Monday, November 8, 2010
Another Awesome Weekend!
We had an amazingly productive weekend!
Get ready for a long post..
We had a lot to get done around the house, clean up the garage, rake leaves, fix a sprayer in the kitchen sink, winterize my garden, etc. The most important task was to clean up the garage so that we can park both of our cars inside. Last week we had a night of frost, it wasn't fun for Mommy to sit in a freezing cold car in the morning and wait for the windshield to defrost before heading to work. Luckily for us, on Saturday, the kids took a long nap, so we had plenty of time to work on it. We threw out a bunch of junk and had to move a few items into the basement, until we get more time to go through it. A lot of the items are bulky and need to be either sold or donated. It'll take time, but the hardest part is done! I'm very happy to report that we accomplished our mission and both of the cars can now fit in the garage! Yay! :)
We also managed to fix the sink and take care of couple other things on Saturday, including going over to our neighbor's twice to play with kittens. We were cat sitting for the last week, and Saturday was our last day to spend with them. Ashley was a great helper! (Too bad I didn't take any pictures; they are the cutest, cuddliest and very playful cats.)
Sunday was another very productive day, thank god for the extra hour, because we really needed it. The kids were up early, so we managed to eat and get outside by 9:30! It may not seem like anything to most, but Ashley and Katelyn don't start eating breakfast before 9, 9:30, so for us it's an accomplishment in itself! We started the day by raking leaves in the back, and made a big pile right under the slide. The weather was perfect! No wind, and sunny! The kids had a blast they'd slide down right into the leave pile! And Katelyn, my fearless monkey, decided that she didn't need any help to climb the big ladder to get to the top of the slide. She did it all on her own for the first time! Here's a video of them playing in the leaves:
The day was going to perfect, kids were happy playing outside so I decided to seize the moment and clean up my garden for the winter, something that was on my list to do before the winter sets in. I pulled out all of the dead plants and raked everything clean. Then I realized it was still early and I had time to move our blueberry bushes. They've been living inside my garden since the beginning, but I haven't gotten enough blueberries from them because the birds eat them before I can get to them, so I can no longer justify having them inside the garden fence. While the kids napped (or more like Ashley napped and Katelyn entertained herself in her crib) Mike helped me to dig them up and transplant them along the side of my garden outside of the fence. They look good in their new home, and now I have a lot more space in my garden to work with! A win-win situation! I'm planning to install couple raised beds in the spring where blueberries used to be and move my strawberry plants there. It's a constant battle with critters in our back yard. The moles are living inside my existing strawberry bed, and I don't know how to get rid of them. I'm hoping that by moving them to the raised bed I'll get rid of them.
We had a great gardening season this year, the best one since I started my garden. We were picking tomatoes and peppers in October. And I still have radishes, lettuce, and herbs growing that we are picking right now. My raspberries are doing fantastic as well. Katelyn loves to munch on them in the garden. There are still a few more berries on the bushes, but a lot of them are now mushy because of the frost.
I've planted garlic for next year, and I have already designed my garden layout for next year! I hope to get a green house some day so that we can grow even more stuff. I'd like to try growing a couple of new plants next year, like asparagus and potatoes! Stay tuned.. I may have to start a separate blog to record my Gardening adventures. :)
Get ready for a long post..
We had a lot to get done around the house, clean up the garage, rake leaves, fix a sprayer in the kitchen sink, winterize my garden, etc. The most important task was to clean up the garage so that we can park both of our cars inside. Last week we had a night of frost, it wasn't fun for Mommy to sit in a freezing cold car in the morning and wait for the windshield to defrost before heading to work. Luckily for us, on Saturday, the kids took a long nap, so we had plenty of time to work on it. We threw out a bunch of junk and had to move a few items into the basement, until we get more time to go through it. A lot of the items are bulky and need to be either sold or donated. It'll take time, but the hardest part is done! I'm very happy to report that we accomplished our mission and both of the cars can now fit in the garage! Yay! :)
We also managed to fix the sink and take care of couple other things on Saturday, including going over to our neighbor's twice to play with kittens. We were cat sitting for the last week, and Saturday was our last day to spend with them. Ashley was a great helper! (Too bad I didn't take any pictures; they are the cutest, cuddliest and very playful cats.)
Sunday was another very productive day, thank god for the extra hour, because we really needed it. The kids were up early, so we managed to eat and get outside by 9:30! It may not seem like anything to most, but Ashley and Katelyn don't start eating breakfast before 9, 9:30, so for us it's an accomplishment in itself! We started the day by raking leaves in the back, and made a big pile right under the slide. The weather was perfect! No wind, and sunny! The kids had a blast they'd slide down right into the leave pile! And Katelyn, my fearless monkey, decided that she didn't need any help to climb the big ladder to get to the top of the slide. She did it all on her own for the first time! Here's a video of them playing in the leaves:
The day was going to perfect, kids were happy playing outside so I decided to seize the moment and clean up my garden for the winter, something that was on my list to do before the winter sets in. I pulled out all of the dead plants and raked everything clean. Then I realized it was still early and I had time to move our blueberry bushes. They've been living inside my garden since the beginning, but I haven't gotten enough blueberries from them because the birds eat them before I can get to them, so I can no longer justify having them inside the garden fence. While the kids napped (or more like Ashley napped and Katelyn entertained herself in her crib) Mike helped me to dig them up and transplant them along the side of my garden outside of the fence. They look good in their new home, and now I have a lot more space in my garden to work with! A win-win situation! I'm planning to install couple raised beds in the spring where blueberries used to be and move my strawberry plants there. It's a constant battle with critters in our back yard. The moles are living inside my existing strawberry bed, and I don't know how to get rid of them. I'm hoping that by moving them to the raised bed I'll get rid of them.
We had a great gardening season this year, the best one since I started my garden. We were picking tomatoes and peppers in October. And I still have radishes, lettuce, and herbs growing that we are picking right now. My raspberries are doing fantastic as well. Katelyn loves to munch on them in the garden. There are still a few more berries on the bushes, but a lot of them are now mushy because of the frost.
I've planted garlic for next year, and I have already designed my garden layout for next year! I hope to get a green house some day so that we can grow even more stuff. I'd like to try growing a couple of new plants next year, like asparagus and potatoes! Stay tuned.. I may have to start a separate blog to record my Gardening adventures. :)
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Cooking relieves stress
I've been cooking a lot this fall.. Somehow it's very calming for me just like gardening. And good thing I have a lot of people that I can feed :)
Ashley has been really a good eater lately, and I feel it shows. It's as if she's grown a lot taller over the last couple of months. She eats great during the day, and has a big snack before bed. Sometimes, it's two bananas or couple of slices of cinnamon raisin toast with butter. I can't complain, she may wine about the food, but at the end of the day she'll eat almost everything that I prepare (even meat!) as long as it's not spicy.
Katelyn was always been a good eater, but now she's turning into a junkie. She begs for sweets and fruits, especially grapes. If she doesn't like something, she just spits it out and throws it on the floor. She still prefers to feed herself which can be a challenge. We can't really feed her any of the soups that I make. It's way too messy.
One of our favorites this fall is home made minestrone soup. I've been making my own vegetable broth and making the soup from all of the local produce and herbs from my garden. It tastes so good, and it's so ridiculously healthy that I'm surprised that everyone loves it as must as they do, even Mike!
Another favorite has been my chocolate chip pumpkin muffins that I make out of fresh roasted sugar pumpkins. They are another treat that's so tasty yet not so bad for you.
And this is the first year that we are roasting pumpkin seeds, I don't know why I was throwing them out last year, they are so good!!
I also signed up for a Cake Decorating Class. Yesterday was my first class. We got to decorate sugar cookies with some icing. Next week we are doing a cake. So far it's fun. I hope to pick up some new skills so that we can make our own beautiful cakes :)
Here's a picture of the cookies that I decorated:
I may start a separate Cooking Blog to talk more about the food and cooking. I'm really enjoying learning more about this.
Ashley has been really a good eater lately, and I feel it shows. It's as if she's grown a lot taller over the last couple of months. She eats great during the day, and has a big snack before bed. Sometimes, it's two bananas or couple of slices of cinnamon raisin toast with butter. I can't complain, she may wine about the food, but at the end of the day she'll eat almost everything that I prepare (even meat!) as long as it's not spicy.
Katelyn was always been a good eater, but now she's turning into a junkie. She begs for sweets and fruits, especially grapes. If she doesn't like something, she just spits it out and throws it on the floor. She still prefers to feed herself which can be a challenge. We can't really feed her any of the soups that I make. It's way too messy.
One of our favorites this fall is home made minestrone soup. I've been making my own vegetable broth and making the soup from all of the local produce and herbs from my garden. It tastes so good, and it's so ridiculously healthy that I'm surprised that everyone loves it as must as they do, even Mike!
Another favorite has been my chocolate chip pumpkin muffins that I make out of fresh roasted sugar pumpkins. They are another treat that's so tasty yet not so bad for you.
And this is the first year that we are roasting pumpkin seeds, I don't know why I was throwing them out last year, they are so good!!
I also signed up for a Cake Decorating Class. Yesterday was my first class. We got to decorate sugar cookies with some icing. Next week we are doing a cake. So far it's fun. I hope to pick up some new skills so that we can make our own beautiful cakes :)
Here's a picture of the cookies that I decorated:
I may start a separate Cooking Blog to talk more about the food and cooking. I'm really enjoying learning more about this.
Indira - The Bat Girl
Indira went to a Halloween Party on Saturday night at Jenk's and she dressed up as a Bat girl. She's like a real super hero! Awesome au pair by day and Bat girl by night :)
Thank God for our super hero or Mommy and Daddy would be in trouble...
Thank God for our super hero or Mommy and Daddy would be in trouble...
Trick or Treat
Poor Katelyn got a really high fever on Wednesday, she took a four hour nap in the afternoon and woke up with a relatively high fever. At night it spiked to 104.2F. It was very scary, the temperature rose so fast that I was afraid it would keep going up. We called our doctor because I thought she may want us to go to the hospital, but luckily it didn't come to that. We managed to get it down to 101.5 with Tylenol and sponge baths. After three days of high fever and not eating, Katelyn got a rash. It turned out to be the Roseola virus. (Ashley had it when she was 8 months old) It's common virus for one year olds to get, so once we identified what it was, it was a relieve that it's nothing else and Ashley didn't get sick because she's already immune to it. But my poor monkey has been weak and tired and not in any mood to participate in anything this week. She just wanted to be held and was up at night crying :(
Since Katelyn still can't choose for herself, Daddy chose for her to be a Pumpkin this year. We got her a super warm outfit in case it was going to be cold. And it was super soft, just like her blanket that she loves!
Ashley on the other hand was looking forward to Halloween. Mike and I took her to the store and she picked out her own costume. Ashley decided that she wanted to be princess Belle for Halloween, and coincidently, she got invited to Ellie's 3rd birthday princess party. Here's a picture of Ellie and Ashley at the birthday party. She really had fun there!
Ashley also got to wear her costume to preschool last Thursday. The class got to go trick or treating to all the classrooms. She came home with a lot of candy! She really loves her preschool, even on weekends she keeps asking me when she's going to preschool next.
On Halloween day, the weather was on the colder side and again quite windy, but no rain. While we waited for kids to wake up from their naps to go trick or treating, Uncle Dan helped us carve our pumpkin, and by help I mean he did the whole thing, we jsut picked out the design. He did a great job, as if he carves pumpkins every day :)
We went out for trick or treating, but as expected Katelyn was not in the mood, so I had to carry her up and down the street. She only wanted me to hold her and no one else.
Ashley had fun, she was very polite, and some times a little greedy. She'd get a candy and continue to stand there with her bucket out waiting for more candy. We had to explain to her that we people only give a couple of candies to each child so that everyone gets some. After checking out everyone's decorations, we concluded that we had the nicest carved pumpkin of everyone on the street. So, kudos to Uncle Dan!
After coming back we attempted to get a family picture on our porch. Not an easy task but here it is..
We ended the day by munching on freshly roasted pumpkin seeds (from the pumpkin that we carved) while sipping on beer and wine. For dinner I made a spicy chili with all the fixins. Later Joan and David came over dressed as a Doctor and a Hippie.
Overall, it was a fun day, I just wish Katelyn was feeling better.
Since Katelyn still can't choose for herself, Daddy chose for her to be a Pumpkin this year. We got her a super warm outfit in case it was going to be cold. And it was super soft, just like her blanket that she loves!
Ashley on the other hand was looking forward to Halloween. Mike and I took her to the store and she picked out her own costume. Ashley decided that she wanted to be princess Belle for Halloween, and coincidently, she got invited to Ellie's 3rd birthday princess party. Here's a picture of Ellie and Ashley at the birthday party. She really had fun there!
Ashley also got to wear her costume to preschool last Thursday. The class got to go trick or treating to all the classrooms. She came home with a lot of candy! She really loves her preschool, even on weekends she keeps asking me when she's going to preschool next.
On Halloween day, the weather was on the colder side and again quite windy, but no rain. While we waited for kids to wake up from their naps to go trick or treating, Uncle Dan helped us carve our pumpkin, and by help I mean he did the whole thing, we jsut picked out the design. He did a great job, as if he carves pumpkins every day :)
We went out for trick or treating, but as expected Katelyn was not in the mood, so I had to carry her up and down the street. She only wanted me to hold her and no one else.
Ashley had fun, she was very polite, and some times a little greedy. She'd get a candy and continue to stand there with her bucket out waiting for more candy. We had to explain to her that we people only give a couple of candies to each child so that everyone gets some. After checking out everyone's decorations, we concluded that we had the nicest carved pumpkin of everyone on the street. So, kudos to Uncle Dan!
After coming back we attempted to get a family picture on our porch. Not an easy task but here it is..
We ended the day by munching on freshly roasted pumpkin seeds (from the pumpkin that we carved) while sipping on beer and wine. For dinner I made a spicy chili with all the fixins. Later Joan and David came over dressed as a Doctor and a Hippie.
Overall, it was a fun day, I just wish Katelyn was feeling better.
Pumpkin Picking Adventures
Fall is my favorite season, the heat is gone so we can open the windows; the leaves are changing color and there's so much to do.
One of the things that's been fun is exploring the woods behind our house. We have a trail that Mike maintains back there that's quite a treat this time of year. It's like our own personal nature trail. We go there to walk, check out different animal foot prints and pick leaves. Ashley is really into picking leaves this fall. She's gathered many "presents" for me :) She likes picking pretty leaves but she's very particular about the kind that she'll pick up. They need to be rather small so that they can fit nicely inside her basket. We can't wait to walk the trail in the winter, I think Ashley will really like it.
Every year we go pumpkin picking to Atlantic Farms in Wall, and this year is no different. It's a nice place with a petty farm, hay rides and plenty of nice pumpkins to pick. We went there again, it was a sunny day, but way too windy. In fact, the wind was so strong it kept knocking Katelyn off her feet. She wasn't too happy about that and spent most of the day riding on my hip. We had to cut our trip short and only came home with two small sugar pumpkins, no big one to carve. Atlantic Farms isn't what it used to be, the staff wasn't friendly and they charge so much money for everything ($3 for a bag of carrots to feed the animals!!) that we decided that next year we'll go somewhere else. It's a shame, but there's plenty of other nice farms in the area.
This past Saturday we went out again in hopes of finding that perfect pumpkin to carve. The plan was to go to Eastmont Orchards next to our house, where we pick apples, etc. Well, come to find out they were closed for the season! Strike one. We certainly didn't expect that, especially before Halloween :( So, we headed to a farm on Rt. 34. We went one a nice hay ride there, but there wasn't any nice pumpkins left. Strike two. Delicious Orchards was our last hope. Lucky for us, we found a perfect one to carve :)
One of the things that's been fun is exploring the woods behind our house. We have a trail that Mike maintains back there that's quite a treat this time of year. It's like our own personal nature trail. We go there to walk, check out different animal foot prints and pick leaves. Ashley is really into picking leaves this fall. She's gathered many "presents" for me :) She likes picking pretty leaves but she's very particular about the kind that she'll pick up. They need to be rather small so that they can fit nicely inside her basket. We can't wait to walk the trail in the winter, I think Ashley will really like it.
Every year we go pumpkin picking to Atlantic Farms in Wall, and this year is no different. It's a nice place with a petty farm, hay rides and plenty of nice pumpkins to pick. We went there again, it was a sunny day, but way too windy. In fact, the wind was so strong it kept knocking Katelyn off her feet. She wasn't too happy about that and spent most of the day riding on my hip. We had to cut our trip short and only came home with two small sugar pumpkins, no big one to carve. Atlantic Farms isn't what it used to be, the staff wasn't friendly and they charge so much money for everything ($3 for a bag of carrots to feed the animals!!) that we decided that next year we'll go somewhere else. It's a shame, but there's plenty of other nice farms in the area.
This past Saturday we went out again in hopes of finding that perfect pumpkin to carve. The plan was to go to Eastmont Orchards next to our house, where we pick apples, etc. Well, come to find out they were closed for the season! Strike one. We certainly didn't expect that, especially before Halloween :( So, we headed to a farm on Rt. 34. We went one a nice hay ride there, but there wasn't any nice pumpkins left. Strike two. Delicious Orchards was our last hope. Lucky for us, we found a perfect one to carve :)
Monday, October 18, 2010
Technique Classes at Williams-Sonoma
One of my favorite kitchen stores, Williams-Sonoma, offers free technique cooking classes every Sunday morning. I started going to a couple of them to see if I can pick up some new skills, etc..
At the first class we learned to make Coq Au Vin (a French Chicken Dish), Spaetzle (German noodle side dish) and Creme Brulee. The store tries to push their ready made sauce starters (at $16/jar) as well as every kind of gadget you can imagine. Last weekend I prepared the whole meal from scratch except I cut the fat by at least half of what they did in the class, and Mike thought it was the best chicken dish he's ever had! It did taste pretty amazing, but how can it not, when you combine bacon, chicken, mushrooms, caramelized pearl onions and wine!!
Here's a picture of my creme brulee. I think this will be the desert that I make for our Christmas dinner this year, it's so easy to make and it tasted awesome :)
This past Sunday the topic was "Tough to Tender" and it covered how to make cheaper cuts of meat into some nice dishes. It was another good sales pitch for their products, include the Immersion Circulator that sells for $799, Belgian Beer and Onion Braising Base ($16/jar) and Beef Stew Braising Base (also $16/jar).
The sous vide technique demo was interesting. The beef brisket first seasoned and seared, then cooled off and then cooked in a vacuum sealed bag in a water bath at 148F for 48 hours! After that it's seared, sliced and finished in the Williams Sonoma Belgian Beer and Onion Braising Base. The argument for using the Sous Vide technique is that the food cooks in it's own juices so it's more flavorful, and because it's cooked at such low temperature the protein fibers will not break down so it'll never overcook. After the taste test, I'm not convinced, the meat was really tender, but not enough to convince me that I need this $799 Immersion Circulator.
The nice thing is that I got to try something new and was able to reproduce the Beef Stew sauce from scratch yesterday afternoon in my Dutch oven. I can say it was the best beef stew I've ever tasted! The secret was taking the time to brown the meat up front and using dark beer and using fresh locally grown root vegetables to make the sauce. Not to mention fresh herbs form my garden :) I used white, purple and sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, carrots, onions, garlic, celery and red peppers! And the best part, Mike, Ashley and Indira loved it too!
Next Sunday the class covers Breads and Spreads for the Holiday table. Can't wait, although I already have some favs that would be hard to top.
I was in a cooking mood all weekend, so in addition to the stew I also make crepes stuffed with ground beef. Here's a picture:
May be one day I can have my own business doing this for living, but for now it's just a hobby that our whole family benefits from :)
At the first class we learned to make Coq Au Vin (a French Chicken Dish), Spaetzle (German noodle side dish) and Creme Brulee. The store tries to push their ready made sauce starters (at $16/jar) as well as every kind of gadget you can imagine. Last weekend I prepared the whole meal from scratch except I cut the fat by at least half of what they did in the class, and Mike thought it was the best chicken dish he's ever had! It did taste pretty amazing, but how can it not, when you combine bacon, chicken, mushrooms, caramelized pearl onions and wine!!
Here's a picture of my creme brulee. I think this will be the desert that I make for our Christmas dinner this year, it's so easy to make and it tasted awesome :)
This past Sunday the topic was "Tough to Tender" and it covered how to make cheaper cuts of meat into some nice dishes. It was another good sales pitch for their products, include the Immersion Circulator that sells for $799, Belgian Beer and Onion Braising Base ($16/jar) and Beef Stew Braising Base (also $16/jar).
The sous vide technique demo was interesting. The beef brisket first seasoned and seared, then cooled off and then cooked in a vacuum sealed bag in a water bath at 148F for 48 hours! After that it's seared, sliced and finished in the Williams Sonoma Belgian Beer and Onion Braising Base. The argument for using the Sous Vide technique is that the food cooks in it's own juices so it's more flavorful, and because it's cooked at such low temperature the protein fibers will not break down so it'll never overcook. After the taste test, I'm not convinced, the meat was really tender, but not enough to convince me that I need this $799 Immersion Circulator.
The nice thing is that I got to try something new and was able to reproduce the Beef Stew sauce from scratch yesterday afternoon in my Dutch oven. I can say it was the best beef stew I've ever tasted! The secret was taking the time to brown the meat up front and using dark beer and using fresh locally grown root vegetables to make the sauce. Not to mention fresh herbs form my garden :) I used white, purple and sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, carrots, onions, garlic, celery and red peppers! And the best part, Mike, Ashley and Indira loved it too!
Next Sunday the class covers Breads and Spreads for the Holiday table. Can't wait, although I already have some favs that would be hard to top.
I was in a cooking mood all weekend, so in addition to the stew I also make crepes stuffed with ground beef. Here's a picture:
May be one day I can have my own business doing this for living, but for now it's just a hobby that our whole family benefits from :)
Fright Fest at Great Adventure
This past Friday night we went to Great Adventure for Fright Fest. The kids stayed home with our good friend Theresa. She gave me a babysitting gift certificate for my birthday, so I decided it was a good opportunity for us to use it. (We wanted Indira to come with us, since she hasn't been to GA before)
After getting over the initial shock of the price of the admission we had a really fun time. We started with the smaller roller coaster - The Run Away Train and ended the night with two rides on Nitro. To my surprise there was practically no wait at any of the rides. In the past we've had to wait for almost an hour to go on a ride. Not sure if people were afraid that it may rain or the whole economy thing. The weather was just about perfect for October. It was in the 50s and a little windy, but not bad at all.
All of the roller coasters made us very hungry, so We ended the night at P.F. Changs in Freehold. We haven't been out with friends for a night out like this in a while, so it was really nice to get away :) We didn't get home until 1am!! Good times :)
Looking forward to taking the kids there next summer, just not for Fright Fest :)
We didn't bring the camera with us in the park, because I was afraid to loose it on one of the rides, but here's a picture of the sunset that we saw on the drive there:
After getting over the initial shock of the price of the admission we had a really fun time. We started with the smaller roller coaster - The Run Away Train and ended the night with two rides on Nitro. To my surprise there was practically no wait at any of the rides. In the past we've had to wait for almost an hour to go on a ride. Not sure if people were afraid that it may rain or the whole economy thing. The weather was just about perfect for October. It was in the 50s and a little windy, but not bad at all.
All of the roller coasters made us very hungry, so We ended the night at P.F. Changs in Freehold. We haven't been out with friends for a night out like this in a while, so it was really nice to get away :) We didn't get home until 1am!! Good times :)
Looking forward to taking the kids there next summer, just not for Fright Fest :)
We didn't bring the camera with us in the park, because I was afraid to loose it on one of the rides, but here's a picture of the sunset that we saw on the drive there:
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Shea Lane Block Party
This past Saturday we had our first Shea Lane Block Party. It was a huge success! Even if I do say so myself :) We had beautiful weather (70F and sunny) and 16 out of 21 households on our street participated. We BBQ'd, had a firetruck and a policy car come visit for entertainment. We had potato sack races and tug-of-war contest for both kids and adults, a scavenger hunt, pinata, and even karaoke and smores by the fire! We started setting up at 10am, the party started at 1, and we didn't go inside until close ot midnight. Ashley and Katelyn both made some friends that day, and Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy their time with a nice drink in hand :) I feel very lucky to have such great neighbors, it really doesn't get better then this!
Everyone is already looking forward to next year's party. But before we get there we also have plans for a Christmas Tree Lighting party on our Cul-de-Sac, another annual tradition that we started last year. Can't wait!
Here are some pictures from the day:
We also had an "official photographer" who took some nice pictures as well:
http://shealane.shutterfly.com
Everyone is already looking forward to next year's party. But before we get there we also have plans for a Christmas Tree Lighting party on our Cul-de-Sac, another annual tradition that we started last year. Can't wait!
Here are some pictures from the day:
We also had an "official photographer" who took some nice pictures as well:
http://shealane.shutterfly.com
Ashley and I survived her first day of Preschool!
Yesterday (Oct. 4th) was Ashley's first official day of preschool. We tried not to make a big deal about it ahead of time since we didn't want her to get upset. I worked from home in the morning and then Indira, Katelyn, Ashley and I drove to school to drop off Ashley. (Indira needed to see the way, since she'll be driving Ashley there and back).
Last week at the orientation the teacher gave each parent a heart sticker and told us to kiss our kid's hand and put it on when we come to drop them off this week. So that if they get sad they can think of us and feel better. It was a good idea. Ashley was happy to get to preschool and didn't seem nervious until it was time for us to leave, that's when I gave Ashley the sticker and told her I'll be back to get her as soon as school is finished. And if she missed me, she can just look at her sticker and think of me.
When we came to pick her up Ashley was very excited to see me, Indira and Katelyn, so excited that she and I broke into tears. She said that she missed me and looked at the sticker and felt better. It was very sweet :)
The teacher said that Ashley had a little trouble at first but then warmed up to everyone. She already has a favorite student teacher, her name is Ms. Jane. Hopefully she'll get used to the routine quickly and be excited to go there.
Here's a picture of Ashley after surviving her first day of preschool:
Last week at the orientation the teacher gave each parent a heart sticker and told us to kiss our kid's hand and put it on when we come to drop them off this week. So that if they get sad they can think of us and feel better. It was a good idea. Ashley was happy to get to preschool and didn't seem nervious until it was time for us to leave, that's when I gave Ashley the sticker and told her I'll be back to get her as soon as school is finished. And if she missed me, she can just look at her sticker and think of me.
When we came to pick her up Ashley was very excited to see me, Indira and Katelyn, so excited that she and I broke into tears. She said that she missed me and looked at the sticker and felt better. It was very sweet :)
The teacher said that Ashley had a little trouble at first but then warmed up to everyone. She already has a favorite student teacher, her name is Ms. Jane. Hopefully she'll get used to the routine quickly and be excited to go there.
Here's a picture of Ashley after surviving her first day of preschool:
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