8 Days Before Kindergarten

The rhyme:



POTD 8/31/10: So I, in my craziness, got out Mod Podge with my two small children, and let them go with it. I helped--a lot--but Leiden did a large portion of the project. Surprisingly enough, she actually lasted for the whole thing, too. My initial plan was to cover the whole box, but decided, wisely, that the top was entirely enough.

The completed box...got the box at IKEA--actually a set of two boxes this size for 8 bucks. (It's large, something like 13 by 20 or something.) We'll put in all her stuff from Kindergarten and at the end of the year go back through it and weed out. I will remember to date everything.

Miriam 8/31/10: She's been sad, lately. I'm thinking it's teeth, but I can't feel anything. I also think separation anxiety is starting. She'll start screaming if you even turn your back on her. Oy.

9 Days Before Kindergarten

The rhyme:



POTD 8/30/10: So we took our picnic dinner to the playground at Leiden's elementary. It was fun for the girls to play, and hopefully Leiden will be at ease there with all the other kids.

This one is SOOOOO messy! You can't see it, but her hair has chocolate in it, and it's all over her hands. At this point she was pouring lemonade from one cup to another. Awesome.

Miriam 8/30/10: Mimi ventured out onto the tile floor today. She is always put down on the floor in the room to the right of this picture. I heard her from the other side and there she was!

10 Days Before Kindergarten

The rhyme:



We gave all the school supplies to her in gift form.



POTD 8/29/10: Reading the card...she is super good at reading these days!



Digging in:



Why do I need so many crayons? Because you'll use them a lot.



Miriam 8-29-10: Mimi was hanging out while Leiden opened her school supplies, chewing on her mirror. And evidently a little surprised at having her picture taken. ?



The rest of the day was church and then outside to the deck for dinner. We laid out a huge blanket for Mimi to lay on, and of course she scooted off it.

Sadly, she got a couple slivers in her knees for her trouble. She didn't seem to mind.

This was dinner---grilled pizza. Seriously, if you have a grill, you must try this. It much more closely approximates the hot hot ovens used at pizza places than your standard oven at home. There's a little trickery involved, flipping the crust, not burning it, etc., but it tastes wonderful! Olives, diced tomatoes, basil, roasted red peppers and tomato sauce. Delish.

This was just a cute one of the girls playing with Brad's phone.

11 Days Before Kindergarten

Here's today's rhyme:



POTD 8/28/10: We headed out to Old Navy, and after much deliberation, Leiden finally decided upon an outfit for the first day. Not necessarily what I would have chosen for her, but that was the point. We'll see if she actually wears it! She was remarkably opinionated about the clothing, and finally figured out that I really wanted to know if she liked something. She doesn't always like the stuff I pick out for her, so I wanted it to be her choice before I spent anything. We didn't actually get any pictures of the clothing itself...



And, we forgot Mimi's picture today.

12 Days Before Kindergarten

Leiden starts Kindergarten in 12 days. Holy smokes. She is growing up. Well, since I never quite know what's going on in her head, I decided to make sure she knows that this is an exciting thing, and nothing to be worried about. My way of doing this? Celebrating the 12 Days Before Kindergarten.



Here was today's card...way cute glitter chipboard numbers came from here.



The inside of today's card: (no making fun of the rhymes--I wrote them myself.)



We didn't actually get to the chain making until later in the evening. So those pics are below. This morning and afternoon were spent at Elm Creek Park Reserve at their man made lake. I'm going to try to get in lots of activities before school starts and we're stuck at home most of the time.



Miriam 8/27/10: Mimi enjoyed being at the lake while the wind blew her hair. Until the wind blew sand in her face. Then she wasn't so happy.




POTD 8/27/10: I'm trying to get Leiden to practice writing lower case letters. She really really wants to write upper case, so I drummed up some practice with the days of the week written on each link of the chain. Look at those words!!



Here she is with the finished chain. The first link will come off at bedtime tonight.



The day ended with a surprise gift from Grandma--books! and a letter from Grandma that she read all by herself. She is going to love Kindergarten. I hope.



And then randomly, not really part of the above, POTD 8/26/10: Leiden's finally getting the hang of her little jumping toy. The little bee swings around and you jump over it as it comes to you. She's had it since her birthday, but has recently been playing with it more.



And Miriam 8/26/10: She is getting fast on her little tummy! I missed it, but when I first came into the room, she was just getting ready to tip over the bin with all the baby toys. We've got to clear her a path!

Scooter

Here's the proof...nothing is safe.

And We're Caught Up

Miriam 8/21/10: She moved right before I took the picture. When I went in the first time after her nap, she was wedged into the corner. Her body was flush with the side and her head was cranked back at almost a 90 degree angle, flush with the head of the crib. Didn't seem comfy at all, but there you go.



We are getting rid of our pool! As I mentioned before, the girls are not as interested as we thought they'd be, so we'd rather have a giant garden and shed there. Not to mention getting rid of the liability. Brad was pumping the water out of the pool onto the driveway and Mac thought that was great.



POTD 8/21/10: Here is the pool, being emptied. It actually took a really long time to empty.



I have to be represented here on the blog somehow, since I'm always the one behind the camera. I was actually just curious as to whether the camera could catch my image on the sliding glass door as well as my eyes could. Not quite as well, but pretty good.



POTD 8/22/10: We finally found some patio furniture that was reasonably priced. We took advantage of the end of summer sales, and the girls were thrilled to eat out there. They ate Sunday breakfast out there after Brad put it together. Does putting it together break the Sabbath? Hope not, but probably a little.



Miriam 8/22/10: We ate dinner out there (as well as lunch) and Mimi was happy to be outside. Somehow she's calmer outside.




This is what Mac does when she's gotten her binky out of her bed and has it in her mouth. (That's a no-no.) Somehow she thinks I'm not going to know she has her binky if she covers her mouth. I was not born yesterday.



POTD 8/23/10: HUGE day for Leiden--and for me! She finally is able to strap herself in. Something clicked (if you'll pardon the pun), and she can finally do it herself, which means I don't have to half climb in the car every time. Now I just have to reach in and give it a tug to check it.

POTD 8/24/10: Made bread today, for the first time in about 6 months. I was making it regularly before Meems came, and finally did it again. The wheat grinder, although touted as the quietest on the market, had all three kids screaming and crying when I turned it on. I guess the wheat flour blasting the girls faces out of the broken connection between the grinder and the bin could have had something to do with it, too.

Miriam 8/24/10:

POTD and Miriam 8/25/10: Mimi started scooting today! Woot! Or maybe not woot. The house is still in a lot of disorder, which means lots of things in her way that she should not have. She has to have great temptation to move, but random moving for the fun of it is only days/weeks away. I've got to get my act together.

I'll put some video in a separate post.