Corn Maze 2012

We try and take the kids to the corn maze every fall.  They always have a lot of fun there.  But, this year, Shae and Connor both decided that the corn maze was boring, and did they have to go (whine, whine, whine)???  I usually make them do stuff like this but last night I was just tired so I said fine, they could stay home and we'd take the kids who were actually excited to go.

Maira and Hudson had a blast - it's only too bad we got there so late, they would have been happy to stay for a couple more hours.

Maira Loses a Tooth

All of my babies, except Maira, were unusually late to get their first tooth and so far, they have also been unusually late to lose their first tooth.  Shae was in grade 2 and Connor was in grade 1.

But since Maira got her first tooth at around 6 months old, we weren't too surprised when she got her first wiggly tooth the summer before kindergarten.  And a few nights ago, it was loose enough that when I gave it a quick yank, out it came.

My Little Storekeepers

A few days ago, Hudson decided he wanted to set up a store on our front lawn.  I suggested he wait until after school when there would be more people around but he insisted he wanted to make a store NOW.  When Maira got home from kindergarten, she thought that sounded like a fun idea so together, they set up a store on our front lawn. They asked me what they could sell.  I gave Hudson a bag of about a dozen red lollipops and I gave Maira a ziploc bag of large marshmallows. 

They decided their price point would be $3 per item.

They made a sign to advertise their store.  Then they sat in front of the sign and waited for customers.

Jess and I were their only customers (our street is really quiet in the afternoon when most people are either at school or at work).

It was a hot day so Jess brought them an umbrella and he also added a cardboard store front to their setup.

After about 2 hours, Hudson came inside.  I asked if he was done with his store and he said yes, his store was all done because he and Maira had eaten all the lollipops and all the marshmallows.  Kind of hard to run a store when you've eaten all your inventory!

Back To School 2012

Shae was the first to leave, bright and early Tuesday morning.  She's headed off for her last year of Junior High - this was her first day of Grade Nine.

Maira was the next one to leave.  This was her first day of Kindergarten and she was very nervous.  Terrified, actually.  Can you tell?

We tried to get her to smile for the camera but it wasn't easy.

I took her to her bus stop and by the time I waved good-bye to her sad little face looking at me through the bus window, we were both in tears.

Connor was next (crazy woman that I am, I've got all four kids in different schools this year).  Connor walks to the school down the road so he doesn't have to leave until five minutes before the bell rings.

He wasn't super excited to start school but after his first day, he told me he had a GREAT day (which I believe is the first time he's ever told me that after a day at school).

Here he is, settling in at his new desk.

At lunch time, Jess, Hudson and I went to wait for Maira at the bus stop.  Hudson definitely missed having Maira around, they really are best friends.

The bus was late so we had quite a wait...

Finally, the bus arrived and Hudson ran right up to Maira:

And thankfully, Maira was all smiles - she LOVED her first day of school.  In fact, by the end of the week, she told me she was sad that they had to have weekends because she wished she could go to school every day.

At home, we sat down and she told me all about her very first day of Kindergarten.

Finally, a week later, it was Hudson's turn for his first day at Playschool.  After two years of having to drag him kicking and screaming OUT of the playschool after dropping Maira off, he was thrilled that it was finally his turn to stay and play with all the fun toys.

During his first unparented day at school, it was a strange feeling to be child-free.  I decided to go and run some errands and while it was definitely much faster to go on my own, I actually kind of missed having my little shopping buddy with me, chattering to me while I shop.  Definitely a bittersweet experience.