First Day of Preschool!

Well, the day finally came. Poor Allyson had to watch Nicole go to school for three days last week and she had to wait until today. She was so excited and, of course, didn't hesitate to run inside her classroom and get busy playing. So much for separation anxiety! Here these other kids were melting down and clinging to their parents. Mine was like, "See ya!" Ha Ha!

We took the usual in-front-of-the-house photo. And, as is her latest custom, Allyson felt the need to strike several poses for the occasion.

This is in front of her classroom.

And walking in...

I had to pry her away from a toy to "check in" with Mrs. Crabtree. 

When it was time to go the kids were still out on the playground.

Just snapped a picture as they were walking back in. 

She may not have cared when I dropped her off, but she was at least happy to see me pick her up!

Allyson's first, official school project! 

I'll let her tell you about it.

Okay, quick story. On this first day they only have class for one hour. That's so the kids can get accustomed to things. So, on preview day we had to sign up for either the 9:00 am or 10:15 am. It wasn't until I was about the pick her up after the 9:00 am class that I realized I had signed her up for the 10:15 on this day!! (From now on she'll go 9:00-11:30.) Fortunately, the teacher said it didn't matter.

And, in my rush to get out the door, I completely forgot my purse! Couldn't pay the preschool and, perhaps more important, didn't have a dime to treat Allyson to ice cream after her first day of school. Fortunately, I had her summer reading library coupon card which had a free frozen yogurt. So it all worked out. 

In my defense, Nicole had woke up twice in the middle of the night not feeling well so I hadn't had much sleep. That morning she was back and forth whether she was well enough for school so I ended up taking her later than usual, putting me behind getting Ally to school. This two-kid commute thing is going to be interesting! (BTW, Nicole was fine and hasn't felt sick since.)

Okay, so watch this kid strutting in to get some ice cream!

New Swing!

A long time ago some friends gave us a swing set. It was just an old metal one...nothing fancy... but since we didn't have a swing set we were happy to have it. Evidently, so were a bunch of wasps looking for a place to build their nest.

A couple of years ago, while swinging, Nicole was stung three times. It was horrible! Then, a couple of months ago Allyson was stung while swinging. Britt found a nest inside the seat! (It had a crack in it.) We decided to be done with this swing set. While at the Kids Across America camp earlier this summer, the girls fell in love with a tree swing.

Britt and I had talked about building one in our bag yard since we have plenty of trees! So, today he did!!

First he had to saw off some limbs

 Like his workshop? 

Look who has her hands on Daddy's tools 

The girls had fun working with Daddy.

Adding the seats!

The girls love it!!

Preschool Preview

Allyson's school has a couple of days where the classrooms are open for kids to come in and take a look. Mrs. Crabtree wasn't there but she had little activities set up for the kids to do.

I wanted to get a picture of Allyson standing by the door. She immediately went into her ballet poses. :)

Finally... just a smile. :) 

One of the activities was to draw a picture of herself and tell a few quick facts.

This was her picture. She said her favorite food is pizza but I had to add in that she loves sweets. Just like Nana. Well, just like everyone in our family! 

Speaking of sweets, there were some Skittles on a table. She was to try each color and record which one was her favorite. 

She picked red. And even helped wrote her name by herself (with a little help).

Then she got to decorate the letters of her name. We put magnets on the back and hung the letters on the fridge when we got home. 

On the refrigerator

These are just pictures of her classroom.  

She liked the kitchen with the dollies. 

Girl Shopping

Tonight the girls and I went shopping at the mall. For many people shopping with kids is excruciating.  And while there are times I prefer shopping alone, with the amazing kids I have, bringing them along usually brings more laughter than anything else. 

We stopped by Old Navy where the girls made friends with the mannequins who are there to greet customers at the front. In fact, they are thoughtful enough to have mannequins of various height so everyone feels welcome. Allyson and Nicole made friends with "little girls" just their size.

Feel free to eavesdrop on the conversation about going to school: 

(Normally the child's hair would have been done but I had to wake her up to go get Nicole from school and her clip had fallen out before I realized it. So she looks a bit disheveled. But, the mannequin doesn't seem to mind bit. Wish we could have borrowed one of those hair bows!)

Then we stopped by the Verizon counter. I think Allyson wanted to call her friend at Old Navy.

Then we were off to Gymboree. It had been a busy day for the lady working. She really enjoyed Allyson who made her laugh by posing in the store window. And I do mean posing! In fact, the employee was the one who had Ally put on the hat and stood out there with me while I took pictures!

Look who's three!

After Gymboree we went to Children's Place. Nicole found a dress she thought fit "just right." Uh, maybe in three or four years, lol. 

And Allyson has been backpack shopping. She let me know this one was definitely not too big. What do you think? (If you can't see her, she's behind the big purple backpack.)

Oh, and, "Mommy, look at this!"  And she's holding up a witch's costume.

The girls had been great the entire time but began to feel a little too much freedom. After hearing her say, "Beat ya" to Nicole, I turned to see her start to take off running down an aisle. Yeah, that move led to this little "time out" while Mom paid for the clothes. 

(I know... the floor was probably not the cleanest choice.)

Minor infractions aside, we had a great time girl-shopping!