Josie's Turn!

I have so many things to blog about. I need to finish blogging about Sammie's birthday, as well as our last minute trip to Wisconsin for Labor Day. However, since Josie started preschool this week (and since it's currently the thing I'm the most excited about), I thought I'd post about this one first.

Josie has been waiting for a whole year to go to school. Every day last year we would drop Noah off and she would BEG to get out of the car and go too. When Clayton and Noah started school this year, she would wake up with them each morning and ask me if she, too, was going to school today. I would tell her, "Not today, but soon."

Well, yesterday was orientation. Not a full "real" day of school, but she got to go for about an hour while I went to another room in the school and had orientation. When she woke up she asked, as usual, if she was going to school and when I said "Yes!" she flung herself at me and gave me the biggest bear hug she was capable of. Cute.

She had very specific opinions on what she should wear to school. Fluffy, frilly dress, sparkly gold shoes, and a 'princess' braided updo. Since it was the first day I complied, but that won't last. I can't spend 20 minutes a day on her hair. It'll make me crazy.

I know I'm her mom, so I'm automatically biased, but she's such a beautiful girl (although I have stopped telling her that - I want her to know I value her other traits WAY more than I value her physical appearance - if you feel sad for her that her mom no longer tells her how pretty she is, don't be, there is no shortage of people who tell her regularly).

 This is what we get lately when we tell her to smile big. Classic.

Orientation was great. When we pulled up to the school she kept insisting that I just drop her off and leave. I told her that maybe in a few weeks I could start doing that (they have a teacher that stands by the door at drop off), but for now, we were going in together. She walked right in like she owned the place. She already knew all the teachers from when Noah went there and wasn't timid in the least. After orientation was over she was upset that it was time to go home. Having Mrs. Halliday promise that she could come back the next day (and have a snack this time) was what finally convinced her it was okay to go home.

Today she was just as excited. She knew it was her first "real" day and that I wouldn't be staying there with her. After the boys got on the bus she went into a frenzy about what she should wear. I directed her away from the frilly dresses and (somehow) convinced her that jeans would be the best idea for school.

Here she is on her first day as an official preschooler!

I'm including (almost) all the outtakes because they are so indicative of who she is. Such personality in this little lady!

 I had such a hard time getting her to give me a "nice" smile. She was so excited and wound up and silly that it took us a while (and even then, I'm pretty sure the normal ones happened by accident).

 My fav:

 She looks like she's missing her hands, but I like this one:

With Mrs. Halliday. As is typical with my kids, she didn't want to pause long enough for a picture with the teacher. She wanted to get in there and play and was trying to force me out the door. Fortunately, we did get this one:

The three year old class has a half day on their first day of school (an hour and a half) which gave me just enough time to run a few errands with only this little girlie for company (Heaven):

When we picked Josie up she insisted (at the top of her lungs) that it was, "THE BEST DAY EVER!" She can't wait to go back tomorrow for a full day. I'm glad she's so enthusiastic about school. She's been watching the example of her brothers for years now and they've set a really good example for her as far as really enjoying school. They were just as excited to hear about her day as she was to tell it. Hopefully this year continues to be fun, enjoyable, and successful!