"I Pledge Allegiance..."

Hannah recites the Pledge of Allegiance for your viewing enjoyment...



Following the Pledge, she starts to sing "My Country Tis of Thee" and then quickly changes her mind. LOL.

One Smart Cookie

Hannah stayed after school today to be tested as to what she knows. They test at the beginning of the year and again at the end of the year to see how much they have progressed through the year.

The test consisted of Hannah identifying capitalized letters and lower case letters, identification of numbers, how many words she can write, and a test covering a book - if she knows which end is the cover, where do you start reading, which direction (left to right), and a few other questions I can't remember.

I picked Hannah up a little later than usual pick up time so that she could be tested. Once her testing was over, Miss Cejka went over her results with me. On the identifying letters of the alphabet, she scored 47 out of 52, which Miss Cejka said was excellent! And on the testing of the book, she scored 12 out of 13, which was outstanding for a beginning kindergartener!!! Miss Cejka said Hannah was defiantely ready for learning how to read and by the end of the school year we'd defiantley have a reader on our hands. She said Hannah was a pleasure to have because she is so well behaved and so eager to learn.

I can't express how proud I am of Hannah and the awesome report Miss Cejka had!! We knew she was a smart cookie, but today her teacher confirmed it! LOL.

Hannah Funnies

Hannah can come up with the funniest of things, that ususally have us cracking up. I thought I'd share some:

"Mom, I can spell my name backwards H-A-N-N-A-H"

"We really need to get dad back to working out on his Bowflex. And we need to get you back on program with Weight Watchers" (Gee Thanks, did Gramma put you up to that last part?? LOL. Not that I've been gaining any of my weight back, just haven't been on program.)

"Will there be a playground in heaven?"

"Will we eat in heaven?? I hope we don't starve, cause I'm already hungry"

My Lil Helper

Hannah's always wanting to help out around the house. This evening, she did ALL the dinner dishes...clearing the table, rinsing the plates, silverware, pans, and then loading them in to the dishwasher. She then filled the dishwasher with dishwasher soap!

Helping Out in Class

I helped out in Hannah's class today. Man oh Man, what a tight ship Miss Cejka runs! LOL. If I believed in reincarnation, I'd say that my 4th and 5th grade teacher, Miss Albert, had been reincarnated. LOL..

I stayed the entire length of school and got familiar with the school day routine. It's no wonder Hannah comes home acting worn out. They are busy the entire time!!! Always learning though. I'm glad I was able to help out. The August calendar is already available, and just about completely filled with vounteers already, but I did manage to get one day for next month!

The Start of a New Week

I can hardly belive we are starting the 4th week of school today. The week really flies by when you are up and out the door every morning.

I am so impressed with Hannah's teacher. Every Monday, upon coming home from school, Hannah's folder with is filled with her completed homework packet that was turned in on Friday, usually consisting of red happy faces, the homework packet to be completed this week, and a report of Hannah's previous week, in reguards to her behavior, listening and following directions, and completion of classwork. The report has to be looked over and signed by the parents and then turned back into the teacher. Hannah's reports have been nothing short of perfect thus far.

At the beginning of the week, attached to the homework packet for the week, is always a brief newsletter informing us parents as to the happenings of the class and what they are working on, etc. It's so nice to have a teacher that keeps you so well informed.

Miss Cejka is BIG on positive reinforcement. At the end of every school day, if the child has behaved well, they get their star to bring home. Sometimes if you don't listen or you misbehave, your star gets turned over, or ultimately taken away. And as if just getting the star wasn't enough, you also get two gummy bears for getting your star and not getting it turned over, and one gummy bear if it was turned over. There is also a jar, and everytime Miss Cejka fills the jar will marbles, everyone in the class gets to go to the treasure box. One of the other moms was telling one of my friends that Miss Cejka said she's never had such a well behaved class and her treasure box is quickly dimishing. The class gets to visit the treasure box 2-3 times a week!!!!

Parent participation is also big in this class. Miss Cekja said she's never had such an overwhelming response for parents to help in the classroom. She actually had to make a calendar and had the parents sign up so she could keep track of when everyone was coming. It's so nice to see such a tremendous involvement from all the parents. It's a sign that the majority of the kids have at least one parent home, or at least a work schedule that is easily adustable to help out. It's nice, because being on a year round schedule, unless you opt out of this track, chances are, Hannah will have many of these same kids in her class to come for the next few years.

I am excited, tomorrow is my day to help out in the class. It'll be nice to see the routine of the day and the ins and out of Hannah's morning. Hannah is excited too!

Today's Princess...

...is Esmerelda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

A Visit to the Doctor...

Hannah's bug bites when she got up yesterday morning were red, swollen, and hard. She now had one on her eyelid and her eye was really swollen. She felt fine enough to go to schoo, so I sent herl. But while she was at school, I called our Pediatrician's office to see if she should be seen, and if there was something that was stronger then Benedryl cream for the itch. They felt because she had one near her eye, she should be seen.

Dr Berry was concerned about the one on her eyelid. He said that because mosquitos carry so many different kinds of bacteria, he didn't want to take any chances with it so close to her eye, that he put her on antibiotics. He wasn't concerend about the rest of her bugs. Just said we needed to be putting on bug repelent that contains DEET.

Her eye looked a little better this morning. Still a little swollen, but better than yesterday. I'm sure it'll get better over the weekend. Good thing school pictures were next Thursday instead of yesterday!!!! LOL

"Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite"

I must have forgotten to say that last night when tucking Hannah into bed. She woke up this morning with bug bites. This evening after getting out of the bath, I counted 10 new bug bites...all in which look like mosquito bites. She can't help but itch them, but that results in them swelling, therefore making them look worse.

In the 'olden days' there wouldn't be any real concern after so many bug bites, but last summer, there were several cases of the West Nile Virus in our area. Going to have to get my hands on some Skin So Soft from Avon to ward off the lil buggers while she sleeps!

Hannah's Fridge #1

Recently in the car, Hannah pointed to something and asked what it was. I explained to her that it was a motorhome and that some people use those for camping, that there is a kitchen, beds, and a potty inside. She put two and two together and came to the conclusion that this meant you wouldn't need a tent!!! She then said "Oh Mommy, we need one of those!". As described by Hannah:

This is a picture of a motorhome. The red thing coming out the top is a "smoker" (aka chimney), the scribble off to the side is the smoke. The chimney is so you can have your campfire inside. In the windows you can see Rachel in one window and Hannah in the other. Off to one side you can see the "rainbow E". The blue on the other side is a big waterfall.

Happy 50th Birthday Disneyland!

Everyone who knows me well, knows that I am a Disney Freak, I love going to Disneyland and anything Disney. With that said, I have to acknowledge that today is the 50th birthday of Disneyland!!!

However, to keep on topic because this is a blog about Hannah...Hannah's 1st trip to Disneyland was when she a day short of being 5 weeks old...she's been going regularly ever since!


One of our favorite memories is when Hannah was learning to talk, her name for Disneyland, was "GooGooLand". It's sad when they loose their cute words and sayings for things. These days, we can't use our "codenames" for Disneyland ("Let's go to the Happiest Place on Earth", or "Want to make a trip to Anaheim?") because Hannah knows what we're talking about when we use them!!

Today marks the end...

...the end of the first complete week of Kindergarten! Hannah loves school. We knew she would! This week they've been working on their letters and learning how to write them capitalized and in lower case. They've also been working on the shape of a circle. She also had her first homework packet come home, and it's due today.

Hannah has come home with several papers this week completed and with the kindergarten stamp of arrival - a red happy face!!

She has learned 3 nursery rhymes this week...Three Little Kittens, Jack and Jill, and Hey Diddle Diddle. It is so cute to hear her recite them! She's also working daily on memorizing the Pledge of Allegiance.

Over the course of the last week, we've heard such wonderful, wonderful things about Miss Cejka, Hannah's teacher. From the checker at two different grocery stores, to friends whose children have had her, from other parents who've had children in her class previously, and have her again with a new kindergartener. Everything we've heard has been great. Rumor has it, Hannah will be reading by Christmas!!!

Hannah is she learning how important Fridays are, not only because it means having two days off to play with daddy, but Friday is chocolate milk day!!!!! That's my girl!

Now that's Multitasking!

Just kicking back, enjoying the new pool, and chatting on the phone to her friend Emma.

Trying to Survive the Heat!

We've been hit with some pretty HOT days lately, with temps over 100 degrees, and the heat wave expected to continue through the remainder of the week. So in attempts to cool off a little, we got this family size pool!!! Here is Hannah and her neighbor friend Karisa, enjoying the pool!

Just Pretending...

We spent the day at Gramie's house today. She invited Grandpa to come and join the family for dinner. After dinner he gave rides on his motorcycle! Here's Hannah...just pretending to be riding. She didn't want to go for a ride, I tend to think that even if she had wanted to go for a ride around the block, her mother would have objected. LOL

A week of Cuteness!

With Hannah starting Kindergarten this week, she's been wearing new clothes, having her hair done...and looking very cute. I couldn't help but share a couple of pictures of her cuteness!

Okay, her attitude doesn't appear to be cute in this picture, but I believe it's because she's tired of hearing "let me take your picture". LOL.

Friday Night with the Girls...

One Tired Girlie

Poor Hannah, she's so tired. Last night at dinner, she was complaining about how tired she was, and that she wanted a bath. Sometimes she uses the "I'm tired" card in attempts to getting out of eating something she doesn't want to eat.

But shortly after 6:00pm, both the girls were bathed and Hannah was in bed getting a couple of books read to her. By 6:30 she was fast asleep. And with the exception of waking up in the middle of the night with leg pains, she slept the night through until 6:15 this morning!

We're all trying to get used to this new schedule of being up, dressed, and out the door by 7:45 every morning. Funny thing is my friend Lori has been giving me a hard time over the last year when she would call and we'd not left the house all day long, or she'd call in the middle of the afternoon and Hannah was still in her jammies. She knew this year with Hannah in Kindergarten would be much different for me. No more weekday pajama days for Hannah, and no more not leaving the house at all. LOL. We'll get use to it in another week or two. We've only been doing it for 4 days!

Hopefully as we settle into this new routine, Hannah will adjust and not be soooo tired come the end of the day.

1st Day of Kindergarten

The morning started off a little rough. Unfortunately, due to being up late last night watching fireworks, I had to wake Hannah up. I had a hard time getting her out of bed...and an even harder time trying to convince her she needed to eat breakfast. LOL. Once we were out the door, everything went fine.


We arrived at school and were greeted by friends from church, whose sons are classmates of Hannah's. We talked, took a few pictures, and then proceeded to the Kindergarten classroom.


Hannah had no hestitation in going right into the classroom to explore. Shortly after arriving, the parent orientation began and we were informed that after the orientation, we were to take our child home with us. The first day of Kindergarten was simply the orientation. Hannah was sure disappointed we wouldn't be leaving her! LOL. Following the orientation, the teacher had a classroom scavenger hunt for the kids to do...things like finding your name throughout the classroom, finding your cubby and taking your folder out, locating the restrooms, finding the teacher, and finally ending with locating the cookie and juice table outside!


Tonight, the PTA is holding an ice cream social, followed by an Open House. We're taking Gramma and Papa so Hannah can show them her classroom and meet her teacher!


Tomorrow, Hannah must be able to kiss me goodbye and leave me at the door. I'm sure she won't have a problem with doing just that! I might shed some tears though. LOL

4th of July

We didn't go far to celebrate the 4th of July this year, our Cul de Sac had a block party with a late afternoon BBQ and a bounce house for the kids. For firework viewing, we simply pulled our chairs out to the middle of the street and looked up...the surrounding streets were like a war zone, complete with professional-like shows! Which by the way, fireworks are illegeal in the County in which we live in, but it doesn't stop just about everyone from doing them.

Church July 4th Celebration

Hannah and Kent teaming up together to participate in the 3 legged race!

Our church cancelled our normal church services and moved it to the park today. Following the service we had a big BBQ, followed by games, watermelon eating contest, water balloon toss, and lots more. Despite being pretty worn out by the sun and 97 degree heat, we had a great time!!

Hannah is Home!

Hannah returned home this evening from her visit with Gramie and Alisha.

It sounds like they had a great 3 days of fun together...going to Disneyland, the zoo, the movies, having a tea party, playing on the slip n slide, out to lunch!!

We're hoping to see more of Alisha next weekend when her parents (Steven's brother and wife) come to get her to take her home.