Back to School Means Back to Blogging

Weeelllll helloo there! (said in Mrs. Doubtfire's most excited voice! (RIP Robin Williams).

It goes without saying that this space has been dead as a door nail for the past year and half or so. With Grace starting kindergarten last year I really wanted to soak up my time with her and Charlotte. It was time well spent and I don't regret it for a second. I DO wish I'd been able to write down a snippet here or there - just for my memory's sake - I seriously can't remember a thing unless I write it down, but alas, I didn't. I only have the 10,000 photos locked away in my phone to trigger my memories which will have to suffice.

Now that Grace is in first grade (um, how did that happen?) and Charlotte is in pre-kinder (which is crazy because I feel like she is ready ready for college but for the fact she can't read) I have a couple of hours to myself. So I am hoping that I can manage a blog post here and there!

It's kind of a crazy schedule this year. Even though I have some time sans children it really isn't conducive to getting a lot done. (Although it is slowly preparing me for how quiet the house will be once they are both gone all day - audio books are filling the void very nicely!)

Grace gets to school at 8. Then, Charlotte and I have about three hours to "kill" until she has to eat lunch and get to school. After dropping Charlotte off around noon, I have about two hours (M, T TH & F) until I have to pick her up. Then the MADNESS begins!

Charlotte gets out at 2:45 - Grace at 2:50. Their schools are a 10 minute drive apart. Luckily, the teachers at Charlotte's school are awesome and knowing my predicament have being letting Charlotte out a few minutes early - which won't always be the case - but it sure helps! Once I have both kids safely buckled in their car seats, it is go time! Piano, soccer, tennis...I am quickly learning that every hour without kids during the day multiplies into about four hours of mayhem post-pickup. So for all you mothers (and fathers) out there thinking life will "change" once the kids are in school full time...I hate to burst your bubble...but life just gets crazier. Crazier meaning busier. Crazier sounds bad. Shall we say fuller?

All the activities take a lot of work and time but are worth it. To see your child score their very first soccer goal or for that matter not score any goals but are happy nonetheless just to be outside running around with new friends is priceless. It is life changing - for you AND your child. These seemingly small moments - each that have taken countless hours of practice and driving, behind the scenes snack and dinner prepping and sitting in the hot/cold/wind - they add up. They add up to a rich life - one that money can't buy, one that is funded only by love. These are busy years but ones I know I will miss all too soon.

We kicked off the school year with our annual back to school breakfast! We were anticipating a strike but luckily a timely agreement was reached. 

Aside from donuts, the girls each receive a few little treats...

The little journal is super fun! We do it before bed time each night as part of the bedtime routine. I think it will be fun to look back at how their opinions change and how their handwriting/vocabulary changes. Plus it works as a great transition to story time which is just one step closer to bedtime! 

The other book is substitute for a scrapbook. I wish, wish, wish I could pull together an awesome scrapbook filled with photos and tidbits but I can't. I save all the good stuff. School pictures, ticket stubs to plays, award certificates...it piles up! I wanted a spot where I could put all the good stuff - not just for this year but in the years to come. The School Years Record Book allows me to easily keep track of all the "good stuff" my kids bring home!

Grace was so excited for school to start. She marked off each day on her calendar and had a difficult time falling asleep for weeks before the first day. 

They were even treated to a trip to the nail salon!

Finally, the big day was upon us!

Obligatory first day photos...outfit, backpack and the MUST HAVE lunch box!

Charlotte started two weeks after Grace but was just as ready!

I love how the backpacks are bigger than the kid at this age! 

Charlotte is all about accessories. This outfit was chosen JUST so she could wear her doggy necklace from Grandma on the first day!

We forgot to hold up of "first day" sign at home. Luckily, the preschool had us covered! Charlotte was a bit under the weather the first few days of school so her smiles were a bit -shall we say - forced!?

Here she is - today - in the dress I made her for back to school! 

She has only four more days left as a four year old. 

Back to School 2014 & First Day of Kindergarten

We kicked off heading back to school with some photos. Each girl by the tree we planted for her when she was born. 

Charlotte wasn't into it. 

Grace on the other hand…

Let's do this!

I will cherish this photo in particular of her. 

Every time I look at it, I cry. 

Not happy with how Charlotte's pictures had turned out, I decided to give Charlotte another go. Charlotte was a bit - shall we say - upset over the apparel I had chosen for this little photo shoot. The shirt in particular was not up to snuff. It was too tight around her neck and itchy. 

Ummm….if looks could kill!

My goodness! She REALLY doesn't like that shirt!

But then, a changing of the tides and she warmed up. 

It's a grin. No a smile! Hallelujah it's a miracle!

I was finally able to get a few photos where she didn't look like a kid possessed by a demon!

Phew! Mission accomplished!

{Oh and don't get me started on her haircut. It's been a rough summer around these parts for hair.} 

Truth be told, the only way I got Charlotte to even to pretend to smile was with a bribe. A mom's got to do what a mom's got to do!

A trip to Starbucks for a treat if she would smile and not whine. So as promised….

Our last mid-day, weekday treat break as a threesome.

{On a side rant: Why does Starbucks sell cake pops in the morning? Why does Starbucks sell cake pops…period?!?! Are they really just trying to subliminally tell parents not to bring their children into their stores anymore? If they booby trap the store with crap parents don't want to feed their kids, the parents (in turn the kids) will stop frequenting the stores. Is that what Starbucks is telling us when the set up cake pops in their display at 6 am? I can't tell you how many times I've been in line at Starbucks with a mom and child a few places back and the kid asks for a cake pop and then the mom has to go through the whole song and dance about how cake pops are junk food and that they have to get something else only to have protests and tears from the child. I mean come on Starbucks. Cake pops?!?!? Let's focus on products that you are only mediocre at…like coffee. End of side rant!}

Back to school photos snapped, tummies full, we set off to prepare for our Back to School dinner!

I set up a few little decorations and of course bought a cake! 

As Julia Child once said, "A gathering without cake is just a meeting." 

I made some chalkboard placemats for some school spirit. 

It was a very lovely dinner. Manna and Boppa joined us and the girls got to choose their meal.

They chose pancakes and corn on the cob. 

As a back to school gift, they received an alarm clock. Figured it would help with those early morning wake up calls when it is pitch dark outside.

The next morning, we were up early to meet Grace's teacher. 

The meeting went well and Grace's teacher is very nice. I am confident that Grace will be in good hands!

In the meeting, Grace decided she wants her teachers and friends to call her Gracie but she wants her family to call her Grace. She says it is "more adorable when my friends call me Gracie."

The night before the very first day of kindergarten was Grace's first soccer practice. I and a friend are coaching. Let's just say I earned this beer after practice.

And then it was time for Kindergarten. 

Lunch was packed. 

First day photos taken. 

Drop off was a breeze. She kept saying goodbye even before it was really time for me to go.

I hugged her and she was gone. 

Out the doors to recess. To a whole new world. 

She didn't hesitate. She wasn't scared. She was very ready and that is very comforting. 

It was a little harder for me. 

I sat and watched her play at recess (she couldn't see me) until the bell rang. I saw her find friends and find her way to her classroom. There was relief in seeing her adjust and take care of herself. To be her own little person. 

My words are not right here because I can't describe the way I felt that morning accurately. 

Happy. Proud. Sad. Selfish. 

Excited. Scared. 

I never thought I would be "that" mom that gets all emotional on the first day of kindergarten. I mean it is kindergarten, not war. 

But just as the birth of your first child turns your world upside down, so does the first child going off to school. Everything changes. Your day. The sounds. The lack of sounds. Your involvement. Your lack of involvement. Your ability to know what they did, what they ate, where they went…

It was an emotional day - to say the least. When I was talking to a pregnant friend who dropped off her son at kindergarten that same day as well, I was comforted to know that I was not alone. She'd been a "wreck" too but then again she had pregnancy hormones to blame it on! What was my excuse?!

Her response? 

"Your baby not being a baby anymore is a good enough excuse!"

All I can say is that Charlotte's first day of kindergarten is going to be R-O-U-G-H!

I might even wear all black that day.

Charlotte was a trooper. She wanted to go out to recess with Grace but understood that it wasn't her school and settled for a morning with mom making cookies. 

Charlotte and I had a great day but it always felt like something was missing. 

And it was SO quiet!

How I have treasured these days and years with these two constantly by my side. 

So much of me is sad to see this stage end but I know great things are yet to come. Now I just need my heart to catch up with this logic and we'll be good to go!