West Boone

At the beginning of the school year, I really felt like I should try to simplify our lives more. Lots of activities are fun, and good, and educational, etc., but what is most important is that I get to spend the day with the girls. Not just supervise or do damage control, but to actually share the day with them, the moments with them.

So because of this, I decided to stop going to West Boone with Pyper. West Boone was the school that the girls first started going to, about two years ago. We would go once a week and spend two hours there, experiencing the classroom, playing, exploring, etc. It was really great. We absolutely loved it. Our favorite was circle time when a story would be read, we'd sing and dance, and then get to feel and see what was in the surprise bag. We also got to have a home visitor who would come out once a week and bring activities for the girls to do, activities that would be fun, but also challenge them developmentally so they could grow and learn more. 

Once Summer turned three, she graduated to an older class at East Central. I started taking Claire to East Central too, for convenience on my part. East Central is a Monday through Thursday school, from 12:15 to 3:15, without the parents. They are small classes (I think 8 kids in Claire's, with 3-4 teachers, and about 15 in Summer's with 3 teachers). East Central is AMAZING as well. The teachers interact and care for the children so well. 

But Pyper continued to go to West Boone.

Until now. West Boone is about 30 minutes away, and since we are in the car Monday through Thursday driving 20 minutes to East Central for Summer and Claire, then driving that back home, then leaving in an hour or two to drive 20 minutes again to get them, then 20 minutes back home, I just thought it was too much driving time with Pippy. When she was a newborn, it was okay. She just slept the whole time. But now that she's older, it's hard for me to make her spend the majority of her day that she's awake sitting in her car seat staring out the window. So I decided to stop going to West Boone so she and I can have some more one on one time. We still have all that driving time for Summer and Claire, but when we aren't driving, Pip and I are having better quality time together.

And she is loving it. 

But I am still sad about leaving West Boone. As a going away gift, Sheryl, the teacher, gave me a copy of all the pictures she took of the girls over the years. So I'm putting a few on here so you can get an idea of our days at West Boone. The first hundred or so (haha) are of Summer and Claire. I'll label the second section of pictures that were taken after Pyper was born.

PS Where have my little girls gone???

The following pictures were taken after Pippy was born, so the little one is Pyper, not Claire.

We loved our time at West Boone. Thank you to the teachers and home visitors for all you did for us!

First Day of School and the Neighbor Girl

Yesterday was the girls' first day of school. We were all really excited about it.We woke up, ate breakfast, and got ready with our new school clothes on.

I guess the bad part of having school at 12:15 and being ready by 8:30 is that you have approximately three hours to spill on your new clothes, draw on your face and arms with new-found markers, and mess up your hair. So when I finally got their "first day of school" pictures as they were loading into the car, I sighed. I remembered last year I would wait to get the girls ready until 11:00. I wondered how I'd forgotten that. I guess I was just too excited to get them off to school!

Because of Rhett's flexible work schedule right now, he came with us to drop them off. We took Summer first. There were other kids in her class that were having a difficult time (screaming and bawling), and it made her a little nervous. She wanted me to stay a little with her. But the teacher at her table was really great, and she introduced Summer to all her new friends at their table (three kids were returning from last year, three new ones).

I was mostly worried about how Claire would go. Last year, she cried at goodbyes for almost two weeks. But she ran in, started meeting new friends, and was in teacher Mary's lap before we even said goodbye. She was excited to be back.

They were happy when I came to pick them up. And it sounds like they both had a great day. According to teacher Mary, she and Claire were looking at a book of baby pictures with big heads and chubby bodies. Teacher Mary was saying, "Claire, these babies look like Pyper. But they don't look like you because you're bigger." Claire responded, "They don't look like Pyper because they have big heads." We all laughed.

I'll post their first-day-of-school pictures next time.

On another note, we've had an interesting experience with our neighbor girl. She is five years old, and has two older brothers who are thirteen (one from the mom, one from the dad). So she's almost an only child. They moved in next door about a month or two ago. And she's constantly wanting to play with the girls. She comes over and rings the doorbell nonstop about three or four times a day (until Rhett disabled the doorbell). She yells through our screen door when she's in the yard to get our attention to see if she can come over to play. And she even sometimes has her dad come over with her to ask if she can come over. It was okay for awhile--the girls enjoyed having a new friend--until I realized that she is not the innocent little neighbor girl we thought she was. Now we are having to tell the girls what words are inappropriate in our house (swear words), and what kinds of things are not okay to do (like giving our toys to her through the fence, then she says they have to give her something else before she'll give them back). It was really stressful for a while, until a few days ago when the neighbor girl swore, and Claire said to me, "Mom, she said . . . " I told Claire, "Claire, tell her we don't say that here." So Claire turned around and said, "We don't say that here." I was there to reinforce that we don't use those words in our home. I was proud of Claire for verbalizing to her friend that something she did was not okay to her. A little while later, I had written Claire's name in sidewalk chalk on our sidewalk, and Summer and the neighbor girl had circled each letter of her name. Claire was heartbroken. So I wrote it again. I went inside and came out only a few minutes later when I heard some arguing. The neighbor girl was trying to circle the letters in Claire's name, and Summer was telling her not to because Claire didn't like it. It was really great seeing Summer standing up for Claire. I was very proud of that.

So . . . I guess the good thing about this is that I'm able to help coach and encourage the girls to stand up for what they believe in, to stand up for their standards, and to see them stand up for each other, when perhaps their first experiences of this would be at school when I'm not around. In this house, we really focus on using our words and expressing things we don't like that other people do (rather than hitting or screaming, etc.). And I'm proud to see the girls doing that at such a young age.

But, I don't know how much more asking, and begging, and pleading from the neighbor girl to come over I can take.

Anyone want to move in next door???

Tribute to Rhett

Rhett is such a great dad. Any moment he is not spending on working, he is dedicating to the girls. They love him so much. He is their number one man. I'm so grateful for a wonderful, dedicated husband. He is our everything.

I came across this and thought it was hilarious. It came out a few years ago, but, shoot, how can you get tired of it??? And even better--it fits Rhett to a T--"all his money goes straight to his daughters and his wife," taking kids to the splash pad in the mini-van, working in the yard, "Lord of the Grill," and watching Disney movies. (I do think I've seen him shed a tear or two in Aladdin as well!) Thanks Rhett, for all you do.

Dad Life: