dressed up

november may have been busy, but we definitely don't have any pictures to prove it. apparently, only two things mandated documentation. first, the elementary school our children go to has a huge parade every year to celebrate veterans day. it is called i love america day. each class is assigned a state and four students from each class are selected to represent the class in the parade.

this year, both of our children were selected to walk in the parade.

miller's class represented the state of idaho and he was a potato sack.

carter's class represented the state of michigan and she was a cheerleader.

then, the next week was american education week. the first day was favorite book character day. of course, my children do not miss a chance to dress up. 

they had a difficult time choosing who to dress up as, but once i told them it had to be something we already owned, it limited their list quite a bit. carter chose to be one of the ballerinas in miss lina's ballerinas and miller chose to be mouse from if you give a mouse a cookie.

it makes me happy that they like to dress up. it makes me happy that they love books. and, it makes me happy that they don't worry about whether or not anyone else at school will be dressed up. i hope they always make choices based on what they love and not what they fear. i hope.

the first day

it's so hard to believe we are sending another child off the kindergarten. but, he is so ready!

he picked out his backpack and lunchbox and all the fabrics for his nap mat. 

(speaking of the nap mat, at registration day, they only had a few left. he said they were unacceptable, and in his defense, they were unacceptable. his sister has a cool barbie nap mat from last year, so he thought for sure they would have something like super heroes or star wars. instead, they had clouds, bumble bees, and raggedy ann and andy. no, thank you. then, i mentioned i might be able to make it since it was just some straight lines. so, off we went to find the perfect supplies. while at the store, i inquired for some help with the type of backing i might need. as we talked about what i was trying to accomplish, the woman said, "you do sew, right?" to which miller responded, "my mom can sew anything! she's awesome!" and, from that moment on, no matter what stress this mat caused me, it would be made for him because well, i can sew anything, right.)

and, his big sister is super excited about another school year!

 i know most of you are shocked when i tell you we were running so late. like later than late. it is so much harder to get twice the amount of supplies to school the first day, not to mention five people including a toddler who demanded to walk all by herself which was only half bad because we were using the stroller to get the supplies to school. and, i am sure our lateness was not at all perpetuated by the child who asked for me to make her dress and then cried because the headband i surprised her with was the wrong shade of aqua. seriously.

 notice how big sister is carrying her brother's nap mat this year. do you remember that he carried her backpack last year? sometimes they are so sweet to each other it makes my heart hurt. other times we won't discuss.

 we took carter first. she acted like the seasoned pro from the get go.

 then, it was miller's turn. this is miller with his sweet teacher, miss grashot.

 miller wasn't the only one who thought he was going to kindergarten. he was very sweet to let her pretend for a minute.

with a little coercion, we were out the door and headed back home.

and then there was one . . .

pink i love you & guts!

while i have always have multiple excuses for why i post erratically, it seems to be in abundance lately.

first, my children broke my computer. for real. the geniuses over at apple said they could fix the damage for more than we more than a new ipad. no thank you. but, i also don't think it is in our best interest to buy another ipad unless i know it will work for me. the jury is still out on that one. so . . . the blog posts and email responses continue to be nonexistent.

one of our favorite family movies is ramona and beezus. while there is so much to love about this super cute movie (um, hello, josh duhamel), it seems my children love the "bad words" more than anything. it is not uncommon for someone to be called a "seabass" or to hear a disgusted "guts!" being said from the next room. but it was guts we did see over and over and over when the week long stomach flu hit our house a couple of weeks ago. ten days passed before all was well and very little was accomplished other than holding a bucket or washing the affected laundry.

then, when we thought all was well, we discovered that someone had pink eye and then someone else had pink eye and then someone got pink eye again and then someone else got pink eye again and so on and so on. i started to worry that their eyes might fall out from all the drops we were giving them. the nurse reassured me they would not. but, on a day carter was sent home from school due to the a red, itchy eye, she made this and gave it to her brother . . .

maybe this is her way of apologizing for infecting him with the dreadful stink eye. maybe she should have wrapped up a box of drops to go with it.

for the first time

october has been full of firsts, some may be common, but i am sure some are not so common to all.

the first one happened twice . . . carter lost her first tooth and two weeks later, she lost her second.

this is her tooth fairy pillow i made. it is pictured with the dollar and response letter she received. carter has asked both times to keep her tooth and the second time she asked what was done with the teeth she did collect.

one day, we went to the zoo with friends. it was not a normal day at the zoo  . . .

because those sweet friends took my children to see the bird exhibit . . .

and it was spencer's first time. 

and, because this day was the first time this little boy wore jeans!

carter had animal day . . .

and chose to be a poodle, specifically poodlena.

the next day, she went to a birthday party dressed as her favorite rock star . . . 

taylor swift.

her first time to wear cowboy boots and curl her hair with sponge rollers.

then, it was farm day at preschool:

this is the first time miller enthusiastically dressed up for any day other than pajama day.

. . . and it was spencer's first time to dress up. she was not quite as enthusiastic as she had only been awake for 15 minutes.

and, finally, carter had her first field trip and her first . . .

ride on a school bus. in case you were curious, the field trip was also to the zoo.

while just a few of the highlights of october, these firsts were definitely something worth documenting . . . even if i am backdating it in december ;)

it's official!

i always knew this day would come. i always knew i would be emotional. and, i always knew she would be excited!

 the week before her first day, i cried every time i thought about it. it is such a change. such an adjustment.

 she has to go 5 days a week. FIVE days. she has to be there at 8 o'clock. in the MORNING. this is a shock to most of our family. carter gets up at 6:30 a.m. the rest of us get up . . . after her.

 it is this frequency and promptness that caused the tears. not because i will miss my sleep (that would be josh most of the time!), but because this means my child will be with someone else more of her day than she is with me.

 this same little girl who has been by my side and under my care from the moment she was born will be at school for 7 hours a day.

and this will make our day look a little bit different.

we will miss her during our day, but we know she is having so much fun!

registration day

today we attended our first school registration day. my mom came over to watch the younger two while josh and i took carter. we had all the necessary paperwork proving birth date and residence, but when we arrived, we were handed a stack of papers to fill out. 

 

i felt like i was buying another house i signed my name so many times.

 even carter had to sign her name . . . on the internet student user agreement. who knew?

once we were finished with the paperwork, we headed to the cafeteria to pickup her supplies. 

 it was super convenient to just walk up and purchase the kindergarten box that was filled with the exact supplies the teachers has requested including a chair bag (i think it needs a little something-what do you think?) and her choice of nap mat. her choice was barbie. of course, it was. 

the first day is approaching fast. let the emotional roller coaster begin.