She Is Still Only Five

Briana looks so grown up sometimes, especially when she give me those diva poses and stares. But then she finds ways to remind me that she is still only 5 years old and she is still filled with silliness and innocence...

Can't have a photo session without the loves of her life - Pink Baby 1 and Pink Baby 2!

I'm glad she is still only five.

Divalicious

I've created a monster. My lovely daughter now requests her picture to be taken in the morning before school when she loves an outfit she is wearing. And she gives me diva poses. She is such a hoot!!!

Shoulder Buddies

This is Crush. Briana's new Shoulder Buddy. I had not even heard of Shoulder Buddies until the day of Bri's conference. Mrs. R told us during Bri's conference about the Student Council selling these weird little troll birds, but she hadn't told her class about them yet because she didn't want get the kids to get into a frenzy. Well, the jig was up the very next day. Shoulder Buddies were everywhere. Mrs. R sent out an e-mail to the parents saying a few kids in class had already bought the birds and that they were $5 if our kids were interested in buying them. That afternoon, Briana came home desperately wanting one. So much so that she offered to pay for one with her own money. Gasp!!!! I told her that was ok.

Well, there was a problem. The Student Council had sold out of them by that afternoon and the next shipment wasn't coming in for a few days. Mrs. R sent another e-mail on Friday saying to get to school early Monday because the shipment came in and they would be sold early in the morning in the cafeteria. Briana was so stinkin' excited all weekend. I told her that I needed to get her up earlier than usual to get to school on Monday to make sure we were in line. And I offered to stand in line with her. I am one awesome mama, I know.

So we got to school before 7:30 and the line was almost already out of the cafeteria. Luckily, the line moved quickly. Briana quickly picked Crush because of her bright pink hair and we were on our way to class. I just had to snap a picture of Briana so happy over a $5 plastic bird.

On Shoulder Buddy frenzy morning, Briana dressed in a shirt that I bought for her in China in 2007. It is Bejing Olympics 2008 merchandise. I bought it in the smallest size they had at the time and now B is finally wearing it almost 5 years later! 

Surprise Lunch

Sunday for lunch, Doug, Briana and I arrived at Bahama Breeze to surprise our friend Ansu for her birthday. Ansu, Kira (the adorable little girl in the above picture) and Khalid (Kira's dad and one of Doug's best friends) arrived at the restaurant a few minutes after us. Doug had let the hostess know we were meeting friends but that Ansu didn't know we would be there. So, I am still trying to figure out why the hostess boldly asked Khalid when he arrived if he was meeting someone - and kept pushing the issue. Ansu figured something was up. Sigh. So much for surprises!

Anyway, it was a yummy lunch and before departing, the girls gave each other hugs and kisses...

Aren't they just too cute for words?

Seeing Joy

You might remember me blogging a couple of years ago about Doug and I meeting up with our high school friend Joy. Joy started following my blog after stumbling upon it right around the time Doug and I were about to go to China. She has been one of my biggest followers/supporters ever since and we have kept in touch via FB. Well, a lot has changed since I saw Joy two years ago. Because this time when she came to visit from Oregon, she didn't come alone. She brought her husband and her adorable baby daughter E. E is the cutest thing ever, isn't she? I have become a pretty big "E" fan myself. :D

Joy and her parents hosted an open house on Saturday night and Doug, Bri and I went to meet the new family members! Doug and Joy's husband Donovan got along really well (they are both IT guys) and Joy and I got to catch up too. We also got to meet some of Joy's college friends. Briana got friendly really quickly with the kids of Joy's college friends. The kids all had iPads and it was so funny to watch them...

Briana was sad to leave the party (and this was after a day of playing soccer and going to a birthday party) and asked if we could come back again soon so she could play with her new friends. LOL!

I'm so glad we got to catch up with Joy and her family. I hope one day we are able to make a trip to Oregon to visit with them. It is definitely on my bucket list!

Gymnastics Party (6th B-day Party Of The Year)

Miss Social Butterfly attended yet another birthday party Saturday afternoon. This time it was for twin girls in her kindergarten class - and the whole class was invited. It was at the gymnastics center that Briana used to attend, so Miss B was very comfortable in her surroundings. The class had a blast jumping and tumbling and then they retreated to the party area where they ate popcorn, potato chips, pizza and cake... 

The birthday girls were so cute and all the kids had a really good time. Briana had already had played soccer that morning and we still had some plans for the evening. I was worried it was going to be a really long day - possibly too much for Bri. But per usual, Briana handled the day like a champ.

Making Cards

Briana went to yet another birthday party on Saturday afternoon for twin girls that are in her class (which I will blog about next), and she loves to make the birthday cards for her friends. And if I buy a card, she will make sure she decorates the heck out of it. Here she is displaying her creations...

And she always likes to end our little photo sessions as gracefully as possible. Heh.

GOOOOOOAAAAAAL!!!!!!!!

Miss B made her very first goal in soccer on Saturday morning!! I didn't get a picture because I was too busy watching her make it, but I did take a few shots of her and her teammates practicing...

The game started and Bri went for it. She puts all of her energy into every play. I am so proud of her!!!!

Soccer pictures were being taken that morning and the team got there about a half an hour early to get individual and team photos done. All the girls on the team are so cute. And I can't get enough of Bri and ML together...

The temperature was actually really pretty that day with a slight breeze. But when the sun hit straight down on you, it was fierce. An umbrella was definitely needed. Both Bri and ML were on the sideline taking a break and used the umbrella to shade themselves...

I can't believe how much fun I am having watching Briana play soccer. I think it is because she loves it so much. She has more passion for this than anything other physical activity she currently does or has done in the past. I knew this would be her "thing"!!!!

Parent/Teacher Conference

Last Tuesday was Briana's parent/teacher conference. I was a bit nervous to be honest with you. If you remember the last school conference, she was doing great academically and socially, but her teacher had concerns about her speech and her sensitivity.

A few weeks ago, Bri's teacher actually called me in one afternoon to talk to me about Bri's attention span. When Briana is interested in something, she does great. But when she isn't interested in something, she either blows through her work to get it over with (skipping steps) or it takes her forever to do. Briana's teacher and I (and Doug was there too) agreed that she is only five years old, one of the youngest kids in class and that it could definitely be an age thing. But, we all know Briana is my 150 mile an hour girl, so it could be something more. Bri's teacher just wanted to point it out to me. I told her she didn't have to make me aware because believe me, I know how fast my girl is! LOL! I am glad she did talk to me about it though. It means she is observing Briana and keeping me in the loop.

So, the conference happened last week and I was very pleasantly surprised. Bri is doing great! The difference in her progress report from last October was huge. She went from "progressing" in most of her areas (which is normal for a new kindergartner) to "meets standards" in almost all areas and even "exceeds" in a few areas. The only thing checked that was an "area of concern" was her attention span and I had already talked to her teacher about that. And right after the "distraction" meeting, I had a long talk with Briana about not blowing through her work and she has greatly improved on that.  

Briana is now reading, writing with upper and lower case letters and doing math problems. It is amazing how quickly kids learn to do things. It is quite incredible.

The comment her teacher made that made me happiest - "She will do great in the 1st grade." Music to my ears!!

And now for some cuteness...

This gal loves rainbows. She went to school on Friday looking this bright. I'm still not sure she was bright enough to see from outer space. Heh.

And here is her cheek now. It isn't pretty, but it is definitely healing...

I am so proud of my sweet girl. She has come so far at school. Truly amazing!

Scratched Cheek

I got a call around 12:15 on Wednesday afternoon from Bri's teacher telling me Briana had a bit of an accident at school. Bri and another little girl were running on the playground and the other little girl fell on Briana. Bri face-planted into the ground. She scratched up her cheek and knee and bent and scratched her glasses. Bri said the part she hated the most was the dirt that got into her mouth. My poor, poor sweetie! Good news is that I already have new lenses on order.

I Left My Job Five Years Ago Today

I can't believe that it was five years ago today that I walked away from my job of seven years. It was bittersweet because I really liked the company I worked for and it was a huge part of who I was, but I wanted to be a mother much, much more. I waited so long for Briana, and I didn't want to miss one second of her. I don't regret walking away because every moment I have spent with Briana has been absolutely wonderful - even the hard moments. I haven't missed anything when it comes to my sweet girl. I have experienced it all with her and I have cherished all the special times - and even the mundane ones.

I can't say that I haven't worked in five years because Lord knows raising a child has been the hardest job I have ever had in my life. It is a 24/7 job. But sometimes though, I do worry about being out of the work force for so long. Will I be able to find something when I am ready? Do I want to do the same thing? Do I want to try something different? The economy really started to tank right as I was leaving my job, so the job I left is no longer there anyway. I am sure that when the time comes to start looking that I will want to find something part-time because Briana is still my number one priority and luckily, Doug and I are financially stable enough to allow me do so.

I was really good at my job. I liked the people I worked with and still miss them to this day. I do volunteer at Briana school, but there are definitely those times I miss being in the "grown up" world. And sometimes I have to remind myself that there is much more to me than just being a mom. I just have to search for those parts of myself once in a while.

If You Don't Believe Me...

...when I say that Briana has very little capability of actually walking normally anywhere, check this out... 

She literally runs and/or sashays wherever we go. I guess walking quietly is quite overrated.

Happy Thursday everyone!