School-aged Kids and Ballerinas

Today was a day of firsts. For Abigail, it was her first day of kindergarten. For Elijah, it was his first time having a sibling at school with him. For Lizzie, it was her first day where it was just her and me. For me, it was the first time in a long time that I have only had one baby to tote around! For Matt? Well, I guess it was his first day in a while where I didn't call him at work for some reason. ;-)

This morning went so well. I got up in time, we got the kids ready, I packed their lunches, I took more pictures...

...and off we went to the school. Abigail was so excited...it was finally her turn to be going to school! She was a little ball of energy. 

We took a couple more pictures, gave them hugs, and off they went! I watched her go over, jump around her teacher and was just loving the moment. I was so happy for her and that it had gone so well.

Well, I guess I lingered too long, enjoying the moment. Because she looked back. I gave her a little wave, but that was it. She started crying. And when I left quickly, it escalated to screaming. I could her it through the van as I drove past the them. I turned around out of sight and drove back, snuck up, and made eye-contact with her teacher, who gave me the thumbs up and said, "we're good!" in spite of the little 3-year-old figure laying back, spread-eagle on the ground. I asked Elijah's teacher to get Elijah to go over and say hi to her, and off I went, trusting that she'd stop crying quickly.

One second, Lizzie wants to type.

hvfxs3vw ntrg h u

Ok, I'm back. It turned out that my worries were for naught, and Abby had a great day. There were some instances where she had to keep her hands to herself, but all in all, good.

That makes me so happy!

After school we had to go get Abigail's dance clothes. It was just about the most adorable thing ever. Elijah had a grand time dancing around, hiding in the change room and pretending to work there. Abigail? Well, you should have seen that girl curtsy, twirl, and stomp. She got ballet shoes and tap shoes, as they do both until they're 8, so she had a lot of fun in the tap shoes, and pointing her toes in the ballet shoes. I loved every second of it.

We've had a great day over here. We're tired, but happy.



What has made you happy today?

A little belated...

Yesterday's happy moment is being posted a little late...I might have passed out on the couch at 8pm...the result of a very long and very tiring night with a screaming Lizzie!

My happy moment yesterday was bringing Abby to her kindergarten orientation in the morning. She rocked it! When we got to the front office, she ran up to the secretaries and said, "Is this my class? I'm going to school today!!!" Then, when we actually got to her classroom, she just bounded over and joined circle time. She was so comfortable in the classroom! I was so proud of her, and what a big girl she has become.

I didn't take any pictures. I could have but it felt better to just sit back and watch the moment rather than getting in there with the camera. Sometimes, it's better that way. You don't have the picture memory, but I find that, when I'm looking at a picture, I tend to forget the details the picture didn't illustrate. Things like the way she swatted at a boy's hand when he touched her arm (you go, girl!) how she got all concerned when she found toys out of place on the floor and brought them to her teacher, how she came right over to me for a tearful hug when someone took the toy she was playing with, and how she moped in her cubby for 20 seconds afterwards before getting over it and playing with the sand table.

A secondary happy moment yesterday was getting all three kids asleep and into bed by 7:34. Score!!

On top of all that goodness, I got to go visit a friend in the hospital with her day-old baby boy. He is such a beautiful baby, and I got to capture some great pictures of them. So many good moments yesterday!


What made YOU happy yesterday?

School Begins (for most)

Today is the first day of school in Ontario, and my facebook has been flooded by back-to-school posts. I've been one of the flooders, in fact (and yes, I know I just invented a word there. Creative English language, baby!)

Elijah is going back to school for senior kindergarten, and he is so excited. He's been asking how many sleeps until school starts for weeks now, and started counting down himself once the number got manageable. Apparently drop-off today was so completely normal, it was as if there was no summer holiday! I'm so glad. I hope he doesn't miss his SK (now grade 1) friends too much.

Abigail starts school this year, and I am so excited and nervous for her! I'm excited because I know she will excel. She will love the structure, the play time, making friends, playing games, playing on the playground. I'm also excited because I know it's what she needs at this point, developmentally. She needs more opportunities to learn what it means to be a good friend. She needs to learn to listen to a teacher rather than her momma, and she needs to get out of these same 4 walls and be stimulated more than I'm able to do, especially with a little Lizzie who needs to be home for naps these days.

I am still so nervous though! She just started pooping on the potty 2 weeks ago. Will she take her pants right off and have trouble putting them back on, like at home? Will she know how to put on her own running shoes? Will she be kind to the other kids? Will she feel lonely?

There is just so much uncertainty, and I tend to shy away from change.

Today she is home. Tomorrow she goes to school with me for 45 minutes to meet her teacher and see what it's all about. Then Thursday she starts full time, all-day kindergarten. For at least the next 14 years, until she finishes highschool, this will be her life, and until now things have been very very different.

I want so much to give her a good last day home with me. So much so that, in spite of how much I dislike cooking with my kids, I asked her if she'd like to make muffins with me. She was so excited! And you know what? It was actually really fun! Messy. Way messier and slower than when I bake on my own. But she was so happy, and it made my heart melt to see how seriously she took her tasks, and how proud of herself she was when I told her she was doing well. I'm so glad I made the effort to do that with her today.

***It is important to note that, in the middle of me typing the last sentence of this post, Abby ran over to me to give me a hug and as I was leaning down to pick her up, she jumped and hit my mouth so hard that my teeth are now bleeding. I'm rather proud of myself for not getting mad, and instead, going to the freezer for a teether to keep the swelling down. I totally credit that chill reaction to the fact that I was sitting down and feeling happiness towards her in that moment!***


So tell me, what has made you happy today??

Labour Day, or The Last Day of Summer

Well, today is turning out different from what I had planned. I thought we would do some housework and go to the beach for one last hurrah of summer.

Instead, Lizzie got sick with an unexplained fever a couple days ago and it is persisting. My day has involved going to the walk-in clinic this morning, snuggling her, being puked on, and puttering around the house. Matt has gotten housework done, took the older 2 kids out to McDonald's, and is playing with them in the backyard.

I've been stressed with how constant today has felt. At the same time, though, Lizzie has given me some pretty good snuggles, and the walk-in clinic this morning had no-one there! That made me SO happy!

Then, Matt sent me this video from McDonald's:

I was cracking up at the funny faces. Apparently Matt took the video to document the process of trying to take a selfie with these two littles. Hahaha

And then this just happened outside:

So many things to make me happy! And? Lizzie has been napping, so that's been great for a change.

What has made you happy today?

The Beginnings of a Blog

I won't bore everyone with details on the point of this blog, as it's already in the "About the Blog" section, I'll just say a little bit about what to expect.

Every day, Matthew or I will post on something that has made us happy. Some days, we might just post a picture and a little blurb (it might even be the same picture and blurb we shared on facebook) and other days there might be a little more dialog and description to go with our happy thing that day.

If we miss a day, get on our cases! The point of this is for us to see more good in our lives by acknowledging little things every day, much like the "Count Your Blessings" mentality.

Please don't think that, because we are posting happy things, our life must be amazing and perfect. It is so far from it. We all have challenges in our lives, things that we might call negative. I'm not out to combat all negative experiences - we need them to grow! - I'm trying to combat negativity, or rather, consistently viewing experiences in a negative light, whether they're good or bad.

Our goal is to change our own thought patterns by highlighting the good in our days. In the comment section, share the good in your day too! I love hearing about others' happiness. :-)

Lastly, I'll just finish this post with my favourite two verses from the hymn, Count Your Blessings:

When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings; name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged; God is over all.
Count your many blessings; angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.