Day 1 {Back to School}

This year's Back to School was not nearly as traumatic (or dramatic on my part!) as last year's.  In fact, this year there was very little emotion.  The kids were excited to get to start attending school in their brand new building and I was excited to just get them there on time!

The night before school started, Emily excitedly used the "Jitter Glitter" her teacher gave her during the Open House. She was 100% on board with the glitter.  Despite Noah insisting it wasn't real and wouldn't work, she pressed onward...excited and certain it would help her sleep well.

After the glitter was safely tucked away in a towel under her pillow, Emily looked at me and said...

"Are you going to do the same thing you did on the first day of Kindergarten?"

Shocked that she even remembered that I had distracted myself from my Kindergarten sadness by decorating the breakfast table, I responded...

"What do you mean?"

Noah eagerly jumped in to the conversation and said...

"Remember... you decorated the table and did all that stuff!"

Score one for mom!  They actually remembered something I did fondly!

My response was honest...

"No.  That was just kind of special thing since it was the first day of Kindergarten.  I didn't plan to do that again."

My response was met with disappointed eyes and joint requests that I...

"pleeeeaaasse, do it again."

I'm a total sucker for their begging because I can't believe that my efforts from last year actually meant something to them.  It's one of those rare "job well done" parenting moments.

So after I tucked them in bed much too late, I jumped in the car for a late night run to Wal Mart to purchase supplies for our 2nd annual "Back to School Breakfast".

I was barely able to function on the morning of school so pancakes in the shape of their grade were no where to be found.  Neither were the eggs or the bacon.  They settled for toast and yogurt and fruit.  And a chocolate chip muffin!

Last year, I gave each of them a little "gift".  We don't purchase school supplies at our school, so it's kind of fun for them to get a new school "supply" on the first day.  Emily got new markers and Noah got a mechanical pencil; both topped with a good luck note (of which I'm not sure either child even read!).

And on a whim, I decided to introduce something new.  A "Talk to Me Journal" for each school-goer.  I got this idea from a friend who homeschools and thought it might be something fun for us to do at home upon occasion.  I grabbed a few composition notebooks and began by introducing the idea of the "Talk to Me Journal" on the first pages of each journal.

The kids seemed happy that I had indulged their requests to celebrate their first day of school in this way.  Early morning smiles are hard to come by in the Holtzman Household, so I'd call this a success!

After breakfast, we headed outside for the annual "first day front porch pictures".  And I gave in to the social media fad and asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up.  

Ummm... my tiredness is responsible for my inability to spell!  If Emily actually grows up to be a teacher, she'd flunk my spelling abilities!

And as much as I told myself... "do NOT make a teacher gift this year", I couldn't help myself.  I guess it's just part of my DNA.  It feels wrong to me not to send the kids with something in hand to give to their teacher on the first day.  So I indulged my own inner "crazy" and threw these together with printables and containers I had in the basement... apples for Ms. Feuerborn and strawberries for Mrs. Goenner.

The kids approached their brand new school... confident and excited. 

They allowed me to take the obligatory "with your teacher" picture before they took their seats and began their new school year with ease and familiarity.

And we celebrated the first day with ice cream amidst of sea of plaid-jumpered 1st grade girls!

And that was Day 1.  Day 1 of another school year.  I pray it's a good one!

*****

And then came 8-29-14 and it was her turn...

Ah!  This one.  She is my little ray of sunshine.  Even school makes her happy and is reason to twirl!  She was completely delighted when it was FINALLY  her turn for Day 1. 

She had to miss the first official 2 days because she was sick, so her Day 1 was on Friday, 8-29-14.  She woke early; excited to be feeling well and eager to get to school.  She dressed herself, brushed her own teeth, and came to my bedside with her backpack on and ready to go!

She happily carried her teacher gift in hand and excitedly walked into her familiar preschool, Little Lambs.  

She stopped for a quick picture with her new teacher, Miss Kacy, and off she went without a look back!

I remember feeling overly emotional on Emily's 1st day of Pre-K; maybe even crying as I fixed her hair.  I remember lamenting the fact that it would be my last year with her home all day.  I didn't have that same emotion as I curled Molly's hair on her Day 1 of Pre-K.  But as I sift through these images and recall how delightful and fun she was to drop off and pick up, my eyes are fighting back the moisture.  While she makes the most of her Pre-K fun-filled days at Little Lambs, I need to remember to savor my days at home with her and soak up every little bit of her delightfulness.  Every bit of her.

Little Things {Summer 2014}

The Summer of 2014... lovely temperatures, new baby, no vacations, lots of golf and pool time, adjustments, sleeping in, room rearrangements, time with friends, camps, and lots of love.  The summer of 2014... it was good to us.  Here are some of the little moments from our school-free days in the summer sun...

"Celebrating the Little Things"

{Summer 2014 Edition}

*****

{Daddy Date at the Zoo}
Vance and a friend took seven girls to the zoo... by themselves!  Even I'm impressed!

{Mani/Pedi Date with Friends}
To kick off summer, the older girls got freshly painted nails and toes.  I know from experience that the paint last approximately 1.3 days, but it's still worth the money to see them so happy with their manicured nails.

{Pee Wee Golf}
The girls got their chance to give golf a swing during Pee Wee Golf Camp.  They both loved it and Emily even WON the chipping contest!  Vance says our "college savings plan" is for the girls to learn to play golf because that is the easiest college scholarship to get!  So I guess the fact that they enjoyed it is a good thing :)

{her ball was closest to the pin for the chipping contest WIN!}

{College Stars}

Noah got to hang with some college basketball stars during an early summer basketball camp.  One of the KU players gave some great advice that I ended up repeating to Noah often during his swim team experience... he said that the best advice that he could give a kid is everyday, just try to do better than you did the day before.  And when things don't go your way, keep smiling! 

{Big Beds!}
It's slightly embarrassing to admit, but up until we made the room switch in anticipation of Lucy's arrival, Emily was still sleeping in a toddler bed and Molly was sleeping in a CRIB!  So moving into these twin beds was a pretty big deal!  Not only were the beds big and new, they were in their new room in the BASEMENT!  I gave them about a 5% chance of actually sleeping in them the night we made the move.  I was shocked to discover that they not only went right to sleep, they stayed there... ALL night!  This was a MAJOR success as our sleep history does not have a stellar record!

A few nights after we made the move for the big girls, it was Abby's turn to make her move to the toddler bed that Emily just gave up!  Once again, I gave her about a 5% chance of actually staying in there.  I have memories of when we put Emily in the toddler bed for the first time.  Memories that ended in us putting a child lock on the INSIDE of the bedroom door so she couldn't get out!  But like her bigger sisters, Abby shocked us too and stayed in her bed all night long!

The Big Bed shift has been an overwhelming success because they are ALL sleeping better than they were before the move.  We occasionally have nights when everyone, yes everyone, sleeps all night long!  It's miraculous!

{these pics are all taken on the first nights in the big beds}

{A Radical Ride on the Wings of Prayer}
For the 3rd year in a row, I have been the director of our church's VBS program.  It's not a small project.  In fact, it's quite overwhelming and kept me completely tied up for the first few weeks of summer...39 weeks pregnant!  But it's totally and completely worth every bit of work.  The kids love it and learn a lot.  Admittedly, I learn a lot too!

 

 

 

 

 

{Doll Fashion Show}
Having girls is fun for me.  Having lots of girls who are friends with one another is fun for THEM!  They always have a playmate and when Emily is involved, their imaginary play is so fun to watch.  I mean really, who doesn't enjoy a doll fashion show?!

{First Golf Income}
Noah was asked to be a ball spotter in a club tournament.  He spent the entire day sitting on various holes helping the players spot their balls.  He was pretty excited to be given this opportunity, but he was even MORE excited when he started getting TIPS!  He didn't know that would be part of the deal when he accepted the offer!  So here it is... his first $55 of golf related income.  He hopes it will be the first of much more future golfing income!

{Babysitter Fun}
I discovered a few years ago that there is no shame in accepting help.  I am not capable of doing it all.  And I'm fortunate to have lots of good helpers in my life.  When Lucy was born, I knew I needed help entertaining the older kids.  And so I called in the troops... the babysitting troops who made summer super fun for my older kids by doing fun things with them that I couldn't do while taking care of their newborn baby sister.

{Float & Frozen Flick}
This might have been one of my favorite summer memories to date.  The golf club had a summer "Float and Flick" at the pool and the featured flick was Frozen.  Swimming at night, eating popcorn and candy by the pool, and listening to the kids belt out the words to "Let it Go" as they splashed around... it made me think as I took it all in... "this is what summer is about!"

{Funny Hair Dos}
Abby's hair is a hot mess!  She has an awkward cowlick in the back and the front won't grow at the same rate as the back.  It has a little natural curl, but only on the ends.  Honestly, she looks like an unkept orphan child most of the time!  But when the babysitters are over, they try to tame her mess of hair and the result is often some pretty funny hair dos!

{Bike Decorating}
For the first time, we participated in the neighborhood 4th of July bike parade.  And got the bikes decorated in lots of red, white and blue!  Abby was thrilled :)

{Lemonade Stands}
Nothing says "summer" more than kid lemonade stands.  And we enjoyed a few of them!

{Girl Talk after Swim Practice}
Just plain cute.  No additional explanation needed :)

{Baby Sleeping on Me}
Every morning I'm surrounded by little people.  And the littlest one is always sleeping on my chest.  It sometimes feel crazy and claustrophobic, but when I see this bird's eye view of it all, I realize how special and sweet and fleeting it will be.  I've done my best to sit and soak up the sweet moments of having a tiny person cozied on my chest.

{Admiration}
There is no shortage of admiration for the littlest lady in the house.  There hasn't been any jealousy at all from any of the siblings!  And of course, the bigger men in the family have been "wrapped" by her too!

{Pool Fun}
Thanks in large part to our awesome team of babysitters, the kids spent more time swimming this summer than ever before.  We also got our money's worth out of the golf club swimming pool this summer.  While Noah golfed, we often went to the club for dinner and swimming.  By the end of the summer, all of the kids had lots of friends at the pool and lots of tan lines!

{Fish Watching}
We took a quick day trip to Tulsa to watch Noah compete in the national Drive, Chip and Putt contest.  While we were there, we visited the Aquarium.  The kids had a ball and we were all impressed with the quality of the exhibits.  Molly asked if there were unicorns there.  My response was obvious.  But then she surprised me by finding a unicorn in the gift shop!  Who knew you had to go to the Aquarium to find a stuffed unicorn!

{The Greats}
I have the greatest grandparents.  I'm fortunate in that my mom's parents are both still living.  And up until very recently, they were able to come to Wichita to visit often.  But my Granny is unable to travel anymore due to an acceleration of her Alzheimer's Disease.  And my Grandpa is one of the biggest baby lovers in history.  So we made a special trip to visit them to introduce them to their newest great grand baby.  It is so sweet to see the love and admiration they have for all of my kids...even when my Granny can't remember their names or the fact that she saw them the day prior.  It really doesn't matter. You can see the love in the moment.

{Fashion Shows}
The dress up costumes were relocated to Abby's room as part of the great room switch in late May.  As a result of their new placement, they seemed to have made a comeback and are being used nearly everyday again.  We've had lots of "fashion shows" and one of the signature moves of any Holtzman fashion show is the "shake a tail feather" move.  Emily often serves as the show director and gives instructions on when and how to properly "shake a tail feather" on the "runway"!

{Dog Salon & Fashion Show}
I adore Emily's imagination.  The little girls just beg her to play with them because she creates the most fun imaginary situations for them.  I mean, really, who doesn't want their stuffed dog to be "decorated" in millions of hair bands?!  Molly's exact words to me regarding her pampered pup were... "she is going to look FABULOUS!"  Was she ever!  They all were!

{More Make Believe}
I can't get enough of it.  I love it (except for the mess it makes!).  And recently, there has been no shortage of hospitals and stores in my living room!  At our hospital, the doctors wear tutu's (and upside down tiaras) and the stores are of the general store variety!

{Papa Sleep}
All of my kids have found their PaPa's chest to be a cozy and comfortable place to sleep.  Many of them have spent hours upon hours sleeping away on their PaPa's chest.  And Miss Lucy is no exception!

{And then we were back...}
It went by in a flash, this summer of 2014.  Before we knew it, we were school shopping and preparing to enter the doors of the kids' brand new school for the very first time.  With temperatures consistently in the upper 90's now, it still feels like summer.  But we are back.  Back to school and back to a life that requires more planning and scheduling.  Farewell Summer of 2014.  Thank you for being so good to us!