Artist's Reception

 

Corinne is doing great in kindergarten. We are so pleased with her school and her teacher has been awesome. It has been such a wonderful start to the year and to her idea of real-deal "school" and what it's all about in an elementary building. Sure, she's tired and starving when she arrives home (and not all that pleasant lots of days). We know there will be bumps along the way. But we couldn't have asked for a better situation. Just recently the art teacher at her school was asked to select a handful of art pieces from grades K-4 to be part of an art exhibit on display at the Board of Education Office. One of Corinne's pieces of artwork entitled "Traveling Lines" was chosen for this district honor. The school district held a special Artist's Reception for the artists and their families to come and view their pieces on display. It was fabulous! Corinne's artwork is the one just above her head in this photo. I'm not sure where she gets her artistic ability...I'm almost positive it is not from Brett or myself! However both of my sisters seem to be talented in this area. Thank goodness for them!

Harvest Moon Festival

We had a great time at the Harvest Moon Festival which was held at a park in our neighborhood. It was incredibly well organized and we ran into friends from school, church and our neighborhood all night long. The kids had a blast riding ponies, painting pumpkins, roasting s'mores, taking a hayride, playing on the playground and much more. Luckily we got there just after the rain and left just before. Perfect! The only bummer: C wanted to get her face painted SO badly. But even that worked out okay because with the rain that started falling as we hurried to our car it would have been on her shirt instead of her face anyway. (E smiling while she painted her pumpkin and S on the pony)

Just Because

Life is full these days! I feel like we are getting into a school year routine lately. But just because it's a routine doesn't mean it is any less busy. I'm finding it is harder to get time to update the blog and equally difficult to remember to take pictures so that I have new material to post. Here is a recent picture of Ellen (left) and Sophie (right) from a walk we took in the cemetary near our house. Fittingly these are their two most favorite and frequently worn dresses. (I'm not sure what we'll do when they can no longer wear them this fall and winter) The girls are in a new phase of picking out all of their own clothes to wear each day and also getting dressed completely by themselves. It's quite nice, actually! Ellen's speech has become much more complex in the last month or two and Sophie has also begun to show tons of growth. It is fun to hear them chatter and explain themselves. They will still call each other Toddy (or Todd for short) sometimes, but they have both grown up so much lately that I can hardly believe that it's Ellen and Sophie wearing back packs and riding scooters now! 

Off to Pre-School

                                                                          Sophie

                                                                           Ellen

The girls started pre-school this week! They did really well, terrific actually! I think it must help that they have each other. Their teachers were also their cousin's teachers last year and E & S love knowing that, too. Plus on top of all of that they've been taking C to pre-school for two years, and now to the bus stop every day for kindergarten, so I think they have been comfortable with the idea of school for quite a while now. I'm excited for them and I truly think school is going to be such a fantastic place for them to grow and learn.

Not-so-quiet-time

Naps for Ellen and Sophie are pretty much a distant memory at this point. I've tried all different things this summer and I think we finally landed on "quiet time" in the girls' room...together (because when I separate them they end up in the same room anyway, and I've learned to pick my battles for the sake of sanity). But this is a very familiar scene when I go to get the girls at the end of quiet time. If you're wondering what is littering the floor, it is Ellen and Sophie's (clean!) underpants. They are obsessed with them because they are, of course, princess underpants. They neatly line them all up and they have a very precise system. One row is Sophie's and one row is Ellen's. They of course know this--I do not always know whose are whose all the time. My mom says that keeping your sense of humor while you raise your kids is key. Brett and I have adopted that and try to remind one another on our craziest days! Make that: he reminds me on my craziest days :)

Off to Kindergarten

Wow. She did great! Corinne was excited this morning. I wasn't sure how the bus part would go... that was the thing Corinne was both nervous about and fascinated by. In talking through it the last few days she told me she was nervous about where to sit. We talked about it, made a plan, and she was ready for the bus to come get her and ready to sit with a friendly face. Surprise! When it came today she was the first one on the bus and chose to sit right behind the smiling lady bus driver. Hopefully some friendly faces joined her en route to school. I am so proud of Corinne. It was certainly a little emotional watching the bus drive away with my sweet girl, but I am so excited for her and looking forward to a fantastic year of kindergarten. What a big girl!

Backyard Balance Beams

Brett recently constructed two balance beams for the girls in the backyard. They love them and I think they will be a big hit with the kids who also come over to play in our yard. One is even a bit higher than the other, to allow for different skill level of course. I love it! (E walking across)

Chalk Drawing

If you know Corinne then you know she loves to draw pictures -- very detailed ones-- of people all the time. Truly, she will sit and draw picture after picture some days. She adds eye lashes, jewelry, hair barrettes, and high heeled shoes. Tutus, too. Lots of times she draws someone sitting at a desk or walking up stairs or doing ballet or running. The other morning the girls and I traced each other on the driveway and then Corinne decided to add dresses and shoes and bracelets for Ellen and Sophie's outlines (foreground). By the time she got to her own outline she was low on chalk and just settled for doing ballet shoes. But she did add stairs and a door and a few other miscellaneous details. I find it all so interesting to watch her in action. Thanks to C's interest in drawing, E and S have taken such a keen interest in coloring and all three can be quite content keeping busy this way for a long period of time.

Corinne Time

Kindergarten starts next week for Corinne. Yellow Bus and all. Hard to believe! I've taken her out for two dates in the past two weeks just to spend a little time with her by herself. Things have been a little nuts here at home with the stomach flu making its way through all three girls and then just the usual antics and schedules and busy-ness of life. Corinne and I have enjoyed our time out together and I've seen a noticeable change in C's countenance leading up to, during, and after our dates. We even went to my hair salon and got haircuts together with my stylist. We spent a few hours at Glenwood Gardens/Highfield Discovery one day, too...Corinne's pick. It's helped me realize that I/we need to be more mindful of getting C out by herself, and the other girls, as well. Our school schedule is going to change our routine quite a bit since C was assigned to afternoon kindergarten, but I actually think the shake-up will be refreshing and a good change for all of us. I'm looking forward to a great school year for all three girls.

Models

 Maybe we could make a little extra money off this somehow?! We haven't been to Old Navy in quite some time but every time we go the girls are so captivated by the mannequins. They pointed to a tall slender one dressed in cute clothes and named it Mommy. If only I was that tall and slender!! All the employees thought they were so cute standing amongst the mannequins. Maybe we could get them a job being real life mannequins or something. They certainly had to be torn away and would have stood there with them a lot longer. (And I do have to give credit where it's due: my friend Lauren posted something similar about her kids a while back...so funny!)