From Distaster to Triumph - Preparation for Kindergarten

Anna Banana has been so excited for the 1st day of Kindergarten. As each of her older siblings decorated lockers, walked through school schedules and received new hair cuts, she just kept counting down. Mom trimmed her bangs, took her to buy a folder for her back pack, and even got her some new outfits.

But disaster struck the day before school started.

Our conversation about the disaster went something like this:

Mom (gasping for breath): Anna, what happened to your hair?

Anna: Nothing. It's just like it was this morning.

Mom: No, Anna. Your hair was down to your shoulders this morning and you had bangs. Did you cut it?

Anna: No, it fell out when I was jumping on the trampoline.

Mom: Honey, you're still in your pajamas and haven't been on the tramp yet today.

Anna: The magical scissors decided to make me look beautiful.

And the conversation continued. Until Mom took a picture of her to show her what her hair looked like. Oops. Thank goodness JC Penney Salons were running a free hair cuts promo. They were very kind and squeezed us in that evening.

Daddy thinks Anna Banana now looks like Peter Pan. When she got up this morning, she looked like a little rascal with her hair sticking up all over the place! But with some help of a water bottle, cute headband, and pretty flowers, Anna was a little sweetheart ready for her first day of Kindergarten.

Doesn't she look devious? All I can say is good luck Mrs. Deets!

Here are a few pictures from school drop off.

Happy first day of Kindergarten, Anna!

Last Day of School

I can't believe it's here already. It seems like I just sent my munchkins off for their 1st day of school. How did we get to the last day so quickly? I'm amazed by how much my kids have grown this past year.

Isaac finished his 2nd year of middle school. One more year to go and then he'll be in high school. That is So. Not. Right. He did an amazing job in cross country and track. What can I say? My boy loves to run! And it was so fun to see him continue enjoying the cello and perform in concerts. 8th grade has a lot of decisions that need to be made - what program he wants to apply for to study in high school, which high school he'll attend - which will depend a lot on if he chooses to go into a 21st century program or not. Either way, 8th grade will be a pivotal year for him. I hope this summer he continues to learn independence and how to work/compromise with others.

At this moment, MJ is getting ready for her final walk through the halls of her elementary school. Each year, the students, teachers and parents line all the halls and have a clap down (lots of applause and cheers) as the 5th graders walk through all the different grades, then finally through the lobby and out the doors - never to return again as an elementary student. Last night, MJ was talking to me about how much she's going to miss her school, teachers, and friends. It's such a tender transition. There's so much good stuff ahead for my daughter. She's an incredibly smart, sweet girl with such a wide bright happy future waiting for her to step into. I can't wait to see what choices and paths she chooses to pursue.

Rob, holy moly, I can't believe my baby boy just finished 2nd grade! He's going to be a big 3rd grader next year. Wow! He had an awesome year participating in Student Council, running club, and being accepted into the Quest program. He's another one of my little smartie pants kids. I absolutely love Rob's sense of humor and tender heart for others. I hope he doesn't lose those wonderful qualities as he continues to grow older. I'm excited to see what he'll choose to do in 3rd grade. Will he continue playing the piano? Decide to try out a sport? I'm sure whatever he does, it will be with a happy, cheerful smile on his face - because that's just the kind of kid Rob is. He's awesome!

My Anna Banana graduated from preschool. We still don't know what will happen with Kindergarten for her. I've asked for a transfer to another school because our school K teacher is very harsh and makes the kids cry. I've watched her for 3 years now and just know she's not the teacher for my daughter. So I've requested a transfer for Kindergarten. I was told they wouldn't give me an answer until the week before school begins. If the transfer doesn't come through, then I plan to home school her and enroll her for specials at our elementary school. At least that way she'll still go to the school for an hour each day and will get to know some of the other kids in Kindergarten - but she won't interact with the Kindergarten teacher. Just the specials teachers. My only worry is that Anna is such a social bug. She loves, loves, loves going to school. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that the transfer will come through - because I really think that would be the best option for Anna. She's learned so much this last year as a peer model in a school district classroom and has already passed off a lot of her Kindergarten curriculum. So I'm not worried about her educationally, just socially. She loves to be with other kids. Either way, we'll figure everything out. I'm excited that she's grown so much and is so ready to jump into her next year of school.

Overall, it's been a great school year. There were lots of bumps in the road, lots of learning moments, and lots of awesome let's celebrate moments too. My kids amaze me - some days they drive me nuts, but most of the time, they're just pretty darn great. I'm excited to see how this summer goes (especially since being sick has screwed up a lot of my plans). I just want to get well - fast! - so I can enjoy as much of the summer as I can with my munchkins.

What's your school year review like? Have any fun plans for this summer?

(dis)Abilities and the Gospel Book Release Party

Blogger has recently had some issues and wouldn't let me post on my blog. I've finally figured out I can write a post if I use Internet Explorer instead of Firefox. So, I apologize for not posting before today.

So much has been happening! The Ferguson munchkins had their last day of school last Tuesday. It was so fun to participate in our elementary school Clap Down as the kids exited at the end of their last day. It always makes me teary to see the 5th graders go through the school doors for the very last time. Next year, my daughter will be in 5th grade. ACK! So not ready for that!

Today the munchkins started Summer School. They were excited about their swim lessons, Lego Camp, writing, cooking, and computer classes. The house is eerily quiet this morning. So I threw Pink onto my iTunes on repeat and here I am. Updating my blog.  =)

Your first book only comes out once. Such a momentous occasion needs something special. Something big. Something loud.

PARTY TIME!!!

Saturday was my book release party. It was so, so fun! A huge thank you to all my friends and family who came. Extra huge thank you's to Lisa Swinton who hosted the party at her house & to Doug and Kelly Simpson for DJing the party. Everything was awesome! I was overwhelmed by the constant flow of friends! You all ROCK! I know I didn't get pics of everyone, but here are some fun highlights from the party.

 MJ and one of her best friends, Marianne.

 The totally awesome DJ's! Doug & Kelly from DNK Entertainment.

Need music for your party? Contact them at 816-589-0366.

Dancing with my awesome son, Rob. I wish I had pictures from the line dances.

The garage was packed full of dancers. So fun!

 The Player family, Gifford family, and Lisa. The food was delish!

It was incredible to see a cake with my book cover on it!

 Tamera Westhoff and her sister Kim - who's holding Ceclia the cute little chick!

They drove two hours to come to the party. Thank you!!!

 My totally awesome cousin, Erin, and her daughter Sarah. They came up from Oklahoma.

Having Erin there was like having a little piece of my mom there too. Such sweet memories!

 Signing a bunch of books!

 Kelly and her copy of (dis)Abilities and the Gospel . . .

 Lori Pierce and I taking a pic of us together with her cell. It was a Kodak moment.  =)

 Jason Fugett teaching his little guy in Mommy's tummy from my book. Whatever he said must have worked, cause the little guy was born the next morning at 10:30 am. Karina (Mommy) said it was all the dancing - especially the Macarena!  =)

 Karina all excited to finally have her hands on a copy of (dis)Abilities and the Gospel.

The sweetheart Julie Shaffer and me.

 My awesome Kansas Writers Group!

Karina Fugett, Lisa Swinton, Danyelle Ferguson, John Ferguson

Thank you for editing, re-editing, and supporting me! You guys are da Bomb!

 No party is complete without the Gifford family!

I'm missing good pics of so many other friends who came . . . Thank you to everyone who came. The party was such a total blast because each of you shared the day with me.

What's up next? The (dis)Abilities and the Gospel blog tour starts in June and I'll be in Dallas & Fort Worth, Texas for book signings. You can check out the dates on my website.

Keeping Up with 1st Graders

Today I accompanied my first grader on his very first field trip. We went to a farm/orchard. It was totally fun and quite the work out. We were almost constantly walking for about four hours. My Fitness Pal chart better be liking my exercise today!  =)

Here are a few of our favorite pics:

 We saw lots of gourds of all different colors and sizes.

 We just might use some of these for our yearbook!

 Rob and I both laughed about this sign at the piglets pen!

 Rob's favorite animals we visited - this very loud, opinionated gaggle of geese!

 Me and my favorite first grader!

After we all got on the bus to head back to the school, Rob and I snuggled up. Then I fell asleep until we arrived back at our school - a little over an hour away!  Those first graders really know how to wear a mom out! 

American Girl Open House & Preschool

American Girl opened a store here in Overland Park over Labor Day weekend. MJ and I were so excited to go with my friend Lisa and her daughter, Ksenya, to the open house. There was face painting, balloon artists, give aways, and all the wonder of wandering around an awesome doll store!

We all got up early and arrived at the store at 8:30 am. They were supposed to open the doors at 9 am. We got in line and an employee came out to give out entrance tickets. That was when we discovered that we were in group 4. Group 0 was already in line and each group had 200 people in it!!! So there were 800 people in line ahead of us. We were allowed to go roam the mall. They had digital screens set up all over to display what group was lining up. We checked out the Disney store and had fun playing with all the dress up clothes, going through the stuffed animals, and talking about our favorite Disney characters. The girls rode the carousel and we munched on free bagels. A little over an hour later, we returned to see about how much longer it would be before it was our turn to line up. We were told it would be around 12:45 pm. Four more hours! So, we decided to ditch our mother/daughter dates and head back home. We'll try again next weekend, when hopefully it won't be as crazy busy. Another note, as we were leaving, they were handing out tickets for group 9. So in a little over an hour, another one thousand people came through to get tickets for the open house. Crazy! We gave our group tickets to a family of four who were in group 9. They were excited to get in earlier!  =)

Now, for some big girl news! My baby is now an official preschooler!!!

Anna has been so so excited about starting preschool this fall. She wasn't very happy when her older siblings all went back to school, but she still had to wait. Well, yesterday was her very first day. She was ready before all the other kids were dressed for school! Then she got mad at me because she didn't get dropped off at school with the other kids and had to wait another 45 minutes before her school started. Oh my! The drama!

Once we finally got to school, she was one super happy chick! She went right in, found her name for her Strawberry Shortcake backpack, hung it up, and went off to play. When pick-up time came two hours later, she skipped out of school with a huge smile on her face! I asked her about her first day - and instead of just telling me about it, she made up a song and sang all about the different things they did. It was totally cute! She kept singing things to me on and off as we ran errands together. It was such a fun day.

And Mom is still in shock that her little girl took a huge step towards becoming a big school girl. The years have been flying by way, way too quickly!

Pictures from Rob's Kindergarten Graduation

Yes, it is true. My little guy has graduated from Kindergarten. Next year, he will be a big first grader and at school all day long. I am going to miss his sweet laughter and smile around the house during the afternoon. Life just changes way too fast! Here are my favorite pics from Kindergarten graduation . . .

Yep, my little guy still sucks his thumb!

Anna enjoyed the graduation. She goes to preschool in the fall - can you believe that???

Mr. Graduate!

Mr. Explorer!

Rob & Mrs. Dawson

Now there's some silly kids!

Congrats to my little guy and all the Kindergarten graduates!

Isaac's Graduation Videos

Here are two of my favorite videos from Isaac's graduation!



Isaac walking across stage to receive his certificate. He was in a hurry because he didn't want to miss the pictures on the slideshow!




Isaac and his buddies posing for pictures. 5th grade boys are super funny! =)

Isaac's 5th Grade Graduation

Last week, Isaac graduated from 5th grade. His class, along with the two other 5th grade classes, decided on a Hollywood theme and to have a dessert buffet. It was an awesome night! Here are some of my favorite photos of the night . . .

Congrats to my awesome 5th grader and all his friends!