preschool update

Leah is doing very well transitioning to preschool.  She's excited the mornings when she goes, makes sure we have her backpack (with the very important pink bunny inside).  At the beginning I needed to stay with her for quite some time at drop off and there were tears when I left, but that only lasted a couple of days.  Now she goes in no problem, I stay for only a few minutes and then she says goodbye.  She runs to the teachers with a smile on her face!  She really seems to enjoy being with friends and participating in the activities.  I'm so glad she's there and having fun with her peers.

And picking her up is one of my favourite things.  She comes running over to me, with a big smile on her face.  And she's such a big girl...she goes over to the cubbies and gets her own jacket and backpack, then switches her shoes from indoor to outdoor and puts the indoor ones away neatly on the shelf. 

I can't deny it anymore, we are officially out of toddlerhood and into preschool mode.

Saturday

We started out the day with a visit from the tooth fairy...Jillian woke up to $2 under her pillow.

Spent the morning lazying around in our pjs.  Kyle went down to the playroom and set up all the Little People toys into a whole village.  That entertained the kids for quite some time. 

Then the kids decided to make puppets from brown paper bags.  Kyle made a clever version of a monster from the Percy Jackson books, Jillian made a beautiful unicorn and Leah coloured her bag for a bit with crayons, then proceeded to cut it up (cutting up paper with scissors is a favourite activity of Leah's). 

Lunch was pasta and cheese sauce.  And afterwards, got the kids and myself dressed and headed to a playground to burn off some energy.  This is a playground we haven't been to in a while and the kids had fun exploring. 

Packed kids back into van and it was onto Kyle's tennis lessons.  The girls and I decided to hang out there this time instead of shopping like last time, the girls collected rocks and played tag. 

Then onto costco for a shopping trip as we needed some groceries and a few other odds and ends.  I usually avoid it on weekends but it's one of the few places I don't mind shopping with all 3 kids.

I know, it sounds like a lovely day.  And overall it was.  But here's the missing parts from the above recap:

* debating with Jillian about clothes (again), and reminding her (again) that it is fall and sundresses are no longer weather-apppropriate clothing (note to self: must pack those away soon)

* Kyle commenting he likes the boxed version of macaroni and cheese much better but my homemade one was um, okay too 

* Kyle getting frustrated with me because I asked him 3 times to confirm his tennis racket was in the back of the van

* various tears from the girls while trying to watch Kyle play tennis due to minor falls

* watching Kyle be the only kid in his class not picking up tennis balls even though his instructor was asking him repeatedly to do so

* Jillian asking me many, many times how long of a drive from tennis club to costco (it's 12 minutes, however with Jillian along for the ride it seemed much longer)

* debating for a few minutes (in my head - not outloud) about whether or not to give Jillian a hummus sample as one of the hummus containers had nuts.  Decided it was okay to give her garlic hummus as the lady was scooping the hummus with the corn chip directly and not using a spoon which could cross-contaminate.  About 30 seconds after consuming it Jillian started complaining her tongue, lips and throat were feeling funny and she had tears in her eyes.  I gave her a dose of benadryl and she seems fine now.  Totally my fault, I need to be more careful.

* listening to the following exchange between my 2 older children while standing in line to pay:

   "stop touching me"
   "I'm not"

   "yes, you are!"

   "no, I'm not!"

   "stop touching me"

   "I'm Not Touching You!!"
   "Yes, You Are!"

   "NO, I'M NOT!"
   "WELL, YOU WERE!!"

Fun times.  Now I'm off to make dinner and get the girls settled on the couch after dinner to watch the new Barbie dvd we picked up today.  Kyle has only just earned back his DSi so he'll likely spend a good chunk of the evening on there.

pets

We don't have any pets.  We've had various goldfish throughout the years but that's been the extent of our pet experience.  Part of the reason is Jeff and Jillian have animal allergies, and part of the reason is I just don't know if I'm up for looking after someone else...the 3 kids and a husband seem to keep me busy enough.

That being said the kids are often adopting various animals (and I use that term loosely, as more often than not the animal is a bug).  When we were at the cottage they were enthralled with the frogs.  In our backyard there have been many grasshoppers caught.  And on a recent walk Kyle and Jillian each found a snail and they were named after snail characters from Spongebob...Gary and Snelly.  Kyle and Jillian were both sad to bid Gary and Snelly farewell at the end of the trail but I have a strict no-bug policy in my van!

"I keep you"

Leah and I have the sweetest conversations while laying in her bed at night (trying, and trying to get her to go to sleep at a reasonable hour, but that's a whole 'nother post).  Recently she's started saying "I love you" and "I miss you" (when she's at preschool).  But I think my favourite came tonight when she put her little hands on my face, held me close and said "I keep you".

Ah, sweet toddler memories that I want to hold onto forever.

picture day

No, not school picture day...although that is also today at school.  This was picture day at the local art gallery we like to visit on weekends.  They have various art projects for the kids and usually some sort of entertainment.  This time they had a caricaturist so the kids came home with very cool pictures of themselves.

The kids had fun as usual doing the various art projects and playing in the play area...

And then out for a walk on the trails that surround the art gallery

playground

My kids love all playgrounds.  This summer we have played at many...the one in our neighbourhood, two near my sister's house in Montreal, in Quebec City we found one across the street from our hotel, in Wasaga Beach there was a playground across from the cottage. 

Here the kids are at a playground in our city where there was a small festival with fun events and music.  We even met Snoopy.  I was impressed with Leah who went right on over to Snoopy for a picture.  The bravest of our 3 kids at that age for sure.

Notice Jillian's beautiful pink ensemble.  She put this outfit together by herself and it is very "Jillian" indeed as she is my pink princess.

tennis

Kyle has taken quite an interest in tennis lessons.  He did them last summer through our local parks and rec program.  When he expressed an interest in doing them again this summer I found a local tennis club which came recommended by a neighbour.  He did them all summer long and we have now signed up for the fall session which started today, as he has greatly improved and wants to continue.  In fact, when I played a few rounds with him this summer Kyle commented "could you please take lessons too, so then I have some actual competition when we play?".  Ha, you know you suck at a sport when.

my baby is going to preschool

What a big step, my baby going to preschool. With Leah being my third I thought this would be easier. But it's not, in fact it seems harder this time around.  While I am excited about all there is in store for our family as we move past babyhood this last time, it's still hard to say goodbye.  I find myself holding onto Leah's toddlerhood as hard as I can.  Relishing the chubby toddler arms wrapped around my neck, loving her sweet toddler words, kissing her cute little cheeks.

And so it was a hard day for me I will admit.  I cried leaving her there.  I stayed for quite a while playing but did eventually leave and she was in tears.  I spoke with the director (um, a few times, I may have called more than once) and Leah stopped crying after 3 minutes and enjoyed the rest of her time.  She played with her friends, played outside, had lunch and napped. Then it was time for me to pick her up. I missed her so much, we aren't apart very often and I wonder who will have a harder time adjusting to preschool...probably me!

And they're off...

...to grades 1 and 4! 

Both Kyle and Jillian were very excited about the first day of school.  We got on the bus no problem (new bus route this year so the bus stop has moved slightly and time has changed). 

And as I do every year on the first day of school, immediately after getting the kids safely on the bus I drove to the school.  I met Kyle's teacher and she seems great.  She is new to the school this year, which is a change for us as I'm used to having a teacher who is at least a little familiar with Kyle, so I was one of "those" parents and had a mini chat with her about Kyle and his IEP.  Then into the gym with the 8 classes of grade 1's.  The grade 1's aren't assigned to a teacher yet, they spend the day in a group rotating and at the end of the day the principal and teachers sit down and finalize class lists, so we will find out her teacher's name tomorrow.  But I did see she is grouped with one of her best friends, so I'm hoping they get to be in class together.  Something new for Jillian is this year she needs to wear her epipen pouch at school.  In JK and SK they allow the kids to leave the epipen with the teacher in the classroom, but from grade 1 onwards it's mandatory for the child to carry their own epipen (and a second one is kept in the office).  I had Jillian wear the epipen pouch at camp this summer to get used to having it on and so far so good, she doesn't seem to mind.  It helps that one of her closest friends also carries one, and they even have matching medic alert bracelets which made them quite happy this morning at the bus stop.

I even started the school year off in an organized way with lunches ready to go in the fridge and backpacks all packed last night. Every year I say I'll keep it up, and every year I spend each morning scrambling. Maybe this will be the year I stay organized? Ha, not likely.

And now I prepare for the mountain of paperwork which comes along with the first week of school.  Better warm up the chequebook, it's in for a good workout tonight!

T minus 6 days and counting...

We have 3 new backpacks.  I got the little purple one for Leah (Tinkerbell - her favourite) in hopes it would help with the transition to preschool if she has a new backpack just like Kyle and Jillian.

School supplies and new lunch bag all labelled and ready to go

New shoes (I have to add in here how much I love having girls because I absolutely love buying little mary-jane shoes)

The snack shelf is fully stocked and ready for school lunches (I would love to say I send my kids off to school with only homemade goodness in their lunch bags, but I don't)

Three kids all ready for the new school year to start.

And don't forget the mommy who is SO ready for school to start and the kids to be out of my hair happily educated once again.