back to school - Ellie in Kindergarten? say whaaaa!?

and one of the biggest most monumental days of Ellie's little life came: her first day of kindergarten! formal education! and all of a sudden she seemed so big. and grown up. she was so adorable on her first day.

she online shopped with me for the first time ever and picked out her first day of school outfit like in the beginning of July. she laid out the outfit the night before. and going to bed she told me she wasn't going to be able to sleep. when she woke up, i could tell she was nervous. she said to me, "Mama, I don't feel very good... I still want to go to kindergarten, but can you hold me for a second?" i totally knew that emotion she was experiencing ... total nervousness and butterflies. i hugged her real good and told her it was ok to be nervous, but that i just knew she was going to love kindergarten, and that kindergarten was my very favorite. 

 when we arrived to the school, Ellie got more and more shy... until she saw two of her little friends from her Preschool class - Maddie and Micah. all of a sudden, i saw her breathe a huge sigh of relief. the best part - Maddie was in her class! Ellie was over the moon excited.

then it was time to line up and say goodbye. she was so brave and looked unsure but happy too.

my very favorite part of the day was after school -- Ellie gave me the biggest running hug of all time!

she also hugged her teacher goodbye when no one else did, which i really loved a lot. on the way to the car she told me all about her day and told me that she loved Mrs. Shelley and was excited to make friends. she asked me if i'd help her learn how to do that (so cute) and so for the next few FHE's, we had role-plays on how to meet little friends and ask them to play. for some reason the whole thing makes me smile so big. i just love thinking of my first kid at school. but it makes me sad too. i already feel her slipping through my fingers a bit - like my ripple of influence is diminishing. i just hope she knows what she needs to know to be the kind of kid she needs to be to survive and to shine her sweet little light in today's world. i love that Ellie girl so big.

on the Alice side of things, we started a little Joy School group with her friends Tate, Alice and Peter. such a darling little group. Alice loves that she has her own "school." i hosted Joy School at our house for the first little class. we talked about the letter A and talked about apples, did apple art, and did other fun A things. Joy School is so simple and yet so fun. Alice is loving it!

other than that, the girls' activities started back up - including dance and violin. we are busy but happy. and these are the most adorable little dancers and violinists on the planet.

 xoxo

love week: i love lil ballerinas

for those of you who follow me on instagram, you know that i'm getting a little out of control when it comes to posting pictures of my girls in their ballet stuff.... but i can't help it! i LOVE little ballerinas!! they are truly one of my very favorite things. who doesn't love seeing lil girls in buns + tutus? seriously the darlingest thing. and having my very own little ballerinas?? oh man. perpetual cuteness overload.

 this is Ellie's third year of ballet, and she has made huge improvements! her skinny lil tush and legs look so beautiful dancing all around. and she loves it! so so much. in fact, when you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up these days, she'll tell you that she wants to be a ballerina. i miss being four so badly.

last week, Alice had the best day of her life when she got to join the class, too! this is the first activity that she has done that is "hers" and she is in heaven.  she seriously talks about "ba-yay" allllllllll the time -- it is the cutest thing. i've gotten to stay for a few minutes of each lesson to watch/make sure that she's ok, and she literally chassés and squeals around the entire time. i've never seen her so twitterpated over something.

and so, tuesdays have become one of my very favorite days of the week -- the day i get to see my ruffly, frilly, bunheads in tights and leotards. seriously makes me smile like no other -- and gives me no choice but to take a gazillion pictures so i can remember their cuteness forever and ever.

 oh and a few outtakes -- because let's be real -- not every moment is graceful when a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old are involved.

oh man. i just love my lil ballerinas.

hope you're feeling a lil extra love this week --  i'll be back with more loves to share mañana!


xoxo