First week of Kindergarten

Lily LOVES kindergarten! On Labor Day, she had some jitters, which nearly put me into crisis mode. All along she's been excited, so I've been looking forward to the big day. When she started crying because she worried some kids might be mean to her, I wondered if it was too late to open enroll her to my school (the night before the first day).





Here she is talking to grammy the night before her first day:





Marc offered to join us and took lots of pictures. I was incredibly thankful to have him there, because I think it changed the dynamic enough to help all of us feel (or at least act) braver. Lily was serious at home, but got bouncy and happy once we got to school. She hung up her backpack, and found a friend to play with at Kidstop right away. She'll attend the school-based day care program while she's not in kindergarten.

I worried all day long. I looked at the clock and wondered how she was feeling, where she was, and what she was doing about a hundred times during the day! I just couldn't wait to see her get off the bus so I'd know how her first day way. Can you imagine how I felt when this is what I saw coming toward me at the end of the day:

She chatted excitedly all afternoon and evening. She was giddy! She told me:
1. She has a friend named Maria who lives somewhere

2. You can never bring chocolate or nuts for snack

3. If you can't reach something you can ask a neighbor if they can please reach it for you

4. She has a friend named Tia who wants to have a sleep over

5. Everyone else has sleep overs all the time

6. Her school has puzzles with bumpy edges and straight edges

7. Some kids cried because they wanted their moms

8. The bus is really hot and really loud

9. They read a book about a cowgirl

10. They went to the office to look for a zebra (scavenger hunt)

She talked to grammy and papa on the phone after her first day. She said so many random bits of information, they had a difficult time understanding most of it:


Willow cried when I dropped her off at Di's the first 2 days, but yesterday (Thursday) she happily walked off to play with her friends. I love having the first week behind us! WHEW!

Summer's Over

Summer is pretty much over at the King house. I went back to work this week and grammy moved in. My mom and dad sold their house, but are waiting to hear from the bank about the town home they want (which was in foreclosure) so they are homeless. Dad's been up north and mom's been raising Jen and I's kids! My girls got to put day care off for one more week thanks to grammy's homelessness.



On August 20th we appeared in court so that I would officially be recognized as Willow's mom. Now she'll have a MN birth certificate with my name on it. The judge did not have a shiner - I need to figure out the red-eye reduction problem with my editing software!
After court we got happy meals to eat at grammy and papa's house. I love this picture because they're all so true to character - Willow is being sassy with papa (who's across the table), Lily's doing as she's told and smiling pretty, and grammy's drinking them in. By the way, Willow is COMPLETELY over her fear of grammy. She runs into her arms, talks about her lovingly (instead of shaking her head and hollering "NO" every time we used to mention the word "gram"), and gets excited to see her.





Lily turned 5 on August 27th. We celebrated with the Johnsons at a hotel with a pool. Lily was far more excited about the bunk beds in the hotel room. When we served cake I asked "Who wants cake?!" Willow's hand shot up in the air as she yelled "MEEEEE!" and Lily said "Not me." She honestly didn't even eat a piece of her own (High School Musical) cake. She's so odd. Willow had enough for both of them.

Here's Lily with the Johnson cousins.

We spent some time last weekend at Marc's brother's cabin. The girls had a blast playing with Marc's "big teenagers":

Sam is SO patient with them. He is constantly playing and thinking of things they'll have fun with. Willow called him "Bam" until recently. Now it's "Sam". He wiped out on a dirt bike this weekend, and Willow was VERY concerned about him. Over and over I heard "Mom! Bam! Owie!" She wanted to kiss it, but it was too bloody.

And Lily just follows Megan around everywhere she goes. I have to put my foot down once in a while because Megan is so patient with it she'll never say no. Megan would draw these elaborate pictures and let Lily add details. Lily adores Megan and all her friends.

Lily will start kindergarten on Tuesday. She is so excited she talks about it all the time. She wanted me to read her open house fliers out loud 3 times - the menu, the conference instructions, etc. At bed time, after open house, she told me she had a shaky feeling in her tummy during open house. I said "Shaky?" She goes "Yea, you know when you feel like you have water in your tummy and it's shaky?" She was nervous! When she met her teacher, she was smiling and bouncy, so I know she has mixed emotions. I will be very happy when we have the first week behind us.

Every time I mention Diane's house to Willow, she hollers "NO!" and shakes her head. I just keep telling her "Not today, Willow." Good luck, Di.