Kindergarten Graduation

Backstage

(Ella's friend, L., gave Ella her phone number so she could call her

over the summer.  That made me laugh.  Girls.)

 Ella's grandfather gave the commencement address.

 Ella's brother stayed in the GENERAL area of his seat 

(and apparently didn't close his eyes for the prayer).

Apparently I didn't either; I had my eyes on him.

 Apple products also pulled their fair share of the load in keeping J occupied. 

 Ella ran to embrace James after the ceremony.

Add "Best Big Sister Ever" to her list of awards.

Class of 2012

 Ella with her teacher.

 Presents!

 Grandfather Love

 Sweet.

So proud of her girl

 More grandmother love

It was a really fun night celebrating Ella.  We're so proud of all she accomplished and learned this year.  She's the best.  :)

Graduation Party

KJ's grandparents were in town this weekend for a cousin's high school graduation, and we celebrated Ella's Kindergarten graduation on Monday night.  I'm thankful to T for throwing Ella such a wonderful party.  It was fun to celebrate our girl and all of her accomplishments.

 

The seat of honor

Ella got to sit in Big Daddy's chair at the head of the table.

 

Ella's pictures decorated the mantle for the night.

 I'm so thankful we got to celebrate with Grammy.

 Glow-in-the-dark swords

No graduation party is complete without them.

Last Day

The shoes and the skirt from the first day picture no longer fit, and she's missing a bottom tooth, but the lunchbox and backpack made it through the year.  Here's to the first day of summer!  (I keep pinching myself because I can't believe I get to keep her all day everyday again.) 

Field Day

I woke up at 5:40 this morning, and since I have a strange inability to roll over and go back to sleep once it's daylight outside I spent some time editing pictures from Ella's Field Day.  James and I joined her at the school just in time to see some good dancing.

I really enjoyed seeing her having so much fun with her friends.  I'm thankful that she's had this year of Kindergarten.  I just noticed that the boys and girls chose to dance separately in her class.  Next up, Tug of War!

I think Ella's side won that round.  While we were enjoying the tug of war we had some long-awaited visitors arrive.

 

We haven't seen the Kizziahs since Christmas, so it was fun to "introduce" them to James again.  At first he called Claire and John David by the names of two of his friends from church (Lucy and Seth), but I think he's got their names down now and won't forget them.  He very quickly grew attached to his counterpart, Claire, and was heartbroken to have to leave her after Field Day.

  John David joined in the tug of war fun.

 James decided he liked Aunt Katie's hugs and wanted to stay awhile.

When we first arrived James was so intimidated by the loud music and all the people that he actually held my hand of his own accord, but after a little while he grew more comfortable and joined in the games.

  He even made the hole a couple of times.

 Claire made the shot with a little help from Big Daddy.

And for your viewing pleasure, I give you Ella's first sack race. 

Snuggle Time

Sunday afternoon snuggles

Writing the word snuggle a couple of times made me remember how about a month or so ago, James started chiming in with the commercials aired on Nickelodeon (too much TV, anyone?).  One of his favorites was the end of the Downey commercial when the little bear says, "Let's snuggle."  James always said that line with a big grin.  His current favorite is the Nationwide Insurance commercial.  He sings out, "Nationwide is on your side."  His nationwide is a little blurry, but he's got the rest down pat.  

I didn't intend on writing about commercials.

I meant to write about the sweet snuggle time I had with my kiddos last night while KJ was gone to a prayer meeting.  We piled on the couch to listen to Ella do her reading for school (See, we DO engage in other activities besides TV-watching at our house!).  James sat relatively still for him and laid his head on my chest and let me hold his hands and rub his sweet, soft cheeks and give him kisses.  It was the sweetest thing.  

We've been trying to make him aware of his drooling and the wet spots it leaves behind.  He saw a spot on my shirt, pointed to it, and said, "Drool."  Oh, that boy.  He then noticed the freckles on my arms and started pointing at all of them, saying, "Dots!"  I squeezed him tight, and Ella read on, "bank, trunk, name, while, unto, within...".

New Things

KJ asked me last night how I felt about the new state of things around here.  Yesterday was only the second full day of my being home with just James and Ella being gone most of the day, so it was hard to give a full assessment, but here are my observations so far:

1. Ella seems to be doing great.  It will be good to have the whole day with her tomorrow.  It's hard to know how she's doing when I haven't had much time with her.  She's had a lot of activity the past couple of days, playing with her cousin after school (Yea!).  KJ has walked up the hill during her lunch time to ask her about her day, and both times she's been excited and happy and making new friends.  
2. God has been gracious to give peace.  I've been very glad to see her face when my girl comes in the door, but I haven't been worried about her.  I've taken my anxieties to the Lord in prayer, and He has given His peace.  Yesterday I read, "He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.  His heart is steady; he will not be afraid" (Psalm 112:7-8a).  
3. I do have more time to think.  Solitude of the mind is a little more accessible, and I actually am completely alone when James takes his nap.  Normally my only alone time is a trip to the grocery store, so this is nice.
4. The day is longer and more productive.  I feel busier in some ways even though I have one less child at home.  The day starts earlier, and I am trying to accomplish a lot of things by the time KJ brings Ella home in the afternoon.  There are also a lot of things to be taken care of at night to get Ella in bed on time, picking out the next day's clothes, washing and cleaning out lunch box supplies, and washing and drying her hair.
5. I have more time to edit pictures.  This has been good because I've had a lot I was working on for people and for myself.
6. I have more time to be active.  Yesterday I walked 3 miles, did half of P90X's Chest and Back, and cut the grass in the front yard.  That felt good.

What has James been up to during his alone time with Mom?  Well, the first day, I tried to engage him in some learning play time in his room, but he ran to the television to turn it on, so I caved and let him.

He seemed so happy and content watching Dora that I went ahead and cleaned up the kitchen.  Yesterday I opened the patio door to clean the glass on the outside of it.  It was raining lightly at the time, and James ran out and climbed in the rocking chair.  He loves to rock, and he's never tried to go out in the rain before, so I let him rock away while I cleaned.  My boy has gotten a little more adventurous lately, though, and as the rain started to fall harder, he ventured out in the yard.  He laughed wildly and got completely soaked and had the time of his life.

So I guess that so far, the change in schedule is going well.  I feel Ella's absence in my heart, but I feel good about where she is and what she's doing.  

Kindergarten!

Ella's not home yet to tell me all about it, but I think we got off to a good start this morning.  I think she was prepared and excited about school, and I hung around off and on until noon taking pictures (I got asked to be school photographer!), so I was able to see her at lunch.  She seemed like she was enjoying herself.  Now James is napping, and it's mighty quiet around here....I kind of like it.  I better get the house clean so I'll be ready for her when she comes home.  Maybe she'll allow a video interview.  I'm looking forward to it.  I think I'm also going to record her favorite shows on the DVR since she's missing her afternoon t.v.  :)  

Maybe she's ready.

"I just feel like I've played with all my toys.

What about learning something?"

- Ella

She's so impressive.

Ella had two more vaccinations she needed before she could start Kindergarten, and we went to get those yesterday.  Of course she was unhappy about having to get shots when I first told her about it a couple of weeks ago, but yesterday she was as brave as she could be.  She didn't fuss, and she didn't cry.  She simply requested to bring Katherine (her Cabbage Patch doll) along for comfort, and off we went.  She was also excited about getting to paint when it was over.

We had a wee photo shoot before we left

in honor of the week before Kindergarten.

As a side note, I would not have picked out the clothes

Ella is wearing for an outing on the town, but this girl

ALWAYS wants to wear a dress and NEVER wants to wear

her tennis-shoes.  But yesterday, she picked this outfit out 

and thought it was so great, so I didn't say a word.

While in the waiting room, I told Ella I brought her a book to read.  When she started to read aloud I was amazed at her all over again.  In my ideal world, we would have time for her to practice reading every day, but of course that doesn't always happen.  Even so, the progression of her reading skills amazes me every time.

Even after we were called back to the waiting room, she showed no signs of apprehension about her shots.  She was bouncy and fun, and we read together some more.  When the nurse came in, she did as I asked her and sat in my lap, looked away and had her two shots.  They lasted a few seconds, but she didn't cry or make a sound.  Then it was over like a flash, and she was so excited about her two sparkly princess stickers.  She skipped out of the doctor's office ready for our painting adventure.  I love that girl.  She amazes me.

A Brighter Outlook

The clouds are heavy across the sky this morning, but the clouds that were over my heart yesterday are long gone.  Whew.  I don't like days like that.  If I had written a blog post yesterday it would have sounded like I was stuck with Anne in the depths of despair.  I suppose a day like that is just a byproduct of 13-hour days of child-rearing.  Monday through Wednesday are long days with KJ having visitation, jail ministry, and college Bible study all in a row, so by the time he comes through the door at 9:45 on Wednesday night, I am more than ready for his day off on Thursday.  He switched his day off this week, however, so off he left yesterday morning.  

I think all I wanted/needed was some solitude, just a little bit of peace.  I think I would have been able to take a day of rest if James wasn't at the age of needing constant instruction and correction.  Ella is quite able to entertain herself if need be, but James is at the age of needing to be taught how to play with others.  Whatever toy Ella has always looks soo inviting to him, and he walks up and snatches it.  Then there are tears from Ella and hollering from him when I try to take it from him and return it to her.  In the morning of new grace I can laugh at these things.  

Oddly enough, the outing that snatched me out of my funk yesterday was the Open House at Ella's new school!  It's so fun going places with my big girl.  Of course, it's always been fun going places with her.  From the time she was 8 or 9 months old she has been a joy to go out in public with.  Wal-Mart and Target and the library were all grand adventures to her.  

She was so excited last night and so grown-up about getting dressed and going to see her class room, and once we got in her class room with the other children and parents and the teacher, I felt so excited, too.  I just wanted her to stay in Kindergarten forever.

My heart felt completely at ease seeing a class of only 12 children, learning that the boy sitting beside Ella was the teacher's grandson, knowing that she already knew several girls in the class; hearing the teacher talk about how her greatest joy was teaching the kids about our Savior, that if any parent had something they wanted to share with the class to let her know and she'd plan it, that we can come and eat lunch with her anytime.  I felt the reality of the school's desire to partner with parents in educating their children.  Also, I was asked to take pictures on the first day of school for a scrapbook!  Happy mommy.  I was dreading simply dropping her off to fend for herself the first day.  Now I've been given permission to be there and photograph every minute.  Cheers.

It was an exciting night, and KJ is staying home today!  This means that I am able to get out of the house and take care of some more school preparation:  vaccines.  That's not incredibly exciting, but after the shots Ella and I are going to paint ceramics, and she is super-excited about that.  This evening we will be attending a birthday party for KJ's dad.  Ella whispered in my ear on Sunday, "Big Daddy said we were invited to his birthday party!"  You know how important that is to Kindergartners.  

I'm thankful for a brighter outlook this morning.  In fact, I can see that the sun is now shining through the clouds in my backyard, too.

The Week Before Kindergarten

I've been trying to plan special activities and to spend a little extra time with Ella during this week before Kindergarten.  I've also been working everyone into an earlier bedtime since she will have to start waking up earlier to go to school.  KJ and I were laughing that I might have to start using an alarm again.  I haven't had to do that in five years.  I've always had a baby to wake me up in the morning.  I'm not sure I'll really need an alarm, though.  I went to bed on time myself last night and was up by 6:10 naturally, so I don't think it will be a problem.


Monday I painted Ella's toenails (that's an important thing to take care of before school starts, don't you think?), and we went to Wal-Mart to purchase a thermos.  She picked out one shaped like a Crayola crayon.  Very apropos.  

Yesterday we went to the library for story time.  For some reason they didn't actually have story time yesterday so after a trip to the fountain, returning books, and picking out new books and movies, it was time to take our leave.  James was not using his library voice.

Since Ella's mom has made photography a habit, Ella has taken to saying things like, "Why don't I lean up against this tree and you take my picture?"  On an agreeable day she's quite the little model. 

During James' nap we did a little scrap-booking.  She's getting very good with her glue stick.   

It is hard to think of letting my girl out of my oversight from 8-3 p.m. every day, but it has done wonders for my prayer life.  I don't think I've ever prayed so much before this.  I'm praying for Ella, for her friends, and for her teacher.  Focusing on rational requests helps keep irrational fears at bay.  It is definitely going to be a big transition for our family, but I am hoping it will be good one.  

Together at Home

Today begins a new month, and that means a lot of things in my mind as I make plans for the months ahead.  It means we're one month out from Ella's birthday, which means it's time for me to get busy planning her "awesome surprise" birthday party and making her "really good" birthday dvd.  Those were her stipulations this year.  It means I'm two months out from doing the same thing for James; however, he is not old enough to give any stipulations yet.


Most eminently, this week means we're one week out before the beginning of Kindergarten.  Kindergarten.  This is the last full week at home I will have with Ella until her Thanksgiving break.  It is the end of nearly five years of 24/7 care of my daughter.  It's made me think about my first full week in charge of her.

She fit just right on our sofa pillows,

and she loved sleeping there.

Looking over at the girl on my couch,

I can hardly believe this is really her.

I guess she slept a lot that first week.

I didn't.

She even slept in Uncle Kam's lap when he came over.

She was the sweetest little girl ever,

and she still is.

She's not a baby any longer, though, and she's ready for school.  She's ready for daily interaction with friends and structured times of learning that are hard for me to provide with little man constantly interrupting.  Although I will say, I think I've been able to teach her a lot.  The first grade teacher who conducted Ella's entrance interview at the school last week was very impressed with her reading skills.  I took a moment to pat us both on the back.  :)  

Now it's time for last minute preparations, getting into an earlier bedtime routine, and making lots of fun "last week" memories.  I'm excited.