Oh Be Careful Little Feet…

I knew the day was coming (kindergarten that is) but I didn’t realize how quickly it would sneak up on me.  Last week Jaiden was excited to get her school supplies for the year.  And the excitement about school didn’t go away. She chattered nonstop this morning on the way…

After we got home from getting her school supplies last week, I sat in her room and looked at her little shoes.  I wondered where they would take her.  Not the actual $15 shoes from Pay Less, but the little feet that used to be so tiny and wrinkly in a new mother’s hand.  The little feet that had stumbled through first steps and had gone on to run and jump and play.  The little feet that I kissed and tickled and painted toenails to match mine.  :) The little feet that were always so independent but would run to her momma’s arms in a heartbeat!  I thought about her first new pair of “school shoes” and what it represented.  Oh how I pray that the Lord will direct those little footsteps all the days of her life!  I pray that her heart will desire only the things of God and that she will walk in his ways.  I pray that her lips would praise Him and that her life would honor Him…even from the time she is in Kindergarten!

She only knew one person in her class. This picture of her and Mary Kate (they went to pre-k together) was taken at the orientation yesterday.

 

Her monogrammed lunchbox…or as she called it “motographed”

The big kindergartener eating her breakfast before school:

 

Here are a few of my favorites:

  

She asked me to take one of her looking at her new shoes???

This was my attempt to take one of the two of us, although out of focus.  Meanwhile Jeryn woke up…and no I didn’t mean to have my collar popped in the one on the right.

I know this post is overloaded with pictures, but Mario had to be out of town and he asked me several times to document everything from breakfast to dropping her off with both camera and video.  I took quite a bit of video, including Mario talking to her about her big day on speaker phone when she had just woke up.  Jaiden took these two: 

Strapped in and ready to go…I love the one of her holding Jeryn’s hand as they walked up to the school :)

 

Doesn’t she look so big??

 

Ready for school to start!  I think she’ll be a great student!

Giving her brother some love before we headed out…and talking to Mary Kate’s mom over her shoulder.  Got a feeling that might happen quite a bit as she warms up to everyone!

 

Last peek before Bubby&me made our way back to the car…Gosh, we love that girl!!!!!!!  Hope this is good, Daddy!  We can’t wait to see you!

 

And at 3:30 in the afternoon, I realized my shirt was completely wrong side out with the tag hanging out all over my back which was the least of my concerns at 5:30 this morning. 

And She Tells Me She Won’t Play Ball…

I have always told myself that I wouldn’t “force” my children to play any sport.  After all, it was sort of by accident that I found my love for basketball in the third grade. 

No accident, however,  on the part of my Aunt Donna who asked my mom if she could take me to the Ozark Mountain Basketball camp because she thought I might have game :) 

So a knobby-kneed kid that could fit her mom’s shoes in the third grade with big maroon glasses headed off and met her soul mate.   The rest was history.  I spent my days (and nights) for the next fourteen years sweating it out in a gym. And I mean that in the most literal sense possible.  I lived, breathed, and loved a simple game.  But it was so much more to me.  It was a thrill to me.  I never once hated it or thought that I could be “burned out” on it. 

That commitment resulted in some of the best years of my life.  It also resulted in some of the best friendships that I have ever made.  It was avenue that allowed me to travel to lots of neat places, and meet lots of neat people.  It taught me so much about life. 

Over the years, I have witnessed lots of different “types” of parents and the level at which they are involved when it comes to sports and their kids.  I have always said, I would not force my children to play any sport, however, I’m thinking about changing that! :)

Not too long ago, I dressed these guys out for a little fun.  I bought these matching uniforms the week I brought Jeryn home from the hospital.  He finally grew into his, although Jaiden had grown out of hers about a year ago.  I came to the following conclusions:

First of all, anybody that looks this cute in a jersey MUST at least try one full season of basketball.  Be it upward, pee-wees, or boys & girls club, it is now a requirement.

 

Secondly, anyone who is having this much fun, or is developing a jump shot at five, is required to complete at least two seasons of one of the above mentioned basketball programs.

     

And lastly, anyone that gets an adrenaline rush from simple drills or from running out of a tunnel (or a closet) is required to play at least three years. ( I would have them wait in the closet and then I would announce their names, positions, and stats. They come running out of the closet down the hallway jumping and sliding…sooo funny!  They were really feeding off of my energy and getting into it!) 

Maybe, JUST MAYBE, they’ll love it as much as me????

If not, my guess is I’ll be living out of a horse trailer, watching late night ropin’s. 

Hairy Subject

If you can’t tell by looking, this girl has got some thick, curly hair!  I love it! I took the above pictures the other day when she had fixed it all by herself.  Without any help from mom. I promise! Her dad and I were impressed!  Just another indicator that she is growing up so fast :(

When she was younger I used to braid her hair a lot.  I couldn’t braid worth a  flip at first, but with a little help from “NeNe” (her sitter since she was six weeks old) and lots of practice, I was able to learn.  It has been months and months since I’ve braided her hair, but with it soooo hot and humid, I talked her in to letting me braid it several times in the last few weeks.  It is still one of my favorite ways for her to wear it.  It just looks so fresh and cool! 

Here she is before bed with a scarf to help keep it fresh:

I remember always “fighting” with my hair until I learned how to fix it. (Smirk here, if you’d like.  For anyone that knows me it is in a ponytail 6 out of 7 days a week).  But I can remember my mom telling me to stop whining, that there were lots of people who would love to have hair that lost theirs due to illness.  She was right. 

There are days that Jaiden complains about the length of time it takes me to comb her hair, or that it is too tangled, too hot, too curly, etc. but I tell her exactly what my mom told me.  “Be thankful!”  I have told her on more than one occassion that there are some little girls and boys that have lost their hair.  I tell her “You have lots of beautiful hair that you can wear lots of different ways, even if it takes a little extra time to fix!”  This is how we fixed it for church this morning. We took the braids out and sprayed a leave-in conditioner on, added the headband, and there you go!  And little brother is lucky is he even gets so much as a comb to his.  :)

 

Solo Time

The week before last, Jeryn and I went to Columbia with Mario.  Mario will be taking over his own State Farm Agency in November, so he has been back and forth a lot between home and the Columbia Operations Center.  Jaiden was already going to be staying with Mo and Grandad that week for  VBS, so Jeryn and I decided to hit the road for a few days. 

We were cracking up because Jeryn totally knew he had us to himself those few days. He is crazy about his sister, but we just realized this was the first overnight trip we had ever taken with just him.  With Jaiden, it was different of course, because she had us to herself for the first three years! We were really missing her, but I think it was good for my little man to have some solo time.

Here he is just a few minutes after we checked in, making himself comfortable:

Here he is on the way to dinner, this was actually on Father’s Day:

At dinner:

 

   

At breakfast the next morning, and getting ready to hit the pool:

Is it me, or is he enjoying this WAY TOO MUCH??  He made his spot in the middle of the king bed for three days!

  

Before dinner the second night we were there:

(Notice the red rope that goes with us EVERYWHERE)

 

I love this one because we didn’t tell him to pose like this, he just did because he was doing exactly what Mario did :)

 

Of course he noticed everything in the hotel that had a horse on it…

Once we made it back, I was able to go the last two days to pick Jaiden up.  She and Rhett were having a blast, and she is still singing the songs they learned that week!

The Possibilities Are Endless…

So J wanted to know what the tooth fairy looked like. 

Mo drew her the following picture:

“No. That looks too much like an angel,” J told her.  “Draw another one…” 

The second one satisfied her a little more:

   

Then Grandad drew his version of the tooth fairy:

 

“A man in woman’s clothes?” Jaiden said out loud.

No wonder she was worried that the tooth fairy might wake her up when she-man lifted her pillow up.