A Milestone

I feel I have come to a milestone in my life as a mother. I have finally come to the point in my motherhood where I have a child attending school full time. From the moment the girls get up, I am non-stop moving in at least five different directions. I have to pack a lunch for Alli and Tori on her preschool days. I have to make sure Alli eats her breakfast, brushes her teeth and brushes her hair. I have to help Tori and Katie dress and brush their teeth. I fix their hair. Alli no longer wants me to fix her hair :( (She is getting way too old!) After Alli gets on the bus, Tori has preschool or gymnastics or dance. So at 8:35am (I know I have it pretty easy considering the time that most elementary schools start in Texas.) I put her on the bus and don't see her or hear from her for 7 hours. WOW! This is a big deal! I never knew how easy I had it with half day PM kinder! I was rarely the anxious yelling mom in the mornings. If Alli did not eat all her breakfast, no big deal. I would give her a snack a couple hours later. All we had going on in the mornings last year was dance, gymnastics or Bible study. None of that even started until 9:30. And we had two days where we could stay in our PJ's until noon if we wanted to! So if I can say anything positive about PM kinder, it is that it gave me my mornings!

I will say that Alli really seems to be enjoying her full day at school. She is the type of child that likes to stay busy. She does not seem the least bit exhausted by a full day. She loves that she gets to go to two "specials" a day. And, again, just like she did last year, she loves riding the bus with her friends. Our bus stop is the last stop so, unfortunately, she only has about a 3 minute bus ride! She has her friends here in the neighborhood and is making new friends in her class. She also likes her teacher a lot. I am so anxious to go to Back to School Night to find out more about her day and her new school. It seems like they have it so late....shouldn't back to school night be the first week of school?

Tori also seems to like her school. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Morales. Tori says her name so cute, "Mrs. More Alice". Tori's school also has Back to School night next week. I am so glad that they welcome siblings to all school events!

I am enjoying the four hours two days a week that I have alone with Katie. On Tuesdays, she and I are doing a Mommy and Me gymnastics class. She had a lot of fun on the first day. She was a good listener and stayed in circle time the whole time. I will admit, I was surprised! She is a bit defiant and doesn't always do exactly what I am asking her to do- examples: get out of the car, come into the house, put your paci back in your bed, ect.! I will keep hoping she listens as well as she did the first day!

Alli has her second soccer game this weekend. I was so proud of her on her first game! She did great and really went after the ball. Soccer is huge here! Is it just here, or is it like that every where? I will post Alli's soccer, and Tori and Katie's dance and gymnastic pics soon! I have been totting my camera around every where and haven't had time to download pics!

Tori's First Day

Yesterday was Tori's first day of preschool. She did awesome! This day has been long awaited! She was so excited to start school.

Off to school! What a big girl!

I am trying hard not to compare this preschool to the perfect preschool that Alli went to in San Antonio. The schools here are so different............can't explain it- they are just different! But I am pleased with this preschool. And all that really matters is that Tori likes it. I want her to be in a loving environment where she has lots of fun and wants to go back every Tuesday and Thursday.

Some help from her teacher.

Ready to learn and have some fun!

 

While Tori was enjoying herself at school, Katie and I spent two hours at Target. It was great! I did not have to take any body to the restroom. I did not have to browse through the toys. And I did not have any one tell me that I wasn't fair for not buying them anything. I am sure these days will be short lived. Not long from now, Katie will be potty training. The mints, gum and rainbow Goldfish that I put into the cart upon her request will no longer seem like such a treat. And she will soon realize that there are a lot of toys in the store with the big red cart. But, I will enjoy it while it last!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Today Pete and I have been married ten years!

What an amazing ten years it has been!

You may remember that I mentioned a trip to Cancun to celebrate our anniversary early. We left from Texas back in July while the girls had plenty of family to love on them. It is always so hard for me to leave the girls. I get really stressed out the day before we leave, but I always enjoy myself and know that it is good for us to have some alone time. We had a great time! Pete and I love beach vacations where we can walk on the beach for a bit and then head back to the pool! I do love spending time on the beach- but mostly with the kids! When it is just us, I don't want to deal with all the sand! I want to lay in a chair, jump in and out of the pool when I need to cool off and have a waiter bring me fruity drinks! So that is exactly how we spent our time. We layed around the pool all day and managed to get in a round of golf and a couple of massages in between. I can't go on vacation without trying out the spa! And I am pretty sure Pete feels just the same when it comes to playing golf! The two go hand in hand.

Here is the happy couple waiting for our cab in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton. The hotel was great. And we had fabulous food every night.

Pete had flowers and champagne waiting in our room......so thoughtful!

This was taken as a tropical storm was coming through. Notice that the palm trees look like they are going to fly away.

My annual attempt at playing golf. The only time I get to play is when Pete and I have a vacation by ourselves. Pete is always super patient. He is a pretty good coach.

Pete playing well.

We had a very relaxing get-away in Cancun. These past ten years have flown by! I am so thankful for all that God has blessed us with. And I am looking forward to starting our 11th year here in New Jersey!

My Big First Grader!

Here is Alli right before we went to  Meet The Teacher at her school yesterday afternoon. She was very anxious and nervous. She kept telling me her belly was hurting. Which was making me SO NERVOUS! I felt so bad for her. On the inside, my belly was hurting too! But on the outside, I stayed positive and talked about all the good things that she gets to do in school this year- like go to specials every week, eat lunch at school, check out books, ride the bus....but what I really wanted to do was pick up my big six year old, hold her and hug her tight and promise her we will never move again! Alli really does not like "new" things. And I know how hard it must be for her to go to a new school. So we met her teacher. She is an older woman with a lot of experience. And I have only heard nice things about her. She seemed very nice and I am glad Alli is in her classroom. After prayers and kisses last night, as I was walking out of Alli's room she called me back in. "Do you think Mrs. Miller is nice, Mommy?" I say, "Yes! She seems very nice." And Alli says, "I think she seems very nice too." And that little conversation made me feel so much better. It was the first positive thing Alli had said about school!

So guess what Alli said about school today? She loved it! YAY! Oh- that just made my day!

This is our bus stop! All but 2 of these kids are right in our little neighborhood. And there are a total of 7 first graders. Alli is the second on the left.

My Big First Grader!!!

I did not get any pictures of Alli by herself this morning. I brought my camera to the bus stop without a memory card! I did get some of her this afternoon, but she was not really cooperating!

And this little cutie pie will have her first day next week!