This year the girls are starting school in the neighborhood public school. We loved that they had the opportunity to get a good foundation at Reid while I was teaching there, but we are all excited to have mom home more this year. This will be the first year that I am not hanging out in the same building as them each day. Both girls expressed some discomfort about not having me quite as close, but in all reality I am less than a mile away. It will be strange for me not to feel quite as "in the loop" with what is going on in the girls classes. Up to now I have always been friends with their teachers before sending them to school. It will be a growing experience for all of us. I am looking forward to having time to walk the girls to and from school and to volunteer in the girls classes. The girls did have a chance to meet their teachers a couple weeks before school started.
I drove them on the first day so that we could be extra early. It was packed and they quickly realize d there were a LOT more kids than they were used to. A perfect environment to make new friends, if you ask me. They were both nervous to start, and I caught Naiya sniffing back a couple tears as her class walked into the building. Honestly I was glad to have my sunglasses on as I walked back to the car.
The day passed pretty quickly (a.k.a. I got nothing done), and soon it was time to walk up and pick up the girls. It was fun to see their faces light up as they caught sight of me at our meeting spot. Both girls had nothing but good things to say about their teachers and their classmates. It was a great start to a new school year.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Cookies for Critters
My sweet Naiya is 9 today. 9. NINE! Where does the time go?!
The only thing she really wanted for her birthday was to go to the Humane Society. We have already been there to visit no less than 10 times this summer. She enjoys nothing more than "giving love to the animals" and would probably go there every day if it were up to her. She could spend hours petting and playing with the cats, and she knows many of them by name. She even advocates for certain cats when she sees customers in there showing an interest.
When she mentioned that all she wanted was to go to the Humane Society, I pointed out that, although we certainly could go, we had done that many times in recent months and for her birthday she had a chance to think of something really special that she would like to do or receive... and did she ever. I was thinking some kind of awesome gift or family outing to some water slides. Naiya, however, had something totally different in mind.
After some thought, she decided that she wanted to do a lemonade stand to raise money for the Humane Society... for her special birthday activity. How can anyone say no to that?! What started out as just a simple lemonade stand, became lemonade and cookies and turned into a full fledged bake sale. Naiya designed flyers and spent days handing them out around the neighborhood. I advertised the sale on Facebook for her, and we had an great response with many people saying that they wanted to come or that they wanted to help in some way.
It definitely has been a project. I dare say there was a lot more planning and effort on everyone's part than any birthday party I've ever thrown... or any other party for that matter. *It should be noted that cute Eva was right there every step of the way. Helping with flyers, organizing, setting up, helping customers. Technically is wasn't her project, but she selflessly helped without any of the attention or praise that the birthday girls received. Love that little girl!*
It was incredibly humbling to see so many people come out to support Naiya's project. Not only did people come to buy/donate from all over the valley, but we had several people bring extra baked goods to sell and had many people helping along the way. We even had a few people mail in donations from out of town! Naiya's aunt Holly and cousin Tayte stayed the entire time and even helped take everything down afterward. It was a hot and sticky day, but seeing that little girls eyes beaming as person after person filled in for 2 1/2 straight hours was worth every minute. (Not to mention when she actually made the delivery to the Humane Society, but I'll post about that later.)
Although we'd planned on the sale running just from 1:00 to 3:00, people started coming around 12:40 and really did not stop until a quarter after 3. In fact we had one more customer knock on the door at 3:45. After that we had another on-line pledge bringing the exact grand total to $413.00!!!
Happy birthday to my kind, generous, and creative Naiya. If you are this amazing at 9, I can't wait to see what your future holds.
The only thing she really wanted for her birthday was to go to the Humane Society. We have already been there to visit no less than 10 times this summer. She enjoys nothing more than "giving love to the animals" and would probably go there every day if it were up to her. She could spend hours petting and playing with the cats, and she knows many of them by name. She even advocates for certain cats when she sees customers in there showing an interest.
When she mentioned that all she wanted was to go to the Humane Society, I pointed out that, although we certainly could go, we had done that many times in recent months and for her birthday she had a chance to think of something really special that she would like to do or receive... and did she ever. I was thinking some kind of awesome gift or family outing to some water slides. Naiya, however, had something totally different in mind.
After some thought, she decided that she wanted to do a lemonade stand to raise money for the Humane Society... for her special birthday activity. How can anyone say no to that?! What started out as just a simple lemonade stand, became lemonade and cookies and turned into a full fledged bake sale. Naiya designed flyers and spent days handing them out around the neighborhood. I advertised the sale on Facebook for her, and we had an great response with many people saying that they wanted to come or that they wanted to help in some way.
It definitely has been a project. I dare say there was a lot more planning and effort on everyone's part than any birthday party I've ever thrown... or any other party for that matter. *It should be noted that cute Eva was right there every step of the way. Helping with flyers, organizing, setting up, helping customers. Technically is wasn't her project, but she selflessly helped without any of the attention or praise that the birthday girls received. Love that little girl!*
It was incredibly humbling to see so many people come out to support Naiya's project. Not only did people come to buy/donate from all over the valley, but we had several people bring extra baked goods to sell and had many people helping along the way. We even had a few people mail in donations from out of town! Naiya's aunt Holly and cousin Tayte stayed the entire time and even helped take everything down afterward. It was a hot and sticky day, but seeing that little girls eyes beaming as person after person filled in for 2 1/2 straight hours was worth every minute. (Not to mention when she actually made the delivery to the Humane Society, but I'll post about that later.)
Although we'd planned on the sale running just from 1:00 to 3:00, people started coming around 12:40 and really did not stop until a quarter after 3. In fact we had one more customer knock on the door at 3:45. After that we had another on-line pledge bringing the exact grand total to $413.00!!!
Way to go, Naiya!!
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