And Now We Are Six

Now We Are Six

By A.A. Milne

When I was one,

I had just begun.

When I was two,

I was nearly new.

When I was three,

I was hardly me.

When I was four,

I was not much more.

When I was five,

I was just alive.

But now I am six,

I'm as clever as clever.

So I think I'll be six

now and forever.

It's been six years since our beautiful spitfire made herself known in the world.  And our lives haven't been the same since!  We've come full circle as she was born on a Wednesday morning in 2009 and now this year had her first birthday since on a Wednesday.

She loooves birthdays (who doesn't?), so in preparation for today she made a checklist for us:

Wensday Plan:  Poptarts, Mom off (Mom does school drop off), Make cake, Watr (water?), Pant nils (Paint nails)

 So this morning after a breakfast of generic Pop-Tarts (her choice!), a quick shower and a change back into pajamas for the Homecoming week dress-up day, she requested that I do the drop off instead of riding the bus.

After Bode finished preschool, we joined Maggie at school for lunch.  Such fun to see part of her new normal day.

Birthday crown and cape.

She requested a sports-themed birthday party this year, which will take place on Saturday.  But she surprised us a bit when out of all the princess cupcakes available at Target Bakery, she chose these birthday treats to bring to school.

This afternoon, she and I got manicures before coming home to presents, spaghetti and meatballs, and cupcakes.  Then off to AWANA for crazy hair night.

A very full day!

As she opened her first present today, a gift certificate to get a manicure, she queried as to whether the nail salon was in Rochester or Stewartville.  "Stewartville," I replied.  To which she tried to clarify, "Pure Pleasure?"  Ahh!  Pure Pleasure is the adult novelty store located on the edge of Stewartville.  It's flashing billboard has quietly existed along our route to Rochester with no questions from our reading daughter, until today.  Thankfully the questions went no further this time. 

And here are her yearly birthday questions:

I am... 6 years old.
The best show on TV is... Alvin and the Chipmunks
My favorite thing about school is... library.
The thing I'm best at is... reading.
If I could change my name, it would be... Violet.
My favorite colors are... maroon and gold...and violet.
My favorite toy is...my new nail salon set.
When I grow up, I want to work... as a librarian at school.
I like to take these things to bed with me at night: my blankie.
My favorite book is...Frozen Fever
My favorite movie is... Alvin and the Chipmunks.
My favorite season of the year is... fall.
A food I really like is... pizza.
My favorite animals are... cats.
My favorite sport is... soccer.
My best friends are... Ava and Josie.
My favorite holiday is... Halloween and Christmas.
My favorite thing I did while I was 5 was... going to California and Disneyland and when Brooks was born.

First Day

I have a Kindergartener!  I know it shouldn't be quite so unbelievable since I had almost a whole extra year with my fall birthday girl, but seriously.  It's sinking in that it's an end of an era.  I am SOOOO thankful for almost 6 years with Maggie at home with me, both of us learning a lot along the way.

Last week was Meet the Teacher.  An already excited 5-year-old became even more pumped after seeing her locker, dropping off her supplies, meeting her teacher, and checking out a school bus.

After a full weekend at Grammy and Bapa camp, she was up early and excited this morning.  However, in true Maggie fashion, she asserted her independence and tossed out every plan that we had made in regards to her first day.  

Mom drive her to school?  Nope - bus!  And of course, she wanted to walk to the bus stop HERSELF!

Mom lovingly pack her lunch on the first day (so I could add a special note)?  Nope - school lunch!  I did still pack a special note in her backpack.

Eat homemade muffins with the family for breakfast?  Nope - eat with the class for mid-morning school breakfast!

Yes, she is certainly ready.  

We tried to hop in the van and spy on her entering school, but alas it was so busy and I had no idea where to park.  Instead, we came home, and I busied myself in the kitchen getting ready for a Boo Hoo Brunch with some other moms and young children while the older siblings were off at school.

The day seemed to fly by for the most part.  When she hopped off the bus at the end of our street, she raced towards our house.  The first thing out of her mouth?  "That was awesome!"

"The Night Before..." books sent from Grandma and Grandpa

My helper.

Exploring the bus on "Meet the Teacher" day.

In front of her school on "Meet the Teacher" day.

Had to do one last Caribou date last Friday morning before the school year started.

This morning, Maggie ran in to tell Brooks she got to go to school today!

First day of Kindergarten. 8/24/15

Maggie let Bode trail her to the bus stop.

Waiting with the others.

Bode needed a hug, so Maggie came back to where we were waiting.

Consoling.

Best friends.

Here we go!

She's off!

And she's home!

First day of school snack.  Tradition copied from my bro-in-law and sis-in-law.  Stewie colors.

The Wait

It's on.  Now that my official due date has come and gone, the contentment I felt a week ago has been replaced by annoyance that I'm "still" pregnant and uncomfortable.

As we've been waiting, we've tried to fill our time with memory-making activities as a family of four.

Steve and I were able to go on our first date in two months thanks to Steve's parents being in town last weekend.  His love affair with sushi started last spring when we went out with some friends, and now that he has brought me on board, I was more than happy to accompany him to Ichi Tokyo in Rochester.  California rolls - yum!  We finished our date with Caribou Coffee.  I have treated myself to a mocha more often these past two weeks than I care to admit...

Steve took this super flattering photo of me using baby as a drink holder.

Later in the week we went to Applebee's on a family date, knowing that we might not be going out for a leisurely dinner for a while.

My girl.  We've had our share of confrontations recently, but she's still my sweet princess.

They wait so patiently at restaurants now.  Bode brought cars to play with on this occasion.

Cubbies  Bible character night.  We realized this was the dress up theme at the last minute, so quickly tried to put together an Egyptian princess costume, per Maggie's request.  That's Moses in the basket.  Oh, and Moses is her newest idea for a baby name.

 And then came Halloween.  Steve was helping to coach the Stewartville Tigers to a Section Championship victory, so I loaded Maggie and Bode in the minivan to go trick-or-treating at just a few friends' houses.  We came back home to watch It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters that came to our door.

Ariel and puppy.

And on Halloween, as I put this shirt on, I realized I looked like a snake that just ate a very large rodent.  So there - I dressed up, too. 

Today while I was at a baby shower, Steve took Maggie and Bode to a volleyball game.  Maggie was asked when she thought baby would arrive.  And apparently this is what she said, "Well, I was thinking Halloween, but now I'm thinking Valentine's Day."  Thankfully, I KNOW that will not be the case.  He'll be here soon.  :)

Fall Days

It's hard to believe how quickly September flew by.  Even though counting down the days to my due date sometimes makes it seem like time is just crawling by, the weeks do indeed go quickly.

As a family, we are definitely in a good routine and schedule now.  Even though we have some sort of activity almost every weekday evening, my lighter workload this year (just upped to .75 FTE) has made this fall seem a little less hectic than the past couple years, at least from my perspective.  Steve is adjusting to his new role as both Middle School and High School principal, but is thankful for two wonderfully capable assistants.  Here's a rough outline of our weekly schedule outside of work:

Sunday - Church and Sunday School

Monday - Maggie - preschool, Sara - Moms in Step, Steve - School Board

Tuesday - Our day off of extra activities!  This evening is often reserved for grocery shopping and other errands.

Wednesday - Maggie -preschool, Sara - Junior High youth group, Maggie - gymnastics (only a few more classes left), Maggie - Cubbies

Thursday - Bode, Maggie, Steve, and Sara - Parent Child ECFE class

Friday - Maggie - preschool, Steve - football game

Saturday - Maggie - dance

Here are some photos of our past couple weeks:

Our Homecoming Princess in the parade on a very cold Friday afternoon.

Angelina Ballerina pre-ballet class.

We don't normally get to sit in, but this day was a parent observation day.

This late afternoon/evening was spent at Sekapp Orchard in Rochester.

I tried to discourage this, but Steve ENcouraged it.  At least I brought along some of Shaklee's Basic H2 to clean them off first.

Time to select their pumpkins.

Bode wanted one with a blueish tint.

Maggie wanted a white one.

And we were sure to get one for baby brother, too.

Gymnastics.

Thankful

So many things to be thankful for.

We are thankful we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with both of our families this year.

We started the holiday the weekend before with Steve's family.

And we were able to travel to my grandma's house in Iowa on Thanksgiving day to celebrate with some extended family.

The only drawback of our travels?  As we were driving the 3+ hours back to my parents' house Thursday night after being in Iowa, I realized I had forgotten to give Toby, our cat, any supply of accessible water while we were gone.  Eek!

We had planned to be gone Thursday morning through Saturday night and didn't want to come home to a dead cat, so I decided I would just make a quick four-hour round-trip Friday morning to deliver water.   When Friday morning came, Steve thoughtfully volunteered, and all was good.  Until...he called me about 45 minutes into his drive with a blown tire.  So he waited a couple hours on the side of the road while my dad made some calls to get a new tire.  They worked on that while I took my mom's vehicle to Stewartville.  I had a grateful cat.

And we all made it back to my parents by 2:45 or so.  Just in time for the kids to wake from their afternoon nap, and Christmas tree decorating to begin.

And a Beauty and the Beast puppet show.

Steve even caught the Auburn-Alabama football game. As I said, thankful.