I have a kindergartener

Kindergarten started Sept. 6th and the first day was great. She looked so cute and had such a good day. I took the day off so I was able to take her in just for the school hours--no before and after school care on this day. We had ice cream afterwards to celebrate this milestone.
Not every day at shool has been quite as wonderful. She still needs some reminders for sitting still and listening but is doing well. She is having to think and learn at a more intense level than preschool demanded and it shows. She is sleeping more--last week she fell asleep on the way home from school twice. The other day getting ready she said "Mom, I don't want to learn, I just want to play". Yeah--I know honey, sometimes I feel that way about work too.
Overall she is doing so well and I am so proud of her.

It's been a fun fall.
We had our first trip to an apple orchard with friends. It was lots of fun--they had animals and hay rides and other fun stuff for kids to do--but it hardly felt like fall as it was 80 degrees that day. Just noticed that we only have two apples left from that trip so we need to go back.

Our local nature center is one of Hannah's favorite places and they had a Fall Festival that we were able to attend. Hannah's favorite part is to see the snakes, fish, turtles, and other animals and it still was her favorite that day but they also had a kids carnival so we bought tickets and she got to play games, make crafts, and have her face painted. Oh--one of the big highlights was getting hot chocolate--she loved it and has asked for it almost every day since.

Spent a weekend at my Brother's for my Mom's birthday. Hannah's little cousin Mary Lou lives there and they have horses and dogs so Hannah was in heaven. Too bad we don't live closer.

She also attended a friend's birthday at Chuck E. Cheeses--"the coolest place ever". Since then she has asked everyone we see to come to her birthday. Good thing April is a long time away--I am counting on the fact that most of them will forget all about it.

Had a dentist appointment yesterday and she has her first cavity. Even though the dentist said it would only take 5 minutes, we had to make an appt to come back and have it filled.

Her personality is showing through more and more all the time.
She can get frustrated easily and I hear lots of grunts and other frustrated noises when she is doing something and it doesn't go right. I keep telling her "That's okay--just try again". When I turned at the wrong corner one day and said "Oh no--this is the wrong street" I hear a little voice from the back seat say "That's okay mom, just try again". It is always nice to have some confirmation that she really does listen.
When going from point A to point B she takes every detour she can find. One day when we needed to get going in a hurry I said, "Hannah just go straight to the car--don't stop and do anything on the way" She quickly replied, "But Mom--you just don't understand me!" And yes, she is only 5.
She is also such a sweetheart and gives me lots of hugs and kisses.
She continues to make up her own songs. The other day in the car she sang "I love my mommy, my mommy loves me, and we are together always because we are a family". I was smiling in the front seat for a long time.
She has never met my Dad as he passed away a little over a year before she came home but the other day she looked sad and said "I just miss my Grandpa" and then she started singing "I miss my Grandpa. He is my Grandpa and I really love him. And it makes me sad because I miss him and now he lives with God" Maybe it should have made me feel sad but really it just lit up my heart--she gets it and knows that he is a very important part of our lives even though she hasn't met him.
Oh, How I love that little girl.

She teaches me so much all the time. One of the big lessons recently was patience. She reminded me that I need to wait and reallly listen to others even if they are taking a while to get it said---what they have to say may be very important.
We were in the car, I was slightly frustrated from trying to get her in the car on time and then trying to hurry to get where we needed to be when she said "Mama" and I responded, "Yes Honey". I only heard a long pause with an occassional "um" thrown in so I said again "What honey". I still only got the same response so I was just ready to say something like "Just spit it out Hannah--what do you want?". I actually had my mouth open but just before I made any sound I heard a very meek voice say "I just really love you". Awwwww--all my frustration just melted away and I learned the importance of patience.

I have my moments too--I went through a week recently where I was just out of sorts and generally crabby. My life felt overwhelming and I felt that I just wasn't doing a good job at any of it--my job, my parenting, my friends, my finances, my housekeeping, etc. Then all of a sudden I snapped out of it. Nothing has really changed--I still have a messy house, I still wish I was home with Hannah more, had more time with friends, and less time at work and I wish I had more money in the bank but..it's my life and I am happy with it.
Motherhood does require some sacrifices but the payback is so worth it.