Enjoy the moment.

I took this picture on Thursday, Elisabeth's first full day of school.  She had a writing exercise to work on and decided to sit in the old school chair that came from my mother in law's farmhouse that was recently torn down.

Do you see the baby in the picture above Elisabeth's head? That's Elisabeth when she was 6 months old.

Time flies by so fast, doesn't it? It's just crazy to me that this big girl who does her homework sitting in an old schoolchair was once so little.  How on earth did that happen?  I am not sure which age I love more. I love almost* each and every stage/age that Elisabeth has been through.

*Except the 3.5 to 4.5 age. That stage I could have done without.

How does a tiny baby grow to be an independent child who doesn't need help working on her penmanship homework? How does that happen so fast? It is moments like this when I realize that another 6 years will flash past me with barely a blink of the eye.  She'll be almost 13 then.  Thirteen! I have to take these moments to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the craziness.  If she has gone from being a baby to being a first grader in a flash, she'll probably be grown up and married before we know it too.

Enjoy the moment.

It'll be gone before you know it.

First day of school! First day of school!

I think I had the same post title last year. What can I say, I love Nemo.

Elisabeth loved her first day of school.  Sadly, she did not get to hang with William.  But she did make some new friends and was super excited that she got to bring a snack to school and that they had recess and there was no math on the first day.  All the important things, right?  Right.

First Grade!

It's hard to believe it was a year ago that I facebook stalked Elisabeth's kindergarten teacher.  And chased down a Kindercare bus.

I'm proud to say that I did NOT do any of that this year. But I do believe I was the only one to ask Mrs. Maglares if I could take her picture. How could I resist? Seriously. She is equally as sweet and awesome as Elisabeth's Kindergarten teacher. I'm so excited Elisabeth is so excited!

On Wednesday we dropped off supplies, found Elisabeth's locker and her desk, complete with a yummy Ring Pop. It wasn't until Elisabeth started sucking on it that we realized how much the First Graders looked like babies with these goofy suckers in their mouths. I'm not sure that one was thought through very well.

It made for some awesome gothic lipstick though.

Elisabeth found the spot where her class lines up after recess.

She and her daddy double checked her class list to see if William was on it. He wasn't.  But it makes for a good segway on this blog post:

So Elisabeth has a special place in her heart for William. 

Like, really special place in her heart.

She has had a crush on him since they started Kindergarten together last year and rode the infamous Kindercare bus together. His mom had a baby (Elisabeth's future sister-in-law) and so William has been home all summer. It's just about killing Elisabeth.  If you and I are friends on Facebook, you may have seen posts every now and then about Elisabeth's William comments. She makes a lot of them.  Her most recent comment the morning of her first day of school?

"Mom, I really miss William. I really hope I see him today.  You know, he's really special to me. Did you know that?  I really like him a lot.  He makes my stomach feel funny.  And I think, I think, I think that I might cry when I see him today."

Wow. I fear for the teenage years.

I guess for now we'll just be happy with a sweet First Grader.  We're so proud of Elisabeth!

And I promise I won't chase anymore Kindercare busses.  That is, until Sydney goes to Kindergarten.  No promises there, people.

My future photographer...

...took this picture.

How to take a really great picture of your children. Or not.

How to take a great picture of your children on a 185 degree day:

Find an amazing backdrop at the Milwaukee Zoo.

Ask them to say "Fuzzy Pickle!" because you're guaranteed to make them laugh as they say it. 

If you ask them to say this too often and they don't smile, well, at least you can practice your lip reading skills via photos.

Goofy faces? Fear not. Just keep snapping away.

You're bound to get at least one good picture of the kids, right?

When one child gets annoyed and proclaims "I'm outta here, this is bowwwrrring", don't fret. 

You still have one child sitting - so keep snapping away!

Maybe the younger child who often says "But I'M listening, mommy" will actually DO that and smile for you like you asked.

Or not.

And even if monkey see monkey do kicks in and the second child starts to leave too,

keep snapping! The battle isn't over yet! 

You still have a chance to get a great shot!

Maybe!

Or not.

There is always next time.

American Graffiti

While Mark and I love to see our children express their creativity through art, we most certainly do not condone using our actual home as a blank canvas. That being said, when I find this kind of graffiti on my office door I can't help but smile:

and I am not sure it will be coming off the door any time soon. ♥