School Eve

I can't quite put into words how I feel.

I know I don't deserve any sympathy, because sending your child off to school for the first time is obviously not the end of the world. I know that. I am queen at trying to keep everything in perspective, and I know that this is at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to "worst things that could happen in life." And yet, I still feel the raw emotion of starting a new chapter in our beloved Crannie's life.

Dan is admittedly nervous too. He came up a little bit ago and reported that her lunch is successfully packed for tomorrow. He even took her string cheese out of its wrapper and put it into a plastic bag for her since he knew she would be better at opening the plastic bag rather than the string cheese wrapper.

We will see how tomorrow goes.

Funny things

2 quick things:

1) Dan apparently invented the nickname 'Cookie Colores' for Abrie today while I was at work, and it makes Maddie and Faith burst out giggling. It's quite funny.

2) I couldn't help but laugh when Tech Services brought up a brand, spankin' new copy of "The Secret World of Jon and Kate: The Stupidest Story in the History of the Universe and the People who Covered It" written by none other than a professor at RACC here. I did what any other normal person who can't stand the Gosselin's would have done-- I checked it out to read it for myself! haha.

T-minus ramblings

I'm not even bothering counting down the days until school anymore. First off, Maddie takes care of that for me. Secondly, it feels like a big thundercloud hovering over me regardless of how many days are left until the big day.

Does every mother feel this way? I feel like time has caught up to me and is in the process of snatching away the first of my three lovely daughters. I know it is inevitable, but it doesn't make it any less painful to try and wrap my head around the fact that my girls are growing up in front of my eyes. Too quickly at that.

How am I supposed to just let go of all my fears and put all of my trust in somebody else's hands now? Trust in the teachers and staff that they will love my precious girl and keep her reaching for the stars that way that WE do here at home, and trust in her classmates that they will never break her spirit or heart the way that her sisters would NEVER dare do here at home? I feel overwhelmed.

I'm worried for little sisters who will be left behind come Monday, especially a certain little shadow to her big sister who answers to the name of Faith. Will this change the bond that is theirs, even in the slightest? I certainly hope not. I am so proud of the way that my three girls love each other, and I hope it never changes.

I keep smiling and encouraging Maddie and telling her that school will be everything she thinks it will be, plus that much more. I am encouraging myself as much as I am her.

*****

Had a nice, relaxing day here at home with my man and my girls. We had an early morning "date" to visit next door with our awesome neighbor and their favorite little chihuahua, Penny. They got to dress up Penny in 4 different costumes, which they thought was a treat!

We walked to Maddie's school and found out who her teacher will be on Monday. Made our pear pie (more like a pear crisp, but still delicious!), face painted with Marlee and Cyrus during Abrielle's nap, and then when Abrie woke up, we went to the stream to let them run around in the water.

Politeness and the beauty of sisters

These little women are spoiled by our neighbors!

If there's one attribute though that I am the most proud of my girlies, it is their manners. We've always worked hard at this, and I am always a proud Momma when they say a sincere 'thank you.' Rhonda had some beautiful little rings for them today, and when Maddie opened the box her eyes just lit up and she wrapped her arms around Rhonda in a big hug and said, "Oh, thank you, thank you! This is a perfect marriage ring!" And, Faith's response was the same with "thank you!! Now I can marry Tommy!" (*ummm.. yes, that would be Tommy of 'Power Ranger' fame). And, then they both proceeded to twirl. Abrie waved politely with her chalk still in her hand.

But, really, I love seeing my girls with our neighbors. Maddie and Faith sit on our next door neighbor's little patio bench and talk like the old souls that they are. It's precious. Maddie always says that Rhonda is like "Mrs. DeVine" (of 'Fancy Nancy' notoriety).

****

Dan had to work early today, so we weren't able to get together with our beloved cousins. Hopefully we can re-schedule for tomorrow! But, we enjoyed a laidback day together. Maddie and Faith made a cute little "ocean in a bag" craft. Faith is our ocean aficionado these days, and I found a book the other day for "crafts for kids who are wild about oceans." That is totally her. The idea was really neat: get blue hair gel, and squeeze it into a ziploc bag. We made our own fish cut-outs, and then we of course always have tons of beads and seashells on reserve, so we used them all to adorn our little ocean bag. It's really quite cute, and it's fun for Abrie to squish too.

Funny story too:

Tonight was movie night. Girlies chose a classic, "Sleeping Beauty." At the end, we decided to play the princess profile game on the DVD. It was Faith's turn to see which princess she was most like, and one of the questions was along the lines of "who would you most prefer as a friend?" with some of the answers being 7 little friends, sea creatures, mischievous mice, enchanted castle objects, woodland creatures, or a friendly tiger? Faith's response: "I would choose, Maddie." She didn't even say it with a smile, she meant it seriously. It was so adorable!

Hopeful for a pear pie, and other anecdotes

Past few days have been bliss.

I like my short days of work that allow me the mornings with my girlies. We went to the little farm on Wednesday morning and walked down to the duck pond yesterday. We happened upon one of those cool kiddie cameras (although it didn't have batteries) and Faith had a field day as the photographer yesterday. She was having a blast taking pictures of all of her "duckie friends." She's always had one duck in particular there (the white female duck) that lives there that she just loves. She looks for it every time, and yesterday she told me "she has a new husband, Momma. Just like me. I am married to Disney John Smith *(yes, they differentiate between 'Disney' John Smith and 'historical' John Smith who they lovingly refer to as "dead" hahaha) and my duckie friend is married to her prince."

It's so fun to watch the three of them walking around together.

*****

Our friend has a wonderful pear tree that they've allowed us to pick pears from this summer. We picked a bunch the other day, and they are absolutely delicious. I promised Maddie and Faith that I would look for a good pear recipe at the library today, and I found what looks like a good pear pie recipe. So, I am anxious to try it out with them tomorrow.

I am very much looking forward to my 3-days off from work.

*****

Maddie's kindergarten orientation tour was Wednesday night. Granted, we asked for a personal tour of her school way back in February when we were debating between school/homeschool, but it was nice to see the school again. And this time all of Maddie's classmates were there. We will walk over to the school on Monday to see the posted lists of which classroom she will be in and which teacher she will get (not to mention, her list of school supplies that she will need), but it was still nice for Dan and I to get a feel for the kids that she will probably see on a daily basis. The principal of her school is as sweet as can be, and we really like her a lot. In fact, Maddie requested to ride her trike over to the school today to give her 2 wildflowers that she had picked. So, that is a good sign.

Randoms

** I got Abrie's hair into pigtails yesterday and today!! What may seem like a trivial milestone, is a big one in my book. I love doing my girlie's hair, and considering Abrie has always had the least amount of hair out my three, I've been waiting anxiously for this day. What was funny to me was that she LOVED getting her hair done, and was so proud of her pigtails.

In other Abrie news.. she puts out her little hands when she pretends to make you something now. They've always loved playing "slushie stand" at the playgrounds, and now Abrie loves to do it too. She stands behind the pretend "counter" with her big sissys, and gets the proudest smile on her face when you ask for a slushie. It's cute.

You can tell she is a baby sister to two big sissys in the things that she does. She gets such a sly look on her face (which is her "cool" face) when she thinks she's doing something "like a big kid." The other morning she and Faith were playing with Potato Heads before Maddie woke up, and Abrie got out some miniature Potato Head glasses and put them on her face. She then proceeded to squat right next to Faith and smile this cooky smile which made Faith burst out laughing. It's funny the things she comes up with all on her own!

Baby girl will definitely be Faith's saving grace in 16 days (oh Lord, I can't even talk/think about it anymore, so I won't...) when Maddie starts kindergarten. Those two are two peas in a pod. They are adorable together.

** Finally able to turn off the A/C a few days ago, and it's been off for these past few days. I doubt it will last much more than tonight, but it's been nice. It's so nice to feel the breeze outside, and let the girls play for longer without worrying about the horrible humidity. Of course, I am not rushing summer, but I do enjoy those delightful summer breezes that have been bestowed upon us these past few days.

Sesame Place 2010

Went to Sesame Place on Tuesday, and we had a blast. Took the girlies to Dutch Wonderland last week also and had fun there as well.

Hopeless romantic at age 5

My big girl is a hopeless romantic.

I love that my little Crannie is forever searching for the 'happy ending' to everything in life. Her notion of a happy ending and of a "dream come true" is that of pure innocence. She is all about fairytales, princesses, princes, and castles. I love that about her.

We went for a walk yesterday morning, and she had this funny smile on her face the entire time while she held hands with her "Prince" aka Daddy. She tells us that she is going to marry Donovan (her cousin) because he is "so nice to me, and we are best friends and you should be best friends with your prince." It occurred to me the other day at work to check out the old Drew Barrymore movie "Ever After." Boy, did she love it (and Faith too).

I smiled the other day as I read an excerpt of my current book "Bringing up Girls" :

While boys are fantasizing about conquest and heroic deeds, little girls are already dreaming about the arrival of a Prince Charming who will sweep them off their feet. They hope to marry and live together in a little love nest made just for two.

This is my Cran to a 'T.' I love her sweet little princess heart.

Sisters having fun!

Forgot to mention that Abrie likes to hide in the cupboard these days! It was quite hilarious one day when I couldn't find her (after she had just been there next to me a second earlier) and saw her peeking out of the cupboard door.


Abrie absolutely adores her big sisters, and vice versa. It is really getting cute to watch them these days because Abrie always wants to do exactly what they are doing (if they are wearing socks, she goes to the sock drawer and tries to put some on herself.. if they put on clothes, she tries to pull pants on to herself.. if they are playing with beads, she wants to play with beads, etc etc), but at the same time she comes up with ideas that they both think are awesome too. This was Abrie leading "a parade" one morning:

Neighbors are family

I can't emphasize enough how much I love our neighborhood and our neighbors.

My girls had quite a day yesterday. They are totally in awe of miss Joie (ironically, my #1 name choice for our little Faith, but spelled 'Joey' instead.. just funny because I had never heard of anyone else with that name before) who happens to be the "cool" 19-year-old daughter of the sweetest woman you'll ever meet. Maddie and Faith just love them, and Joie may as well be a star in their eyes.

She happens to work in the children's department of our library, and was nice enough to invite my girlies over to play with her old American Girl dolls. Well, this was heaven for my girlies. Maddie rode her trike over, and Faith rode her scooter. Maddie made sure to take her American Girl books along with her, and she and Faith thought it was great that Joie has the Kirsten dolls and almost ALL of her accessories. They sat there and played so nicely. Her mother, Sharon, is possibly the nicest person I have ever met and she was so excited to have us over and ready with toys for my Show Show. Abrie played very happily with old Happy Meal toys and, of course, adores their little shih tzu.

Joie happens to be a fantastic guitar player, and she bust out the guitar and all of her Taylor Swift paraphernalia which was the equivalent to a mini-concert in my girls' eyes. It was adorable: the 4 of them (yes, that includes Abrie who LOVES her music and stood there dancing and bopping her head the whole time!) sitting there belting out the lyrics together. Sharon took some pictures, so I am hoping I can see them soon. It was absolutely priceless.

It's the little things in life that count the most. I think yesterday was a day that will be one of those memories forever etched in my girls' minds. I'm so grateful that we have such wonderful people that live just houses from us.

******

We came home from Sharon and Joie's and ate a quick dinner before heading over to the daycare to play for a little bit. Yesterday was a day that Dan had to go in to work shortly after I had gotten home from work myself, so it's important to me that we have fun and relax since that always feels a little stressful to "change shifts" so to speak. They've been re-enacting a different princess movie every time that we go over to the daycare, and yesterday it was 'Ariel.' They crack me up with their acting, and Abrie is always given a role as well. She was the part of 'Sebastian' yesterday. Haha.

As we walked home, we saw that our next door neighbors were outside. This couple may be 60 years old, but they are some of my girls' best friends. We ended up staying outside until past 8pm talking to them. Abrie was showing them how she draws with sidewalk chalks, and of course Maddie and Faith are always lost in conversations with them. Before we went inside, Maddie drew a heart and two little caricatures of a girl and a boy. She told Rhonda, "this means, 'I love you, Rhonda and Dave.'"

Special memories to say the least.