a few photos

Paige "helped" me make cupcakes for Emily - a special treat for the first day of school. Paige is not a big fan of the actual cupcake - she's a frosting girl - but she was a big fan of the beaters.



The second day of school. Emily's backpack was so loaded with stuff that her lunchbox would not fit. "No big deal, Mom, I'll carry it." Then of course she walked out the front door without it. Luckily, my brain was functioning, I did a quick re-arranging of her backpack, found room for her lunchbox - after I removed a box of tissue - and we were off.

BTW - she LOVES her teacher. She LOVES 1st grade. She practically JUMPS out of bed each morning. I know this excitement will wear off soon, but we are enjoying it while it lasts.

I met her teacher tonight at the Open house. And yes, it's true - this year will bring forth some challenges. But good ones. Her teacher is quite good, very experienced and organized. Yea 1st grade!!!

Paige insists on bringing ALL this stuff with her to the bus stop each morning. A baby, a bunny AND her purse. She also insisted on wearing her necklace. Quite fashionable, don't ya think?

Have a great weekend!!!!

first day - first grade

First Grade. Whole day. Lunchbox. Full Backpack. My little girl is not so little anymore.

This was the first day last year - see how much she has changed.....even her posture has matured.

Yea for First Grade!!!

That backpack is quite full - and I don't even have everything inside.

So full, that she could barely carry it all the way to the bus stop. She wore it on the front for a bit, then gave it to Eric. Pink is SO his color.

Running to the bus stop.
Getting on the bus.

Little sister waving good bye.

And she's off.
Now what do we do????

'twas the night before 1st grade.....

Just a few more hours left until my Emily gets on the bus and is whisked away to her very first day of FIRST GRADE. Her backpack is filled with all her school supplies. Her lunch box is on the counter, ready to be filled up. Her first day outfit is hanging on her closet door. And, the big first grader herself, is sleeping - after a whirlwind week of last minute summer activity.

A few pictures from the past few days:

On Friday, we took our last trip - for this summer season - to Eastwood Beach at Stoney Creek park. The kids played in the water and sand and had a blast.

My Paige is so good - she already knows the most valuable part of the Sunday paper - the TARGET ad.

Riding cars with Jenna yesterday. If you look back at last year's post - you can see a very similar picture on the last day of summer vacation.

Today, we made chalk outlines of the neighborhood kids. They colored themselves in - even Paige. But she was in no mood for pictures - so here's Emily.

Then we filled up over 100 water balloons - the last of our stash for the summer - and let the kids have at it.


After that, the thunder and lightning came around. We came inside, settled down, had dinner, got ready for bed and wished Summer 2009 a tearful goodbye. Looking forward to Summer 2010!!!!

I will be posting first day pictures tomorrow - check back!!!

before and after

The famous back to school school haircut. Complete with 2 balloons - one red, and one pink - and a watermelon sucker.

The countdown is on. Only four and a half days left. We found out last night that she has Mrs. Kalso for her teacher - a.k.a. The HARD one. Not a surprise to me, her kindergarten teacher eluded that this would be her recommendation. She said that Emily needed to be challenged. Should make for an interesting year.......

hey KID, could I please just get a little, teeny, tiny smile? HUH?

I took Paige outside on Saturday to snap a few photos. She was SO EXCITED about her new shirt. I had just picked up a few things for her from Carter's, and she refused to take this shirt off. Must be the stripey sleeves, and the stars.

She was so smiley, bouncy and happy. Silly Mommy, I thought I might get at least ONE smiley picture. Nope. Not one.

This one is as close as I could get to a hint of smile.

Her toes are smiling.

Oh well. Next time.

why i need to take a nap.....

Emily and Paige were invited to a Tea Party birthday on Tuesday. They needed to wear costumes. Emily wore her dance recital outfit, and Paige wore butterfly wings. They were adorable. So adorable, in fact, that I felt it absolutely necessary to whip out my good old Nikon and take a few pictures of them.

Guess who wasn't in the mood. Well, if you guessed all of us, you would be correct. Paige was not in the mood from the start. Surprise, surprise. Emily is only good for maybe one picture. Yet another shocker. And by the end I was in no mood to deal with either of them at all.

So we left for the Tea Party.

I was left with these......

(They needed to bring stuffed animals as well. Emily, of course, brought Paws. And, Paige stole my purple bear from me.)

At least they stick together, right?
Emily has a bad cough and fever. We have tickets to the ball game on Sunday. Hopefully she is recovered, and they rain stays at bay for the game. It's our last big hurrah of the summer....and Emily's first baseball game experience. I would like it to be a dry experience.

Have a good weekend!!

someone got a new bed.....

Moving your child from a crib to a bed is supposed to be a very calm, gradual thing. Yeah, not for us. I listed her furniture on Sunday afternoon, had a buyer for all of it Sunday night, watched it get loaded up Monday morning, and by early Monday evening took these pictures.

Yeah, we just don't do things the normal way in this house.

Luckily Paige is used to this.

Her first night - she slept like a champ. We'll have to see if that continues.

The rest of her new furniture is still in boxes. All her stuff that was in her dresser is in a plastic tub. Her bedding will probably be here next week. I have lots of re-arranging to do. I will post some more pictures when it's all done.

(and yes, we do have a side rail for the bed - it lives under the bed when not in use)