Right. I have a blog.

So I haven't blogged in a while. And since this blog is my way of documenting the girls' experiences, I always feel guilty when I fall behind. Here is my penance--lots of pictures!


We made a quick trip to Dallas and stayed with Grandad and Mimi. That means there was lots of swimming and good food. The girls would've stayed in the water all day if we'd let them.



First Razorback game of the season. We left the girls at home for the game but game day always provides a good excuse for wearing your cheerleader outfit and striking some poses outside the stadium.




First Day of School. This is Claire's last year of preschool and Arden's first. Guess who wasn't that thrilled to be going (hint--the one with the paci and blankie). Claire is going to the same preschool she's been at the last three years and Arden is going to Mother's Day Out at our church. Oh, and did I mention that I'm the director of that Mother's Day Out? That might help explain my recent blogging drought.
So far both girls are enjoying their schools, although Claire is torn as to whether she wants to stay with her buddies at her "old" school or come with me and Arden. I'm letting her chose, which means a lot of running around for me.


Fall soccer started and Claire's team is named "Fire". Not "The Fire". Just "Fire". For some reason, this really bothers me. But Claire is excited because they get real uniforms and she is number 5. She considers being five years old to be the pinnacle of existence, so getting wear 5 on her back makes her day.

I'm not sure that soccer will turn out to be Claire's calling in life. She has fun playing, but seems to have inherited my level of aggressiveness (none). I overheard her coach telling her to try and take the ball away from the other team and Claire replied, "But I could share it with them and that would be so nice". Not sure how Coach answered that one.

And finally, here is what Arden looks like at Claire's soccer games. She is having a hard time grasping the concept of being "too young" for certain things. We spend the entire game chasing her off the field. When it's her turn to play next fall, I don't think we'll be worrying about her level of agression though.

School's Out

Claire had her last day of school on Thursday and was sad to see the year end. She has turned into one of those kids who really love to go to school, which is a huge change from last year, when she cried nearly every time I dropped her off.

It's crazy to think that she only has one more year of preschool left. If it were up to her, she'd start kindergarten tomorrow. She just can't wait to be one of the big kids. Judging by how much she's changed in just the past 9 months, it looks like she's well on her way. And I can't seem to stop it.

Thankful

This morning at school, Claire's class did a craft titled "I'm Thankful For..." The kids did hand prints on paper plates and then their teacher wrote on the craft what the children told her they were thankful for. When I went inside to pick Claire up this afternoon, I saw all the crafts hung on hooks outside the classroom and enjoyed reading what everyone was thankful for.
Most of the them said things like "I'm thankful for...Nanny and Poppy" or "My dog Ginger" or even "My Thomas the Train track".
Claire's? "I'm thankful for...My coffee and going outside."

Given that coffee was at the top of her list, I'm a little worried that she's got too much of her mother in her.

Power Trip

Last Thursday was Claire's turn to be the Line Leader at school. When I dropped her off and Mrs. V told her the good news, Claire turned to me and said, "Did you hear that? I'm the Line Leader!" And then she ran off to spread the good news to her subjects, I mean, classmates.
Knowing Claire as I do, I was a little worried that the power might go to her head. I mean, Line Leader is a big deal for the preschool set and Claire tends to take things to the, um, extreme.
I shouldn't have worried though. When I picked her up, Mrs. V said she'd had a great day and only reminded the class that she was the Line Leader 45 times.

Look out kids, there's a new Mussolini in town.

School's Out for Summer

Today was Claire's last day of school. It's hard to believe how fast this year went by and how much Claire has changed since school started last September.

Here is Claire on her first day of school.

And here is Claire today.

I keep looking at that first picture and thinking "She looks like such a baby!" And yet, at the time, I thought she was such a big girl. I suppose it will always be that way.

She had a great year at Creative School--fun teachers, great facilities and precious classmates. She learned a lot, both academically (if you call letter recognition and spelling your name academics) and socially. She made some good friends (with girls! yay!) and even declared Elizabeth her "best friend at school" (don't worry, Reid, you're still tops). She got in trouble a few times (there was an incident involving the ripping up of a foam car game) and learned how to take turns and share (for the most part). She learned how to sit still during Circle Time and ask to be excused after Snack. She learned about the weather and the days of the week. She learned her shapes (does a three year old really need to know what a trapezoid is?) and her numbers and how to hold a paint brush and how to use scissors. And she learned that at the end of the day, Mommy always picks her up.

When I picked her up today, I looked in her backpack and found this:

For some reason, I got a little teary-eyed when I saw it, which is ridiculous because it's just the sign that hung on her cubby. But when I saw it, it struck me that this sign represents a part of Claire's life that I was not intricately involved in. Oh, I was involved plenty (if your kid destroys a toy in the classroom, believe me, you'll be involved), but not directly and certainly not intricately. It occurred to me that even when Claire tells me about her day at school, I don't know everything that went on, just the parts that she remembers or feels like talking about. The realization that Claire has a life (even if it's only two days a week) that I am not a part of hit me when I saw this sign.

And, since I was already feeling weepy, I allowed myself to fast-forward 15 years and pictured myself pulling this cubby sign out of some random box on the night before Claire's high school graduation. And I could imagine myself marveling at how fast the time had gone, and how I still thought of her as my baby, and how I couldn't believe she was about to embark on her own life (probably at Harvard, on a full academic scholarship), apart from Jason and I.

I know, depressing, right? But it's not, really. It's a wake-up call. A reminder of how precious these days are and how great is the responsibility of instilling in my kids a sense of who they are and where they come from. So that even when they have their own lives, they'll never have to wonder who loves them or if someone will pick them up at the end of the day.