First Day of Kindergarten *Updated*

8:30 is finally here!

Emily outside her classroom
Emily and her teacher, Mrs. Cleary
Emily at her desk

Emily was up this morning at 6am and came bounding in our room, fully dressed, at 6:25am. She kept saying "Is it time for school yet? Is it time for school yet? When can we go to school?!" She was pretty irritated to learn that we weren't leaving for school till 8:30, so she had 2 more hours to wait.

At school, Emily didn't have a BIT of hesitation. She walked right into her classroom and moved her clothespin on the basket to show her attendance. She knows the drill already and loves it. Then she went over and unpacked her backpack, putting everything right where it's supposed to go. Then she walked over to her desk and sat down. I watched in shock as she never once clung to my leg or even seemed fazed by my leaving. As you can see from the pictures at school, she was so excited she looked like she was going to explode! The only thing that bothered her a little bit was that there were only 4 students in the class (and 2 teachers!). For the staggered entry, they split up the 16 students so 4 go each day in the first week. She loves the hustle and bustle (and noise) of the full classroom and this was a little too quiet for her. I'm sure she'll be really happy next week when she sees the whole class there.

On a sidenote, I took Emily shopping yesterday and told her she could pick anything she wanted as her outfit for the first day of school. She really doesn't like the clothes I choose for her so she was thrilled to have free reign in choosing this outfit. :)

I love the little parable called "Thoughts at the Bottom of the Beanstalk". You can read it here:

http://www.cceschool.org/hayes/Thoughts%20At%20The%20Bottom%20of%20the%20Beanstalk.htm

**We picked Emily up from school and she still had that same big smile on her face. She had a GREAT day. I asked her "So you want to go back next week?" and she said "Mom! I want to go there EVERY DAY!". The little girl next to her has been really shy up until this point. So I asked Emily if the little girl talked at all today and Emily said "Oh Mom, we actually played together a lot today. She even talked!" (You know Emily thought it was really strange that this girl was so quiet until now ;) Later, after pulling teeth to get answers from her about what she did all day, I got brave and asked her if she missed us at all while she was at school. Her response--"Nope." Ouch. Well at least I don't have to worry about her being sad and lonely at school....

Quotes from Emily

This morning I started the day crying about it being my last day before Emily starts kindergarten. She noticed me crying, and said "Mommy, why are you crying?" I told her that I was just going to really miss her when she starts school. After thinking for a minute, her response was "Well...I guess I could stay home so you're not sad." Awww...she's so sweet! Of course I assured her that I'd be alright. :)

Then at bedtime we were reading a book about a barber. Thinking back to their recent haircuts, Emily said "My barber is really, really nice" and Lexi agreed "My barber is really, really nice too." Then Lainey said "My barber is really, really nice too". Emily looked over at her and said "Lainey, I'm your barber!!!" I don't think any of us will forget that haircut!

Below is a video of how Emily spends most of her days (several hours each day). She loves dancing to music and singing. She asks me DAILY when she'll be able to be on the stage at church and why she can't be on tv. She says "You really need to sign me up for tv". If only it was that easy! Those who grew up in the church in the 80s will recognize the Psalty music...I'm raising up the next generation of Psalty lovers!!! She's obsessed! She keeps wanting to be in a Psalty video, not understanding that they stopped making those in the late 80s....So she wanted me to videotape her singing and dancing to Psalty so she could be in her own video :) She doesn't quite have the lyrics right, but she sure loves to perform!

The Great Trolley Adventure

Daniel and Holt enjoying the view from the trolley
Lexi doesn't like being wet
The conductor looking at the roadblock ahead of us
Trolley-ful of antsy kids

Emily, Pierce and Lainey. He's such a lady's man!

Lainey

Me and the kids

With Courtney as our fearless leader, 7 of us moms this morning braved the torrential rains to take our collective 17 preschoolers on the trolley tour to uptown Charlotte and back. We first got to have a little lesson at the Trolley Museum and the kids were able to go on a 90 year old trolley from Greece. Then we boarded the trolley for our trip uptown and back. By now we were all completely soaked to the skin, but still smiling! The trolley ride was much rougher than we anticipated, with screaching halts happening every few minutes. The conductor later told us that, being electric, the trolley doesn't run so smoothly in the rain. Yeah, we noticed. But still we had fun and nobody got too badly hurt by being thrown around the trolley at these unexpected stops.

As we were approaching an intersection on our way back to the station, a truck ran through the railroad crossing arm, causing it to be perpendicular to where it was supposed to be. Luckily the truck didn't hit our trolley, but it did cause the arm to go across the train tracks so our path was blocked. We were hoping it wouldn't be too bad of a repair....couldn't they just lift the arm? No, if they lifted it, it would hit the electric lines running above that the trolley needed to run. We would have to wait for someone to come bend it back into position. We quickly started calling restaurants within walking distance to see where we could take our 17 antsy kids while this repair occurred. The conductor said that it hopefully wouldn't be more than an hour, but he couldn't guarantee anything. Yikes!!! The trolley's cool and all, but by this point the kids were pretty much over it. And it was still POURING down rain. Just as we were about to unload and walk over to Jillian's, we saw a train coming on the track next to us!!! This must mean that the arm was up!!! So we urged the conductor to call and see if it was all clear. He did, and sure enough he got the go-ahead to continue back to the station. Hallelujah!!!

When we finally made it back, we all invaded the pizza place next door and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

Parent Orientation

Last night Emily and I went to parent orientation at her school. The parents dropped their kids in the classrooms and then went to the gym to hear the principal for a few minutes. As I was walking down the hall to go back to her classroom, I could hear Emily's voice from several rooms away. I am amazed by how much this child is unlike me!!!! When I got in her classroom she was WILD!!! She was so loud, playing with all of the kids, doing a puppet show, and just trying to be the center of attention. She has Dave's personality so much that it's scary sometimes! I, on the other hand, wouldn't say a word in class until closer to 3rd grade!
In the 20 minutes that I was in the class with her, she knocked over the puppet theater twice and was told by the teachers countless times to use her "inside voice". My favorite was the comment that the assistant made to me-- "Emily really balances out the shy kids in the class well." HA!!! I have no doubts that Emily will do just fine adjusting to school. I'm just afraid of how many times we'll be called in to the principal's office!
There's a certain landmark on the way to school that Emily and I established a while back was our reminder to turn off the music and pray for whatever was going to happen at school that day. So last night when we passed that landmark, our prayer was that she would be a good friend and show God's love to the kids in her class that may not know Him. I was overjoyed when the teacher and assistant both came up to me to tell me what a great friend she was, how kind she was to the other students, and how she was so helpful to those that were a little more reserved. I can see that God's really going to use her in this school and that makes me so happy!
So now we're going to enjoy our final few days of summer before she heads to school next Wednesday :)

Playing Catch-up

Lexi spent the ENTIRE time at the bowling alley like this. I guess it was too loud for her...

Emily's first time bowling--she looks so grown up to me!
She insists on crossing her eyes every time I try to take her picture. She'll regret it one day when she looks back and can't find a single picture of herself when she was 5 and smiling :) Notice how she can move her eyes independently of each other--yuck!

Half of Emily's kindergarten class at a bowling party

Party at Chick Fil A

The Foursome

Emily and Dora


Emily at Carowinds

Daniel at Carowinds

After having our cable struck by lightning on Sunday (and out for 3 days), I've been feeling behind on everything. Bills to be paid, emails to be returned, but no internet--very frustrating for an internet junkie like myself!! Thankfully they came Tuesday night to replace the fried wires and were back on Wednesday doing more work on the cable. Now we just have to figure out if we can salvage our VCR, which also got fried.

Last Friday was Dave's last Friday off for the summer. We spent it at a school playdate for Emily, with her kindergarten teacher and some of her classmates. She loves these playdates so much that I know she'll enjoy school. She's getting very excited. I also love having the opportunity to talk more to her teacher and get to know other families from her class. I'm very thankful that they've had these playdates about 3 times a week this summer (although we haven't attended all of them).

On Saturday we headed to Carowinds for what may be our last water park trip for the season. We expected big crowds, but it was actually pretty empty. We had perfect weather and a great time. After all summer of Daniel fearing the water, he actually had a lot of fun this time.

Emily and Lexi have been RUTHLESS lately about leaving out Lainey due to her short hair. It's been this constant "Only girls with long hair are allowed to play here. Sorry Lainey" in our house. It's driving me NUTS! It's so mean, especially considering they're the ones that cut her hair!!! So on Sunday afternoon I took the girls and got Lexi and Emily short haircuts too! They still got off easier than Lainey, but at least everyone has short hair now so there isn't as much fighting. Every time they start to say something mean about Lainey's hair, I remind them that they have short hair too and it quickly stops. Girls can be so MEAN to each other!!!

Emily also had a birthday party this week for a classmate. He invited the new kindergarten class and 8 of the 16 were able to make it. We've already grown to love these families! Emily had a blast and was the 2nd highest scorer, just behind a big sister that also played.

So that about sums up what we've been up to. That and reading lots of books and magazines since we didn't have tv or internet :) Thanks to everyone that kept me abreast of current events while I was incommunicado.

Cinderella and Lainey's broken record

Our dinner conversation tonight:
Emily: Mommy, when you die who is going to be my step-mother?
Me: Well Emily you probably won't ever have a step-mother because for that to happen I'd first have to die and then Daddy would have to marry someone else.
Emily: Well I hope that when you die Daddy marries Grammie so she can be my stepmother.

Can you tell she's been reading Cinderella???
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I love this video of Lainey. By the end, I wanted to scream TWENTY!!!!!!!!!! She never did make it to twenty, but it's pretty cute :)

It gets different

It gets different. This is what so many mothers of older twins told me in those early days with Lexi and Lainey. Not "it gets easier" or "it gets better". Just "it gets different". There has never been a more true statement told to me about parenting. I vividly remember that faroff, nostalgic look that moms would get as they watched me with my baby twins, remembering those very difficult early days. As I hear of friends giving birth recently, I find myself with that same faroff, nostalgic look. I no longer have 3 in diapers. I no longer get up during the night to feed a baby. I'm no longer logging the last time somebody peed or pooped. But are things easier? Not really. Instead of rocking my babies to sleep in the evening, I'm breaking up pillow fights. In the twins' first month, we had to pack away all of Emily's hard toys and she was only allowed stuffed animals, because she had a love for throwing her toys at them (difficult transition for her). She still throws toys at them, but now they throw them back at her. Things are different. I no longer worry about how I'll love another baby. I now know that I can be deeply in love with 4 babies just as well as I can one baby. There was a time, not that long ago, that I felt like I hadn't slept in years. It's different now. Yesterday I slept in until 7:20, while the girls tiptoed downstairs and "cleaned" the kitchen. I think they used febreeze as their sole cleaning product, but it sure smelled fresh. They even fixed their own breakfast while I slept--scaling the shelves of the pantry and cabinets to get bowls and pour cereal and milk. Messy, but helpful. In exchange for the 11-hour nights I get from the girls, we have a full day without naps. That makes for a long day but a very restful night. I used to long for the day that we could take our kids to a restaurant and have a peaceful dinner. Now they all love eating out, but taking a family of 6 out to eat very often is hardly affordable. Emily used to get bored when our lives revolved around feeding babies and she watched a lot of tv. Now the girls' lives revolve around feeding "babies" and we go days, sometimes weeks, without turning on the tv. As they get older they find more creative ways to make mischief. Cutting mommy's magazines turns into cutting sister's hair. You go from begging them to talk to begging them to stop talking. So to all of my friends out there struggling with sleep deprivation, whining, or any other stage--remember, "It gets different"! I'm not holding out any hope that elementary aged, middle school, or high school will be easier, but I look forward to the differences along the way :)

Bayoon Jammies and Bear Bankie

I just had to document this for Lexi, because I'm trusting that she'll outgrow this obsession before too long. My Aunt Lynn sent Lexi these "bayoon jammies" (balloon jammies) at least a year and a half ago. I can't remember exactly when they were sent, but they're size 12-18 mos so it was a while ago, considering she's 3 now. Ever since the day she got them, she's insisted on wearing them every night. For about the first year she wanted to wear them all day too. Thank goodness we have 2 identical pairs and Lainey's not nearly as obsessed, so we always have clean bayoon jammies for Lexi. Her other funny obsession is her "bear bankie" that she's so attached to. This is a hooded towel. It's actually the towel that we used for Emily's first bath so I'm a little attached to it too :) But really, with all of the nice blankets she has, why the obsession with a towel?? It's not nearly as soft as her blankets, but she loves it! Goofy kid!

I actually overhead Emily talking to Lexi the other day, saying "Lexi, you know what I love about you? I love that you're so goofy." How sweet! I love that about Lexi too! Emily then said "I also love how your belly button sticks out when everybody else's goes in". :)

Bounce U Grand Opening

Emily bouncing
Lainey bouncing
Lainey, Dave, and Daniel going down a slide
Lexi taking care of Daniel

On Saturday we went up the the grand opening of Bounce U up near the Northlake Mall. They were having free admission, free pizza, and free sodas in celebration of their grand opening (quite a savings for this family of 6!). The thing that sets this place apart from Monkey Joe's is that they limit how many people can come at a time and take "reservations". So if you want to go on a certain day, you can make reservations online or by phone and you won't have to ever worry that it will be packed when you get there. It was really nice having so few kids bouncing and I never had to deal with my kids getting trampled. They will even make reservations for groups, like a preschool playdate, and you'll have the whole place to yourself (CMOMs is doing this later in the month). The drawback to this place, however, is that they don't have a "toddler zone" like Monkey Joe's does. So Daniel was too small to really do anything. Lucky for him, Lexi is terrified of inflatables so she took care of him the whole time :)

Family Fun Friday: Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC

Daniel and Lexi
Lexi and Lainey on the zoo train
Dave with a lorikeet
Emily
Emily feeding the birds
Lainey and Daniel at the aquarium
Lainey and Emily

On Friday we left at 7:30am to head down to Columbia, South Carolina for the zoo. We had the perfect day, as it was the first day in about 2 weeks that it stayed in the upper 80s. It felt downright cool at times! I guess that's what happens when you get used to 99....

We had the perfect zoo experience. We hit each thing at just the right time so that we were able to watch the sea lion show (feeding and tricks), the penguin show, and the diver show in the aquarium. The kids LOVED it! Daniel was in heaven, pointing and grunting at all of the animals. Because it wasn't too hot, all of the animals were awake and active. We also fed the lorikeets and rode the zoo train.

We finished up the perfect day by hitting the mall on the way home for Lexi to try to open cars, me to visit Gymboree, and we picked up Maggiano's carryout to take home for dinner. Such a fun day! Only one more Friday and then Dave's "summer vacation" is over and he goes back to working 5 days a week :( I've been SPOILED by these 3 day weekends!

He does this on purpose

I am convinced that Daniel is withholding the "MaMa" on purpose. I know he can say it, he's just trying to get a reaction out of me. Watch this little stinker shake his head then say "DaDa"!

Daniel versus The Branch

Never a dull moment around here. Today as soon as we got to playgroup at the park, Daniel started with this hacking cough. I was embarrassed, thinking what the other moms must have thought of me bringing my sick kid to playgroup so he could hack all over everybody. But I knew he wasn't sick and just couldn't figure out why he was coughing so much! Then mid-hack, Carainn says "He's got something in his throat!". She saw some sort of branch with leaves (Maybe something fern-like? That's what I'm picturing.). Well that would explain the sudden cough! So we tried and tried to gag him enough to make him throw it up, shoving my filthy fingers down his throat while he cried and looked at me wondering why I was torturing him. Carainn kept repeating that it was a pretty big piece of foliage so I was afraid it would get into his lungs or interfere with his breathing if I didn't get it out. I didn't have any luck getting it out but I served him lunch and he drank all of his milk, so I felt pretty sure that he had washed it down. I tried putting him down for his nap but he was still hacking so much that he couldn't sleep (Daniel? Not sleep? Something's definitely wrong!). By now it was 5 hours that he had been trying to get up this branch so I called the doctor and they wanted me to come right in. I just LOVE Dr. Smoak, but I'm starting to feel like I see more of him than of my husband. When the nurse told him why we were there, he pulled up his stool with a big smile on his face and enthusiastically said "I can't wait to hear this story!". After examining Daniel, he concluded that the cough and crying were because the branch/greenery had scratched Daniel's throat on the way down. He was pretty sure it wasn't in his lungs and didn't do an x-ray because, being "organic", the foliage probably wouldn't show up anyway. Daniel's throat was red (probably a combination of the branch and my finger jabbing at it!) so we're just giving him motrin if he's too fussy to sleep (which he's not anymore).
Then, I guess Emily swiped a lollipop from the doctor's office and saved it away in her room, because when I went in to break up their party at bedtime, she was lying in bed sucking on a lollipop! Stinker! She thought it was totally unfair that I wouldn't let her go to bed with a lollipop!

P.S. Thanks to Carainn and Marianne for helping me with Daniel. As you could tell from the way I was tipping his head back, I lost all memory of my first aid training :) Thanks for knowing what to do :)

Old Pictures

While trying to be productive today, I ran across these pictures and of course got sidetracked. I couldn't believe how much Daniel is looking like Dave! While I was scanning, I scanned an old one of myself too. Enjoy :)

Daniel's 18 months!

Daniel terrorizing dinner again
Daniel posing after Emily changed his diaper
Stealing some watermelon from his sisters

Today is the 6th, so we're all a month older, but specifically Daniel is 18 months today. I can't believe he's a year and a half! Here's a little bit about Daniel:

--He's not much of an eater. As a typical little brother, he thinks mealtimes are better used for terrorizing his sisters by climbing on the table and throwing their food to the dog. He's a smart little cookie and knows how to get a reaction. After a pep talk about eating with the pediatrician today, I was so proud when I thought he ate all of his chicken nuggets, mandarin oranges, and apple slices at lunch! I guess in all of the praising and hoopla I didn't hear the dog hacking, but sure enough she threw up whole dinosaur shaped nuggets, mandarin oranges, and apple slices. Daniel had thrown his entire lunch off his tray, the dog ate his entire lunch, threw up his entire lunch, then I cleaned it all up. Ahhh....it's a glamorous life!

--He's a big fan of sleeping. At 18 months, Daniel still sleeps 12-14 hours at night and takes 2 solid naps each day, about 2-3 hours each. So that's about 18-20 hours of sleep each day. It's nuts! They even checked him last month for leukemia and anemia because it just seemed excessive for his age, but everything checked out fine. He's just a sleeper. He'll probably be one of those teenage boys that sleeps all day.

--Daniel has 5 teeth--3 on top and 2 on bottom. There are several more ready to come through any day.

--Daniel still won't say "mama". But he has mastered "Dear Jesus". It's the cutest thing. We didn't teach it to him, he just picked it up because he mimics EVERYTHING (except Mama apparently). Before meals he'll fold his little hands and say "Dear Jesus" then open his eyes and smile. Such a cutie! His other words are "thank you" and "Dada". That's it. He hasn't continued "Dora" and that's probably a good thing because I was a little offended that it came before mama. :) Thankfully the pediatrician isn't worried AT ALL about the speech. He understands everything we tell him to do and she said that with a 4th born she wouldn't even consider speech therapy till long after the 2nd birthday. She said not to be worried even if he's not talking at 2. Whew!

Here are his stats from his 18 month doctor visit:

Weight: 22 pounds (5th percentile)

Height: 31 1/2 inches (25th percentile)

Head: 47 3/4 cm (50th percentile)

He was 20 pounds at a year so he's only gained 2 pounds in 6 months. The doctor wasn't too happy about that. We're continuing to give him instant breakfast shakes a couple of times each day to try to pack on the pounds :) But realistically, he just doesn't have the genes to be a football player-type. And Dave was thrilled this morning to see a NHL hockey player that was 5'5" tall--he says there's still hope for Daniel in the NHL!

Saturday

Chimney-sweep Lainey loves playing with eyeshadow :)
Lainey

Lexi doing her makeup
Emily likes to accentuate her eyebrows :)
Lexi
Loving sisters :)
Lainey doing her eyebrows

Lainey jumping in--I LOVE Lexi in her "I can't watch this" position!
Lexi still can't watch
Lainey and Megan
Lexi preferred to be safely suspended above the water :)
Emily being caught by Dave on the slide

Saturday was a good day. Dave flew home during the night so at 6:45 in the morning he was walking through the door with a box of Dunkin Donuts. I was SO happy to see him, and the donuts too :) The poor guy (I use this term loosely, considering he spent the last week having fun in Seattle while we were here surviving....) but anyway, the poor guy was so sleepy from being up all night on the plane. But we finished up our donuts and got ready for the pool so the girls could show him their newly acquired skills. They're each at a completely different comfort level now with the pool. My videos don't seem to be working, but Lainey is actually turning into a little fish! She will jump in over and over, go under water, and even went down the big red slide at the Baxter YMCA! Emily is getting much better with her swimming skills but still refuses to get her face wet. Lexi would rather sit on the side and do her nails. She has no interest in swimming. This is actually how she's always been--I have pictures of her when she was a year old sitting in her stroller at Carowinds while everyone else played. She just wanted to sit and look at books for hours in the hot stroller. If that makes her happy, it's one less child to watch in the water!!

Lainey did have a mishap that scared her off from the big slide--I guess she was too light because she couldn't stay in the seated position, it just flung her all over. She came down most of the slide headfirst on her back! The lifeguard had a pretty shocked and scared look on her face as we watched Lainey coming down like a torpedo but couldn't stop her. She went straight to the bottom of the pool when she came out of the slide but when I got her out she was such a trooper! She just said "I don't want to go back on that cary slide!". I'm so proud of Lainey for making such progress. It's rare in our family for one of the twins to be able to do something that Emily can't, and you could tell that jumping in really made Lainey feel good about herself. I'm just so proud of her!!! I hope now she's realized that she doesn't have to be limited by Emily's fears and she continues to think for herself and try new things :)

In the afternoon the girls did their FAVORITE activity--playing with makeup! They love to use eyeshadow the best :)