Only Lila

Yesterday was Lila's 4th day of 1st grade. Ryan and I were both home in the morning, and the bus came a little early. We rushed her out and kissed her goodbye. 6 or 7 minutes later, I was upstairs, putting away laundry when Ryan informed me that there was another bus in our neighborhood.

"Must be for a different school," I yelled down to him.

"Um, Lila is getting off of it and running back in the house..." Ryan continued.

"WHAT?!" I ran downstairs and met her in the hallway. She was all flustered (but not crying), and told me she had her bus driver, Miss April, bring her back home because I forgot to give her a check for her lunch. I rushed her back out to the waiting bus explaining that I bought 10 lunch tickets for her the other day that she bought lunch, and she didn't need a check today. Then Trudy, all worked up from the commotion, charged past her and knocked Lila over in the mud. The kind and patient Miss April handed us paper towels to clean up, but I could see Lila was about to lose it. I thanked her for bringing Lila back home, and told her I would drive her in now.

Phew! What 6 year old convinces her bus driver to turn the whole bus (full of K-4th graders) around and take her back home because she forgot her lunch?!?! Lila, that's who. I think Emma, or any other 1st grader, would have quietly cried until she got to school instead of speaking up.

When I drove her in, we had time to chat about important things a first-grader should know, like:

Sometimes your teacher can let you call your mom if it's really important.

Mommy can drive things in to school during the day, Miss April doesn't have to do it.

If you don't have a lunch to eat, the school will give you one and send a note to Mommy.

And perhaps most importantly - Mommy has it all under control, and Lila can relax and enjoy school instead of carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

School has been going well, by the way. The only other problems I've heard about are:

1. You can ONLY sit "criss cross applesauce" during circle time and it hurts Lila's legs.

2. You're not allowed to wave and say "hi" in the hallway, you can only smile. ("Mom, what if they don't notice me smiling at them?!?! Then they think I didn't want to say hi!")

New School Year

With mixed emotions, we ushered in the next school year. The girls were both excited to go back, but they'll miss lazy mornings and plenty of family play time. I was definitely ready for a schedule, but find myself counting the hours till my girls get off their buses. This is Lila's first year in full-day school! After three days, they're both still happy - a good sign!

6th Grade

1st Grade

Emma Grace

Lila Ann

Excitement

Confidence

Apparently I Took the Summer Off From Blogging

Sorry.

School's Out!!

School's out for the summer, and we're pretty excited around here! Take a look at how my girls have grown over this past school year:

First day of 5th Grade

Last day of 5th Grade

First day of Kindergarten

Last day of Kindergarten

She looks like she's ready for summer!!

Emma's too cool to act like that ;)

Piano Recital

Emma's piano recital was a few weeks ago, and we're so proud of her! This was her first real recital, and she was really nervous. She played three songs beautifully! And she looked this good after changing in the car after her lacrosse game!

a little blurry, but you get the idea...

with her wonderful teacher

Lila got to hand out programs :)

Here's a portion of "Minuet"

Daddy Daughter Dance

One of the highlights of Lila's little six-year-old life was a few weeks ago, when Ryan got to escort her to her Girl Scout dance. She has watched Emma go to this event several times, and was SO thrilled that it was her turn. Can you sense her enthusiasm?

our princess

requesting a song....

life of the party...

Slumber Party!

We were lucky enough to have our friend Jessica overnight while her mom was away. And wow, did we ever have a girly good time!! :)

craft time....

before bed....

Chicks With Chicks

It doesn't feel like it, but it must be spring! Several of our friends and relatives have just gotten baby chicks, and of course, we had to visit.

Megan and Lila are in kindergarten together - can you tell?!

She just got new chicks!

This is one of Megan's friendly, one year old, chickens.

Aunt Patty got some too!

Impressive Non-Listener

I know that I haven't updated my blog in forever, and I couldn't begin to catch up all that I didn't write about, so I'll just start fresh with a funny story from this weekend.

I was away for the weekend on our church's annual Women's Retreat - which was wonderful, by the way. The older they get, the easier it is to leave the girls home with Ryan for extended periods of time. They do their own hair (for better or worse), memorize the schedules, and help with mealtimes. In fact, I'm pretty sure that 11 year old Emma could run the show without help if she could drive. :)

In getting things ready for my absence, I picked up a roll of Pillsbury Cinnamon Buns for Emma to make a fun, simple breakfast Saturday morning. Thursday night, I called her out to the kitchen, reminded her how to work the oven, showed her where the round cake pan and cooking spray were, took the can out of the refrigerator and read the directions with her.

Yesterday, I noticed that there was a can of Pillsbury Cinnamon Buns in the fridge. Hmmm, she told me that she made them. Were they SO good that Ryan picked up another can for Sunday? I even looked at the picture she took of her tasty creation. I wasn't sure they looked like the canned variety. Hmmmm....

The suspense was killing me! I called Ryan - he had no idea how she made them, just that they were good. So, when she got home from school, I asked.

"Did you make the cinnamon rolls Saturday?"

"Yes."

"How did you make them?"

"What do you mean? Like you showed me."

"Really?"

"Yeah - I took the dough out of the freezer and followed the directions for Cinnamon Rolls on the bag."

Apparently, she wasn't paying any attention to me when I walked her through the completely simple instructions to make cinnamon rolls. She, instead, used frozen bread dough, thawed it using the microwave instructions, rolled it out, made a cinnamon mixture, rolled it up, sliced it, and baked it. IMPRESSIVE! I have quite a few friends who would never attempt such a complicated recipe.

I told her I was torn between being so proud of her culinary skills, and so mad that she didn't listen to A WORD I said when instructing her!

Crazy Hair Day!

You've gotta love purple Pippi Longstocking braids!

(especially on that face!)

What Is She Up To?

.....I never know, but this is what I saw out my kitchen window this afternoon...

Icy Cold Fun

It's been a very cold winter so far! We've made the most of the snow and ice, but I'm dreaming of seeing that first daffodil poke it's leaves up by my mailbox.

...a little wobbly...

(my two in red; bff, Maddy, in green)

"Quick, pose while you're all standing up!"

Snow Day!!

...sledding...

Snow Day #2!

Mommy and Trudy hard at work...

Christmas Visit

Well, Christmas came and went, along with January, and I've yet to update my blog. So, here it all is in a very abbreviated format.

Gramma and Papa came to visit for Christmas! It was so wonderful to have them here to share in our holiday fun. Since the primary readers of my blog were here experiencing our daily lives, I didn't feel the need to update.

Here is a photo synopsis of the 2.5 weeks surrounding Jesus's birthday at our house:

...just a small part of the food prep fun with Gramma...

...the kids singing in church on 12/24...

Lila's in the middle with a red bow in her hair, and Emma's on the far right in black with a red scarf.

Emma singing her solo :)

Lila singing her heart out :)

Santa was here!!

I'm not sure what the big guy was thinking bringing marshmallow guns to our girls!

12/26 snow storm!

...helping her sister...

Lila, bff - Maddy, and Emma sledding on Ryan's homemade hill.

"WHEEE!!"

Day trip to Peddler's Village to see the Gingerbread Exhibit

Watching the Hokies play in the Orange Bowl

Gramma's spa treatments