First Grade: Days 2 and 3

It's getting smoother. Day 2 was marked by our first purchase of hot lunch. Which, I'm told by Ali, was a vast improvement over her mother's feable attempt... and recess-worthy shoes.


I told her, after taking this photo, that I thought she looked like a girl I'd like to be friends with if I were a first grader. She liked that.

Her only complaint thus far is that the math is too easy in first grade. We knew this would be an issue. Joe has been homeschooling Ali all summer in math. No, not joking.

And here are 2/3 of the Cuties on Day 3. We have figured out our routine. Bath and wardrobe the night before. Daddy does breakfast and toothbrushing. Mommy does hair and Eva-stuff. Daddy drops off. Mommy picks up. Whew! Ali is loving her new class and being in school all day...

I honestly don't think Mia knows what to do with herself without Ali's "direction" (or you could call it "bossing" or "authoritative dictating"..) Today we folded laundry, took a long nap together, and spent the afternoon at Grandma's pool with Eva, swimming and dancing to Bob Marley. Little girlfriend can really shake it! Unfortunately, she won't let me film her!

First Grade: Day 1

Daddy got the girls up and headed in the right direction while Mommy weaved through traffic (bleary-eyed and drowsy) in a stupified rush to get home after 3 nights of a caffeine-induced insomniatic state in the NICU. . . I got home just in time to fix the hair (God-forbid we go to school with a "Daddy 'do" on the first day!). We argued briefly about wearing dress shoes to school and then all three of us hit the kitchen. Having not been to the store in.. oh... a month... the lunch prospects were dismal to say the least. We whipped together a PB and J, juice box, fruit snack, and smooshed cereal bar, paused to snap the following adorable pictures and raced off to school....Where we arrived a few minutes before the tardy bell having NO IDEA what to do next.. We didn't know where first grade was. We didn't know the name of Ali's teacher. We didn't know where all the other kids had gotten those cute name tags. We didn't know where to drop her off, where to pick her up, or where to find her pre-purchased school supplies. So - feeling like the stellar parents we are, we wandered around until some sympathizing teacher pointed us in the direction of first grade. We arrived in time to find "Natalie's" desk, meet her teacher and make a lovely first impression. Right... (said with ample amounts of sarcasm)

It seems that minutes later I was back in the crazy line of aggressive mothers trying to locate my new big first grader. After 20 minutes of waiting, Ali bounced into the car singing the praises of Mrs. Srajer and flashing new sign language signs.

"How was your first day?!!"

"It was good, but Mrs. Srajer says, "Please ask your Mom to pack you a bigger lunch." because I was still hungry.... (accusing glare in my direction) and to "please wear tennis shoes" because I couldn't even play at recess Mom."

I almost choked on my gum.

It's A Hard Knock Life

All because she back-talked and got timeout.

Something New

I made a Photoshow!

I'll keep playing with it until I get good!

My goal is to get some of my pictures (I have millions. Literally millions.) in some kind of organized slide show and burned onto CD's. It's nice to have a goal, isn't it?

Lots of funnies around here lately.. Mia is still afraid of "wolfses" under her bed. She recently added clowns to her list of phobias after going to the Circus. She describes her strollers in terms of their wheels.. "Have you seen my stroller with the purple rims?" And she has officially become Ali's stooge. This is what I mean...

8 pm. (loud whispering from girl's bedroom)

Mia meanders into the living room where I am feeding Eva.

"Mom? Get us water or you are fire!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Uh, hold on"

Mia returns to bedroom. More loud whispering.

Mia reappears in hallway.

"Ali say, "Get us some water or you are FIRED!""

"Tell Ali not to send her little sister out to backtalk or you'll BOTH go to timeout."

Mia mutters to herself back to the bedroom...

Ali is excited to go to first grade next week. Despite the backtalk and occasional dramatic display - she is still the world's best big sister. She changed Eva's diaper today and is always eager to help with bath.

Eva rolls. She is wiggly and giggly and delightful. She will be happy all day - as long as someone is holding her. Check out my timing on this photo...

Heartbreaking, isn't it? Mia took "Baby" and Baby Sister for a spin around the block. Eva stared at Baby the whole time like, "Do I know you?".

What's On Your Yogurt?

I observed something very interesting on a recent visit to our local frozen yogurt establishment. You can tell a whole lot about a person by what they top their yogurt with. Case in point...

Momma: chocolate/vanilla twist yogurt with chocolate chips, strawberries and chocolate syrup. Classic. Elegant. It even looks pretty in the cup.

Auntie Leslie: cheesecake yogurt with Reese's candybar. Sweet. Exciting. Complimentary. (The baby drool all over the spoon added some unnecessary elements..)

Ali: chocolate yogurt with marshmallows, chocolate chips and chocolate syrup. Busy. Orderly. Organized.

James: chocolate yogurt with gummy worms. Boyish. Chewy and sweet. Safe.

Mia: peach yogurt with marshmallows, gummy bears and caramel syrup. Chaotic. Haphazard. Anything goes.

Silly Sisters Singing

Meet Bruce

I must say that lately we've been working hard.

And playing harder.

This morning we tried to beat the heat and we headed to the park early.

I love this picture. It really sums up their relationship. Mia's yelling because James is touching her. James is yelling because he thinks Mia is going to push him off the calf. Oye.

The Cheese rides alone.

My monkey on the bars...

In case you haven't heard, Pierce walks. He's officially bipedular.

Pierce is enomored of his shadow (AKA "Bruce") - much to the delight of his Mommy and Auntie. Wobbling out of the shade of the playground, he spotted Bruce and stalked him across the dry grass... his pursuit came to a sudden halt when Bruce crossed into forbidden territory and Piercey rattled the chain-link fence in frustration.

And so goes another fun morning with the cousins....

Squeek of the Week

Eva: "Coo. Gurgle, gurgle. Ahhh, gooo."
Mia: "Mom! Eva talkin' in Spanish!!"

Is She.... Advertising??

Yes, I guess I am. I should get paid for this.

I'm not normally one to advertise and market and promote stuff... that's Joe's thing. But I am just tickled with a recent purchase for my Cuties! If you love things that are simple and delicate, wholesome and girlie, then you will appreciate this too...

These are handmade and embroidered nightgowns from The Scarlet Thread. They are so simple and well-made! And they arrived tied up in tissue and lavendar sachets. So sweet! I also bought a baby dress for Eva which you'll probably see in a later post. I imagine my Cuties will wear these well and then I will put them up... you know, for my granddaughters to wear some day when they come to visit me just outside of town in my renovated historic farmhouse with the wrap-around front porch, original wood floors and fixtures and modern gourmet kitchen. And now you know my plans for retirement.

Okay and one more thing. If you are a Mckreader or a Wolverine (you'll know if you are) you may already know about the Wild Olive tees. I have the "Unfolding" tee and I love wearing it. Well, I'm excited because I saw that they just came out with children's tees! Some of the proceeds from the sale of the tees goes to a charity called "Love Without Boundaries" and I love that too!

Alright. Just wanted to share. Back to the babies...