All sorts of stuff

Took this picture last evening.

Miss A can hardly stand doing anything these days without it being an obvious echo of whatever it is she is doing in preschool at the time. Nevermind what she is NOT to be doing which is standing on her table! What I'm really trying to show you are the items on her table top that she has gathered only to sort them in groups. She spent almost a half hour occupying herself just with this activity! I'm thinking it's time she start helping sort clean laundry and letting her think it's just another fun game.

1 Chronicles16:8

We are in such a good place these days. Last Friday D received word that he is officially DONE with his all of the requirements for his Masters degree, tomorrow is Miss A's last day at her preschool and I continue to have steady work in all of my business ventures.

We had a wonderfully fun weekend with Miss A discovering the joy that is a warm cup of hot chocolate. She calls it her "coffee" and loved partaking in the Saturday morning ritual that I believe we will keep as a mainstay at our house. These days she just wants to do things as close to what grown-ups are doing and anything else more that she can do to be "twinsies" with me she is up for.

She's also getting so much more into role-playing/playing pretend. Somehow she found her way into some of our holiday/Christmas decor and discovered that some lovely placemats make very nice personal rugs for each of her dolls and stuffies to do "circle time" with her.  I suppose we could have taken the placemats away from her but my thinking is that we can always wash them when it's time to use them and if she is treating them nicely anyway what's the big deal? She's making some seriously good memories for herself and her childhood and I am all for that.

With tomorrow being her last day at her daycare center and also the school's mini Thanksgiving feast for the kids, we are preparing for a way to give thanks to the staff and friends she has made while she's been there.  I have ordered a big tray of her favorite main course (Chicken nuggets in the most deluxe way they can get - from Chik-fil-a!) and I will be finishing up these tokens of friendship for her friends to have tomorrow when she says good-bye to them...

Before you go giving me credit for my creativity and ingenuity, I got the idea from Pinterest. I like the idea so much though that I will probably recycle it for her Valentine's day exchanges. It's so easy to take a picture of her and then throw some graphic lettering on there to make it fun.  Cutting the picture just right so that the lollipop holds well is tricky but that's the worst part of it and if that's all I have to complain about? I'd say I have it pretty good.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all if I don't get a chance to tell you in a more timely manner! Hope you are receiving the Lord's richest blessings in your own lives.

No BOYS allowed!!!

Two nights ago I came home from being away for most of the weekend because I was having some "girl time" with one of my BFFs as well as doing a family portrait shoot in Baltimore and an engagement shoot  in downtown DC.  Miss A was SO happy to see me and I almost couldn't sit down fast enough in order for her to sit next to me and/or on my lap.

Once we were both comfortably on the couch together she promptly told me,"Papa is not my friend" (referring to Dave) and that it was because "He's a boy." Then she rattled off other individuals her were also boys (including the dog) and who were also not her friends. After that she told me all of the individuals that were girls (the cat and I were on the list *phew*) and confirmed their friendship status. The whole time, D and I sat in the most composed way we could muster - meaning NOT laughing and appearing to take the conversation seriously - and at one point D put his fist in the air as a declaration of his solidarity for Miss A's refusal to be friends with boys even if it excluded him.  Miss A is at such a fun age and stage right now and we can't even help ourselves to do anything other than marvel at her and be amused with it all.

Last night I had to run a last minute errand right before bedtime and Miss A happily rode along with me. She was having such a good time that when it was time for us to return home she made a fuss and started arguing with me. I finally convinced her that she was wrong with the argument that there was ice cream at home and so it was a pretty good place to go to. The tables turned and all of a sudden she wanted to rush home as quickly as possible and she told me, "You can share MY ice cream, Mama. I will share my ice cream with you!"

It's truly amazing to see Miss A's personality come out in the funny and fun things she says. She's such a tiny little person but her personality is just so big sometimes.

A note of thanks

Today was steeped in great blessings and answered prayers! As of 9:30am Miss A will officially be withdrawn from her current preschool by Thanksgiving and will start at a new (much better) pre-K program come last week of November/first week of December.

Miss A's current preschool has been OK. Seriously. It's been OK and nothing more than that. D and I have been about 50% satisfied in our experience there and according to us (both of us teachers) 50% is actually a failing grade!  In recent weeks we've witnessed incidents that have been just plain unprofessional of some of the staff.  Things we've also heard Miss A parroting (that we KNOW have not come from us) have also raised eyebrows on more than a few occasions and after a major incident last week? D and I were done.

As parents (who are also teachers) D and I strive to not be "those parents."  Time and time again we are willing to look at Miss A's teachers and be generous at giving them the benefit of the doubt.  For as generous as we've been though? We're pretty spent at this point.  Thankfully (and prayerfully) the Lord has provided an amazing new option that we didn't think we had. It's one that far exceeds the standards we had for her current place on top of the fact that it's cheaper monthly as well as annually! (This might seem to be unnecessary to note but there are two unrelated reasons why it's both.)

The other day when I was picking up Miss A, I was walking through the hallways of her preschool and really taking it in and trying to make sure that (truly) our decision to transfer her to another place would be as informed as possible.  Yes - they've done all of the "usual" stuff a preschool ought to do but we shouldn't be paying extra for something that is a given and that's definitely what we've been doing on the whole.

We know the transition might be hard for Miss A because she will be leaving her friends but it's going to be a good thing in the long run and especially with it happening when she's so young? She should adapt very well for the most part. And anyway, if you ask Miss A what SHE is thankful for, apparently she'll tell you this...

*sigh*

As shown, the things she is so grateful for are likely not going anywhere but wherever she goes! I'm just glad D and I both made the leaf!

How about some throwbacks?

I'm feeling a little nostalgic lately. Miss A is just growing up so fast and I can hardly believe she was this tiny at one point. These were all taken right around the time when she was turning only one year old and we still lived back in the apartment that we called our first family home.  Amazing how far we've come, how much we have changed, and how different life is for us in so many wonderful ways...