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A: I had to flip my clip today
M: really, what happened?
A: I don't know
M: well, what were you doing right before your teacher told you to flip it?
A: telling Mackenzie something
M: Audrey, did your teacher ask the class to stop talking?

A: but mom, I wasn't talking...I was whispering

kindergarten

The first of 13 "first day of school" pictures with Daddy
(replacing the "chair" pictures)

Walking to her classroom

Putting her things away in her cubby

Sitting at her desk

Writing her name

(I have to note here that Lucy also took a seat, got out the box,

looked up at me and said "Bye Mom")

waiting for class to start

there's no lookin' back now

Well, we survived the first week of school. Audrey did so well. She is in a brand new school with a brand new teacher and I was holding my breath just a little I must admit. She is there all day and stays busy with separate teachers for art, music, library, PE, and computers along with all of the regular Kindergarten stuff with Mrs. Grabel.

We had a little bit of a bus issue at first. My mom was supposed to pick her up every day except the first day she could ride the bus home because I had the day off. On the second day when she didn't get to ride again she was very upset. See, that was the only time all day she got to see her friends from the neighborhood because they are all in different grades. So Audrey and Grandma have worked out a deal where she is now waiting in our driveway for Audrey to get off of the bus. Seriously.Spoiled.Rotten.

Lucy was so happy to see her sissy home!

defeated

The closer it gets to the first day of school the more anxious I become. And it's not even about Audrey being gone all day, I've already got that down pat since the girls are with my mom while I'm at work. Her being at school won't feel any different to me than her being with Gma...during the day at least. It's the evenings that have me raising my arms in defeat. With big girl school comes big girl after school activities. And I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to fit dinner, homework, playtime, dance, girl scouts, bath, reading, laundry, picking up, cleaning, shopping, etc, etc, etc within the hours of 5:30 - 8:30. I'm not sure exactly how to do it ALL.
The past few months have made me realize how precious my time really is. How they are only going to be this age once. And little by little I have sacrificed getting things done around the house to spend just a few more minutes with them. We have gone without bread or milk on more than one occasion because we didn't get to the store. We have dug in the back of our closets for something to wear because laundry was piling up. We have made the time to pick up and saved the cleaning for the next day only to realize we needed to pick up again.
So...
Today I interviewed and hired a house cleaner...and for the first time in a long long while, some of the weight has just been lifted off of my shoulders.

polka dots

As I expected, our weekend project turned into our summer project. I still have a few little things to do (like put pictures into the frames) but enough is done that I can finally post a peek:

"no boys allowed" I replaced the closet doors with dark pink gingham curtains. One reason because the closet doors are always left open into the middle of the room and the other reason because I wanted to put the chest of drawers in that corner.
I made this lamp shade myself. I'm kinda proud of it.
At the last minute, Lucy decided she still wanted her crib. We refer to it as her "cave". Eventually there will be a queen sized mattress on the bottom with a matching quilt...

in the meantime, the girls are using the extra space as a cuddle corner.
doesn't look like Audrey will get lonely up top.
The green doll cabinet and cradle were made for my mom by her daddy. I used them too and now they have been passed down yet another generation.
Every girl needs a hot pink vanity don't 'cha think?
The bookshelf is also 3rd generation. I saw the blue drawers and thought they would be perfect for lots of little jewelery. And the ice cream chair was definitely my favorite antique store find :)

Seriously...where else but Hobby Lobby would there actually be polka dot crosses?

I hope the girls can enjoy this room for many years to come. Thanks to Mary Ann for the wonderful paint job!

jump again

On an average swim night. Lucy jumps in the pool about 537 times. Sometimes with a running start. Sometimes with a "watch me". Sometimes with no warning at all. She just loves to jump. Needless to say...Lucy gets her life jacket on before we even open the gate. That girl doesn't care if someone is there to catch her or not. Over the course of this particular evening, I was able to take several pictures of some of the jumps and put them together "flip book" style:

"jump again"

swim night

We have made a habit out of going to the pool on Saturday nights. On most occasions, we have the pool all to ourselves...seems other people in the neighborhood have a life :)

"superstar" The differences between the girls are the most obvious in the water. I will never forget the first time I walked around the corner to witness Lucy being thrown into the lake...and loving it. Such a shock after years of being careful not to splash with Audrey.

the stair jump

the slide in

Audrey getting brave