This photo captures a typical scene at our house, Rylee helping out in the kitchen dressed in some kind of formal wear or in this case a tutu (compliments of Sugarbeez Tutu's)! She has been in shorts maybe a total of 5 or 6 times all summer and only when we insisted on it.We took the kids out for dinner the other night because Daddy was getting ready to head out to Texas for several days to attend his Snap On franchise training classes. While we were at the restaurant Rylee received lots of attention (as she always does!) and our waiter seemed to be really taken with Rylee.
Rylee cups her hands over her mouth, smiling at him and tells him she has a question to ask him as she alternates between adorably bashful and boldly bossy... He says "What is your question?" She gets up on her knees on the booth, dramatically sweeps her arm across the front of her body with a regal bow says "Thank you for being here today!" In a perfect imitation of the Queen Clarisse Renaldi in Princess Diaries (one of Rylee's favorite movies). She pauses and looks at him expectantly... he said "what?" so she did a really big eye roll and repeated the gesture "Thank you for being here today" as she bows again.
He laughs and says "You remind me so much of my sister, you look just like her!" Rylee studies him for a minute and the she lights right up "OHHHHH! So, she look like a princess then!" He gave what seems to be his standard response "What?", she said "You sister look like me, then she must look like princess, because I am look like the princess!" as she nods her head in his direction.
At this point we are all cracking up because it never crossed Rylee's mind that his sister might be Asian or maybe from China, she just knew immediately that if the sister looked like her then she must be a beautiful princess.
Just so you all know that we have more than one child with a love for everything dramatic, here is Hanna trying to convince me how stylish and fun it would be for a cell phone to be part of her back to school necessities. Do they even allow cell phones at school for 4th graders?
I can't believe that they go back to school this week - it seems to be so much earlier than most of your kids go back! We do get out in mid-May though and actually they are starting a few days later this year than they usually do.
Rylee and Hanna will be at different schools this year since Hanna is moving on to Intermediate School. I'm not really sure that I am ready for her to leave elementary school, but she has no doubts that she is ready to go!
Rylee is repeating Kindergarten this year. The teachers really felt that she did not have the social skills or the language comprehension yet, to be moving on to first grade. Since she is repeating this year we kind of slacked off a bit on academics this summer and focused more on social and emotional development. It seems to have been really good for her, she definitely feels comfortable in her place in the family and she talks a lot about how glad she is that she has a family.
I have a questions though... do you think it is possible to teach tactfulness to a 6 year old???
How did we do Grandma? By the way - we can't wait to see you again in March! That's right my Michigander family and friends - please get rid of that snow and freezing minus degree weather - we are planning a trip home! 
and these kiddos...
Really they make you start thinking that maybe