Friday, August 28, 2009

Preschool Day II

Day two of preschool is now in the books. Abby arrived at school and joined her classmates in the art room again, like she will each morning. Today she chose to do a chalk drawing that she informed me are vegetables.... oh to have a peak inside of her mind.

Because my dear Lauren is still suffering from a severe case of Bad Attitude, I opted to go home instead of out and about while Abby attended school. Nothing special, just a day of tending to chores for me, and play for Lauren at home.


When Lauren and I arrived in the Language Arts room to pick up our dear preschooler, we were greeted by Mrs. Hart with a big smile on her face, "Whatever you did worked," she exclaimed, "because Abby followed the directions perfectly." Of course, I'm sure it helped that Abby also got to be the leader, so she felt quite honored and special. We are going to have to practice making Lauren the leader at home in the days between now and day III of preschool so Abby is well aware that other people, too, enjoy the privilege.

Abby herself was also pleased with how the day went. It was obvious being the leader was the highlight, but she was quite proud to share her caterpillar, butterfly, and chalk art with her sister. She did choose to have a snack today, something she informed me she passed on her first day because it upset her stomach.... crackers & juice, really Abby?! But whatever. Today, she enjoyed it. After a little poking I also discovered that she made a new friend today named Lexi. "She's a girl and she wears a pink shirt," is about all she had to say about that.

We're getting this preschool routine down and its only the second day. Kudos to us, but mostly kudos to Abby. She's taking her role as a student seriously; what better start to her career as a student could I ask for?

And let's not forget, kudos to Mrs. Hart and all the preschool teachers of the world. Enjoy what you've got this year, because next year is a whole new ball game....













Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Abby's First Day of Preschool

The day Abby has patiently been waiting for has come; her first day of preschool. She was ready, and anxious for this day to come, and there was no separation anxiety to speak of.
Our saving grace actually came in the form of our little friend, Avry. To make a long story short, Avry and her family are staying at our house in Ohio, as they have several days of appointments in Cincinnati. Avry and the girls hit it off, and Avry has been hanging out with us doing projects, activities, etc. The anxiety of leaving Abby was lessened by the fact that we had a new member of the gang here to keep us busy.

Dropping Abby off was smooth. She found the tag with her name on it right away and placed it in a pocket effortlessly. Her class starts out in the art room in the morning, and while I filled her teacher in on Abby's habit of putting things into her mouth, Abby jumped right into painting. And with that, Lauren, Avry and I were off.

We spent our Activity Day at the mall.... first stop: The Food Court. Here we were greeted by scores of senior citizens enjoying coffee and breakfast. Heads turned as we walked through the group (the closest I've ever come to feeling like a supermodel or A-list celebrity), each of the elders with a smile on their faces as Lauren & Avry pranced through the crowd, hand-in-hand, ready to dig into coloring with their school supplies packed in their bags. After coloring and a snack, the girls played for awhile in the mall's play area. We also did a little shopping, and before we knew it, it was finally time to pick Abby up from her first day at preschool.

The girls and I arrived before Abby's class had returned from the playground. Lauren's eyes were frozen to the window, and when she spotted her sister she yelled out her name, and then filled with disgust as she realized Abby was walking through the parking lot without someone's hand. They're sticklers for the rules.

But apparently there is one rule I did not arm Abby with: staying to the right when you go down the stairs. In fact, according to Abby's teacher, Mrs. Hart, Abby was so upset about having to stay to the right and hold onto the rail that she burst into tears. What?! My child not like to be told what to do? Never! Oh, that kid is just like her mother. But all was smoothed over when the class made it downstairs for snack time and it was Abby's turn to share something special she had collected over the summer. Her choice, a picture of her with Aunt Heidi at Lake Wenatchee in Washington. According to Mrs. Hart she did a thorough job of telling about her trip (sorry, I forgot to ask if she included the details of the chip-throwing and middle-of-the-night floor art), and by then she had forgotten all about the stairs.

As we were driving out of the parking lot I asked Abby, "So what did you think of your first day of preschool?" "It was great," she replied. And I truly think it was.

We capped off the special event with a trip to McDonald's for lunch!

I'm lovin' it.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Cover-Up

By now you would think I'd have learned. But apparently, I did not, and left the goods in Tiny's reach. They were too much of a temptation, and desire got the best of her.

She fooled no one with the Kleenex Cover-Up. And I am happy to admit that I was also not the one left to clean up the mess. Not this time, at least. This time, it was Daddy's turn. Of course this time the mess was significantly less than the two cups reported in "How Do You Measure Naughty?" But it doesn't quite compare to the monster inscriptions they left on their grandparents floors in "The Night of the Naughties".... See a pattern here?!


Covering up

This:


What are we going to do with her?

Friday, August 21, 2009

Cooking Up Sunshine

Abby's cooking up sunshine & sending it your way.....

(Don't forget to pause the music display on the right side of the screen when you play the video)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The ABCs of Sisterhood

Take after take, I tried desperately to film Lauren's precious version of The ABCs. By our final attempt Abby was feeling a bit neglected and decided to join in on the action. This 33 second video captures their personalities perfectly.

*You'll need to pause the music display on the right hand side of your screen.

Like it or not, your sister's always there.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

With Sprinkles on Top

This morning we invited our neighbor, Olivia, over for breakfast. The perfect excuse to put that bottled creativity to work with our Cézanne Pancakes! I wasn't sure how it was going to go over.... how creative were my little lovelies going to get? They engineered some beautiful creations! All three of the girls a ball decorating their pancakes; more fun, I think than they actually had eating them.

Inviting Olivia to join us was perfect for three reasons:

1. The girls adore her and love just spending time with her. It was good for Olivia, too, who wasn't too thrilled with being up so early, but needs to get back into the swing of things, since school starts for her tomorrow!

2. The girls could watch Olivia decorate her pancakes and follow her lead, since this project is brand new to them! Though it turns out they have quite industrious minds all on their own.

And...
3. They won't ask me to put sprinkles, whipped cream, chocolate chips & marshmallows on their pancakes every time we make them; its reserved for special occasions.

Our pancakes ranged from a bowl of spaghetti, flowers, a butterfly, a cat, a tea pot, an elephant, ice cream cones and an airplane to the different states we lived in. It really didn't matter what the shape, the girls loved it! And that makes me a happy mom.



Abby, Olivia & Lauren pose with their pancakes.

Lauren puts the finishing touches on her airplane.

Abby, as pretty as a flower.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Nostalgia Unhinged

I'm dabbling with a new project that I'm prospecting could pay off: nostalgic pencil boxes. They don't make them like they used to, and neither do I! I've taken this novel idea to a whole new level. Each is hand-crafted and unique, and easily personalized to be used as a child's pencil box, a gift box, a stationary compartment.... the list goes on.

Pencil Box No. 1: Go Your Own Way
Embellished with a number two pencil, designed in an alien/transportation theme that screams little boy.
Measures 8 3/4" x 5 3/4" x 2 1/4"
Pencil Box No. 2: Ice Cream & Polka Dots
Decorated in ice cream & polka dot patterns and tied with a ribbon. Its sweet & cool and plays to any little girl's fantasy.
Measures 8 3/4" x 5 3/4" x 2 1/4"
Pencil Box No. 2: Ice Cream & Polka Dots
The Inside

Pencil Box No. 3: Whimsical School Daze
Lavishly papered in whimsical school days paper, embellished with a 6" ruler and a flower-power punch.
Measures 8 3/4" x 5 3/4" x 2 1/4"

Pencil Box No. 3: Whimsical School Daze
The Inside




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Fairborn, Ohio, United States
I'm a teacher by trade, writer at heart & mom in every sense of my being. I never considered writing as a profession, but after I got married and began moving around the country, I began sharing my adventures, misadventures & updates through a sort of e-mail newsletter. I found a true passion in unconventional story-telling that has followed me into motherhood.