The First and Last Days of School

The 2010/2011 school year is officially over! Today is our first day of summer and girls slept in until 9:00. Okay, they were up pretty late watching a movie, but it was still heavenly not having to wake everyone up and rush to get ready for school.

Here are the girls on their first and last days of school. The biggest change? I think that would have to be Cate's pearly whites, or lack thereof! The thing that changed least? Anna's willingness to smile for the camera.

Recent Happenings

It's been a while, of course I have tons to post, but I'm just going to post a few fun recent pictures and maybe catch up on the rest later (yeah right!).

First and foremost, Cate lost one of her top front teeth! This is her third tooth to lose. We are loving the giant gap and the development of a slight lisp. It's the best.






In other "growing up too fast" news, we finally put up the girls' bunkbed! This bed was a labor of love on Nate's part. We bought it probably 18 months ago for $50 and it needed paint desperately. After storing it in our friends the Garff's attic for a year, we stored it here for a while, and then FINALLY painted it. THEN it sat a little longer in the garage until I got some mattresses purchased, which finally happened last weekend! Needless to say the night we got it all together the girls were ecstatic. They've slept well, including more naps than usual, have played lots of fun games like "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!", and, of course, they've built forts.

While it's super easy to make a fort with the bottom bunk, the top is another story. Nate wins Dad of the Year for drilling hooks into the ceiling and then stringing rope so Cate can have a fort on the top bunk. Here are Cate and Anna enjoying the magic of a fort and flashlights.


Anna's school year officially ended on Thursday. On Tuesday they had a Luau, which was LOADS of fun.

Here she is with her two best buds from school.

And here's she is looking cute.


And here she is thinking about having some fun...


And here she is having fun!

Cate's last day of school is this coming week, but we had her class end-of-the-year party this past Thursday. It was pajama day and the parents were invited to join the class for breakfast in the morning...in their pajamas as well! The class sang a song for each month of the school year. It was really really cute. And, yes, there's video. And, yes, maybe I'll get it posted eventually. Until then a few pictures.

Cate singing...

Cate yawning...

Cate with her family...


Cate with Mrs. C...the best Kindergarten teacher EVER. Seriously, she has been amazing. We knew she would be from Day 1 and she definitely exceeded expectations. Cate absolutely ADORED her teacher and school the entire year. The only time she had bad days was when there was a sub. Very reminiscent of Ramona Quimby, actually. :) (P.S. Cate and I just finished all 8 Ramona books!)

It's a BOY!

That's right, the scales are tipping a bit in the Maynard household and Nate won't be as outnumbered anymore! We're super excited to have a little boy - Cate was right all along! :)

Happy Everything!

Click the link below to see our belated holiday card (and to discover a fun little announcement)!

The Maynard Family Happy Everything Card

Much love to all!

Cute stuff they say

This morning Anna, our supper cuddler, was snuggling with me in bed. She popped her thumb out of her mouth and said, "Oh, mama. I always want to be with you." What a way to start the day.

Cate just told me how at school she used a yellow Kleenex. A few minutes later she said, "Mom, have you ever heard of a yellow Kleenex?" I told her I wasn't sure, to which she replied, "Well, now you have." I love that she thinks she discovered colored Kleenexes...and that a yellow Kleenex is a discovery to begin with.

a little fact about princesses

so, anna has started referring to herself as "princess" about half of the time. "mom! princess is awake!" "princess wants cereal." it's really funny and cute.

when nate got home today, I started to tell him about another of the cute princess anecdotes. here's exactly what I told nate:

so, today anna said to me, "princesses don't wear diapers." and I said {with a bit of attitude}, "oh really? well, what does it look like I'm doing here?"

nate looked and me and said, "you wear diapers? AND you're a princess? well, that's TWO things I learned about you today that I never knew!"

yeah, I neglected to mention at the start of my story that I was changing Anna's diaper at the time of my conversation with her. it was ANNA'S diaper I was referring to. I swear!

all night long, whenever I think about the line "what does it look like I'm doing here?" I start laughing uncontrollably. I wonder how long it will take for me to get over it...

A Winter Walk on the Beach

love these girls

Anna burps. Says to Nate, "Oh! I wasn't expecting that!"

Nate comes and tells Jane and Cate. Cate starts laughing really hard and says, "That was the silliest thing I could ever heard."

cute 2-year-old talk

I just pulled some corn muffins out of the oven. anna walked into the kitchen, smelled the air and said, "mmm, the muffins smell good. I can almost taste them!"

Happy Birthday to Mom!

Could I ask for anything more for my birthday? Two beautiful daughters and a chocolate cake? Nope, I couldn't.