Pre-K First Day!

Just like that we are back in the grind.  E happily went off to school today sporting her new horse dress (very important detail, folks).  It is hard to believe that in six months I will be registering her for kindergarten.

According to Ella her day was good, good, good.  She is not one to divulge much information about school.  I literally have to pull it out with her by saying, "I will tell you 5 things about my morning and then you can tell me 5 things about your morning."  Plus I rely on friends who actually get info from their kids to know what is going on.  And I might be one of those parents that nicely chats up her teachers every. single. day.  (How bad is that?! I am a teacher myself!)

Anyways my 5 facts: 

1. I went to kickboxing today.  The choreography was very challenging for me.  But I burned close to 2000 fuel points in an hour (go me).  

2. Abby and I went to Crate & Barrel to buy a gift.  I love that store. 

3. I went looking for a cute shirt for family pictures.  I could not find anything that was less than an arm and a leg. 

4.  Abby and I shared a honey wheat bagel and fruit cup for lunch.  We also bought a baker's dozen of bagels from the bagel store because I was feeling guilty sending Ella to school with plain bagels in her lunch.  Plain bagels are not very crunchy.  

5.  We ran out of time and did not make it to Target.  As a result, I did not buy night diapers.  I will probably pay for it tonight. 

Ella's 5 facts:

1. I played with Eleanor. 

2. I sat with Ravenna. 

3. The vegetables were too spicy. I liked the carrots (although she only ate one). 

4.  Gabrielle was not at school.  Why was Gabrielle not at school? 

5. It was Whitney's birthday.  She is a boy.  (Neither one of these true... There was a birthday but it was for a boy and although I have never met Whitney, I am pretty sure she is a girl). 

Oh well, I will try again tomorrow.  Sigh. 

First and Last

Let's pretend this blog post was penned June 13.  That's when the pictures below were taken in honor of Ella's first true last day of pre-school.  And let me tell you, capturing this moment was not easy.  It involved some phrases like, "Just one more," and  "Smile wide and show me your teeth, but put your hands down away from your mouth," and  "PLEASE, Mommy really NEEDS to take a good one."  Okay, to be honest with you, it involved a lot more pleading.  34 pictures later, there were a few of decent ones.  

Goodness, they look so much alike here!

Such a lovely smile.  

A sweet and silly picture, but not what I had in mind. 

If you click HERE you will see Ella's first day of school pictures 2012, and the recap of her 2011 first day.  You will notice that Ella has matured a bit in appearance; her face thinned a bit, her hair grew longer, and she needs a bang trim.   Its Abby's appearance that stunned me.  She went from a baby to a toddler.  Amazing!

Pre-School

It is hard to believe that Ella is old enough to attend pre-school. Soon she will be four and then FIVE and its off to Kindergarten.  It is beyond my comprehension how fast life has flown since having kids.

It is amazing how much she has changed in the last year.  She was such a baby on her first day.  HERE IS THE PROOF  and she made quite an IMPRESSION.

Anyways, my little pre-schooler was somewhat cooperative (a rarity) for the obligatory photos this morning.

See for yourself:

An awesome shot once I cropped out her Dora Big Girls

Hence, mommy taught her to sit like a lady with a dress on, but now we have a cheesy grin. 

My tall girl

Awww... Sisters

What?! All four eyes looking at the camera? Must be my lucky day!

V is for Violin

Today Ella began violin lessons at school.  Now, I know it is ridiculous, but it just makes my heart happy because she loves musical instruments.  And let me assure you, I would never seek out violin lessons at 2 years 8 months, but since they offer it at her school I thought it would be fun for her, and hey why not?  

According to Ryan, E was talking about the violin and making music all morning.

Her teacher said she did a lot of watching today, just soaking it all in due to the fact that it was in the big kids' room.   Apparently next week she needs a binder and ruler.  The binder is to keep her music organized and I have no clue what the ruler would be used for.  Her teacher is also making little box practice instruments so they can play/ practice at home.  

Funny thing is, I have not a musical bone in my body, but maybe, just maybe, Ella is a savant.  (j/k!)

First Impressions...

Ella's teacher recently sent photos of Ella's painting adventure.  By the looks of the "cleaned up" Ella, I knew it would be bad.  However, I had no idea.  I should have known considering she had paint in her hair, up her nose, lining her eye, speckled across her chin, and her first day dress was accentuated with non-toxic paint.  The teachers did not seem to mind and we had a good chuckle after they warned me about her messy appearance.   My Ella looks like this quite regularly, just not with paint.  She has no problem getting down and dirty.

But, this was a bit more than I expected:

Hopefully tomorrow Ella will keep the paint on the paper, but I wouldn't count on it!

First Day of Pre-School

Serious face, but notice the hair clip.  

At school!

Somebody painted for the first time, can you tell?
Regardless, I am still curious as to how she got paint in her nostrils, on the top of her head and on her cheeks?