6.

Miss Ivy had a great birthday.

She woke up to the birthday song and EXACTLY what she wished for, a big and little sister Lalaloopsy set, from Grandma and Grandpa. I made her favorite breakfast and then she had to quickly get ready for Kinder Round Up (a 2 hour meet-and-greet with her teacher Mrs. T).

(I think she looks just like my mom in this photo)

Tim rode the bus to school with her, she was very brave and only looked back at me once. I was waiting for the emotional "scrunchedupfacearmsoutfingersgrabbingforme" panic attack to strike but it didn't, so I was relieved then incredibly disappointed and sad. I choked back a large sob as the bus pulled away. Then got back in the car to meet them at the school.

Ivy walked into her classroom and shook hands with her teacher, then went to the mat and pretended she was okay. I could see she was about to break form so Tim and I grabbed Savannah and Goo (who thinks he owns the place), and hurried out of the classroom. She took the bus home by herself, I couldn't be prouder of this Little Red.

She decided on Sushi for dinner (yay!) where I made her don the traditional birthday hat.

Tomorrow is the first full day of school.

Last Day Of 5.

Tomorrow Ivy Jane turns 6 years-old. She is so big and independent now, I hate it...and I love it, but mostly I hate it. I just want to freeze her in this age and very moment and never let her grow for even one more second. She has been counting down the days until her birthday since last Christmas, "Mama, how many more days til my birssday?" Minutes, Little Red, minutes.

Kinder-Kamp.

Ivy Jane has been in Kinder-Kamp with Mrs. Reeves this week. She is incredibly more confident to start school than Miss Savannah was but then again, she has seen her big sister off to school every day for the past two years and knows the routine by now (her Mama on the other hand...sniff, sniff). She did get a bit of a quivered chin that first day we dropped her off but now she is ready, dressed and teeth brushed before the other Littles have blinked the sleep out of their eyes.

And Goo...that lucky son of a gun...gets a sweet ride around the Kindergarten courtyard from Savannah while we wait for Ivy's class to finish. Secretly I know Savannah loves this, she has spoken fondly of these little bikes off and on since her early days in Kindergarten.

NNO.

Did you go to your community's National Night Out? I don't know about any other town's NNO but ours is so sweet. This tiny town makes good on a summer shindig. Savannah and Ivy had such fun running around with their friends from Girl Scouts and school, getting their faces painted, stuffing their faces with s'mores and bouncing forrrrreverrrrr in the Incredible Hulk (what?) bounce house.

Meanwhile The Goo fully inspected the classic car line-up along the park. Each car got a "Hi!" and friendly gentle pat from his chubby hand. The tires got a good "Buahhh!" and rub, especially the whitewalls.

 

Insiders.

Last week The Littles and I went to the state capitol building to visit my sister Deanna at her work.

It was a little less of a "summer" field trip and more of a "we haven't seen you enough lately so let's catch up in this strange-to-me environment" trip. But still she took us places we wouldn't have seen on our own and into her office to meet a few of her co-workers. 



My favorites were of course the rotunda, the old and beautifully crafted elevators, the governors' portrait gallery, a peek at the building's foundation, this unintentional and very professional photo-bomber (love the smirk) outside the governor's office and several hints to the past in the forms of gorgeous chandeliers and...   

telephone booths! I know this was lost on The Littles but I almost got choked up over the endearment and charm of these private telephone booths. I am certain someday these will be in a museum as an art installation piece where only the older generations will remember and the kids will be like "imagine if phones were connected to a wall and people could only use a phone to call out from a stationary position and in some places there were quaint, tiny rooms just for having a private phone conversations! Brilliant!" OK so I got taken away there for a moment, but it reminds me of my college dorm experience and the telephone booth I used in the lobby to call my Mom when I needed a good sloppy-choke cry away from my roommate. Oh the stories these booths could tell!

Thanks Deeds for showing us the abridged, yet inside (it's a crazy maze in there!) version of our state capitol. I'm super proud of you.

 

 

Ranch Loot.

The O Henry's are ripe at The Ranch. Even though the trees were thinned earlier in the summer, the branches have split and broke. This fragrant, fuzzy fruit, plump and pregnant with sweet juice was too much weight on the growth of these 2 year-old trees. Quite luckily I am caring for The Ranch for a few days and so I am taking full advantage of this harvest. Today I'm making jam. And tomorrow a pie. Oh, the best Peach jam I've ever had was Tamber's Champagne Peach (Bellini) Jam. It was unreal and very fancy (obviously, the name).

Tim is home from a business trip and so The Littles and I are quite excited to spend the weekend snuggling on him. Whatever it is you are up to this weekend, I wish you happy! 

O.M.G.

Oh. My. Goo.