Way Back When-esday: The First Day of School

I've been feeling somewhat overwhelmed as of late at how BIG my BABIES are.  My A is getting pretty close to my shoulder!  And my B, while not as tall, is looking so grown-up with her shorter hair.

After snapping this adorable picture of the girls holding hands walking into school a couple of weeks ago...

Heading off to second grade!

...I knew I had a "match" from a few years ago.  Honestly, though, I couldn't bring myself to dig it up right away.

I finally braved the file of older pictures, and -- sure enough -- I gasped at what BABIES my baby girls were.  It seems like just a couple of years ago that they marched bravely into preschool.  Surely it couldn't have been FOUR YEARS.

Heading off to preschool!

Wowza!  Pigtails and all!

It surely tugs at my heartstrings...but I'm thankful for this little walk down Memory Lane...hand in hand.

And I'm thankful to Cheryl at Twinfatuation for prompting this Way Back When-esday post!

{Now pardon me while I grab a tissue.  I seem to have something in my eye.}

Stream of Consciousness

This week was the letter “A” at preschool.  Baby A was taking a picture of herself, wearing an Alabama sweatshirt.  She drew a picture of an airplane, and she colored pictures of an astronaut and an alligator that I printed from the computer.

Baby B found apples and avocados from the grocery store sale paper.  She also thought about “ants”, but we knew it would be tough to find a picture of ants in a magazine.  I remembered seeing fingerprint ants once upon a time.  A quick Pinterest search reminded me what to do.

The girls were tickled to play with the ink pad, and I let them use my pen (which is always a big deal to them!) to draw the legs and faces.  [Our ants all had smiling faces, of course.]

As we were constructing our ants, we talked about them having three parts to their bodies…

…this led us to think about our book on butterflies and moths…and our book on bees…both of which detail the parts of an insect’s body…

…that conversation turned to bees and ants both living in colonies…

...and that morphed into a conversation about the 13 original colonies of the United States.

I think about this all the time, how one thing leads to another.  I just love being able to follow the girls’ minds and spark their interests.  Never underestimate the power of a preschooler’s brain!

Frigid Field Trip Fun!

The girls went on their first real field trip last week...it was so much fun! 

The trip was to the orchard, where we go every few weeks, but it was still a new adventure to experience everything with their classmates.  And there were a few things we'd never done, or hadn't done in a long time, like the hay ride, corn maze, pumpkin patch, and apple cider demonstration.

We've had a pretty warm fall so far, but last Friday was FRIGID!  Lows that morning were in the 20's...and the orchard is located at the highest point in the county.  I think the car registered 35 degrees as we were driving there about 9:00 that morning.  Yikes!

I broke out the girls' warm coats for the first time, and I have to say I loved seeing my little snow bunnies all bundled up.

At least we had warm sunshine...and by the end of the morning, we were able to shed our hood and our top layer.

Of course I snapped a few (or a hundred) pictures...

Trying for our traditional pumpkin shot...but it was pretty cold for big smiles, apparently.

Classmates A&B with K&K.

Love these fluffy snuggles!

Climbing hay bales while we waited for our hay ride.

Group shot of both preschool classes.  You can tell it was bright!!!

My precious babes on the hay ride.

Love the morning sun and the pigtails!!!

The girls were initially excited about the corn maze, but the tour leader warned all the kiddos to stay with their mommies.  "If you get lost, we'll pick you up tomorrow," he joked.  Apparently the joke was lost [no pun intended!] on most of the kids, though.

The girls were pretty tentative as we went through.  They did not want to let go my hands, even for me to snap a picture.  This was one of only a couple of shots I got.  Poor babes!

Sticking together!

After the corn maze, we headed to the pumpkin patch.  The girls must have picked up 20 pumpkins each before making their selections.

B, holding up one for consideration...

A, testing out the feel of this one...

Heading back to the hay ride.

At last it was time for a snack...apple cider and a sugar cookie.  Here are a few of the kiddos, posing with Mrs. D.

We played a bit on the playground before it was time to pack up.  I got one last picture of my by-then tired babies.  

A, trying to get B to stand up straight...HA!

We rounded out the morning by going to lunch with one of their classmates, and we came home and took a bubble bath in Mommy's giant tub.

Fun, fun, fun!!!

The Story Behind the Picture

The girls had picture day at preschool on Thursday.  Of course I wanted to make pictures before they had pictures made.  :)

I put them in some dresses I bought at the end of spring, on clearance.  I opened up their new boots, and I got out of the laundry basket the tights we'd shopped for the day before.

The girls loved their ensembles, and they were tickled to tromp around the house for a few minutes in their new boots.  We don't wear shoes in our house, the only exception being when we have brand-new shoes.  I let them take a few laps before we banish the shoes to the garage.

It was a rainy morning, but the rain slacked up enough for us to venture onto our new front porch for our photo session.  The girls cooperated pretty nicely (although B was doing her typical squint, even though the skies were not-so-bright).

Cannot.Resist.Baby.Feet.

It was time to leave for school, so I told the girls they could walk around the front of the house and meet me in the garage.  By the time I got to the kitchen, I could hear B outside.  "Mommy!  Sissy fell and got muddy!"

Wha???  On PICTURE DAY??!!!  I gave A a quick once-over and determined she must have fallen squarely on her knees, muddying her tights.  Thank goodness she wasn't hurt, of course, and thank goodness she didn't get mud anywhere else.

But what to do about PICTURES???

I told the girls to stand perfectly still in the garage while I ran upstairs to their closet to look for more tights. 

No dice.

Fortunately, I remembered the bin of clothes to be donated that was in a random room in the basement.  I was able to find the girls' sweater tights from last year, which I hoped B could still wear.

I had B take off her tights and give them to A.  Last year's tights still fit B well enough.

I was impressed, if I do say so, with my quick thinking.  I think that muddy tights on PICTURE DAY, only 10 days into our New House Venture, might have otherwise sent me over the edge.

This being a couple of days behind me now, my blood pressure having returned to normal, I can finally say HOORAY for Picture Day antics that yielded a funny story-behind-the-pictures.  Hee hee!

Super Stuff!

This was the girls’ first week of four-year old preschool.  Between that and lots of house stuff going on, it’s been a busy one!  Still, I’m so thankful for lots of SUPER stuff to cite!

1)      I loved seeing how giddy the girls were to get their backpacks and lunch boxes ready for school on Monday.  They had to practice opening and closing every little pocket and zipper, and then they had to parade around the house in full gear.  I remember being so proud of getting a new lunch box when I was a little girl…it’s just crazy that I now have my own excitable pair!

2)      As the girls were getting dressed for their first day of preschool on Tuesday, my sweet B said, "Mommy, can we wear the same thing today so people will know we go together?"

3)      I think it was Baby A who started this a few weeks ago, and it’s now become part of our nighttime routine.  The girls take turns choosing a bedtime story each night.  These days, the trick is to hide the book before Mommy and Sissy get back to the bedroom.  Daddy is usually the accomplice, although so far, the book has been hidden in only a couple of places.  It’s so much fun to watch the girls try to “trick” Mommy.

4)      Daddy has been trying to teach the girls the “slap hands” game (I don’t know the name of it…where you try to trick your opponent into pulling her hands back before they get slapped).  The girls are heee-larious!!!  They get the concept of the game, but their reflexes are pretty slow.  Baby A will say, “Mommy, I want you to pull your hands back verrrrry sloooooowly towards your body.”  HA! 

5)      Baby B’s pronunciation is typically very good, and I think she used to say the word “normally” correctly.  She’s turned it into an exaggerated “NERmally”, though, and it never fails to crack me up.

6)      Baby A was looking at a picture from her first birthday party, the girls with their smash cakes. "Mommy, I'd like a whole cake again sometime, OK?"  She is her father’s daughter!

7)      I haven’t written much about it…because I still don’t quite want to believe it’s true…but the girls haven’t been napping over the past month.  But this week – once for Baby B and twice for Baby A – the girls ASKED to nap!  Bliss!  And of course we had to celebrate the double nap with ICE CREAM!

8)      I feel kinda silly admitting I’ve never made a smoothie.  I almost think I’ve never had a smoothie, come to think of it.  The girls got cookbooks for Christmas, and they oogle them from time to time.  As a special treat on the first day of school, I had them pull out their book and find the smoothie recipe.  They helped me make a strawberry-banana smoothie (mixed with vanilla yogurt).  They thought it was the best treat ever!

9)      I took the girls to the yogurt shop one afternoon, and I couldn’t help but sing along to some of the songs they were playing.  A John Mayer tune came on, and I told the girls he is one of the best guitar players in the world.  My A contributed to the conversation, very nonchalantly, "Elton John is one of the best singers."  And then B piped in, "Sissy, it's SIR Elton John."

10)   Few things make me happier than seeing one of my girls walk by the other and plant a sweet kiss on the top of her head or her cheek. (Of course those kisses occasionally evolve into hugs...then tumbles...then brawls...but the initial contact is so very precious.)

11)   The girls were playing one morning with a set of color-coded stacking miniature chairs. Baby A came barreling into the kitchen with a wild look in her eyes, "Mommy! Three six's is 18!" I love seeing the wheels turning in their little minds!

12)   When I walked in their room one morning, B greeted me with the Beatles' "Yesterday." Together, we segued into "Here Comes the Sun"...until Baby A rolled over and growled, "STOP THE SONGS!!!" They're a bit different in the mornings.

So thankful for the SUPER in our week!

The First Day of Preschool!

Tuesday was the first day of four-year old preschool...wow!  What a great day the girls had!

On Monday night, B told me that she should probably wake up early to go to school.  I assured her that her usual 6:30am wake-up was plenty early!

The girls got up, full of excitement.  They bounded downstairs for hugs with Daddy, and they remembered our special breakfast from the first day of school last year.  "Will you put a candle in my French toast, Mommy?"

The girls enjoyed a very special breakfast, complete with a candle atop their French toast, so we could make a wish for a great school year.  They got ready in record speed, and asked to take pictures on the front steps.

The girls were very anxious to see their returning classmates and play with the toys they sampled at Open House last week.  And they were super excited to take their lunch to school.

The girls posed for quite a few pictures, but eventually A said, "That's enough."  We loaded up and headed downtown.  The girls were still content to allow Mommy to take more pictures...walking towards school...and then on the front steps.  [I could get used to that level of cooperation!]

Unlike last year, when the girls were whisked into their classroom (part of a coordinated plan by the three-year old teacher to try to limit tearful goodbyes), the girls gave me huge hugs, kisses, and smiles before they skipped into their classroom.

When I came to pick them up...after four-and-a-half long hours!...the girls bounded out to shower me with affection.  "Mommy!  I missed you!"

When we got home, the girls were TIRED!  They didn't want a nap, but they wanted to cuddle and snuggle...the perfect reunion after being away from my babies for such a long time.

Unlike last year, when I didn't get very many details of their day, the girls were full of information.  They told me all about their "centers" -- the different areas of the classroom they rotated through -- including a rice sensory bin, a pre-handwriting exercise, and a teddy bear craft made with coffee.  (My A told me later that they painted the glue on with paint brushes.  "It was just like cheese dip, Mommy!"  I love the reference to Mexican food!)

I know B looked at some books, and they did some puzzles.  They sang some songs -- including some of our favorites from Laurie Berkner -- and they played, "mostly with T", B told me, a new classmate.

The highlight of the girls' day seemed to be eating lunch.  That's a totally new experience for them, eating away from home, away from me.  They brought home empty lunchboxes, so I guess they enjoyed their almond butter and cheese sandwich, veggies, and grapes.  They told me what some of their other classmates ate, including "chicken balls" (what the girls call chicken nuggets...HA!).  It was the next day before it was divulged that "some kids had cookies".  That's interesting, huh, to eat cookies in the middle of the day, I remarked.  "Yeah!  That's silly!" the girls agreed.  :)

The highlight of my day was how much the girls loved the "I {HEART} YOU!" notes I put in their lunchboxes.  My precious A was so sweet...

"Mommy, I loved my note.  Thank you.  I love you, too."

"Mommy, will you put that note in my lunchbox next time?  I want to keep my note forever and ever."

I told her that she might have a different note in her lunch.  "Well can we keep that one?  Let's put it on the refrigerator."

Before bed on Tuesday night, the girls both told me, "I'm ready to go to school the day after tomorrow."  And the first thing they said on Wednesday morning was, "I'm ready to go to school tomorrow!"

I am so thankful for an awesome preschool...wonderful teachers...and sweet classmates (even if they do eat chicken balls and cookies...HA!).  I couldn't ask for a better [continued] start to my girls' introduction to formal education.

Super Stuff!!!

One of the biggest super things about the past week is that our girls made it through the Independence Day holiday largely unscathed by the raucous fireworks displays every evening in our neighborhood.  Baby A woke up in a panic a couple of times, early on, but the girls slept through 99% of the madness.

I attribute this largely to the fact that they haven’t napped (the ONLY silver lining I can find to note in that development!)…the poor babes are EX-HAUS-TED at the end of the day.

So what else made this past week super???

1)      We had a small get-together of preschool friends at the park on Wednesday morning.  It was so sweet to see the girls and their friends (and for me to catch up with their mamas!).

Running to the playground!

 2)      On Thursday we celebrated the 4^th of July by having our dear friends over for dinner.  Among many other highlights, my very favorite was seeing the girls absolutely enamored with precious Baby Girl A, then 2 ½ weeks old.  The girls had never seen a baby that small before, and they could not take their eyes off her.

3)      We celebrated the girls’ half birthday on Friday.  We had such a fun family day, and one of the unanticipated highlights (for me!) was how neatly the girls ate their cupcakes.  I was prepared to wipe them down afterwards, but I hardly needed to!  It was nice…but maybe a bit bittersweet, too.  After all, there’s something pretty adorable about icing-covered babes.

4)      I wish I could have recorded the girls as we sang “Happy Half Birthday” – twice, of course.  Baby A sang right along with us as we serenaded her.  When it was B’s turn, though, she sat so still, with a huge smile on her face, as she listened to the three of us.  It was so sweet to see how differently they soaked it all in.

5)      On Saturday we went to a birthday party for a very sweet two-year old.  The girls were tickled to decorate the wrapping paper for her gifts, and they had such a good time at the bounce house party.  While none of the other parents jumped, the girls absolutely insisted I get in with them.  Eventually I could not deny their repeated requests…and this mama had a blast, too!

6)      At the bounce house, they had a DJ set up, playing kiddie songs and doing karaoke.  B was watching very intently as another couple of kids sang songs.  I asked her if she wanted to sing, and to my surprise, she said YES!  She started with Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and then did a medley of kiddie songs.  The DJ asked if she wanted to continue, and she then did a medley of kiddie church songs, too.  I could not believe how much fun she was having, standing on stage in front of everyone!!!  (Baby A was very content to stand with Mommy and cheer her sister on.)

7)      On Sunday morning, after what seems like day after day after day of rain, we made an impromptu decision to go to the zoo.  We’ve been so busy this summer, I cannot believe this was our first trip since May!  It was so nice to see all our beloved animal friends.

8)      After we made our rounds at the zoo and had lunch at a favorite restaurant, we made another impromptu decision, to travel to the next town over to try to find a former professor / colleague we knew in Alabama.  It took a little detective work, but it was so cool to see him after 13 years, and to see our girlies sitting there chatting it up with his family.

9)      We celebrated Daddy’s and Sasha’s birthdays on Monday.  The girls had a very large time decorating wrapping paper, and they were mesmerized to watch Sasha enjoy her new catnip pillow.

Sasha hugging her pillow, amid the pieces of laundry she's collected this week.

10)   All day, they kept calling Daddy, “Birthday boy.”  As in, “Come here, Birthday Boy, let me give you a kiss.”  Hahaha!

Taking Daddy to lunch for his birthday!

11)   B loves to make up songs, and it always cracks me up to listen to the lyrics.  I was slightly disturbed by one of her most recent medleys, though: "Run, little bunny, run, run...the fox is out in the woods."  I believe that was a take from “Bunny’s Noisy Book”, one of our favorite nighttime stories, but it still seemed so ominous for a four-year old!

12)   And in another installment of Baby B explains the world: "I can think about two things at once, because my brain has two halves."

So thankful for this super stuff!!!