another first

Thanks to the kids' beginning of the year school schedule, I had two days of dealing with the emotions of sending Sam off into the big, scary world of Catholic school (haha) before I had to send Grace off for her first day of preK. On Sam's first day, I had the day off of work, so Grace and I planned a playdate in the morning and then spent the afternoon painting her school tote. She did a great job with it, painting her own name and self portrait and only needed a little help with the flowers she wanted to include. She still has plans to also paint the back of the bag, at some point. She's thinking of including the whole family, including the dog and cat :)

Again, I of course documented the morning...

Our two Catholic school kids...

Sam, being the old pro who had already been attending this new school for two days, filled Grace in on where everything was as we were walking to his classroom to drop him off.

Grace's first day was a short one, but she is really looking forward to tomorrow, when she gets to take her lunch in her new iCarly lunch bag (I'm still trying to figure out if she's 4 or 14). Just like her brother, she was also so proud of herself that she did not move to yellow or red on the discipline chart. And while it was heartbreaking to send two off to school that morning, when I picked Grace up at 11 and asked her what her favorite part of her first day was, she at least gave me this: "When you came back." Maybe they do still need me a little bit, at least. :)

and so it begins...

On a rainy, yucky Wednesday, my big boy started kindergarten this week. I can hardly believe it. He had a great first three days and is pretty proud of himself that he never moved to yellow or red on the discipline chart this week :) So are we. Of course I documented the morning...

Here he is with his Mama who has kind of been a mess this week worrying about the new possibilities of exposures to food allergens that come with eating in a cafeteria with a bunch of grubby kindergarteners.

I'm working on dealing with that, though. Eventually, I'm sure I'll be more at ease. Sam's new teacher has been really great at making sure she's educated about his allergies and taking precautions to ensure he stays safe, so that has help immensely.

And really, my kid is so grown up, now! He knows what he needs to do to keep himself safe while learning at the same time. It blows my mind what one little boy is capable of after just five short years!

I'm already counting the days until the end of the year, but I'm sure by the end we'll be surprised about how fast this year will have flown by. I'm sure of this because that's how it's gone for the last five...

Louisville Zoo

Before I get to the beginning of the schoolyear pics...

A couple of weekends ago, we made a point to squeeze another zoo visit into our summer. The kids had been begging to go see the dinosaurs at the Louisville Zoo. Sam, especially, was so excited for the event. I was surprised given how he received the dinosaurs last year at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. But, I figured a year had gone by and he seemed to really understand that the dinosaurs are robots and couldn't hurt him. I was expecting a much different scene than the crying and fear we saw from him in Chicago last year. So, when we ventured to Louisville and went into the dinosaur exhibit, we were able to get a ton of pics of Grace like this:

But, given that most of the dinosaurs Grace was photographed with were carnivores, Sam stood far away, sometimes crying, sometimes plotting his escape if these giant robots suddenly came to life. We were able to get one shot of him, though, here, in front of the brontosaurus, because of course, the brontosaurus is an herbivore and no danger to a 5-year-old boy. :)

*sigh*

Well, yesterday was my last Monday off with the kids before school starts. We tried to make the most of it. I thought about the pool, but knew it would be crazy because it is everyone's last week to hit the pool before school.

So, instead, we went and fed the ducks, which is always a favorite activity...

...played and had a photo shoot at the park...

...settled in for afternoon movie time...

...and rounded out the day with babysitting Savanna...

Sam and Grace were big helpers while she was here, even if Grace was a little jealous :)

I'm going to miss these Mondays! The kids start school in just over a week. They're ready; I'm so not.

my little vegetable eater...

My boy loves his veggies. A new favorite is raw green peppers, which he'll gladly accept for a snack over anything.

At the beginning of this video, he thought I was taking his picture :)

You'll notice Molly also sniffing around the video. She recently discovered that green peppers are a new favorite of hers, too, after she busted through the mesh around the garden to steal our only two green peppers we had managed to grow to a decent size. Thankfully, she hasn't discovered the veggies growing beneath the ground in the other planter box which is not surrounded my mesh...

Yay for our first carrot! The rest weren't even close to being ready, but I had to pull this one and another big one down the row to give the others a little more room to grow. They were delicious...and Grace loves that I will call her "my little carrot eater" since she is far from being classified under the all encompassing "vegetable eater" label that her brother has earned.

tea is served...

Grace recently received a royal invitation to a princess tea party at her friend's house. No birthday...just a "just because" party. How cute is this?

After a few days weighing her options, Grace decided to go in her Sleeping Beauty dress. I offered to put her hair up and she quickly corrected me by letting me know that Princess Aurora had her hair down and just curled under...so that's what we did:

And check out the treats that were served (along with apple juice "tea", of course!)...

All treats were prepared by Grace's friend's mom. And since the invitation came from a little princess, I guess that would make mom the Queen, right?

Grace was so excited and had a great time. What a fun idea for a little girl gathering!