Ofishaly

Last week I purchased a dry erase board to hang on the fridge. I am trying to still figure out this whole "I have a kid in school all day" thing.. and how I can keep track of chores and shopping needs, etc. I thought I would try this...

Anyhooo... it has been on the kitchen table waiting for me to hang it up  and the kids have enjoyed doodling on it periodically.

Until the other day. When I left a sharpie out on the counter next to it.

You can probably figure out what happened next.

Poor Evelyn was drawing a castle scene and started coloring in the windows with the sharpie. I turned around and saw this and  stopped her immediately. But the damage was done.

She was so upset and felt terrible. I wasn't upset.. it was mostly my fault for leaving the sharpie out. And really... I think many of us can say we at one point in our life have done the same thing. I was calm and offered her grace, but she just was so sorry and sad about it. We got passed the tears and went to the basement to play. Soon after, Evelyn said she needed to go upstairs and do something. I didn't think much of it and Matthew and I continued playing. I then realized that about 20 minutes had gone by and I hadn't seen or heard Evelyn. So I went up to investigate.

I found her in the kitchen, beaming with pride and accomplishment. And I saw this:

She had been upstairs working diligently to get the sharpie off the dry erase board.. and succeeded! It was truly clean as a whistle. Bless her heart!

Don't worry.. the cute note was written with a dry eraser marker! 

And I was "ofishaly" proud and thankful for her, too!!

Parade Day!

The first Saturday of September can only mean one thing... PARADE DAY!! Our fair city puts on a great celebration parade and it is one of the highlights of the kids' year. It was a lovely morning and a fun time was had by all.

It was also game day for the Ducks. The hat Matthew is wearing was one of my dad's favorites. It's way too big for him, but Matthew was insistent on wearing it! Brought a tear to my eye and smile to my heart for sure!

Not to be outdone, Evelyn wore one of her tiaras (yes, she has several!). We got a great spot on the parade route and set up our chairs to enjoy the festivities.

She wore mittens for full effect. Or something...

Waving to everyone.. let's just say the got LOTS of candy!

Lots of fun entries to keep us entertained

Hailey!! My friend (since 9th grade!) Sallee's daughter won a state wide free throw competition and got to go to Indiana for nationals! She got to be on a float.. so cool! We are proud of her and her dedication to hard work!

Another fun year at the parade.... another year thankful to live in Beaverton!

First Grade

First Day. First Grade. Done. I am not sure who is more tired, me or Evelyn! This has been such an emotional time for me. Lots and lots of tears shed by this momma over this milestone.. for many reasons, some of which I still am trying to uncover. I will save that for another post, another day. You're welcome! HA!

Evelyn woke up at 6am and came bounding downstairs, "Its the first day of school! It's the first day of school!" She was so excited.. it was so great to see, although she has been excited all summer (it's me who has had the issues!). Since she was up so early her and Doug (who took the day off) watched a "Sophia the First" show (her favorite). Her and Matthew even got a chance to play a bit too. We got breakfast and got dressed, got her lunch and backpack.. and off we went. After a few pictures of course!

 I found she had her clothes all laid out on her bed when I went to do exactly that. She was ready!

 

If I look like I have been crying, well..... ;)

Daddy was a little misty, too!! :)

Bad pic of Mrs. Beltran's treats, but it's cookies with a note saying, "With you as my teacher I will be one smart cookie!". Thank you Pinterest!

She looked so big and so cute in her outfit. She picked it out and also picked how she wanted to do her hair. And she thinks her lunchbox is the coolest thing ever!

"I Wuv You Sissa. Have a good day ah shool!"  Unprompted. Yep. Tears flowed.  He is gonna miss her!

My favorite shot of the day. My big girl!

 

She was all excited on our walk to school, but got really quiet and clingy once we got to her classroom. At one point we were getting ready to leave and she squeezed my hand tight. I asked her quietly if she wanted me to stay a bit longer, and she nodded. She was just nervous.. I remember being nervous on most first days of school, too, whether I was excited or not! So we stayed a few more minutes and chatted more with Mrs. Beltran, her teacher (who so far I like very much!).

Then it was time for good bye. I made it to the door before I cried.. I really was strong up until then, because I knew she didn't need to see me crying. I then saw one of the moms from Kindergarten whose son Jack is back in class with Evelyn (yay!). Sarah and I balance each other out well. She is SO not a crier over stuff like this, and it is good for me to have her around! She just gave me a hug and laughed at me.. which made me laugh too! I totally needed that!

I still had quite a few bouts of tears throughout the day, but thankfully Doug was home to give me hugs and hang out with Matthew so I could get a little nap in. The BEST part of the day was getting an email from Mrs. Beltran saying that Evelyn was a sweetheart and that she was having a great day. I was floored! I guess she sent a note to all of the parents while the kids were at music class. How awesome is that.. it was totally what I needed. Still, tho, I was never so happy for 2:15 to get here and to head out the door to go get her! She was all smiles when we picked her up. The best part of her day was the THREE recesses they got to have (they usually will get 2) and her getting picked to go deliver something to the office. Overall she had a great day!

First Grade has begun. Not Kindergarten for sure. Not worse or better, just different. I am not sure what to expect, but I know that Evelyn is prepared to do her best and learn and grow as much as she can. That's all I can ask for....

I'll just miss her lots and pray for her lots. And 2:30 will be my new favorite time of day! :)

First Grade. Let's do this...

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Evelyn's first day of school. First Grade. She is so excited and looks forward to learning and doing all sorts of fun things this year.

While she is excited, I am struggling to come to grips that my sweet girl, my firstborn, will be away from me 6.5 hours a day, most days of the week. She is growing up so fast, and although it is the way it is supposed to be, I don't like it one bit.

• I am wishing she could be my fussy, crazy-haired baby again, even tho she didn't let me sleep much.

•  I am wishing she could be my one year old again, who endured her cranial molding helmet like a champ and whose smile and laugh were infectious (they still are...). 

• I am wishing she could be my two year old again, playing with her Fisher Price Little People every moment of the day.

• I am wishing she could be my three year old again, learning and growing in her new role as a big sister.

•  I am wishing she could be my four year old again, who fell in love with Disney Princesses and books.

•  I am wishing she was my 5 year old again, who learned to read and fell in love with cooking and twirling.. all the time!

•  I am wishing she was my kindergartener again, who was only gone for 2.5 hours a day and both of us LOVED it!

But all my wishing won't let those things be so. I knew this day would come, I just did not know how hard it would be to accept it.

I am going to miss her. More than words can say.

But... with a tear in my eye and an ache in (and a proud smile on) my heart, I will send her off on her new and exciting journey. My hope and prayer is to encourage and support her as best we can so that she will succeed. In First Grade. In life.

I pray that she will hide His word in her heart and draw on his strength every day. And I pray that she knows how very much I love her, how proud I am of her, and how thankful I am that God gave her to me.

And that's all I have to say about tomorrow. Without starting to sob. Again.

First Grade.

Bring it!