A sign of things to come

20080825-71-16537.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Oakley's first full day is in the books, and this picture couldn't capture it better.

The blue badge is given to students who have a good day. A smiley face means it was pretty good, a star... excellent. So, in total, an excellent day from Oakley.

The other two items came home together in a plastic bag. In case you can't read it, the note, written by her teacher, says, "I did not understand how the scissors just opened up and cut her hair!!! :) Here is the hair to remember her first day of kdg."

First off, how fortunate are we to have a teacher for Oakley who is cool enough under pressure to collect the hair and send it home? That's pretty awesome. (Full credit goes to Mrs. Gilliland who certainly couldn't have handled it better.)

Second, how fortunate are we to have a little girl who will spend her whole life walking this fine line between exceptional performance and questionable behavior? Yes, I wish Oakley hadn't cut her hair for the second time in two weeks. Yes, I will certainly get frustrated with her countless times. But I do love Oakley for her craziness.

So, feel free to offer your predictions in the comments... In 10, 12, 20 years, what will Oakley's combination be? How will she excel and shock at the same time? I can't wait to find out.

Spookier

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Or, perhaps, this is spookier.

Spooky

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Last night, we played Apples to Apples with the girls. It's a great game, and we certainly enjoy it. Lindy, however, was mean to me. She was the judge, and the word was "spooky". Lindy chose "monster trucks", from Jenn, over my "owl". Can you believe it? What a rip off.

So, in honor of my unjustified loss, I offer you this spooky picture.

Aunt Mona & Uncle Stan!

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That's right, we had some visitors this weekend. Aunt Mona and Uncle Stan came to town for a visit and were able to get together a few times. A visit to the Bluebird, a big band concert at Centennial Park, and then a visit to our house.

Stan and Mona are so much fun... they remind us a lot of a couple we're close friends with today. Like Stephanie, Aunt Mona is effervescent, unstoppable. She's funny and fun just from her energy. And Uncle Stan, like Jay, is so comfortable with that that he almost doesn't notice, in a good way. It makes for such a sparkling relationship, whether it's in a contemporary or a couple a generation ahead. Needless to say, we enjoyed our time with the two of them.

And our daughters? Every time I threaten throw them away, now, I'm certain they'll be picturing Aunt Mona, butt first, in a trash can, rolling down a hallway.

Thanks for the visit, Aunt Mona and Uncle Stan (and to the tickle-a-sourus, cousin Brian, for setting it up).

School starts for real.

School starts for real., originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Here we are, waiting for the bus on day 1. Trust me, Oakley is ready.

The Ladies... at Radnor

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Last Sunday, before we got started with school again, we headed out for an early hike at Radnor to celebrate the summer. I spent the whole time smelling camp and loving being outside. The kinder weather this August has really allowed us to enjoy being outside so much more than last year. It makes such a difference.

Safe!

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Aspen demonstrating full extension...

More Spidey Slip and Slide

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We got out there again on the 10th, and got some more cool shots.

The "First" Day of School

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Kindergarten doesn't really start all at once, but we can call today Oakley's first day if we want to. Rather than just visiting for a test, Oakley went for a half day of "Bear Camp" today during which she was given a Lipscomb bear and made her bear name tag.

Even in the face of near begging from Lindy and Jenn, Oakley insisted on riding the bus with Aspen this morning. When I asked her what her favorite part of the day was, she said, "Riding the bus." I can only imagine how surprising it was for Mrs. Gilliland when a student just walked into the class today without a parent. Oh well, I think it's pretty fitting for little Miss Independent.

Thank you, Lipscomb

Well, we're off to a good start on the new school year. It is admittedly a bit of a challenge, as we were rezoned over the summer. We were never really in love with Edmondson, frankly, so that part was no big deal. But, Aspen had a bunch of friends, so that part of the move was sad. (We miss you, Cassie!)

As for Lipscomb, we're off to a great start. Oakley went to school for a little while yesterday, and she had a great time. The "games" she got to play with her teacher (Mrs. Gilliland) and the other Kindergarten teachers were a good start.

Aspen is enjoying herself as well. Tonight she was telling me a bit about school today. She said (and I paraphrase):

"We were playing with Mrs. Dodd today, and she has a magic wand. She swept the wand over us, and it made sounds, and then it pointed a blue light at somebody. She asked a boy what 2 + 2 was, and he said 6 on purpose. She had to fix her wand."

There were two things that I thought were really cool about that. One, Aspen, without thinking about it, said playing. She was learning, yes, but it didn't feel like it. She felt like she was playing. (Sure, school still feels long to her. But seriously, work feels long to me and I have the best job going. She leaves home at 8am and gets home at like 4:40. But the bus problems are a totally different story.)

The second cool thing is that she had a memorable learning moment on the fourth day. I kid you not, I'm not sure she had a single memorable learning moment in her entire year last year.

So, thank you, Lipscomb. We are off to a good start and we appreciate it.

Venice = Vince

So, I was chatting with my sister Jenni tonight when she mentioned that Kiana's favorite city from our Italian voyage had been Venice. So, I thought I'd ask the girls about it tonight. We started with Lindy, and we were trying to help her remember the name of the city with the canals.

Tim: It sounds like Veh.
Lindy: I don't know.
Aspen: [for some reason thinking that spelling it would help Lindy] V - I - N - C - E.

I just laughed. Then I spelled back to Aspen what she had spelled. We established that was Papa's name, and we moved on. But I still think it's pretty funny.

Coolest Picture

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This might be the coolest picture of the bunch... she looks like a rock star.

Aspen was a star

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Sometime Oakley is better at things than Aspen right out of the gate... it's part of Aspen's considered manner. But today, Aspen had her moment. Oakley couldn't stop sliding on her knees (see the next picture) so Aspen was able to outdistance her. And they certainly had a lot of fun trying.

Lindy, Hugging Spidey's Hand

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Slip and Slide

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Today, I decided I wanted to do something "frivilous" with the girls, so we went out seeking a slip and slide. Well, Target had already put them away for the year (yeah, cause it's only 87 degrees out), we ended up at Toys R Us. (Oakley noted quickly that they had written the R backwards.)

Toys R Us's only option was a sweet Spiderman version, but none of us cared.

Four more pictures follow.

Hmmmm

Hmmmm, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

I wonder if they've had a lot of trouble with 47" folks refusing to
extinguish their cigarettes prior to boarding this ride.

We're at the county fair!

We're at the county fair!, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Oops!

OK, so I managed to go through the whole of Jenn's birthday yesterday without taking a picture... Oh well, I'm sure she'll be crushed.

As the girls wrote on countless banners around the house, "Happy Brithday, Mammoo!"

Aspen (with Oakley's help) gave Jenn a really sweet gift. She took one of the sunflowers that had grown in the garden and harvested the seeds from it herself. No, they weren't in great shape. But Aspen collected them and packaged them up and wrapped them herself. It was really sweet. (This was on top of the vegetables that she snuck out of the house to get yesterday morning.)

Aspen packed the sunflower seeds by placing them in a ziploc bag full of water (so they wouldn't dry out), and then putting them in a gift bag, all several days before Jenn's birthday. Somehow, and boy am I thankful, the two ziplocs both managed to stay closed.

Do you all know that seeds are best kept dry? Can I tell you now, that never, not once, has such a sweet gift smelled so incredibly bad?!?! The smell literally knocked us all back as Jenn removed the ziplocs from the gift bag... and they were sealed! The odor was so bad we had to take them out of the house immediately!

So, happy birthday, Jenn. We do love you... enough to give you stinky gifts. (And thanks Aspen, for having such grace throughout the opening. Aspen laughed with us... she is so incredibly sweet.)

Lest they feel left out, Oakley and Lindy both brought sweet gifts for Jenn as well. Oakley's cards are everywhere and very cute, and Lindy drew pictures of both Jenn and me, Jenn's with far more hair than mine.