Lillie's First "Lost" Tooth

So a couple of weeks ago Ms. Lillie got what she has been waiting for since Kinder began.... her first loose tooth. It took a while to get it out because her teeth grow so tightly together she had a hard time wiggling it and mostly gave up. Until last Sunday. It loosened up on it's own, which I'm sure is much better, and she came to me and the thing was bending back all far and gross-like. It held on until school the next day (which is what she wanted). She lost it in Mr. Z's P.E. class and got to go to the nurse and put it in a tooth necklace. She was so excited! She came home and said "Renee said that when she lost her tooth the tooth fairy gave her $100!" I said "That's so awesome! But our family tooth fairy is on a budget so it's probably not going to be that much..." "I think it will be" she said. Suffice it to say she was very happy with the $3 under her pillow the next morning. And she already has a second loose one... I think she's having the dangerous realization that her mouth is actually a money machine. We're just waiting to find her with a piece of string attaching her tooth to a door knob or something... yeah, Tim gave her that idea!

I have reached a new stage of life....

So today Lillie started out a sentence with the words "Mom, when you're an old lady..." I was like whoa, what?!? Then it got funny. She said "Mom, when you're an old lady and you're trimming my finger nails you're going to cut my skin." "Why?", I ask. "It won't be on purpose. Old people are just shaky. It won't be your fault."
Where do they come up with this stuff?

Show "N Tell

Lillie had her first show and tell of Kindergarten. This is what she brought...
and this is what she said...
"This is mine. It's special, so no one can touch it but me." The End.
Well, she showed it to them. And she definitely told them stuff. Maybe our next Family Home Evening should be about sharing....

And in other funny Lillie news, tonight we had a good one. Lillie has an issue with raw carrots. They have to be perfect in every way to be considered worthy for ingestion. So tonight this was our dinner conversation:
Mom - "Lillie, which is worse? A carrot that has a crack in it, or a carrot that has a dark spot?"
Lillie - "Both are bad."
Dad - "But if you had to eat one, would you eat the one with the spot, or the crack?"
Lillie - "I wouldn't eat either one... I'm good at this game!"

Last Day of Summer...1st Day of Kindergarten

Well, Kindergarten is upon us. I can't believe that it is finally here. It is astounding how quickly the last five years have past and I am really trying to take to heart all the advice: "Enjoy every moment with your children, they will be gone before you know it." I can believe it. While I've been awaiting this morning for many months, I expected to feel more nervous, and a little more sad. But Lillie is amazing! She has been ready and waiting for Kindergarten for three years now. When the moment finally came how could I be sad that she was so very happy? So, I think, I was more nostalgic. We are turning the pages and have finished that chapter of our lives together. No more am I her sole influence. I mean, I know it's just Kindergarten, but from here on out, she will grow into her own person by leaps and bounds. And I worry. Did I teach her enough to be out there on her own. Will she remember what she has learned? Will she come to Tim and I when she has questions and problems. But at the same time I am so excited for her. She looked so beautiful this morning and so grown up! She was so excited and very confident walking into that room this morning. She was just sad enough so that I didn't feel abandoned but confident enough for me to leave after a good long hug. (and it was only long because I started to tear up and wanted to get ahold of myself before she saw!) I'm not sure how Tim did. I know that he has been feeling a little nostalgic to see her grow up and take this big step, but truthfully it was such a surreal experience for me that we were actually old enough to have a child going to school that I wasn't focused on Tim. He does usually keep himself together much better than I do though! So, during the day poor Samuel was a little lost. Lillie went to pre-school of course but that was four months ago and I think the big guy didn't know what to do by himself. At one point coming back from the store we drove by Lillie's school and looked to see if she was on the playground. (She wasn't) and he got so excited. "Are we going to pick up Lillie!?!" he asked. "No buddy, we'll come back later." Oh he was so disappointed. And then thrilled a couple of hours later when I woke him up from his nap to get her. Well, in answer to my prayers Lillie had a fantastic day! The only hiccup as far as I could tell was that at snack time she didn't remember that I had shown her where her snack was in her backpack and so while all the other children ate their snack she just sat there. So sad! But oh well. I know those are the little disappointing experiences that help you grow up. And she definitely now knows where her snack is at! She came home spouting facts about her teacher and singing songs learned in music class. She was sad that they didn't go to the library. (I think she was under the impression that they go every day!) And she made two friends (ironically named Abby, and Emma! - UT cousins) The most important part: she can't wait to go back tomorrow! Really, could I ask for anything more? I am truly so happy for her that she has this. I know that it feels wonderful to grow up.

So here are some pics of the last day of summer and Lillie's first day of Kindergarten. On Saturday night we went swimming with my parents in their neighborhood pool and had a really good time.

Gorgeous! And at 7am too...this is when she's usually rolling out of bed. I can't believe I ever thought 7am was early!

In her classroom ready to start her day and beat the heat with her water bottle.

Have you ever seen two more genuinely happy people? My dad just loves "little" Grant and is so good with him. By the way, we tried putting Grant in the water for the first time that night but he was so scared. It was so, so sad. As you can see though he was very happy to stay right where he was!

Okay, after an entire summer (granted we didn't go to the pool nearly as often as we have in preious summers) Samuel finally started paddling around by himself a week ago. And he is soo proud! Luckily we still have at least 2 months left of serious summer weather so maybe he can get some more practice in!

Little Miss Lillie started learning how to dog paddle last week and here she is giving it a go. I can't believe she doesn't get tired. She must have Tim's swimmer's lungs. She'll get in there and paddle around for an hour and a half without stopping. She is not scared and is so determined to swim like a "big kid"

L to R: Mom Burwell, Samuel, Audrey, Lillie, and Auntie Katie. Thanks for the fun night guys!

Happy 5th Birthday Lillie!

Lillie had a GREAT! birthday! I asked her if she wanted her birthday party on the same day, or did she want 2 special days. All in one day was her answer, so that's what she got. Let me tell you, this girl was Wired ALL DAY! We started out by taking a special trip just her and I to get her birthday balloons. Then we rushed back to get ready for her Hello Kitty themed party.

When all the girls came in they got their face painted like a kitty cat and they got a pink hair bow (just like Hello Kitty). Then they got to pick a nail polish color anf proceed to the the kitchen where they got a manicure, paint job, and nail stickers. Poor Samuel, the only boy...he did sport his pink hair bow for a couple of minutes, and enjoyed his manly blue nail polish before he gave up involvement for swinging a plastic bat around like a sword the entire time!

Thankyou to my mom, and sisters Katie, and Allison for helping out... I couldn't have done it without you!Pinata time! Lillie was thrilled that she got to hit it first AND last this time. Actually she enjoyed that the entire day she got to go first, pick everything, and refuse sharing her new toys if she chose. (Which of course she was SO nice about sharing since I wasn't forcing her to do so. I must remeber this reverse psychology business...)

The pinata proved too strong for 14 children and a plastic bat so I had to tear it open myself. Hey, at least everyone got their fair share to beat it up!

So, Lillie got to pick a birthday lunch and dinner. You would think, Chick-fil-A, McDonalds, like Samuel picked. No. Lunch - Pei Wei - an Asian Diner - where she proceeded to eat an entire teryaki bowl with chopsticks (aided be chopstick helpers) and Dinner - we surprised her with Chili's which strangely is her favorite. She was so excited! Hey, I'm glad she has good taste! So here she is with Grant and I and Samuel peaking in at her b-day dinner. In the next pic she's enjoying her ice-cream they brought to her. It took her a little while to get over the embarassment of the ENTIRE restaurant singing to her - but I think secretly she really enjoyed it!

This is her family party that night where we celebrated with the Burwell's. Here she is with her princess meal set from Aunt Katie that she had been hoping for...

Nice pick Katie!

And here she is with Grammy and Grandad and their b-day gift...the book Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, with and actual purple plastic purse and all the things to go inside it - pink rhinestone sunglasses, cheetos, and 3 shiny quarters - too cute! She loves it!

We have had such a fun 5th year with you Lil'Star and are so excited for all the fun things you have planned this year - Kindergarten, Ballet, new friends, CA at Christmastime and all the other adventures you get yourself in to! You are such a wonderful little girl and a great big sister. We are all so blessed to have you in our family. Thankyou to all our friends and family who helped us celerate Lillie this year!

Side note: here are the cakes Tim and I painstakingly worked on. The less impressive cupcake cake was all me. The Hello Kitty cake was designed by me but I only did the grunt work. Tim's steady hand drew the kitty and her name. We love doing this stuff for our kiddos! I know that I'm embarassing you when I say this stuff Tim so I'm sorry. But really, he is such a great dad!

Hanitizer

I love the funny ways that kids say things. Today Lillie pointed to a hand santitizer dispenser and said, "mom, that's hanitizer". Now, we all call it that. It might be better to correct her, I don't know, but she so rarely mis-pronounces words now and I am really starting to miss it. So I'm hanging on to all that I can! Sadly she just figured out how to pronounce magazine. For the longest time it's been maa-za-zing...sad days.

Appetizers

I am so proud! Lillie is a girl after my own heart. This was our conversation a couple of weeks ago: "Mom, I want to make something to eat." "Okay, what do you want." "No mom, I want to make it." "Oh, what do you want to make?" "Um, how about I take some sticks and I put on them, some cheese and some black olives, and some something else." "wow, where did you get that idea, cuz it's a pretty good one!" I thought it up all by myself." "Okay, how about some cucumbers too?" "That sounds good."
I got her the stuff, cut it up then she made these all by herself. While she was making them she said, "I'm going to make a lot and then let's invite a lot of people over to our house." Ahhh, it feels so good to have her following in my footsteps. What a little hostess! We had them at dinner that night and you know what?....They were really good! Good job Lil'Star!