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Nolan’s Table Setting (His fabulous teachers get most of the credit for the decor)

Singing a Valentine’s Day Song for the Moms

Decorating sugar cookies!

“Mom!! I am decorating cookies here!”

Hmm. Pastry Chef he is not!

Always could use a few more sprinkles!

Face planting into the cookie!

The Class

Playing Valentine’s BINGO

The Goody Bags (Nolan gives a heart lollipop with his Valentine’s cards. Heidi gives everyone a balloon. SIGH)

BINGOOOOO! Too bad Nolan was the last one in the class to yell those words. Good news in Pre-K! Everyone is still a winner!

Best Buddy Ben!! (His mom was the other host) Notice that they are holding hands! So sweet!

And the best part of the Valentine’s Day Party? Well the snow of course!!!

When James and I made the decision to move in August, as we looked at houses, I was very clear I wanted to stay close to Nolan’s school. Mainly because he is in school three days a week and we are in the car enough without another long drive, but also because I DID NOT want to start the whole preschool registration process over again. (See here and here for a refresher on my experience with this before and why I am still traumatized). When you have a currently enrolled child in said preschool, you have PRIORITY enrollment for siblings. This is huge! Now you can see why I wanted to stay somewhere in the proximity of his school.

Needless to say our search for the perfect home ended up in the exact area I had repeatedly said was way too far from Nolan’s school. Considering there is not an opening for a preschool anywhere once the school year has started, I have made it work. It has not been that bad of a commute, but it would be nice to be at a school closer to home and not have approximately $40 a month in tolls just going to and from Nolan’s school.

So this brings me to my current dilemma and I do mean a MAJOR situation here folks. I am not sure where to register Griffin for preschool. You may be thinking, but he will only be two? What is the big deal? It is a big deal because the older a child gets, the more competitive it is for available spots in preschool. The preschool you chose for a two year old, maps out their future preschool years typically. I know. It sounds ridiculous, but welcome to North Dallas.. I have several options, but it could all be a gamble and a costly one at that.   

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James and I spent New Year’s Eve with great friends at Jasper’s in Plano. Some of these friends we have known since elementary school, some since middle school and high school, and some since college and beyond. The majority of this group formed while at Texas Tech. We have spent quite a few New Year’s Eve together, but since having children it has become more difficult. It was a rare treat to all be together this night and childless! We joked that we rang in 2000 in a much more rowdy fashion than ten years later, but such is life and getting older! It was, however, exactly how we wanted to spend the evening.

Special thanks to my sweet dad for watching the boys!!

Here are a few pictures from the night!

She is the most fashionable person I know.

She shops online.

She loves cocktail hour.

She loves to try new restaurants.

She plays Rock Band.

She is the hippest person I know.

Oh and did I mention she will be 95 in February?

Yes we are so proud. Nolan was named after her and my grandfather. We could not be more proud indeed!

Today I attended Nolan’s third (and final) Christmas party at his preschool today. As usual it was fun and entertaining to watch Nolan in his school surroundings. He really seems to like his school friends, teachers, and genuinely enjoys learning. I cannot believe this time next year he will be celebrating the season in Kindergarten. BIG sigh!

Getting ready for refreshments

Playing “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” or also known as “Put Baby Jesus in his Manger”

Notice where Nolan placed his Baby Jesus. Notice the placement of the majority of the other Baby Jesus’. In Nolan’s defense he was blindfolded. Of course so were the other children.

They gave out a bell for the Baby Jesus closest to his manager. They also gave a bell for the Baby Jesus closest to Heaven. Guess which one Nolan won?

Making a Gingerbread House out of graham crackers and icing. Guess who mainly put that together?

Still working…..

Nolan’s Best School Buddy Ben. They are adorable to watch together. His mom and I commented today they are NEVER sitting next to each other. Their teachers figured out that was a bad idea early on.

Playing Bingo

Saying Merry Christmas to his sweet teacher Ms. Monica. If she does not refer to a child by their name, she always calls them “My Friend.” She is wonderful!!

Another celebration over!