What a weekend!

We had such a good weekend! It was so great to have everyone here. Both my folks and Dave's were here for a few days and we had such a good turn-out at the party. Thank you to everyone for making the day so special for us. We really had a wonderful time. And those of you that brought gifts - soooo unexpected but so sweet! Thank you so much for thinking of us like that! I am working on real notes to send out (we all know how good I am at that!).

I know Heather took a ton of pictures from the party and I will post them as soon as I get them from her. I'm sure she took some great ones.

So now the house is quiet once again. Well, as quiet as it can be for having three kids! I really should be up and doing some laundry or something, but I'm enjoying just sitting here and drinking my coffee.

It's amazing to me that we just celebrated our 10th anniversary, and in just a couple weeks we'll celebrate Emma's 6th birthday. It's amazing how fast time goes by, and somewhat sad too. But mostly fun because things just get better as time goes on. I look back on the last 15 years with Dave and I'm so amazed at how well we've grown up together. We had quite a few people say we wouldn't make it since we started out so young. And not that we've "made" it at the ripe old age of 32, but we've made it farther than most of them thought we would. And to think - we're so much better now than we were then - I have no doubt that we'll be having another big party 10 years from now.

Dave said something so cool and I don't think he realized how sweet it really was. At the end of the day he asked if I was sad it was over. I can't remember what my response was, but then he said "well you know what tomorrow is" and I asked him what. He said "the start of the next 10 years." I really liked that. And he thinks he's not romantic!

I've always said my dad is my hero. I was that girl - daddy's girl. But over the years Dave has definitely moved into that "hero" position. But my dad never really moved out of it, either. So now, while my dad is still my hero, Dave is my super-hero.

Ok, enough mush. I've got three kids that think I should feed them. I guess... :-)

What a difference 9 months makes!

Today was Emma's last day of kindergarten! I cannot believe how fast the year went. I remember that first day that we dropped her off like it was yesterday. I remember being full of anxiety and worry and Emma was totally cool! She wasn't even the least bit afraid. I was so proud of her as I walked her down the looong hallway to her classroom passing other students upset or crying, all the while Emma just kept that sweet smile on her face. She was so excited to be at "real" school as she called it. We met her teacher Mrs. Counselman, who honestly seemed more nervous than the kids! There was no long goodbye or stalling on her part. Nope - see ya later mom! So off I went. I worried about her all day wondering if she was having a good day or if she realized the magnitude of what "real" school meant. When I got to the school that afternoon I waited in line for her to come out to the car. When she walked out of that door I knew what kind of day she had. She was beaming! She loved every minute of it and luckily she kept that attitude the whole year. Even when we moved her mid-year to a new school and new friends. Not a hiccup from her. She joined in her new class with ease and really started to excel at the new school. We are sooo happy to have moved just for that reason alone. As school ends today, she's reading at a 1st-2nd grade level, doing addition and subtraction, even fractions! She had to present an "expert" project on the jaguar in front of her whole class. She did great. I'm actually sad to see the year end because she loves her teachers so much. I know she will miss them, but looking forward to another new school next year and knowing she's not the youngest one in school anymore.

Here are a couple pictures for you. The first is her first day of school last August. And the second was taken this morning - her last day as a kindergartener. Sniff.