Lily's 1st Day of Preschool

Today was Lily's 1st day of preschool. Excited didn't begin to describe how she was feeling this morning. And when we finally arrived at school, she threw her bookbag and lunchbox on the floor, shouted "goodbye Mom!" over her shoulder, and took off. She was more mellow when I picked her up this afternoon, but she had a wonderful day. Ms. Laura learned right away that Lily has one volume - LOUD - as she screamed from the bathroom to let Ms. Laura know she was finished. She was well-behaved and happy, though, so that's all I can ask. Here are some photos from this morning.

READY TO GO!!!!

Her smile could not have gotten any bigger!

Showing off her Dora backpack...and hand-me-down from big sister.

AND her most favorite accessory...her Tinkerbell lunchbox...or SUITCASE as Ms. Laura called it! It is rather large! :)

Cassidy the ham had to get in on the action!

School Girls

SOOOOOOOOO SWEET!!!

This is what I accomplished today while Lily was at school...a new ECU onsie for Finn. :)

Sooooo excited for football season...GO PIRATES!!!!

And he's off!

Finn is crawling! He started really moving about a week ago and gets faster every day. NOTHING is safe in the house anymore...especially his sisters' toys! They're going to have to find some new hiding spots out of his reach for their special things! :)

Endings and New Beginnings

Since today is the first day of the traditional school year, it seemed appropriate to write a "Summer of Change" wrap-up post. We've had a great summer with lots of firsts and lots of family time.

What have I learned from my experiences this summer? I think it is important to our overall health and well-being that we continue to challenge ourselves. As a family will will continue to force ourselves outside of our comfort zone and to stretch our minds and bodies in new ways. The benefits are definately worth the effort.

Joey and I discussed our family's dietary plan a couple of weeks ago and we are both comfortable continuing a "vegetarian" lifestyle. We both feel better physically than when we were consuming meat on a regular basis. We may, on occasion, partake of small amounts of meat...my homemade chicken noodle soup would be lacking without it...but on a regular basis we will continue to prepare meat-free meals. Our decision was reinforced this past weekend. Joey was away for a fantasy football draft weekend and I was home with the kids, my sister and her new baby. We all ate small amounts of meat during the weekend and we all experienced discomfort as a result. It literally made Joey sick to his stomach...so we feel confident that a meat-free diet is best for our family at this time.

I am still continuing to practice my embroidery. It is a challenge to squeeze projects into our schedule, but I am having so much fun that I am making the time. Here is a picture of my latest project, a "Lilybug" shirt for Lily's first day of preschool. :)

Joey and I are also taking more time out for exercise. Planet Fitness opened last week so Joey has been hitting the gym and I continue to exercise at home. I sometimes have a hard time completing my exercise routine first thing in the morning - the kids must have a mommy radar because they get up extra early on the mornings I am trying to exercise - but I have made it a priority to work exercise into my day. Monday I took the kids to White Deer Park and walked/ran on the trails while pulling 60 pounds of kids behind me in the wagon. Yesterday I did Power Yoga in my room while Lily watched a video downstairs.

Joey and I have also been reading the bible several nights a week before going to bed. It is a very relaxing and profitable way to end our day and each night - no matter what we end up reading - we find ourselves saying, "Wow, that passage was very timely...exactly what we needed to hear!" We are very blessed to take this time together sharing in the greatness of God's Word.

Even though the summer is coming to a close, our family's time of growth and change will continue. The beginning of the school year brings new opportunities and challenges for each of us. I am very thankful to live in a country where we have the freedom to explore, learn, and grow without bounds. I am very excited to see what autumn has in store.

Finn's 9-Month Stats

Finnegan Michael Walls

24 pounds, 8 ounces (93rd percentile)

28 3/4 inches (65th percentile)

19 inch head circ. (97th percentile...YIKES!)

To compare him to the girls, click here. :)

In other news, Cassidy still loves Kindergarten...except for rest time, which she insists is 10 hours long. :) She is a quick-study and her handwriting has improved one hundred fold in just the last week. She is eager to always do her best and we are very proud of her efforts.

We were thrilled when we found out yesterday that Lily will have our beloved Ms. Laura for preschool this year. Lily has wanted to be in her class since she was just 14 months old. Cassidy and Bennett both had Ms. Laura, so 3-year-old preschool just wouldn't be the same without her! We attend orientation on Friday and then Lily will start on Tuesday of next week. Lily, too, is eager to do her very best at school and we are excited for her to have the opportunity to learn, grow, and make friends independent of Cassidy.

For Mrs. Kathy...

Cousins!

My sister, Heather, had a meeting in Raleigh today, so my mom and I got to keep baby Jordan for her! It was so much fun to spend a couple of hours cuddling him...and, of course, I managed to get his first pictures with two of his cousins! :)

Finny is on the cusp of being mobile. He's pulling up all over these days and loves to stand at his toy table.

Thinking about trying it with NO HANDS!!!

My Sweet Man

Lily and Jordan

I had to bribe her with a cookie to get her into the picture...she's anti-photos these days!

Yes, I KNOW I'm not a cousin, but I had to get my first picture with this sweet baby!

He even smiled for me!

"Move over!" "No, YOU move over!"

"Who the heck is this little guy? He's even smaller than me!"

Holding hands...almost. Look at that sweet smile...they are best buds already!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Cassidy's first day of Kindergarten. She was up bright and early this morning and raring to go!

A special card for Cassidy hidden in her lunchbox...it has become a first day of school tradition.

The girls enjoying their breakfast

The Kindergartener showing off her new school stuff.

She was SOOOOOOOO excited! She kept asking if it was time to go!

Cassidy's new Barbie backpack...she's all about Barbie these days!

Being silly!

Had to get one of me and my first-born...most of the time I forget and end up MIA for pictures! :)

Cassidy and Finny (His face looks so mature in this picture!)

My two favorite girls...they really are best friends!

I had not intended to take pictures, but Cassidy's seat was right in front of the classroom door so I couldn't resist getting a few shots of her at her new desk. Here she is intently focused on her morning work.

Lily, in the hallway outside Cassidy's room, had to have her picture taken too!

Cassidy at her desk, surrounded by new friends.

Tongue sticking out...she must be REALLY focused! :)

She was already happily chatting with the girls at her table.

Oops! She spotted me! :)

When Joey picked her up from school today, Cassidy said she'd had the perfect day! By the time they got home she wasn't in the mood to talk, but I did finally get her to tell me that they went to music class (but they didn't sing or play instruments?), she rested on the towel I made her, and that she made friends with two girls at her table, Zoey and Olivia. I guess that will have to do for now since she is currently busy running wild around the house with her sister and entertaining her baby brother.

My day has been a bit rockier than Cassidy's. Lily locked us out of the house this morning and I could not locate our hidden spare key. I frantically made phone calls to my mom and Joey and finally did locate the key. The kids, thankfully, were oblivious to my Type A panic attack - the thought of being late on our first day of school nearly sent me into orbit. :)

After a successful drop-off at school, Lily, Finn, and I hit Kroger for a major grocery shopping expedition. Everyone cooperated beautifully and the trip was successful until it was time to checkout and I realized I did not have my wallet. I did locate the checkbook...that didn't have any checks in it! I stood in the checkout line totally deflated as I contemplated my situation and finally remembered that Joey was teaching Driver's Ed at the high school right across the street. Fortunately he answered his phone and I was able to run over to the school to get his credit card. He, of course, thought my morning was hilarious and teased me that sending Cassidy off to Kindergarten had totally thrown me for a loop...maybe he's right. :)

In spite of some bumps and bruises - including some literal ones, as I've managed to bang into several hard objects today - Lily, Finn, and I had a really nice day together. Without Cassidy, Lily stepped up her big sister duties and entertained Finn the way Cassidy normally does. She also enjoyed being able to direct our play since she spends a good portion of her time following Cassidy. And, she did NOT stop talking. I've never thought of her as a quiet child, but without Cassidy's competition for air time, she did not draw breath.

It's been a blessed day for all of us and we are looking forward to a wonderful school year for our family!

Getting ready...

The summer is quickly coming to a close for us. Cassidy officially starts Kindergarten on Monday morning. Yesterday afternoon the whole family trouped over the elementary school to meet Cassidy's teachers. Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Collins were very warm and welcoming and the classroom was colorful, inviting, and full of engaging learning materials. Aunt Jennifer has been singing Mrs. Jones' and Mrs. Collins' praises - she even campaigned to get Cassidy in their class - so we know she is going to have a wonderful year with the other 23 students in her class. Aunt Jennifer hung out with us during the meet and greet - I think she is even more excited that us - and we are so thankful to have her at Rand Road looking out for our sweet girl.

We've been collecting school supplies, including a towel that is to have Cassidy's name written on it. Of course we could't just have an old towel with her name written in permanent marker. Cassidy had to have her name embroidered on it. The original design I had in mind quickly morphed from a simple name to her name and a cute picture. Aunt Brenda sent me an adorable crayon with Cassidy's name on it and once Cassidy saw it she requested 3 crayons, one with each of her three names on it. Always excited by a new challenge, I jumped into the project with great enthusiam and the result is below:

I originally intended for the crayons to be in a straight line, but I since I had to embroider each individually they came out a little crooked. I still think it's cute! :)

Her first name HAD to be pink since that's her favorite color!

I especially love how the purple crayon came out.

This was a really fun project and my first towel. I was nervous about embroidering such thick material, but it was pretty easy and I think I got my best results from my machine so far.

That's Not My Name!

So this morning Cassidy had her initial assessment for Kindergarten. Basically a few rising kindergarteners will spend a couple of hours at school each day this week in an orientation/testing session. This helps the teachers understand each child's strengths and level of ability and it helps them balance the classes as evenly as possible, ensuring that children of every ability level are represented in each class. For Cassidy, it was a fun morning of playing in the Home Living Center in between sessions of saying the alphabet, counting, and identifying shapes.

When we arrived this morning, two staff members were waiting to check the students in. They also provided each student with a name tag. I immediately noticed that Cassidy's read "Cassidy Wall," but since Cassidy didn't mention it I decided not to rock the boat and bring the mistake to everyone's attention. Well, apparently she DID notice it and quickly brought it to the attention of one of the TA's, who is also one Aunt Jennifer's friends. (Jennifer called me over lunch to fill me in on the incident.) The one-sided discussion went something like this:

(Pointing to her name tag) Ummmm, this is NOT my name. This says Cassidy Wall and MY name is Cassidy WALLSSSSSSSSSSSSS with an S on the end, so if you could add one that would be great.

Needless to say, the problem was quickly corrected and I think it's safe to say - for better or worse - we definately made an impression on our first day!

My mom and I spent a good 5 minutes in tears as we laughed about the incident, "Umm, excuse me, is there a Cassidy Wall in here??? I have your name tag. MY name is Cassidy WallSSSSSS, so this isn't mine!"

I think it's safe to say they'll remember her!

Kickin' it into High Gear

The summer has almost come and gone and I managed to cruise through most of it without exercising...at least in any official form. I decided over the weekend that it was time to stop talking and start moving. As much as I dislike dragging out of bed at 5:30 a.m., I am making a commitment to get up early to exercise. (This week I'm getting up at 6:00...Cassidy's not in school yet so I'm giving myself a week to adjust!) If I'm honest with myself, it's my only time during the day that I have to myself AND it's a great way to start my day. Here's my workout plan:

MONDAY - Biggest Loser Cardio Max Level 1
TUESDAY - P90 Cardio Level 1
WEDNESDAY - P90 Sculpt Level 1
THURSDAY - Biggest Loser Cardio Max Levels 2 & 3 (each is only 10 minutes long)
FRIDAY - Yoga

I'll change workouts as needed to increase intensity or just to add some variety, but I feel like this is a good balance for me. Each workout is only about 30 minutes, which is all the time I have to devote at this time...unless I want to get up even earlier! :)

I think I've also finally learned my lesson about pushing myself at a healthy pace. I'm a very competitive person so I feel this burning need to go all out during every workout...doing the most complex and intense version of every move. This usually results in utter exhaustion and extreme soreness by the end of the first week. Since I want to sustain my workout routine AND since my daily responsibilities require lots of heavy lifting (ie. Finn) and other physical activity, I need to remain fully mobile! :)

Joey is going to exercise with me for now. He has joined Planet Fitness - for $10 a month it was a great deal! - so as soon as the new one opens here, he will be going each day between school activities. As for me, I survived Day 1 and am feeling pretty good about my new routine. One day at a time!