theater Adventure!

Bring on the Popcorn!

We took Katy to see her first movie (in the theater), this afternoon. We chose to see Monsters University. Katy had a great time and did really well sitting quietly throughout the film. There was only one time (at a key, emotional moment) where Katy blurted out loud, "Why he (Sully) sad?" This elicited more than a few chuckles from the parents around us. All in all, a good time was had by all!

Last Day of (Two Year Old Class) Preschool- May 22, 2013

Thank you, Ms. Amber!

Thank you for filling in, Ms. Gwen!

Thank you, Ms. Diane!

Big Girl, Katy!

Last Day of  (Two Year Old Class) Preschool- May 22, 2013

Well, we've made it!

After a rocky start at Forest Hill Methodist Preschool and a switch in schools to St. James Lutheran Preschool, WE survived Katy's first year! Today, was her last day before summer break and I'm happy to report that she was all smiles! Lil' Miss has come a long way since last September.

She now willingly and happily does hand/foot print art. She is a good listener at school (now, if only that could translate to home....) and is usually one of the first kids seated at circle time. Only once since she started attending SJP, did she get a bad report. She's a master at shapes and colors and is slowly getting more interested in letters/words and numbers. Her teachers, Ms. Amber, Ms. Diane and Ms. Gwen had nothing but good things to say about Katy!

Ted and I are grateful for the nurturing environment that Katy has found  with her two year old teachers. Katy is still clingy at times and resistant to change, but she LOVED going to Preschool every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and was a willing participant at school. We are so thankful for a positive end to the school year. THANK YOU, Ms. Amber, Ms. Diane and Ms. Gwen!!

Little Miss Strawberry Shortcake- Then and Now

May 2010

May 16, 2013

We've enjoyed visiting Patterson Farms and picking strawberries for the past four years. It's fun to return to a place annually and see how much Lil' Miss has grown!

Memorial Gardens- Stair Master

September 2010

April 26, 2013

Same stairs at Memorial Gardens... two different approaches. My, how time flies!

Progress

Do you see this Ladybug picture?

...And this Chick Handprint?

To the untrained eye, these pieces of paper may just look like ordinary, run-of-the-mill Preschool arts and crafts. However, to us, this is what we call PROGRESS! 

Why? Remember Little Miss Priss from over a year ago- the one who REFUSED do dip her hands into paint and participate in finger painting? Remember when we had to switch preschools in the fall because her former teachers refused to differentiate when Katy didn't like to do handprint artwork?

Well, these two pictures actually include KATY'S OWN handprints! According to her St. James Preschool teachers, she actually WANTED to do the prints herself and was giggling and happy while painting! So, even though it's March and the school year is almost over, this is what we call progress. Slowly, but surely...