Wrapping Up and Water Days

Casey and her girl scout
troop at the parade

It's been a while since I've written.  It's been a busy week.  The girls' last day of school is tomorrow and I have been trying to complete the rest of the to-do list I mentally made back in August when school started.  Talk about procrastination!  I have managed to get the 500 pictures I printed into albums (Snapfish was having a sale last fall and I realized I had not put one single picture of the girls into albums or memory books.  Those 500 pictures summarize from the day Casey was born to Emily's arrival (3-1/2 years).  The last 4 years are on my to-do list this summer.  Let's hope I'm not blogging in August about how that's turned into 4-1/2 years and my new goal is next May...)  The girls' bathroom has been painted and my mountain of Goodwill donations is now complete, but the windows are still not cleaned and I have yet to paint the toy room/dining room.  Oh well.  I'm glad I've been able to spend so much time this year at the girls' school helping out and watching the chaos fun as well as working on a few projects as an Interior Design consultant with some old client contacts.  Winter was a rough time for us and I didn't accomplish much, feeling like our lives were on hold, but things worked out in the end and I won't beat myself up too much about my list of un-checked to-do's.

Red,White& Blue
Scooter

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone already!!  I don't have many pictures to show for the weekend but we had a nice time in spite of the incredibly hot weather.  We officially joined our neighborhood pool this year and I anticipate my girls and I having pruned toes every day this summer.  We swam Saturday and Monday and played in the water here Sunday with friends.  Monday, I walked with Casey and her Daisy Scout troop in the West Chester parade and nearly melted in the process.  The girls rode their scooters in the parade and they looked like they were having fun despite the heat and unexpectedly coming upon some disgusting evidence on the street that there were horses ahead of us in the parade.  Needless to say, we hit the pool STAT after the parade was over to cool off.

Pre-School teachers gifts
(thanks Pinterst!)

Emily & Miss Natalie

Emily with Miss Pam
& Miss Kathy

Last night I finished putting together the teacher gifts for the girls' teachers.  1 for Casey's teacher, and 4 for Emily's team of teachers.  I do not take Casey's teachers for granted at all, but my feelings towards Emily's teachers are a bit different.  Maybe that's just me being over emotional and dramatic, but from the day Emily was born we were told early intervention was going to be key to her success.  I know there is no way to know what either of our girls will learn and achieve, but with Emily, it's a bit of a bigger mystery.  When you have a child with cognitive disabilities (and don't have anyone else in the world to compare her to) you just don't know.  So maybe we would be happy with anything she can learn (probably not because we have some pretty high expectations for sister), but we have been amazed at what she has accomplished this year.  I don't think I could have hand picked a better team to work with Emily.  And because the last 3 levys have not passed for Lakota schools, the school district has cut the expense of it's pre-school and as of tomorrow this exceptional staff will be dismantled.  A pre-school will be provided by Butler County and I'm trying to be optimistic, but the whole thing leaves me feeling sad and mad for the teachers and especially for Emily.  So while we're only talking one more year of pre-school that will not likely be the determining factor as to whether she gets accepted to BGSU or Harvard, it's still a bit of a big deal in our little world now.  Emily will love school no matter what- that I am sure of.  I mean, she asks every day if it's a school day.  (I'm pretty sure even though I've told her school is almost all done, I don't think she fully understands, and is going to be very upset when she isn't going each day this summer.)  And as long as she likes to go to school and learn, I will be present to make sure that is exactly what she is getting - fun and learning.  That I will not procrastinate on, for either of my girls.

Water Day

Homemade Ice Cream
at Water Day

I remember the last couple of days of school when I was a kid, watching movies and eating popsicles and getting to wear shorts (that was a treat saved only for the last days of the year).  Casey's class will have a pizza party tomorrow and a spelling bee.  And I volunteered to help with Emily's class' Water Day this morning.  It was a fun time by all - splashing in kiddie pools, spraying the hose and eating homemade ice cream.  Some people complain that there is no point to sending kids to school these last few days of the year when there isn't a whole lot being taught.  But I think they will look back on these days and have fond memories of eating popsicles and pizza, running around at Field Day and playing in the water at school.  And I get to volunteer or visit these fun events and take more pictures that maybe I'll get around to putting into albums.... next year.

Emily in charge of the hose