Red Shirt Year

So we decided to keep munchkin in Kindergarten for an additional year, so she could be on the old side of her grade. I was nervous at first, but Kendra is more adaptable then the rest of us. When we went to meet her teacher she was very nervous. By the first day of school she was over that and strolled in like she owned the place. Isaiah was in charge of drop off this year and took many pictures for me. As Kendra like to share, "Mama still cried, but I didn't". Kendra spent some of the first day comforting kids that missed their moms and called herself the Kindergarten hostess. =)

Kendra is playing fall soccer this year and is on her first all-star cheer team. She loves soccer, but her team has 5 of 8 kids that are new this year. Kendra has learned to be more aggressive and not to share the ball with the other team. With cheer she is a "foot holder" aka base. She is constantly practicing her tumbling and loves cheer also. She got to serve drinks as a fundraiser at Outback and performed at halftime with the Grandview cheer and poms!

Swim lessons

We are getting ready to leave and Kendra says to me, "now Mama, you didn't forget to take off your underpants right?"

LOL- I guess she's over me reminding her!

And SHE SCORES!!!

Kendra had soccer camp this week and learned a lot. Today during the scrimmages she scored not 1 BUT 2 goals!!!!!

Yeah Kendra! Here's what the world's best 6 year old soccer player looks like:

Kendra calls her favorite Uncle Ryan and tells him, "I scored 2 goals at soccer! ..... And I got 3 mosquito bites."

Practice makes perfect

"Am I going to have a soft practice at soccer today?"
~Huh? What do you mean soft?
"Well yesterday was a hard practice so I was hoping today would be soft!"

"Mom- do you even remember what it was like to be 17?"

"Abby says I don't want to get a sister- she might steal my clothes and my boyfriends!"

My baby is SIX!

So prior to crying earlier today, realizing my baby is now entering a new category of kid, I was reflecting on parenthood. With now 6 years experience, and let's face it 10 months of pregnancy, I have am ready to share.

Fears I had that became true:

• Mean girls exist in pre-school, at age 3. They don't ever go away, they are at every school, every age and they will be mean to my kid too.
• The mama bear instinct is stronger then your brain. This has happened for me on multiple occasions. You don't mess with my cub.
• One day a boy will convince my daughter to kiss him on the playground.
• At age 5 my child realized I do not know everything, she also learned to negotiate.
• Dropping my daughter off at Kindergarten was harder then leaving her to go to work. It would be weird if I called the school every hour to make sure she was okay.
• I am no longer Katie, I am "Kendra's mom"- I enjoy this one, but it took some getting used to!
• Parent teacher conferences are nerve racking, especially as a parent. You feel so accountable!

Fears I had that did NOT come true:

• I have not yet lost my child anywhere- frequent hand holding helps this, especially at Disney World!
• I would NEVER be able to sleep soundly again- after a few months I was able to sleep better, and didn't wake up multiple times to check her breathing
• Kendra would be devastated if I left her: It was harder for me for me to leave then for Kendra to see me go- both Kindergarten and Preschool, I cried outside the door and Kendra waved me away... "see you!"
• Life would be different- I realized, life was better. New things are exciting and fun!
• Kendra wouldn't have a daddy- we have a "Saiah" who is wonderful and takes great care of munchkin.
• She would hate cheerleading- she loves it, she's wonderfully talented and will cheer at "Tucky" one day!

Going to the Mountains = A LOT of questions

On Saturday night Isaiah and I went down to the Civic Center to watch the fireworks. Matt had Kendra and as always... I was bummed she wasn't with us for the weekend. We sat down and I told Isaiah I wished Kendra was with us. A few minutes later I see an adorable blond little girl with her arms out shouting, "MAMA!" Kendra comes running over to see us with her Grandma and Great-aunt in tow. I offered that they could sit and watch the fireworks with us, so they left Kendra with us to watch them. It was wonderful!

The next day we picked Kendra up to go to Breckenridge for a few nights. Kendra had a number of questions including:
1. Do people in the mountains have the same president as us?
2. Do they speak English there?
3. Why are there so many "palm" (pine) trees?
4. Are there bears and can we smell them if they are coming?
5. Do they have an Old McDonald's (McDonald's restaurant) there?
6. How long until the fireworks start?... repeat x 10!
7. Can we get more ice cream?!!!!

She was very patient on the drive up and enjoyed a bit of a nap. She was a bit confused as to how many actual mountains there are. Kendra got to play in a bouncy castle and a huge inflatable slide. We watched fire works on Sunday night with very loud echoing booms through the mountains. It was gorgeous!

On Monday we had to sit through a loooong time share presentation. Isaiah and I were talking about how nice the property was and received a mini lecture from Kendra on how we cannot move to the mountains because everyone else lives "down there". It was very cute! We dropped Isaiah off at the golf course and went off our own adventure. We rode the Gondola up the mountain and found a Breckenridge park. We then decided to take the ski lift up to the top of the mountain to enjoy the view. I was terrified that Kendra would wiggle off the ski lift, especially after I had to sign a waiver for us to ride. She told me to stop holding on to her so tightly =) We also rode the Alpine Slides down the mountain, which was a blast. Kendra insisted on driving and I insisted on helping. She then apologized to the people behind us for her mommy slowing it down.

All in all the trip was a blast! I will post pictures soon!

Dance recital pictures

Kendra's second dance recital was yesterday, she had lots of fun! Here are some pictures.

Cheetah presentation

Kendra had a cheetah presentation last week. She did a wonderful job! Here is her poster for the BIG day. I am thinking we may eventually have another teacher in the family!

Thursday Folder

I am going through Kendra's backpack to read her paperwork in her weekly Thursday folder. As I am pulling a number of random things out of her bag I find a variety of snacks in every available backpack pocket. Some that we have sent with her, some that I've never seen before. I ask Kendra why she isn't eating at snacktime and where the rest of the food comes from. After a bit she finally tells me she has been getting snacks from her teacher because she likes the kind she has better.... KENDRA!

Recent quotes from Kendra

"I don't want to go anywhere near a volcano, it might interupt!"

Kendra was sick this weekend and started feeling better Sunday so she went to her last soccer game for the season. The second half of the game she was getting more tired so I asked her if she needed to sit her turn. "No way Mama- they will loose without me out there!" *she has scored once this season... and it was in the wrong goal =) Defense is more her thing!

She came back from a birthday party where they had a magician. The party favor was her very own magic set. After we come home she's doing magic tricks where everything disappears! (Right after I have to close my eyes... MAGIC!)

Parenting Lessons 101

#1- I recently sent the following email to my friend and new mommy Lori:

So I warned you about all of the crazy prego stuff. Here is a new warning. As soon as you think this parenting gig is getting easier- your 5 year old wakes you up at 3:00 AM, in route to the bathroom. Then - splash! - projectile vomiting all over the bathroom floor. (So close, yet still a HUGE mess). She looks up and says, "it's okay mommy, at least I missed the carpet." Then a few rounds later she wants soup for breakfast.

So finally at 5:00 in the morning, after sleeping between Kendra and the snoring Giant Isaiah, I decide I am up for the morning. I smell of Clorox, I'm exhausted and planning on an afternoon nap. Thankfully my dad brought me home from dropping off my car this morning for a check-up. Check out the funny hair pics! Look closely- my dad has a faux hawk sort of!

Aquarium Time

Kendra and I took her friend JJ to the Aquarium a few weekends ago... it was quite the fun trip. The highlight of the visit was seeing the "crazy stingray" jump out of the tank. Then all of stingrays went crazy and splashed Kendra and JJ- as Kendra will tell you, "mommy saved us both!"



We have also had quite the excitement with Kendra's soccer season. This is her first year playing and she has been the defensive rockstar on the team. Offense is a bit different however... last weekend she scored her very 1st goal- in the wrong goal. We explained to her after the 1st game that she can't share the ball, she has to go take it. She has made some great blocks on defense and really likes playing, so she will probably continue playing throughout the summer. She has kept the habit of stretching appropriately for all practices and games, complete with splits and now backbends. (I think cheerleading might be right up her alley also). She's starting 1 day a week all-star classes. You know what they say, you can never have too much money or cheerleading, right?



We have also had a ton of fun with the new babies in our lives. Kendra is very excited to be a cousin, with baby Paul. Elaine had a wonderful mother's day brunch for us all, it's great to have a new baby in the family! It has spurred a number of baby questions from Kendra... including when does she get to have her own baby brother or sister. I told her we are good with cousins for now =)

SPRING BREAK!!!!

Kendra has been telling everyone we see in that she has TWO weeks off for her Spring Break! She also informed me that she won't need to do homework because she can wait for 2 weeks before she has to turn it in!

We started this off with a sleepover with Aunt Abby- Isaiah's 7 year old little sister. She had a blast, so much fun that she got to spend the night at Abby's the next night! This was a BIG deal because other then Nana and her dad's but Kendra was asking to go and super excited! The next day she went to church and cam home with a lot of questions. She has a little "My first Bible" with kid friendly text and lots of pictures. Kendra is thumbing through the book and shouts, "I can't believe he didn't tell me he wrote this!!!! Mama look- Noah (her friend from school) wrote this story- what's this word?" ...... "Arc" I tell her. It was very cute!

At soccer practice Kendra was asked to stretch out as they were warming up, Kendra dropped into the splits. Makes sense, after almost 6 years of watching the cheerleaders stretch, that's how they do it!

With two babies expected this month and Kendra becoming a cousin there has been a bit of an adjustment already. I took Kendra to Build a Bear Workshop to create her own baby bear to play with. She chose a pink bear with a pink outfit of course. We also picked up a bear carrier, similar to a baby bjorn for her to care for her baby bear. She named the bear Isabela after her friend =)

We went into a hair store to look for a new curling iron. The sales lady is going through all the different kinds and benefits, etc and Kendra politely raises her hand. The sales lady looks down and Kendra tells her, "my mommy never curls my hair because it's bad for young hair, do you have the kind mommy can use on my hair? I want my hair to be curled and beautiful like my mommy." The nice lady just looked at me and shrugged.

As we were pulling into Fort Collins to see Ms. Jenn I explained to Kendra that kids that work really hard when they are at school get to one day go to college! Kendra tells me, "I am ready now, I already work hard at school." I go on to bore her with the facts that you have to work really hard in high school too and only some kids get accepted to college. "I have my CSU shirt on, does that mean I can get in?"

Today we had a dentist appointment. As we pull up Kendra is very nervous and tells me she can't get a shot today. I tell her she won't need one today is a "happy cleaning visit." She then shares that she has just a few questions to ask Dr. Nick. #1 Can I eat candy sometimes or never for my teeth. #2 I have loose teeth (her fingers wiggle, the tooth doesn't move) when will they come out? We get to the dentist and are put in separate rooms next door to each other. I am not sure she had her teeth cleaned because she was talking to the hygienist the entire time. She comes in my room smiling with 2 treats because she tells me she was THAT good! Then she chats with my hygienist and tells her, "mommy has to get a shot in her mouth because she drinks pop ALL the time and never drinks milk!" Way to call out your own mother Kendra!

The Break-up

Our typical daily conversation... Kendra how was school today?
(Smiling through the whole convo)
"I broke up with Noah, he has a new girlfriend so I said we will not get married. He was playing with her and NOT me at recess so I just said NO WAY!"

I like the spunk Kendra- and "she get it from her Mama"

Recent quotes of note...

Kendra-I had a horrible nightmare! The cougars were exercising.
Me- what do you mean exercising?
Kendra- They were running ALL around!

Me- Kendra how was your day today?
Kendra- Mama, I have something to tell you... somebody fell in love with me at school today. He says when we grow up we can go to Las Vegas and get married. I wrote my number on paper for him so his mommy can call you. I really want to have a play date with him. Please say yes mama!
~Later the same day....
Isaiah- Kendra how was school today?
Kendra- Saiah- I have something to tell you... there's a boy at school... but we aren't old enough... but he accidentally fell in love with me. I told him he is NOT allowed to try to kiss me!
-Isaiah and I are now discussing adopting a big brother for her so this does not go any further.

Kendra is starting soccer this week- YES, I am now officially a soccer mom! So we went and bought all of her soccer gear. Cleats (black and pink), soccer ball (pink), shin guards (pink), uniform and fancy soccer socks (blue and white). I splurged and also got her the matching blue bow for her uniform. (It's the cheerleader in me- can't help myself). We got home and after I googled, how to wear shin guards, we got her dressed properly for some soccer. We hiked down the street to an open field and kicked the ball around. Kendra picked things up very quickly, and I know she will be a wonderful soccer player. She is also very "coachable". I told her she needs to kick with both feet. She looks at me and jumps up and hits the ball with both feet at once! =) Not exactly what I meant, but she's getting there!

Yesterday on her way to "Aunt Abby's" she snuck on her shin guards and cleats because she wanted to bring them over to her house. This morning by about 9:00 shin guards are on again, quite the fashion statement! We had to talk about her not being able to wear her cleats to school, we will see how that goes.

GPS... at 5?

We are headed to ballet... I've been awake since 3:00 am Denver time... and my GPS jumps off the dashboard. I of course, curse at the the thing and start to set it back up. Kendra quietly says, "It's okay to relax mama, I can tell us the way to get there." =)

Girl Scout cookies are now in! Kendra insisted on carrying all 4 boxes to Nana because Nana bought the cookies from her. It was quite the balancing act, but she was proud of her work!

Super Student Award!!!!

Kendra received the Super Student Award yesterday for following directions! Yeah Kendra! She also received 4 of her Daisy petals in girl scouts. Her troop is sending gently used stuffed animals to children in Haiti and sending care packages to our military in Iraq and Afghanistan. At her badge ceremony her troop mom asked the kids to raise their hands if they have been out of the country. She calls on Kendra... "I am going to Las Vegas for my moms wedding this summer!" =) Almost out of the country... Caesar's Palace? Maybe?

Kendra is also getting to be part of World Thinking Day for girl scouts. Not sure what all this entails, but I'm sure she will have fun. She is also starting soccer here in a few weeks, she already has her eye on the pink shin guards and soccer ball. Parents are supposed to volunteer to help out also- I think I will go for bringing oranges because I know nothing about soccer.

Kindergarten Boys

"Mom, Jacob tried to kiss me at recess and I ran away and hid under the monkey bars but he followed me! Then I accidentally tooted and he ran away."

PERFECT! Anything to keep those boys away. Keep tooting Kendra!

Earlier this week- Kendra comes bouncing in my classroom. I ask how her day was and she tells me, "It was good, we walked down the hallway and a girl all of a sudden exploded from her mouth." Lucky us- Kendra has been a pretty healthy kiddo and didn't even know what it was.

Friendship Bracelets

Kendra's girl scout troop made friendship bracelets on Thursday. She came home very excited and waited to see Isaiah to show him. She gave her bracelet to him and told him he can keep it to wear at work everyday! Kendra even checked to make sure he wore it... Friday and Saturday! Very cute!

Oh my....

Kendra comes into my office and one of my co-workers kindly asks Kendra if she can buy some girl scout cookies from her. Kendra thinks for a minute and then says, "no we are keeping the cookies JUST for my family."

Quotes of the day... Kendra Lynn

"Mama, when people go to the good heaven, do they change to look like the tooth fairy?" (Angels?)

Kendra recently joined girl scouts- adorable, I know and even better Girl Scout cookies! We are still working on her pitch, but here is her first few attempts, "Hi, this is Kendra, I am a girl scout HERO... want some cookies from me?" At her first meeting they traced each other, Kendra decided to give her picture a pedicure!

"I went to the stalking show and saw some bullys!" (stock show... bulls)

I got a message that one of my friends from high school was engaged, so I said, "oh that's exciting"... she comes over and asks what's so exciting. I tell her the BIG news and she stares at me blankly. "Ugh, that's not exciting news to kids."

Kendra has a little boy in class that bugs her. She tells me they got into an argument today and she told him, "You do NOT act like an I CARE kid like we are supposed to." I think she gets that attitude from her mama =)