I'm not sure that you can see the extent to which my issuing approval to get a little bit dirty led Annie but needless to say she had a half hour shower to get clean after this little romp!
Lizzie is going to have quite a shock when she gets to school and realizes that she is not allowed to strip down to her underwear at the slightest provocation - like when she gets too warm!
She is kind of adorable so it's hard to find anything wrong with her penchant for nakedness!
We have found a wonderful woman in Hartford who braids Ellie's hair exactly like we love it - it looks cute and stays in for weeks at a time. We were going to do red, white and blue to match her uniform but we couldn't find red beads!
Ellie and Lizzie both love the sound that the beads make when she moves her head back and forth!
Our happy twins with one more day left before school starts!
With 36 hours before the first day of school Annie started throwing up and we feared we might have a stomach bug in the house. She was miserable and took a five hour nap but it turned out we think she ate something bad. She defintely was pretty sick there for a while!
And then the big kids came back from the beachhouse and all was right with the world! Annie got her color back and started eating some crackers!
She's back with 24 hours to recover before the first day of kindergarten!
The little climbed into bed with us on Sunday mornign and fell back asleep.
We call this "the uniform dance". The girls were so excited to try all of their uniforms on in preparation for school the next day!
Sister hugs - I love these girls!
Our Annual "Night before school talent and fashion show"!
Fashion show to show Daddy their brand new school shoes!
Annie Bananie posing for Mama in a dance costume!
Elizabeth strikes a pose for Mama during the fashion show - they had so much fun.
Our girls ready for school to start! Uniforms - Check, Shoes - check, school supplies - check, backpacks - check, Beautiful first day of school smiles - check!
Our living room cubbies courtesy of Auntie Kake - the name tags are to keep us all on track and keep the living room neat!
My kitchen organization corner - calendars, extracurricular activity information, hanging folders for each kid for permission slips etc. So far it's working great!
The night before the first day of school the littles helped me pack lunches for all five kids in their "Laptop Lunchboxes". these are great little lunchboxes that help with portion control and also reduce the amount of waste we produce with our lunches. Molly estimated that we used 1,000 less plastic baggies with these lunchboxes last year and it saves money because we can buy yogurt, applesauce and other things in bulk. I have to confess the amount of dishes at the end of the day can be daunting but its worth it!
Packing lunches the night before school allows me to save some time for dressing and hair in the mornings but it takes up quite a bit of refrigerator space.
The little girls also made pictures for their teachers before bed - they were very excited to use markers!
Our special breakfast of champions - fruit smoothies and whole wheat blueberry muffins with cinnamon topping. They were a huge hit!
We started the school year off with a 6am wake up call so we could all be in the car by 7:30 and on our way to school a little early. At 7a.m. we were sitting around waiting for it to be time for school so we will probably bump it back a bit. Our sleepy girls were all so excited for their first day of school!
The three littles in their matching uniforms - they were so happy to be heading out to school!
First day of school hugs!
I love this one - it was 6:30 am and they could not be happier to be awake and heading to school!
Big sister Molly and her little sisters! Molly was so positive and affirming with the girls - telling them all of the things they were going to love about school and their teachers. Molly helped them all get dressed and assured them that she would be right down the hall if they needed her - she was the perfect big sister - as usual!
You may wonder where Pete is during all of this - as it turns out the one boy in the family took four times as long as the four girls to get ready!
Backpacks on and ready for the day to begin - now if only time would go by so we could leave for school!
The perfect first day of school - not only were they headed out and excited but they got to use their umbrellas! The littles even risked getting their new shoes wet so i could get a picture of them.
And here it is - my five beautiful children, all dressed in their uniforms, backpacks on, school supplies set and ready to take on the world!!! Poor Molly got slightly car sick on the way to school but she managed to feel better when we got to the gym and found her friends.
This was a bittersweet moment for me. After years of carrying babies on my hip into Noah Webster to drop off the big kids I am now sending off all of my babies to be cared for by someone else. When Molly started kindergarten at Noah Webster I was days away from delivering Annie - it seems like just yesterday. I can't believe the sweet personalities that the littles have developed - how different they each are yet how seamlessly they gravitate towards each other.
Daddy and the twins heading into school for the first day. I love this picture because it just reminds me of how lucky we all are to have Bob. When I was up at 2am the night before school started with anxiety over different things it was Bob who kept reminding me about how strong and bold our children are. It was Bob who crawled out of bed to pray over each child once more with me. On the way to school he sang silly songs with the kids, told ridiculous jokes and reminded all of the kids about the most important rule when you go to school - "what happens at home stays at home!!" Our kids have been known to give away some family secrets!
Molly could not have been happier to see Rajiah and Edlira when we got to the gym to line up. Annie had already found her teacher with Bob and fearing she might be ready to cling to us Bob made a quick escape. Ms. Dorsey is the perfect teacher for Annie and this is how she described her - "She's pretty like a princess with a soft voice and brown hair and she gigles when she laughs!"
When we walked into the gym Annie's teacher from last year spent a good ten minutes talking to Lizzie believing that she was talking to Annie - it was hysterical to see her face when we pointed to Annie! It turns out Ellie has Mrs. Careiro this year and despite my best efforts just wanted to go straight up with her teacher and not wait for us. I did sneak in and take a picture of her on the carpet but she wanted nothing to do with us once she was in school - she could not have been happier!
That left Elizabeth - our sweet, emotional girl who has never been to school before. She put on a braave face while we got her nametag, colored with a quivering lip and then lost in when the teacher said the moms were going to leave!
My sweet buttercup coloring at the color table! She was trying so hard to be brave but she was very nervous!
Those precious hands - I just love them!
My poor baby starting to lose it. She cried a bit for her sister - I really think she thought everyone would change their minds and let them be together but she could not get used to the idea of not being with Ellie. They promised her that she could walk over and see molly and Peter around lunchtime and that just got her crying more!
Begging daddy and i not to leave. After about 20 minutes we made the break and left her sobbing. 2 minutes later we peaked in and she was laughing and playing with her new friend - Elizabeth! All of my kids had moments of nervousness on their first days of school but none was as pathetic as Lizzies. She was trying so hard to be brave and she just could not keep it together. Years and years of making fun of moms cry in the hallways after leaving their kids at preschool came back to bite me in the butt when I cried in Bob's arms after leaving her!
Peter was last to get dropped off because he was absolutely NOT going to 6th grade. We had been told that he had a certain teacher who he has waited for 6 years to get and then for some reason they changed his teacher. He was very disappointed and for whatever reason felt very betrayed by the principal. Miss Politi is young and fun and the kids all love her so I understood his anxiety but I also think for Peter it is so much easier if he prepares himself. This was a very difficult thing for him to handle. In the end he did great but is still begging me to change his teacher.
Ellie Bean is on the carpet and ready for some fun learning! She could not have been happier with her teacher and her class. I have to admit it was hard for me to see only one of the girls get Mrs. Cariero - she is so kind and loving with the kids and Lizzie really could have used that today but in the end I know everyone will do just great!
Bob and I celebrated by grabbing a quick breakfast and talking about the morning! We are moving onto a whole new stage of life with school kids and although we both love it and all the freedom it will bring we still miss the babies that snuggled in our arms and the toddlers who dpended on us for their entire education! When the kids came home this afternoon we all sat around in the living room talking about the day. It was perfect and I can't wait until we are in a routine again!
GNM - ILY!
