Team Leong...

Happy 23rd Birthday to our wonderful Miss Sara!

Her real birthday is tomorrow and she'll be spending the day with her parents.

Gavin, Brian and I took her to a (kind of chaotic!) lunch at Nordstrom before sending her home to enjoy a long birthday weekend.

We love Sara, as you all know, and are grateful for all she does for us...and especially for Gavin.

We're also super proud of her!  She is currently in a Master's program at night - and was just accepted to Penn State's MBA program which starts the same day Gavin starts Kindergarten in August!  She's a smart cookie.  And we were lucky to find her... and lucky she's stuck around for over a year now!

I also was happy to send her home because everyone in our house is sick.  We all have colds and the boys both stayed home from school yesterday and today.  I feel pretty awful.  Moms aren't supposed to get sick!!

Last night, Ed and I attended an information session for parents of prospective students at our local Kindergarten Center.  If you recall, this is where Gavin's preschool classroom is housed...and also where he will attend Kindergarten starting August 26th!  I was already impressed with this school before last night, but Ed and I drove home feeling so sure that this is the right place for Gavin (and probably Brian down the road) for Kindergarten.  We were able to go into two different classrooms and hear from teachers about the curriculum, the kindergarten readiness checklist, hear tips about how to prepare our children for their first day and more.  I was excited when teachers recognized me as Gavin's Mom - because they sometimes invite Gavin into their classrooms and say hi to him as he walks in the hallway.  Gavin is so loved at this school and I know he will continue to be well educated and nurtured there this Fall.

I came home and was eager to write a thank you note to Brian's teachers - Miss Laura and Miss Morgan - his speech therapist, Miss Maggie, and the wonderful service coordinator who has lined up Gavin and Brian's schools, teachers and therapists for the last few years - Jessica Cratty.  Why Brian?  Because as they went over the things that kids should know coming into Kindergarten, Ed and I felt so proud when we realized Brian was WAY ahead of the game!  Every morning the first thing he and his classmates do in school is practice writing their names.  It's all he wants to do at home, too!  And Maggie works on grammar and concepts like "behind" and "under" and "through" which he has really mastered.  And Jessica has never steered us wrong - getting Brian into his wonderful classroom and Gavin with Miss Megan, where he's doing so well.  But to think that Brian still has another whole year before he turns five and will be headed to Kindergarten - I can only imagine how impressed they will be when he arrives!  We feel so lucky that he has such a dedicated team and I had to write to let them know.

Between the boys teachers and therapists and Miss Sara... we have so much gratitude for all the members of "Team Leong."

Have you thanked your children's teachers today?

Our butterfly experience is continuing to fascinate us!  Today we took the Chrysalids out of the cup that they came in.  We watched them as larvae... and then as caterpillars... and soon they all crawled to the top of the cup and hung upside down from a paper disc.  They would shake violently and spin silk and soon they were completely enveloped inside an iridescent chrysalid.  I was scared to death to open the lid and pull out the paper disc with the four chrysalids attached.  

Turns out they are really stuck to that paper and my fear that they'd fall off never happened.  I had to pin the paper disc to the side of the mesh "Butterfly Habitat."

Soon they will begin to emerge as butterflies (it's such a miracle to watch this) and will live out their life span inside the habitat in our home!  They say the lifespan is 2-4 weeks.  We'll see what kind of butterfly parent I am - I'm shooting to keep them alive for all four weeks.  Fingers crossed.

This afternoon we got a beautiful and unique wedding invitation in the mail that made my day!!  Our nephew, Dan and his fiancee, Miranda, are getting married this March in upstate New York and we can't wait!  Miranda hand made ALL the invitations (can you imagine?!?) - and it's even more beautiful in person...

I can say without question - this is the most beautiful and unique wedding invitation I've ever received.

Makes me want to do it all over again.  Minus the torturing bridesmaids with dresses that say "Despite what you're told by the shop and the bride - you will NEVER wear this again."

I think if Ed and I got married again, we'd focus less on the over rated things - and more on the vows.  And my hair.  You know, the important stuff.