A snap of the fingers. A wink of an eye. Just like that, the littlest is done with preschool. Willa "graduated" from preschool this evening, and it got me thinking that I have done so little to record the last two years of our lives (I've abandoned the blog, I've been terrible about even taking photos)
So here goes...
This little lady is always ready to put on a show. She has been SO very excited about her graduation: every day for the past week we got the countdown on how many days until graduation day. She's ready to move on to the next chapter, which will be weird as we've had kids at Kindercare for the past 7 years.
Next year for Willa is Alternative Kindergarten. She won't turn five until August 27th, but here the cut-off date is September 15, so technically she should be starting Kindergarten. That wasn't going to be a good fit for her. Not yet. This was a HUGE source of stress this spring as there's this whole nerve-racking, screening process to see if your kid "gets in" to A-K. Fortunately, Willa failed all the right tests and "got in"!
Here's my little peanut on her big day:
And a little video -- the best part is at the end.
This is lengthy. You don't really have to read it. But at least check out the video at the bottom. SUPER cute, even if I am the mom :-)
Oy. This fall semester has been a doozie. Not bad in any kind of way, just busy. Christmas break started yesterday (officially....it really started at 3:00 on Friday) and I feel like this just might be the first time that I've sat down in about four months.
C&E are loving first grade at their new school (Pierce this year, since the move). Great teacher, making good friends and plowing through the first grade standards and curriculum. They decided to do gymnastics this year, instead of dance. They are doing well with it. The both started in "Beginners" but about mid-term Cora tested out and joined the "Intermediate" group.
Willa is in preschool two days a week and with my parents the other three. She's still our sweetie and little goofball. She's such a ham and knows when she has an audience -- as evidenced in the video below. :)
Our Christmas break got off to a bit of a rocky start, but has since taken a turn for the uneventful - which is nice. Cora and Evaline had their class party on Friday after school. I had signed up to help, but was a bit late because I'd picked up Willa beforehand and she had to go potty on the drive. We're in the early - but successful - stages of potty-training, a stage where you don't mess around. Cora and Evaline had their first Pierce birthday party - they went to Capri College and had their hair and nails done - quite fancy, they were just tickled.
Saturday night we started our fourth annual "Twinkle Light Express" where the girls find tickets under their pillow as they are getting ready for bed, we load into the car with cocoa and treats, and drive around to look at Christmas lights.
They all look so good in this picture, don't they? Happy? Healthy? It was all an illusion. Moments after this photo was taken the back seat was covered in vomit. There's no way to handle that gently. Sorry, I had to just put it out there. Willa was suddenly so very sick. I was up with her until around 4 am. Ian took the ugly jobs - I was with Willa while he was cleaning up everything else. Oy. What a night.
We missed our Wiley Family Christmas on Sunday because of it. She was still feeling pretty rotten on Sunday afternoon...and we were sitting on pins and needles waiting for the next one to drop. We didn't go to the party because we were so worried that we were carriers of some dreadful stomach bug and would get everyone sick. No one else got it though, and it was too bad that we missed it - the girls were so disappointed.
Monday night my brother Dave was still in town, so we had dinner at my parents. The girls had prepared songs for the Wiley Christmas, so they got to perform there. Willa even had a poem prepared.
And now...we are all waiting for Christmas. Waiting and sitting on the couch watching Season One of the Gilmore Girls, playing 2048 on my phone (thanks, Dave), and reading whatever is in my hand. This has all the makings of a fabulous break.
There was a time - a third of my life ago - when a "serenade" meant Alpha Gam sisters, Frat boys, goofy lyrics to popular songs, and invitations to Greek Week, Homecoming, or Varieties.
These days a "serenade" means driving around with this cutie:
The moment they'd been waiting all year for: dancing **on stage** in their recital. What fun! For all of us involved. It was a blast getting to watch the girls up there on stage enjoying themselves, and it was, of course, oodles of fun for C&E - and Willa, who was overjoyed and full of pride to see her sisters up on a REAL stage.
---One small story, before we get to the pictures. The recital was held at Jefferson, and they have the auditorium (where the recital was held) and the Little Theater (exactly what it sounds like...and this was the staging area for the girls). On dress rehearsal night one of the teachers came searching the crowd for "Evaline's mom." I went with her to find
Evaline - as only she can - had gotten her foot stuck between the seat and the back of the chair. These are old, wooden theater seats (original to the school...late 1950s) that fold up (as theater seats do). She somehow had her foot slide down when the seat was up, then the seat closed on her leg and we could not get it back down again. It was REALLY stuck! Luckily the young man (a Jeff student - I hadn't had him but Ian had a couple years ago) who was helping with the sound was able to locate a wrench and took the seat apart to free her. There is never a dull moment with these girls. :-) Unfortunately, she was far too shook up (and a little hurt - just some light bruising on her ankle, no big deal) to let me take her picture.
Yesterday evening was a very special night for us.
C&E had their music program at school - a fun-filled program full of lullabies and rowdy night-time songs. They got to wear their jammies as costumes and bring a favorite stuffed toy from home as a prop. They were darling on stage and because they get their height-genes from me, they were a front-row sensation. The teachers were nice enough to coordinate them standing together so that I didn't even have to move my camera to get shots of both of them.
Willa is never one to be left out of anything. Ever. So she was her own sort of sensation with her bouncy (albeit short) red curls, up on the mats in the very back - jamming and singing along with the big kids.
Afterwards we went out for a treat at Orange Leaf with Gramma Lynn, Papa Bill, Papa Pete, the Morrises (is that right? What is the plural of "Morris"?), and the Kathmanns.
(Notice here that Willa didn't think there was enough room on the orange couch, so went to sit by herself on the white one)
But, as lovely as all of that was, the real reason that last evening was special happened just before the official program began.
The girls attend a wonderful school (Van Buren) and I cannot say enough about the kindness, generosity, and thoughtfulness of their principal, Mr. Ryan, and the rest of the teachers and staff.
You see, when Barb started her teaching career she started at Van Buren. And then when she went back to work after staying home with Ian and Jennifer when they were young - she went back to Van Buren. She eventually went on to work for many years at Hoover, but she started her career - twice - at VB.
A good portion of her memorial fund has gone to creating the Barb Petersen Fund for Children's Literacy. Barb cared so much for teaching children to read - and for teaching children the joy of reading - that this memorial seemed more than fitting. This Fund is providing copies of the first and second place Caldecott winning books every year to both Van Buren and Hoover Elementaries.
Last night before the program, Mr. Ryan arranged for Cora and Evaline to present the books to the school. And, since the books will be added to the regular library circulation, he made a plaque to hang in the library as a lasting tribute to Barb.
It was so touching to have a chance to present this in such a way, and wonderful to have the girls involved in the presentation. It was a truly special evening for all of us.
