And They're Off!

....To school, that is.

Today is the first day of school.  I can't believe that Kai is in second grade and Malia is in first.  For the first time, they are both in full time school.  I thought this phase of life would be hard for me, but I have to admit that I'm pretty excited about having a little time for myself again.  After nearly 9 years of pregnancy, infants, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners, I finally have a little bit of freedom again.

Here they are, waiting at the bus stop:

I have no idea why Malia is making such a silly face!

Our friends, Elise and Adam

Daddy, waiting in the shade (with his phone, of course!)

 

And waiting to go into school:

This is the 4th year that Kai and Jaclyn will be in the same class

Malia and her friend, Jory

So the question begs......What do I do now?  The house needs some serious cleaning and I have a ton of projects to work on.  I haven't actually read a book in months or wandered around a store with no time limits and no one wanting to "go home now."  Wait!  I think I hear my knitting bag calling me.....Gotta run!

The Ballet Box Presents...

.......CELEBRATIONS!

Malia's dance performance was on Friday and it was so much fun!  Malia was a little nervous but she had such a great time! 

Waiting to go onstage

The preschoolers performed first and they were adorable!  They did a tea party dance....

Here they are, making a "tutu train"

In order to watch the videos, you will need to enter the password "dance"

Here is a video of Malia's tap number, "Welcome Aboard."  Sorry for the wiggling camera.....I couldn't stop laughing!

MTT from Rita Takenaga on Vimeo.

And here is her ballet number, "I'm Cute," and boy, were they!  Expect more camera wiggles.....

 MTB from Rita Takenaga on Vimeo.

My friend, Amy's, daughters were also in the show.  They are the sisters of Malia's friend, Adam.  Both girls always make Malia feel so special.

Malia adores Elise and is always excited to see her.  She is the second from the left (the one with the adorable smile).

EO from Rita Takenaga on Vimeo.

Olivia is a graduate of the Ballet Box and she was one of the girls who was invited to return and perform for the school's 10th "birthday."  Olivia once commented that Malia looks like her when she was little (lucky Malia.....lucky Olivia.....).  Olivia is in the center in purple and yellow.

OO from Rita Takenaga on Vimeo.

Feel free to leave lots of comments telling Malia how great she was! LOL.

A Sneak Peek

Tonight Malia makes her dancing debut!
Here is a sneak peek of what's to come....

The top outfit is for her Tap performance

and the bottom one is for Ballet

New Beginings

There are no words to describe how I'm feeling right now on this first day of school. I'll update in a few days. Right now it's time for Momma to regroup and rest up after a Summer with very little sleep. I'll leave you with a few pictures in the meantime.....

Just A Couple of Pictures

I know it's been a while since I posted. There has just been so much going on lately and blogging has been on the bottom of my list. Anyway, I thought I'd share a few pictures until I'm ready to get rolling again.

Kai and Malia share responsibility for emptying the dishwasher and it is Kai's least favorite chore. He asked if he could wash the dishes instead so we gave it a test run tonight. He was very serious about doing a good job. It was so cute! I can't believe how fast he's growing up.

Rinsing the dishes

Loading the dishwasher

All with a smile!

He even washed the big cutting board

Malia wanted to help out too, so she cleaned the chairs and the table.

What a cutie!

Here are some pictures of Kai playing with our remaining mouse, Poggle. What has happened to the rest of our pets? That's a post for another day......

Kai calls Poggle his "Pirate Mouse"
when he sits on his shoulder

Bath time
(Yes, that's mouse poop on my floor)

Proud to Wear Pink!

In honor of breast cancer awareness month, Malia and I got pink streaks in our hair. Malia absolutely loved it. She told all of her friends at school "I have pink hair!" Sadly, hers fell out after only a week and a half. The lesson we learned is that headstands and hair extensions don't go together!

On a more serious note, our pink hair, and this blog entry, are dedicated to Sharon (who I worked with at Probation), Tina (who is one of my Panera friends) and Lisa (my friend, Heather's, friend). Keep fighting ladies! I am so proud of you and you have touched my life in ways you will never imagine.

Pretty cute, no?

The Real Reason You Should Never Leave Children Unatended in the Bathtub

Need I say more???

A-P-P.......L-E-S

Malia's first field trip this year was to an apple farm. She came home from school one day and said, "I know how to spell apples! A-P-P.....L-E-S."

It turns out, she learned a little song to the tune of B-I-N-G-O. "There was a farmer had a tree and apples grew upon it. A-PPLES, A-PPLES, A-PPLES. Some apples grew upon it."

So we went to the apple farm, picked apples, had lunch, went to the petting zoo and played on the playground. Unfortunately, my camera battery was dying so I didn't get many pictures. Fortunately, one of the other moms let me use her camera, so as soon as I get those pictures, I'll post them.

Malia and her friend, Ella
They met last year at Thunderbird

These Geese were hysterical
They made so much noise trying to get attention

Malia being silly with her new friend Callie

Malia Goes Back to School

Malia went back to school yesterday. She only went for a hour and I went with her. She has two wonderful teachers, Mrs. Adams and Mrs. Hendrix. We already knew Mrs. Adams because she has been teaching at Thunderbird but Mrs. Hendrix is a new teacher (and I mean new....she looks like she just got out of college!). I think Malia is going to have a great year!

Getting ready to leave for school!

Posing with Kai

Malia and Mommy