signs of school...

we're back into school full swing and i'm loving the routine it's giving us! i love the feeling of fall sneaking in and having lots of little signs around the house that school is back in session!

my girls love those miss nelson books. it's almost weird. but they really love them. maybe it's the accent i do for viola swamp... ha ha ha!

when i used to teach kindergarten (which feels like a lifetime ago!), i would have parents tell me that their child had no interest in learning the letters or sight words. i gave them the suggestion of cutting out those letters or sight words, taping them above their child's bed, and at night, giving them a flashlight (letting them hold the flashlight is a big deal!) to shine on each word or letter, and practicing the words that way. we've done this for brooklyn this year with her sight words and she loves it! james does it with her either before they read stories or after. then kendall always takes a whack at it and it's pretty funny what she comes up with!

homework, school projects, and lunchboxes litter my kitchen table daily. 

my little three year old started play school today with a few friends in the neighborhood. she's been excited about this all summer long! when today finally came she could hardly contain herself! she wanted everything like her big sister had on her first day, except she asked for pizza for breakfast. she wanted her toenails painted blue, her favorite color, and she wanted to pose for pictures with the board with her backpack on. 

it was so cute to see these little people all gather together. they know each other from nursery and yes, kendall is the only girl! i think she'll be just fine.

i had a summer saying up on my letter board all summer and i was really sad to change it. i couldn't think of anything for awhile, and then decided on something i've told brooklyn every time i've dropped her off to school since preschool, "be happy, be kind!" i also have this saying hanging above our mud room door. i think it's so important that my girls learn to be happy around people and especially to be kind! my great-grandma dayton used to always say, "happy girls are the popular girls!" and isn't that true?!

snow.

snow. snow. snow. 

in brooklyn's words, "no, no, no."

she said it all day long. she wanted to be out in it all day. she was out there first thing. in her jammies. then again after her nap. then again a few more times. her favorite time was probably with her daddy. he lasted outside a lot longer than i could've. they built a snow man and then brooklyn destroyed it. she was in heaven.

i enjoyed looking at her from the kitchen table during breakfast and then inside the sliding glass door for the other times. it was freeezing. she didn't mind it at all. i don't think she noticed the cold one bit. i'd bring her in and she'd cry. just cry. she was devastated to have to come in. i did my best to distract her, but it was always on her mind. "no," she'd say. over and over. she wanted to just be in all of it. she wanted to touch all of it. it just made her overly and completely happy today. being inside made her just as sad/mad too. it was definitely a happy/sad day. 

i love watching her explore new things. even though she has experienced winter before, she doesn't remember it. this first snow was as exciting as it gets for a toddler. nothing has been as cool as this cold white stuff. pure joy on her face as she stomped around it, poked it, jabbed it, held it, threw it, slathered it, and just looking at it made her squeal with delight. it's going to be a long winter for this mama if we are in and out as much as we were today. but for now, this day was happy, cold, and just darn right fun.

h a p p y  w e e k e n d !

* for me... it brings, a craft night/girls' night, saturday chores, a football game, hopefully dinner OUT, church, and, fingers crossed, a nap.