Molly's first week with Sam at Kindergarten

Day 2
Let me preface this by saying that Molly has not napped more than about 1 day a week in about a year, since school started she has been napping. everyday. This is very perplexing to me, but it has been really good for her, and me :) At least she stacked them up nicely.
Day 3
ok, so I said she has been napping, I did NOT say that she was super good prior to falling asleep. There are a few things that have been occurring during nap time. Like for instance as in the picture above, she, yet again opened the blind all the way. But, she was sound asleep, with several of the Elmos out and about. Another thing that she has been doing lately is remove all of her clothing (except for her undies thankfully) before she falls asleep. Who knows why? She then stuffs them behind her bed (which is really easy to get to ha)
I am not sure what she was thinking here: she found my stash of baby wipes, unwrapped the plastic covering, and then proceeded to pull out a bunch of the wipes. When I asked why she said it was because she liked wipes. huh?!Day 5
Those are minor little things though compared to this...She was opening the blind (I believe) and since I was getting smarter (so I thought) I pulled the blind string up and over the curtain rod so she could not open the blind. She has been working hard and for a long time on this one. She explained how the stacked up some of her things (Elmo and blanket) and jumped to get it. And down it came... But that did not stop her--- the curtain rod might have fallen, but that only made it easier to pull open the blind. grrr. She knew she was in trouble, she instantly did this once I came into the room and asked her what had happened.because you see, If the blanket is over her head I will never know that she is there.


Have I mentioned how incredibly good she has been lately?! Well, at least her attitude and emotions are better... This is the worse she has been, honestly

Sam's at school, what do the girls do?

I knew it not only was going to be hard on me to have Sam gone, but hard on Molly as well. She loves having her brother around, she enjoys mimicking him, doing what he does, you know, pestering him. So, I just knew she would be horrible with him gone. She and I had a good time on Monday, the first day of school. It was as though a switch turned off on Molly. I have never seen her like this before. She was happy, giggly, sweet, helpful, she listened, she minded and did I say no whining, no crying at all that day? or the next? or the day after that? I have never seen this side of Molly before. This has been the best she has ever been, in her whole 3 years! Though it is sad to have Sam gone all day, it has been nice to get to know this sweet little girl!!
Joy, Surprise are the emotions here:

JOY:great happiness, pleasure
I AM so happy about this change in my sweet Molly's personality

SURPRISE: something amazing; state of amazement
I am so amazed by this new attitude I see in Molly

We did manage to do a few fun things that first week. Molly loves PINK (almost as much as she loves ELMO) and all things 'girly' so, what better to do than to paint our toenails... she LOVED it! We have since gone to toe and fingernails, and a much brighter pink! what can I say?! She has been really, really good!
We also have enjoyed going out and about and doing errands etc. Have I mentioned she is girly and a little bit 'deva-ish?'. She has rediscovered the sippy cup. Who knows why, but she has decided she needs it with her, at all times. She loves to keep her shades atop her head, her necklaces become more than just an accessory.Oh what do we have in store when she is 13?! But i do have to admit, she sure is a cute diva :)

deals around town

Kids eat FREE at Chili’s on Monday, October 10th. You can get up to 2 FREE kids meals per adult entree purchase with this coupon. (They will likely release a coupon on Tuesday and Wednesday too. Make sure you have signed up for the eClub so you receive these offers in your inbox.)

The Children’s Place is offering up 20% off through October 31st… just use the coupon code D2F2011 during checkout. In addition, they are offering up FREE shipping on every purchase (no minimum and no coupon code needed!). Combine these offers with the Columbus Day Sale (with items discounted up to 75% prices!)

kindergarten--it came, it went, it is still going

Wow! that last post took a little deeper turn than I had anticipated... here are some pictures of that glorious first week:
Sam got to meet his school's name sake that first morning--- I know he has no idea what that means, but it was cool to get her picture with him none the less.

I did not want the memory from Sam's first day of school to be the traditional picture of him standing outside, book bag in hand with a big goofy/cheesy grin on his face. I had seen somewhere that you are suppose to take candid shots all that morning and pick the best one as the memory. We are not morning people. We do not get going easily. We do not usually wake up early enough to have time to spare in the mornings. This being said, there were no real good "candid" opportunities. (unless us rushing around, half crazy like is good candid ) We make it all the way to school, still no candid shots, I realize this, and I know that I would not be able to live with myself if i did not have a shot of my son on his first day of school. It is close to time to start, so what do I do? What any other cool mom does who wants a non-posed, beautifully candid shot of her first child's first day of school... and sit him on the bench outside of his classroom and holler "say cheese". and that my friends is how you end up with THIS as your son's cool candid memory:

I wanted to capture it all (I am getting older you know) so that when Sam asks me about his first day I can actually remember it. So I thought i would tape his wake-up call:

if you can not see it you can go HERE

and then take a picture of what he looked like when he got home from that first day:
I had an excited jumpy little boy on video when he got home, but he has his name tag on and I did not want to display that :)

Why stop at the first day? This is before school on day 2
Before school on day 3: check out that energy at 7 am!!!





But wait... what happened? this is after school day 3... could it be? my wild and crazy boy asleep on the floor? he was so exhausted, he fell asleep with the window open, playing with his toys.poor boy, he was exhausted!!! I am so glad he gave in and just took a nap.Apparently he did not finish out the week, as I have absolutely no pictures of day 4 or 5?! Not sure what happened, I was on a role. Sorry Sam, I did have a good start though.

I blinked

Whew... wow, as "they" say, be sure to enjoy them, as they are they will be gone in the blink of an eye. Let me just tell you, I have been doing everything to keep my eyes open, but it has been to no avail, I eventually had to blink and here we are... Sam's first day of KINDERGARTEN. I can not tell you the range of emotions that have occurred over the thought of my baby going away to kindergarten:
Joy, sadness, anticipation... I am sure there are more, but this is a good start.

JOY: great happiness, pleasure

I am so happy that Sam gets to be a part of this great adventure. I can not wait to hear about his fun-filled days, the excitement of meeting new people and obtaining new friends, the pleasure in seeing the light bulb turn on as he understands new ideas and concepts.

SADNESS:unhappiness, depression

I am unhappy that my sweet, innocent and naive little boy will be exposed to this cruel world, a place of unfriendly people and a different set of morals and values. (can't think that I am depressed)

ANTICIPATION: enthusiasm, anxiousness

I am anxious, though very enthusiastic about Sam entering this new phase in his life.

Sam was very excited about the idea of starting school. He has been asking to go since he turned 5 (when we told him that was the age he had to be to go to school). He was all set and ready to go until we actually went. We were able to meet his teacher (the coolest teacher in the school) and see his class room the Friday night before classes started. To say he was apprehensive is an understatement. His eyes were wide, he walked into the room slowly, he stayed very close to either Kirk or me... and then he met her... his teacher... she talked to him, on his level about things having nothing to do with school, things to get his mind off of the stressful situation and make him more at ease. He pulled up his shirt- twisting it all the way (very unusual for him) but his wonderful teacher made him feel at ease, made him relax. (didn't I say she was awesome??!!) This simple task made me feel much more at ease as well. I am handing off my precious gift to a complete stranger, now, I feel much more relieved, my baby is going to be in good hands.


All that to say, it came, the day we had been expecting for years, the day to show my little boy the world around him without the protection of his parents. We were able to take him to his classroom that first Monday morning. I was strong, I did not cry, I was a little in shock actually. The whole thing was easy and seamless. He walked right in as though he owned the place. He was confident, smiling, ready to start the day as though he had been there many times before. I gave him a hug and a kiss, he reciprocated, but was ready to have fun. without me. with his new friends, new world, new adventures. I just walked out, I knew I could not turn and look back. I knew he was going to be fine. I made it to the sidewalk, I did hold it together pretty well, only a couple of tears made their way out of my eyes. You see, I blinked. again... what will it be like when he goes off to college? Nope, he can't, therefore I will do whatever it takes to keep my eyes pried open.

what a summer...

This has been one eventful summer. I apologize for not keeping up with the postings, I do hope to catch you all up on our lives over the next week. I will do my best to capture all of our hi-lights, but I can not promise that they will all be in order. It has been busy and a myriad of emotions have been felt. I am hoping to utilize them all in my posts... so stay tuned :)

Joy	Sadness
Trust	Disgust
Fear	Anger
Surprise	Anticipation
Sadness	Joy
Disgust	Trust
Anger	Fear
Anticipation	Surprise