Graduation Pictures

So initially I kept thinking that Preschool Graduation was bit corny and over the top. But after witnessing it, La Petite Academy did a great job keeping it real. So while they kids did have a cap and tassle, it was more about the milestone of finishing preschool and moving onto Kindergarten.

Lexi, Lauren, Katelynn & Laine - the Four Musketeers according to their teachers!

They had the class prepare a little song and I don't know what was going on with Lexi, but she got stage fright or something. She was up in front, line leader, lead the kids all onto the playground, and then sat down and had this scared look on her face most of the time. There were a few tears but I think she was just overwhelmed that there were so many people looking at her. I actually don't think she realized that both Grandmothers were also going to be in attendance...watching her...much more pressure! She's going to have to get over that if she ever is in school plays and such!


Well, once the class was done with their little song, LPA did something really cute. They had the kids line up, walk across the play structure, slide down the slide to get their "diploma"! So stinkin' cute!

Miss Amy!

The school had a little Potluck Picnic after the ceremony, but we had already decided to go out to dinner to celebrate. What a cute celebration!

Lexi Milestones - Preschool Graduation

Tomorrow is going to be such a momentous day! Lexi "graduates" from preschool! Her school has been talking this event up a storm. For me it is bittersweet.

First...this means that my baby is going to take her first major step towards growing up! I know, it is inevitable and we have been working towards this and will continue to work forwards. But for me, this is truly the end of her babyhood.

Second...In less than 2 months, she will start Kindergarten! She is so excited! And I'm afraid she might be a bit sad too because all her friends won't be with her. Each of her little group...Lauren, Caitlyn, Laine, DeLaney...they are all going to different schools next year. So they all start Kindergarten with a clean slate for friends. I know all the parents are kind of sad about that because we know how close these girls are to each other.

Pictures tomorrow!

Sam & Chelsey's Reception

Yesterday was Sam & Chelsey's Wedding Reception, Jeff's brother & new sister-in-law. For their wedding present, I made them a wedding cake for the reception.

The reception was in my Mother-in-law's backyard with catered food and lots of drinks! It was a luau theme and lots of fun.

After all the co-workers and acquaintances had left, the immediate family stayed around playing...what else? Rock Band! Yup!

Here's Lexi rocking out!



Fun Times!

Flashback...Talk Pictures Mommy!

So, every once in a while, Lexi insists on watching her "Talk Pictures" or her videos from the past 4 years. This is, of course, in lieu of our normal nighttime routine of reading books and singing songs before bedtime...she gets about 15 minutes of watching her videos. I love doing this too because it reminds me to record more of Lexi for posterity sake. I remember last year, when she was watching these one day, realizing that I hadn't taken any videos in a few months...causing me to remind myself to do so whenever something funny came up! And she LOVES watching her "talk pictures"...and just cracks up. We usually try to stay chronilogical...starting with her adoption video, videos when she just came home.

One of my favorites from the first few weeks home is a video of Lexi dancing to her Leapfrog Lily counting numbers doll...push the belly and she sings. Lexi would push the belly and sway along to the music demonstrating her musical affinity at such an early age!

My other favorite first months video is the one of her displaying her signing abilities after just about 2 months of classes.

After a few baby ones...she gets specific and wants to see her videos with her Cousin Violet, or Liana, or Hannah & Hailey. So funny!

St. Patty's Day Party

Did I mention this was a crazy busy weekend? After I attended a friend's baby shower in the morning, we headed over to another Playgroup Party - this time it was a St. Patty's Day Party!

Our hostess, Lisa, went to town with decorations. As with this group of friends...we always do potluck for our gatherings and this time, it was all green food! The kids thought it was hilarious!

We usually get the kids fed and then have grown up time while we eat. Here's Dawn with the lineup of plates! LOL!

With green Mac & Cheese, green veggies, green jello...yes and even green frosting for the cupcakes...the kids loved it! Of course, during their meal, they spent some of it looking out the window in search of the leprechans! Too funny.

After the grownups had a chance to eat and socialize, the kids went outside to play to burn off some steam. We also celebrated our 5 year anniversary as a group of friends since we all met because we were all going to the same fertility clinic. When we first met, we had 1 child in 9 families. Now we have 20!

Lisa had more St. Patty's day activities lined up for the kids. She read a story and had Irish music in the background. Got the kids up and dancing...that's for sure!

Apparently, Jeff has been too shy around these friends because he was playing with the Siler girls and I got so many remarks about how they were interacting it was too funny! I kept telling them all that this is just a glimpse into the daily routine at the Pudoff House!

Play Group Picnic!

This was a crazy busy weekend! We hadn't seen our Playgroup friends in a while so we all decided on a picnic at an El Dorado Hills park for a playdate.

The Pudoff family, as is always the case, was the first there and so we marked off a few picnic tables and Jeff and Lexi went to play and explore. The play structure was really nice and the view...well, let's just say that the gated community must have Million Dollar homes because the view was breathtaking. Folsom Lake, the hills, just beautiful.

Joe Zavada and the Burns family was next to arrive. Funny to see how the kids interact with each other when it is not the whole group. Lexi and Natasha spent quite a bit of time running around, collecting pine nuts, just playing. It was so cool.

They also stopped to pet and play with a golden retreiver puppy who was just so cute. Reminded me so much of Chopin when he was a puppy!

The kids also chased and played with a neighborhood cat...they were pretty busy! I think Lexi really liked this playdate because she got a real kick out of the "picnic" aspect of the outing.

After all that playing, Lexi went home and took a really nice long nap. That gave me time to prepare dinner since Grandma Pudoff and Uncle Sam and Aunt Chelsey were coming over for dinner!

Playing Outside

It has been really nice outside lately and whenever that happens, I've been encouraging Lexi to go outside to play. Today, Jeff happened to be out in the backyard practicing, what else?, his golf swing. So Lexi decided she wanted to join him. Of course, I'm not quite sure when she put her ballerina outfit on since I was actually inside cooking and cleaning! LOL. When I looked up and saw her ensemble, I just had to pull out the camera and take a few pictures. She is quite the character, isn't she?





The following day, it was so nice again, she wanted to go draw on the patio.

With days as nice as they are, I can't say no! Keeps her from going stir crazy in the house.

Crab Feed Cake Donations

For the past few years, I have made and donated cakes to Active 20-30 #1032's Crab Feed - Dessert Auction. Last year was the first year that I donated 6 cakes, two of each flavor. This year I did the same, two chocolate with chocolate mousse filling, Lemon cake with raspberry filling and Carrot Cake. I am so pleased to say that these cakes helped raise over $1200 for children's charities in the Sacramento Region!

Last year was also the first time I had tried to sculpt anything for the decorations. I started off with fondant sculpted carrots and I must say that this year's carrots looked even more realistic!

This year, I added sculpted Lemons to my repitoire!


I am finding that the sculpting is lots of fun!

Sleep Over!

Tonight was Lexi's 2nd sleep over at the Lott house! The first time she did that was on Monte Carlo night. Leading up to Crab Feed, I originally asked my mom to come up to stay with Lexi, because she doesn't see Paw-Paw very often and Gong-gong (my dad) was in China for a few weeks. Unfortunately, that meant that Mom had to drive up from San Jose by herself and she was not really looking forward to doing that. So at the the last minute, Mandy called to invite Lexi for a sleepover. Perfect timing! That's what best friends are for! Leading up to that night...I usually don't tell Lexi about these things because then she will ask and talk about it non-stop. I think I didn't tell her about it until Friday so that she wouldn't get too excited about it.

I had to leave and be on-site at the event facility all day, so Jeff took Lexi over to the Lott Family house after her nap. She was beyond excited and pretty much only slept about an hour for her nap because she was so excited.

So apprently, Lexi does really well when she goes to spend the night with Hannah & Hailey...and Spencer! Per Aunt Mandy & Uncle Chuck, the girls play really well the whole time Lexi is there and then they also engage Spencer in a "Monster" chase game, where Spencer is the monster and the girls chase and run away from him. From what I hear, there's lots of screaming involved! All three girls slept on the floor together so that there were no fights about who got to be closer to Lexi...LOL!

When Lexi did come home, all she could talk about was Hannah and Hailey and Spencer and how she listened really good to Uncle Chuck and Aunt Mandy! LOL!

I have to say that I am so pleased, lucky and happy that my child and my best friend's children adore each other so much. I think that is always the hope when we have our kids, that they will be as good of friends to each other as we, the adults, are. I am not sure it always happens, but when it does, it is just magical and priceless!

Violet's Birthday Party

So I know...I've been very lax about posting here. Life has been too crazy busy!
We went to Violet's 2nd Birthday Party! We spend the night before at my sister's house and after the kids went to bed, Michelle and I did all the party planning...food, cake, favors, etc. The next morning, after breakfast and all, it was time for the party. The party was at an indoor play center and the kids loved it! Violet had such a ball. And Lexi was just precious...with the present we picked out for Violet and making sure Violet was able to open it. So cute! It is very apparent that Lexi and Violet adore each other!

Lexi with Grandma/Paw-paw.

Mini "roller coaster"! The kids had a blast "racing" each other down the ramp!

Presents!

Lexi was wiped out after the party. It took less than a mile in the car before she was out like a light!