First Day of School

My baby is all grown up.  She started junior kindergarten today.

I managed to arrange to walk her to school and pick her up, and nary a tear was to be found at either end of the day.  Nope, I held my tears in like a big girl!  So did Shae.  I fully anticipated some hesitation, but she really was fine with drop off, and seemed totally okay when I picked her up.  I'm  busting with happiness over her first day of school.

The highlight of the morning for me was watching her walk across the fenced yard (parents are discouraged from entering) to her teacher.  Then she looked over at me, walked all the way back, and let me give her a smooch through the fence.  Sigh.  Best kiss goodbye EVER.  Then she just grinned and went back to her classmates. 

She is full day, every day in Mrs. Stocks K5 class, and so in addition to her teacher, she has an ECE in her class, Mrs. Ward.  She showed up to meet her peers - no fewer than 3 other girls had the same backpack - so I can see labelling will be very important... everyone has very fine, similar tastes.

As you can see below, Shae chose a very notable outfit for her first day - she's been waiting WEEKS to wear this outfit.  The girl likes her bling!

She got home and ate the following - 2 drumsticks, a snow pea, 1/3 cup of rice, and apple, a cookie, broccoli, 2 cheese slices, and some grapes.  Essentially - what she usually eats in one day.  School is hard work I guess!

I truly can't NOT post virtually every damn photo I took this morning, so... enjoy...

First day of JK

The bag is almost the size of her!

With our neighbor, Keeley

With her best guy friend, Rylan

Head of the pack, and off they go!

She fell and scraped her knee, so she walked a little slower...

Ye Olde Crossing Guard

In front of her entrance

Peeking in her classroom

Off to meet her teacher Mrs. Stocks (orange vest)

Waiting to say Hi to Mrs. Stocks

Looking a little lost... and soooooooo small...

A glum group of classmates...

Listening to Mrs. Stocks (discussing the FOUR identical backpacks)

And in she goes!!  My baby!

400940595309 Days, One Post

This has been one amazing spring, but before I tell you, I MUST preserve this photo forever, immediately.  It lasted about 5 seconds after this photo... but there's some hair play happening over here.

We had our first cold of 2012, so with indoor sick days, we have indoor "make your own fun":

We were still sick but we headed out to Glenaura Farm to hang out with Andrea, Chris and Hanna along with a pile of other families for some Spring Fling fun:

Mike and Shae

Egg Races!

Fishing

Hanna and Shae - vegetating

Mike, luring Shae to the Sack Race.... (fail)

With a little help from the neighbor's tiller, and some slave labour (Mike), I turned the old garden, grass seeded most of it, and will plant the rest with vegetables:

And... we have already had to break out the sprinkler for some sun relief:

My favorite post play pic:

I just love her face in this one... :)

And her gorgeous smile:

Oh Yeah! I blog!

Ah frig, I'm the commitment phobe-iest commitment phobe ever there EVER was... even for blogging I guess!

Is it because Shae and I stopped doing things and talking to each other?  No. 

For one, I can't find my freaking camera.  For two, I was terribly busy falling in love.  For three, it's ridiculously annoying to email individual pics off my Blackberry to myself, so that I can post them.  But I have done it.  Just not any from April.. I even gave up on phone pics. 

Here's a few photos of our March... note the SUMMER clothes!  Crazy!  It hasn't been shorts weather since, but BBQ season is in full swing.  And my baby got her first bike.

Dress Up

Watching Shae make believe is probably my favorite part of observing Shae's development.  Often, she's regurgitating conversations she's had in a day, and projecting it onto Barbie.  Sometimes, she's just making it up as she goes along.  I've seen her use play as an opportunity to "be the boss" of someone, in a  way she's not in her everyday life dealing with so many adults.

No matter what she's doing, she does it with earnest.  Make believe is very serious work.

Today, Shae and her friend Jacob spent some time make believing and playing dress up in her room.  When they came out for the big reveal, they moved slowly, held hands, and had shy smiles on their faces.  You could tell, they felt good about their choices.

And because make believe is so serious, when I asked them to say cheese, so that I could take a picture of the "bride and groom", all laughter left their faces and their faces reflected just how serious they were.

I fell MADLY in love with this photo.  And deeper in love with my kid and her childhood.

Movie Date

Beauty and The Beast  in 3D with Hanna - I love this photo!  They look so grown up!  I can see them at the movies in 15 years too (sans mommies, of course)!  Holy Exclamation Marks!

Brrrrr

I'm a bit of a lot of a wuss when it comes to winter weather... no desire whatsoever to frolic in snow (if 30 somethings can even "frolic"), can't stand the synthetics that warm clothes are made of (fine hair+dry air+synthetics = a flucking annoying halo of floating hair) and I don't need to SEE my breath to confirm it's still there - so really... no use for winter at all. 

So Saturday, we sat inside and made our own fun... which included a "fort" of Shae's design.  It was more of a pillow and blanket nest, that Shae surrounded with anything at all she could find on the first floor of the house.  Warm and cozy, and accompanied by Winnie the Pooh on the computer.

Januar....blah.

Nope!  I did NOT die!  I am succumbing (totally off topic - but isn't "succumbing" the most awkward word ever?) to the January blahs.  Seriously... January is like nipple hair on women - NO PURPOSE.  None.  It's just irritating.  Something you deal with.  January.  Blah.

Anyway.  Happy 2012!

Shae and I spent Christmas at my parents where we tobogganed and slid and played board games and dressup and oh, ya - Santa came.  We were so lucky to have Dylan and Uncle Shane with us all Christmas morning too!

Then we hit the road and spent a few days in Ottawa with friends and family.  We went to the AMAZING little hobby farm for breakfast one morning with Jan, Cooper and Jack.  Had lunch at the new giant Ikea with a pileup of Sedore ladies!  We also got to have breakfast another morning with Yetta, Danielle and Sarah.  We just love Ottawa!  It was an amazing holiday, and I feel blessed to have seen so many people that I love. 

Although I took 348975843975 photos and videos... about 10 are in focus.  So, I'm posting 30, because it amuses me to post so many terrible photos.  Here ya go:

Sneaking in this one - heaven - Baileys and ice with chocolate milk... as I hike through the woods.

Snow eating with Poppa

A bite of snow.

MY FAVE!  MY ABSOLUTE FAVE!

Chutes and Ladders

Christmas morning - bedhead.

My gorgeous creature. 

Dylan

Checking out the haul

Synthetic pajamas+new play tent = awesome hair.

Gramma SEZ this chocolate is mine...

Snowman!

The crew

Snow Angel

Hot chocolate at Pinto Valley

Cooper, Jan, Jack - Pinto Valley

Team of Clydesdales - cooling down on the coldest day EVER.

Pig.  Very tame pig.

Jan and Jack

Checking out the barn

Still the coldest day ever.  EVER.

From her dress up trunk - thanks GiGi!

My second fave - dancin' with Gramma.