she's star of the week!

In Penelope's school the kindergarten has a really cute tradition of honoring each child by letting them be the "Star of the Week"

Penelope was given a poster to fill out that had questions about her family and favorite things etc.

At the end of the week she gets "interviewed" by the entire class.

What I liked best about this was that at the end the teacher asked the students to offer up compliments to Penelope.

Then her teacher wrote all of them on the back of her poster.

I thought this was so touching, and such a great way to build camaraderie among her peers.

Plus its got to be great for their self confidence right?

sign me up!

We did not have this when I was in school.

Well, at least I don't remember it anyway. ;)

her poster

the compliments ;)

a video snippet of her interview

some of her "compliments" ;)

New Chapter...

We've been together, almost inseparable for nearly six years now.

As an infant she refused to let me out of her sight- demanding to be held as long as she was awake.

As a toddler she began trusting others, but still hesitated and was cautious.

As a preschooler she blossomed, made friends and made fans.

Penelope has developed into this beautiful, caring, kind, adventurous (while still careful) :-)

thoughtful, compassionate, silly, curious young lady.

We couldn't be more proud.

Today was her first day of kindergarten- she was excited and a bundle of nerves.

We were excited for her too.

Excited to get to see this huge first step through her eyes.

Walking her to school with mom & dad each holding a hand, looking up at us-- beaming.

I will never forget the look on her face.

Earlier in the week she asked me what days she wasn't going to be at school.

I told her Saturdays and Sundays now, to which she replied "I guess I'm not going to see you that much anymore."

She said we'd still have the mornings, but knowing how early we have to be at school I told her we'd really have afternoons.

My time with Penelope has been so precious all these years.

I know her days at school will fly by, but I have so enjoyed our leisurely days waking up and deciding together what types of adventures the day would hold.

And boy did we have some adventures. 

School is going to be such a great new chapter, and we are all embracing it with vigor.

New families to meet, school activities and traditions, and just all the fun and newness each year will bring.

But I will miss these first years with my first. 

My baby.

I will treasure them in my heart forever.

I love you Penelope Pearl.

You are a true pearl- a rare and precious jewel, perfected and polished over time.

We are so thankful for you and so happy for you.

And now I am finally crying.

Penelope Pearl
1st day of Kindergarten
Peabody Charter
8-26-15

Pen's teachers came earlier in the month to visit our home and answer any questions she might have

Penelope's teachers Mrs. Kangas and Mrs. Perkins

with best bud Lyla

lining up with Kenzie and Lyla

figuring out what her badge means

and what would the first day be without a little McConnell's rocky road
after all it was 90 degrees outside!

Back to School and all the trimmings...

Last week I was super busy getting the kids ready for back to school.

Now, some of this stuff wasn't exactly "necessary" I know I know, but in true Welsh fashion we like to celebrate even the littlest things (and people) around here.

Pre-K and the first day of preschool are both big milestones so it was fun to start a few "back to school" traditions, and get the kids participation in making teacher gifts.

Now I realize teacher gifts are totally unnecessary, but I LOVE giving gifts and I want to teach my kids that one way to show love is to do nice things for others.

So this curtailed into a fun morning activity with some friends.

Making Magic Cookie Bars

... or "christmas crack" as some affectionately have nicknamed it. ha!

This is one of my "go-to" treats for several reasons...

1. its like 4 steps. so easy=I'm doing it

2. because they're so easy that makes getting the kids involved a little more realistic for me

3. they're highly addictive delicious little magical chocolate buttery graham cracker goodness. 

My kinda "crack"

My recipe?

It's not exactly some super secret, there are many variations out there, but here goes...

melt one stick of butter in a regular sheet cake pan

(I just throw my pan in the oven until its melted)

then spread about 3/4 box of graham cracker crumbs over the bottom of the pan making a crust

spread one bag of chocolate chips evenly over the crust

Here's the kicker: 

now evenly spread one can of sweetened condensed milk (the other "liquid gold") 

over the chocolate chip layer

sprinkle chopped walnuts

Pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Let cool and voila!

Anna.... you're welcome.

I have just changed your life.

Now for some kiddie pic(k)s:

these kids have to take ownership over these presents!
now that they're old enough they had better have some kind of participation in this,
 or I'm telling their teachers its just from me! shoot!

and here are the lovelies
It was late when I cut these so yeah the pics aren't the best (no natural light here!)
I have to do things on "mom time" right now
found these adorable printable gift tags here:
thirtyhandmadedays.com/2014/08/teacher-back-to-school-printable/
I always keep an assortment of sizes of brown paper bags on hand
so in this case all I had to do was wrap a few cookies in parchment paper
put them in the bags and attach the printable with a cute mini clothespin...
(which I already had too!)
No trips to Michaels=a happy momma
weeeeeee!

gettin' her hair did, it will be a back to school tradition since we do this like twice a year
gives me the motivation to take her
Violet will start when
a. her hair is long enough
and
 b. she doesn't adamantly say "no" to the idea

Penelope is a girly girl who also loves playing in the dirt and is fascinated with bugs
So she can pretty much make a friend anywhere
She's been begging to get her nails done, but hey these kinds of splurges are for mommas
So I like to wait for a special occasion to treat her so this stays a super fun splurgy kind of thing
I was fully expecting Violet Mae to hop on a chair too and she did... until the lady came over and her "stranger danger" kicked in
She decided to kick it on the couch with me and baby E instead
Good call, saved me like thirty bucks right there

There was also new shoe shopping but that was the craziest mad dash you've ever seen.
Three little kids in a shoe store- or any store for that matter?
Bad bad idea
;)

Movin' on Up!

It's been another great school year for Penelope!

She recently finished her first year as a ladybug and started her second year as a Bumblebee.

I am so proud of her.

She is growing so fast and is becoming a self confident, independent little lady.

Now if she would just slow down a bit. :(

        

                             first day as a ladybug

last day as a ladybug                      

We are going to miss these ladies!
Penelope's Ladybug teachers from left to right:
Miss Jenny, Ms. Ornelas and Ms. Eileen

giving one of her new Bumblebee teachers Ms Rosa her teacher gift

Penelope was excited to see a good buddy Alana in her new classroom!

enjoy Penelope!

Its going to be a great year!!!

1st performance!

December 7 Penelope performed in her first Christmas school performance (this was her first performance anywhere actually!) It was very cute, the kids had been practicing their songs for weeks.

They were so excited, but I think this night definitely belonged to the parents. 

:)

practicing her Frosty

walking in with her buddy Kalista

how cute are they?!

Pen was blessed enough to have a huge turnout of family and friends all there to support her

LAPS trike-a-thon

My little ladybug had her first trike-a-thon today.

Her school, Little Angels, puts on this annual fundraiser every year.

It's so cute all the kids go around the track a couple times and at the end they get a medal. 

Everybody cheers them on, so cute!

the 3-4year old class in their bumble bee shirts cheering on the ladybugs!