Sleeping In

Morning after morning the girls have complained about how tired they were. They have complained about how dark it was outside. They have complained about having to get out of their warm beds at 6:30 in the morning.

YAY! It's Saturday. We can all sleep in late. We can all stay in our warm beds. We can sleep until the sun has risen. So how late did the girls sleep you ask? Until the beautiful hour of 5:30 in the morning. It's such a shame they have to get up so early for school (please note that the sarcastic tone).

We Have a P-R-O-B-L-E-M

The learning has begun! I asked Scott, "What we were going to do about B-E-D?" Ella promptly said, "Bed. What do you mean what are we going to do about bed?"

My way of life is already changing drastically.

We Should Try These Rules at Home

Ella and I had to review her classroom rules in class today. She thought they were absolutely brilliant. I swear it was like she had never heard them before in her life!

1. We obey instructions the first time.

E: Mom, we should really try this at home!
J: Yeah Ella, that would be a great idea.

(Thinking to myself, "How have you missed this lesson for the past FIVE AND A HALF YEARS? I've been trying to get you to obey the first time for years now.")

I guess the silver lining is that maybe the brilliance of these rules will actually work at home too.

2. We use the appropriate voice at the appropriate times.

E: Yeah, this is a good one too. You can be loud on the playground at recess, but you need to be really quiet inside the school.
J: Right, because people all around you are trying to learn and they need quiet.
E: Exactly. So we should be quiet at home too.
J: Yes, because Daddy is trying to work and he would love it if we could be a little quieter while he is working.
E: I have NEVER thought of that.

(Again. Really? Never thought of that? He's worked at home since before you were born! We tell you over and over and over, ad nauseam, that you need to be quieter.)

3. We control our bodies.

J: So no hitting or kicking or pushing.
E: Yes, that's another good one. Then I wouldn't be pushing Brenna any more. I'd just ask her nicely to move.

4. We are kind to others.

E: I really want to try this at home. Then I could be nice to you and Daddy and Brenna. Wouldn't that be nice, Mommy?

(Yes, that would be nice. I really wish I had thought of that myself. sigh)

A Successful First Day

Ella had a wonderful first day at school. She got into the car and squealed, "It was GREAT! I LOVED IT! I made a new friend named Presley, and she is soooooooo nice."

I e-mailed her teacher to remind her that I was wanting to help out in the classroom, and to thank her for helping to ease Ella's anxiety this morning. Mrs. Webster had this to say about Ella:

Oh I am so happy to hear that...the first day is so hard...for everyone, but I do believe ours was very successful this year. Ella did wonderful! She is so sweet and really came alive after about an hour of being here.

I am so thrilled that she had such a good day. I'm going to start helping out in her classroom next week. YAY!

I Trust You'll Treat Her Well

I think this expresses it pretty well.



World, I bequeath to you today one little girl in a crispy dress.. with two blue eyes...and a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I Trust You'll Treat Her Well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning and skipping off down the street to her first day at school.

And never again will she be completely mine...

Prim and proud, she'll wave a young and independent hand this morning, and say goodbye and walk with little-lady steps to the nearby schoolhouse...

Gone will be the chattering little hoyden who lived only for play, and gone will be the delightful little gamin who roamed the yard like a proud princess with nary a care in her little world.

Now, she will learn to stand in lines...and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called...

She will learn to tune her little-girl ears for the sound of school bells, and for deadlines...

She will learn to giggle and gossip... and to look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue.

Now she will learn to be jealous...and now she will learn how it is to feel hurt inside...and now she will learn how not to cry. No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch while an ant scurries across a crack in the sidewalk...

Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew. Now she will worry about important things...like grades...and what dresses to wear...and whose best friend is whose. Now she will worry about the little boy who pulls her hair at recess time... and staying after school...and which little girls like which little boys...And the magic of books and knowledge will soon take the place of the magic of her blocks and dolls.

And she'll find her new heroes. For five full years I've been her sage and Santa Claus...her pal and playmate...her parent and friend. Now, alas, she'll learn to share her worship and adoration with her teachers (which is only right).

No longer will her parents be the smartest, and greatest in the world. Today, when the first school bell rings, she'll learn how it is to be a member of the group...with all its privileges, and, of course, its disadvantages, too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies don't laugh out loud...or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms...or watch ants scurry across the cracks in a summer sidewalk...

Today, she'll begin to learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. That "the group" can be a demanding mistress... and I'll stand on the porch and watch her start out on the long, long journey to becoming a woman.

So WORLD, I BEQUEATH TO YOU TODAY ONE LITTLE GIRL in a crispy dress, with two blue eyes, a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I TRUST YOU'LL TREAT HER WELL.

The First Day of School

It's here! The first day of Kindergarten is here! Ella has been so anxious about starting school that I was really worried about how this morning was going to go. Everything went so much more smoothly than I anticipated.

Ella and Brenna both hopped right out of bed when the alarm went off and came into our room. Ella was a bit upset because Scott had told her the sun would be up and it was still dark outside. Brenna said, "There's no sun in the 'ky! It still dark ou'side."

I gave Ella one of my necklaces before breakfast this morning. I told her it was mine and I was giving it to her so she could wear it all day and know that I was rooting for her and that I would see her this afternoon. Ella ate breakfast, got dressed, and brushed her hair all with no drama. She was even really happy to pose for pictures at home.



And excited enough to dance a little:



We even had 10 minutes to spare for her to play on the computer. Then we left to walk to school. Here's a picture of her walking away into her big-girl world:





She was happy all the way to school. We met one of her friends on the walk up there and they chattered the whole way. Once we got into her classroom she was a little upset. We tried to get a picture in the classroom, but she wasn't enthused at all.



However, we weren't in tears yet, so I was feeling pretty good. When I left she did start crying. It broke my heart to walk out of the room. She was screaming and crying, "MOMMY!!!!!!!!! MOMMY!!!!!!!" I cried a little bit once I was in the hall. Her teacher went to her immediately when she started crying though. Before we were around the corner she calmed down enough that I couldn't hear her any more.

All in all, the stress level was much lower than I anticipated. By the time I had walked home again I even felt lighter from having survived the drop off. It's only 10:00, but I can't wait to pick her up and hear how her first day went. LOL

Here's a bonus picture of Brenna on her first day of school:

Fashion Show

Our friends from Boston are in town for a visit. Jo's oldest son James is graduating from Basic Training in Ft. Sill so they came for visit with us while they are here to see his graduation ceremony. In trying to get Ella excited for the first day of school, Jo suggested that we have a fashion show for her to show off her first day of school outfit. So without further ado, the fashion show!

Ella's first day of school outfit:


Katie's fashion attire:


Ella and Katie posing together:


Brenna gets in on the action:




Kenzie also got in on the action, but I never managed to get a picture of her. The fashion show did its job becuase Ella was very excited to lay out her clothes for the first day of school.

Meet the Teacher

Ella is going to a brand new school next year. She is going to be a Longhorn--a green and gold Longhorn NOT a burnt orange Longhorn. LOL! Since this is the inaugural year for the school the principal rode into meet the teacher night on a longhorn. It was really neat! Brenna LOVED it.



Ella had her meet the teacher night last Friday. It was an unqualified disaster. Ella has been very anxious about starting school, so meet the teacher was not a fun, exciting event for our family. She was pretty good in her teacher's classroom. Her teacher this year is Mrs. Webster. I keep hearing from everyone that she is a wonderful teacher, so I am so excited that we have her. Her first impression was certainly positive! When we met her she hugged Ella and said, "I've been writing your name on so many things, and every time I write your name I wonder, 'What kind of person is Ella going to be?'"

I tried to get Ella's picture in her desk, but she would not sit down in her chair. She kept insisting, "I do NOT want my picture taken." She didn't really interact with anyone. I tried to introduce her to the girl that was going to share her desk space, but Ella played shy. There desks are arranged in fours with two boys and two girls in each configuration.



Mrs. Webster gave us a bunch of papers to take home. One was to write a letter to the kids on their first day.

Each classroom has a sister classroom. There is a big open space that they classrooms share, but that can also be closed off by big glass doors so that the noise of the other classroom doesn't disturb the kids.



Brenna was more than happy to pose for pictures.



Ella was just standing around at one point so I snapped her picture.



She screamed at me, "I DID NOT WANT MY PICTURE TAKEN!" The evening went down hill from there! She and I had a nice discussion about being rude, but it apparently didn't sink into her head. We went to the art room, the music room, the library and the gym. Ella had several loud versions of "This is boring," or, "I'm NOT going to school," or "I want to go HOME," that she continuously repeated to the various teachers she met throughout the night. It was humilating. We ended up leaving, and Ella spent the entire evening in her room coming out only to eat her dinner and then promptly being sent to bed at 7:00 PM.

Meet the teacher made our entire house very anxious about the first day of school. Scott and I really want her to feel excited about starting school. Her resistance makes for a high level of stress to say the least.