Week One and Done!

The girls have successfully completed their first week of 5th and 9th grade!!! That means Shelly's last year of elementary and Lily's first year of high school are off and running. And I mean literally running!!! It was an amazingly busy first week of school.

Night before school starts---
Curly haired girl wants straightened hair
Straight haired girl wants curly



Lily had three volleyball games which means we weren't home before 8:00 and most nights around 9:00 on volleyball nights. I was super impressed with Lily this week. At one of her volleyball games her coach asked for a volunteer to do the line judging. None of the girls were stepping up, so Lily took the lead and said she'd do it. The coach rewarded her with allowing her to skip the next night's practice. She was thrilled and I was impressed that she did the right thing without knowing there would be a bonus at the end.

First day of school happiness

Shelly had her first night of cheerleading practice last week. She is excited to start up again with cheering.


Here a couple of random photos of the girls (not related to the start of school):

Happy sisters

So, now we will take a break from all of the busyness of life and just chill during our long weekend.

And here's Shelly getting off the bus on her first day of her last year in elementary school.

Doughnuts and Tea

So, it's time for the annual back to school tea with the girls. This year we had to wait until Lily came right home from school and didn't have a game or practice. So, we held our celebration on Wednesday.

I opted to keep the snack simple this year and go for what I know they like---Krispy Kreme doughnuts and unsweetened iced tea with lemon!!! 

I also got them each a few little items. 

Lily got a book, a little dish for her jewels, Pirouline sticks, and a cute little BOPS wire bangle.







I bought Shelly some washi tape, Hershey's drops, a zipper bracelet, and a Happy dish for her jewels. 








It's always a nice chance to relax and chat about school, their teachers, their friends, and all of the new changes in their school life.

9th and 5th!!!!

The girls were up and ready to go early this morning! Amazed at how well they both did at 6:10 this morning. They have been sleeping in so much this summer so that early alarm clock was a bit of a shock. But, they did great.

Here they are ready to head to the bus. There was so much fog this morning so we opted for some indoor photos:

Smiling 9th grader

Happy

Smiling Sisters

Excited 5th Grader

Grinning from ear to ear

I can't wait until they are back home and I can hear all about their day!!! So happy for them both!

Going Back to School

School begins for the girls on Monday. That means that Lily will head off to high school and Shelly will enter her last year in elementary school. Whoa!

When did my little girls who loved playing with baby dolls and watching Barney and Dora get so old?

The girls had their Open Houses at their schools on Thursday night. They were both happy to see their friends and happy to meet their new teachers. 

I'm ready for this big new chapter for them both. I know they will be fine and do well. As a former teacher, I love the Fall and the new beginnings that come with the start of school. I enjoy the routine and schedule that comes along with being back at school and I think I'm ready for it all to get going. Sometimes the anticipation of the unknown is the hardest part.

So, let's get this school year going!!!

Ice Bucket Challenge

The girls were both challenged to do the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS. They dumped one another with a bucket of ice and water. Thankfully the weather was very warm so that cold water wasn't too bad.

First High School Game

Lily had her first high school volleyball game on Monday. The team played well and won the match in two games. Way to go, Cougars!

She's on the court (with a new number---#2)

Players and friends who came to watch

On the move!

2, 3, 4

Tay Tay and Lily

Apples for the Teacher

This year for the back to school teacher gift, I put together a little apple gift container for Shelly's homeroom teacher. This is the only gift I'm sending in this year. Lily is heading off to high school and didn't really want to do the teacher gift thing. So, I came up with a few "apple" or red items to go into the container. And then I made a little tag for the front.

Container from Target ($3), Glade apple candle ($2.99), Wet Ones wipes ($1), Orbit gum ($1), Papermate red pens ($2.99), NYC red polish ($1), and (not pictured) Kleenex pack ($1)

Fun apple flavored cookies

Container and tag

School Stuff

The girls did a little back to school supply shopping last week. It seemed as if there were fewer items needed this year. Not so sure why that is, but it made the process of shopping a bit easier.

The table with the supplies

A stack of notebooks for Lily

Lily's favorite pencils

Lily's new Lilly agenda planner

Shelly's binder---she's so excited to have a big binder this year

 School supplies always help me get in the mood for the Fall and all of the changes ahead!

Eight Days

I haven't blogged too much of late. We've been either at a doctor's appointment or the dentist's office for most of the past couple of weeks. And my head is jam packed with all of the upcoming activities. School starts in 8 days. Enough said. 

Missing this!

Randomness

Shelly went away to a camp last week and did so well. She barely shed a tear as she said goodbye to us. They spent two nights and three days away from home and she loved it. So proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone. 

Lily made the JV volleyball team! Yay! So proud of her. She really gave it her all and did so well on the try out days. 

Last week Lily developed a severe case of hives. It came out of nowhere and has been driving her nuts. It took us a couple of trips to the doctor to determine what the rash was. We aren't certain about what has caused the hives. She is now on a dose of Prednisone and I pray every night that it has gone away. Poor thing. (Photo of her leg with hives on day two of the episode---may want to scroll past)

Our Summer Fun list has about half of the items checked off of the list. It has been more difficult to accomplish things on it this summer. Hoping we can knock out a few more before school begins again. 

A couple of chillier rainy days have been nice for watching movies, going out to eat, and relaxing this past weekend. 

Lily has us (John, Lily, and me) hooked on The Walking Dead. Such a good show. Although it's very gruesome, the story of the people is so compelling. We are at the beginning of season 3. So, we still have a ways to go before season 5 starts back on tv. 

I'm getting a little excited for some cooler days and Fall fun. I love the Fall. I do need to remind myself that the warm temps linger around way into September...and even October. 

I had a thought the other day and I wanted to document it here~~~The decisions you make shouldn't effect the decisions I make. And just because we aren't doing the exact same thing doesn't make either of our decisions wrong. Not so sure that is crystal clear, but it has popped up like that in my head a couple of times this week. I think it's all about accepting other people's happiness along with our own. Or something like that. 

When we were away at the lake for a week, a good friend of ours took care of Daisy. It was such a relief to know that Daisy was okay. Sounds silly to say about a cat but true.