Author: pazmeyer

happy birthday, mylie

Our dear little neighbor, Mylie had her birthday at the Build a Bear Workshop. It’s hard to believe we have never been here….the girls adored it! What a cute idea for a party. They each built their bear and then got to pick out one accessory. Of course, the girls had their eyes on a few more accessories as well so I indulged them a bit. After the bears were well accessorized the party moved to the food court for pizza and cake. The girls had a blast! 
Happy Birthday, Mylie!

The girls could not get  far enough away from that big ol’ bear for the picture. After the party, Annabelle braved up and gave him a hug and Gwyneth couldn’t be out down by her big sis so she gave him a high five! 
pizza time!

The girls played with their bears quietly and peacefully the rest of the day. Whatever I spent on the accessories (I’ll never tell, but it was ghastly!) it was well worth every penny. The bears even replaced Shmooze and Monkey at bedtime tonight. Woah!!!

back to school bbq

We survived our first week of pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, bus riding and most importantly GETTING UP EARLY IN THE MORNING! We figured we were all entitled to a little back to school celebration. B threw some burgers on the grill and our friends joined us for a fun and very tasty evening. 
Bella, Corbin, Hannah, Gwyneth and Annabelle

Jenn brought super cute and delicious back to school cupcakes. So very crafty!

Wendi made her famous chocolate cake. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried this cake!

Super, super fun night. I don’t think Annabelle left Hannah’s side. She’s a big, big fan! 

butterfly afternoon

We have a little timing predicament with our new school/work schedules. Annabelle’s bus gets her home by 2:45 (1:35 on Wednesdays for early release day), we pick Gwyneth up at 3:00, but B is working at home until about 5:30. 
Hmmm…two little girls causing havoc around the house while their dad is trying to work and take conference calls. I’ve also tried to work in the afternoons when they get home, but let’s be honest — this is just asking for trouble. So I figured out the best solution is to work, work, work as much as I can while the girls are at school, do something fun with them after school and then get caught up on work again after they go to bed.  This is our plan…check back with me in about two weeks. Things have a funny way of changing around here…
Today we spent our afternoon at the Butterfly Pavilion. It’s been some time since we’ve held Rosie! The girls really want their dad to hold Rosie, but I’m just not seeing it happen anytime soon. 
The girls were being particularly sweet together and got some cute photos of them. Fun afternoon with my little ladies! 

jumpin’

As I mentioned before, Gwyneth Grace is feeling extremely left out of this kindergarten adventure. Don’t even try and tell her she can’t do something Annabelle can do.Good Luck with that!
The Merrill girls don’t start school until next week so Katie invited Gwyneth and I to join us for a morning at the bouncy house. Just what the doctor ordered! Gwyneth loved chasing around Ella and Ivy and I think she had a permanent smile plastered on her face. 
Katie has been really busy with her brother’s wedding in Breck and our family has a tendency to travel a bit too, so it was so great to sit and chat and catch up. Plus, I got to hold Mr Braxton for a while so I think Miss Gwyneth and I both had a great pretty day!!

bus stop

After that first taste of the freedom from the bus there was just no going back! The next morning there was no question Annabelle was heading to the bus stop with the big kids (not without me or her dad….she’s still got years for that!). The great thing about our school district is that they have pass cards that have to be scanned when they get on the bus and then when they get off. Miss Annabelle’s whereabouts on the bus are being tracked at all times….a bit obsessive probably, but it makes a momma breathe a little easier. She also can not get off the bus unless either me, her dad, or her YaYa is waiting for her. That’s about enough freedom for a five year old.

Miss Gwyneth was growing her bangs out….let me stress WAS growing her bangs out. She didn’t really mind the hair in her face, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. I gotta see those beautiful little eyes. We trimmed her up and luckily she’s fabulously adorable with her little bangs.

annabelle is a kindergartner

The big day finally arrived and Annabelle was so excited to set off for kindergarten! I do believe she was dressed, fed, and ready to go with 45 minutes to spare….which is completely unprecedented for a departure from our house in the morning. 
Annabelle’s elementary school did such a good job of introducing them to the school, the classrooms, their classmates, their teacher, etc over the summer. There wasn’t much nervousness, just a lot of excitement. 
Annabelle the kindergartner!
With her proud daddy
And proud mommy
Any hysterical little sister. Gwyneth was furious that she couldn’t go to kindergarten too. (“You NEVER let me go to kindergarten!!). This is going to be a long year for her…
We drove her to school in the morning although she really wanted to take the bus…baby steps (for me!)

Lining up with her classmates

I was so excited for Annabelle. She has been talking about kindergarten all summer. She seemed a little shy and nervous when she went in, but no tears, no grabbing on to my leg. She is ready for this!

I got a little teary on our way out, but I’m very very proud of this girl.

Annabelle convinced us to let her take the bus on the way home. I was open minded, but B really struggled with this. He wanted us to pick her up at least the first week. Annabelle was VERY persuasive and begged and begged and begged. He finally gave in!

She told us “I was nervous at first, but now I LOVE it!”. 
Happy girls!
And yes, Gwyneth picked her sister up from the bus stop wearing her Snow White costume. 

Annabelle treated us all to an ice cream at Red Mango after school. We heard all about her classroom, her new friends, the gym (it was PE day) and of course about the bus. Mostly about the bus. It’s her absolute favorite thing about being a kindergartner!

kindergarten assessment

There was an hour window for the “M” kids to go in and meet with their kindergarten teacher today. The teacher wanted to get a feel for what the children knew coming in to school on the first day. I thought I was suppose to stick around, but I was promptly told to drop her off and come back in an hour. Apparently the kids get shy with mom around and don’t want to answer questions. True, true. 
Annabelle did great on all her tests – she knows her letters, numbers, colors, shapes and almost half of her site words. She’s in very good shape for this year and ready to learn lots more! 
Since I missed Back to School Night, Annabelle was eager to give me a tour of the school. 
She wrote her name on the back of her “Coyote Cash” (they get these for being good listeners and helpers and she got her first today!)
She put her name on the Bus pick up list. This is going to be a tough one for me, but she is so, so excited to ride the bus. 

The library – fully equipped with computers and IPADs. What the heck? I think we had two apple computers for our entire school when we were in elementary. I guess that just shows my age. 
Her class board
The Music Room
I’m so proud of this girl and I told her I would take her anywhere — ANYWHERE for lunch. She chose McDonalds – ouch! 

What 1st day of school would be complete without beautiful nails. She chose a sparkly purple because “her teacher would really, really like this color”. 
And let’s not forget a beautiful new hair style.
Last stop: the Bus Depot. We signed up for her bus pass and she is ready to roll tomorrow!

cardinals game

We celebrated Poppy’s birthday at the Cardinals game. We sat in a luxury box which was wonderful – great seats, AC, and a private bathroom. Not mention lots of food, soda, and beer. Certainly not a bad way to spend an afternoon!


After the game we had dinner at Morton’s. There was plenty of food to go ’round and as usual Miss Gwyneth amazed everyone with her appetite. She ate a few chicken tenders, french onion soup, steak, broccoli and mashed potatoes. She also kept herself entertained by coloring pictures for everyone at the table. Such a super sweet girl.

st louis zoo

It was a pretty nice, not so humid, not over 100 degree day in St Louis so we spent the morning exploring the zoo. Gwyneth had a blast with Madison and Miss Lily slept through our entire visit! 

Lily’s first visit to the St.  Louis zoo. 
Darnell’s first visit to the St.  Louis zoo. I’m sure he’s grateful I documented this event for him!
After the zoo, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Rigazzi’s , a family favorite and St. Louis staple. They have the most fabulous toasted raviolis, cheese sticks (of course it’s provel cheese in there), pizza (MORE provel) and last but not least the fishbowls of beer. Yum, Yum, Yum! I absolutely love and adore my family, but let’s be honest – I’d book the flight for the promise of provel and a fishbowl.