Word of the Week: Pancake

Pancake (noun):  1) a thin, flat cake of batter fried on both sides on a griddle 2) a pack, or knapsack, often of canvas or nylon, to be carried on one's back

"Can we have pancakes for breakfast?" - Magnolia

"Eat. Pancake." - Kaleia

 "Wanna pancake. Pancake!" - Kaleia, reaching for her black "school" bag

 

First Days of "School"

For show-and-tell Maggie chose four ducklings and carefully placed them in her backpack. Now, while she puts her things into her not yet labeled cubby and surveys her still unfamiliar classroom, on this her second day of pre-school, I pull the teacher aside to tell him about the ducklings Magnolia was so adamant to share. You see, they're imaginary.

The teachers are great though, and are learning quickly. When asked what they should call her on the first day, "Magnolia or Maggie?," she informed them, "Actually, call me duckling." I never heard whether they complied or not but I was impressed at how well they described my daughters after the first day:

At the end of day 1, Maggie didn't want to leave and wasn't even sure if she wanted to talk to me but eventually agreed to show me around the classroom -- which toys she played with, which ones she helped clean up, the things that another kid messed up. She enthusiastically told me about the soft frog blanket that she used for her snooze. I finally got her to leave willingly by saying we needed to go see Kaleia's classroom.

Unlike her sister, Kaleia was ready to go home.  When we peeked in, she was happily playing but, as soon as she saw us, ran over and said, "Car. Bag."

Both girls slept amazingly--ahh, the secondary benefits of preschool!--and on morning 2 were just as excited as they got ready. Drop off, including the requisite imaginary duckling warning, was smooth again.

At the end of the day, Maggie had to finish what she was building before she would even consider coming home. Kaleia was playing outside when we came to pick her up and the two sisters ran and embraced. Then they went back to play in Kaleia's class.

I was always hesitant about daycare and felt very blessed that our girls have been home with family until now. We've always thought they would go to preschool, but we've wanted to homeschool them for elementary school (more about that in a future blog post, hopefully). Brian and I still see ourselves as their primary caregivers and teachers, but I am appreciating this experience and all that they are already gaining from it.

Here is a video of Maggie's response when I told her she was going to start going to "school":

Head Bibs

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Recently, I had the honor of throwing a bridal shower for my little sister, Allison.

Significant women from every stage of her life gathered to celebrate her upcoming wedding to her college sweetheart.

Alli loves tradition but she's also fashionable. So our party for her was themed around the old saying "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." She was s good sport, and wore my mom's heavy veil the entire day. We borrowed tea cups from many faithful friends and served traditional and trendy shower fare. There were several games that drew out information about Alli and Taylor as well as solicited advice for the new couple. But the most memorable activity was our Love themed sing off. See for yourself:

If you are interested in seeing all the pictures from the event, visit my flickr site. 

Exercising with Auntie Alli

Sharing Popcorn