Mike and I both went to the school to see them off.
Celine’s backpack was way smaller than I thought it was going to be when I bought it online – it’s so small, her lunch box doesn’t fit inside! Oh well…there’s no going back to the owl backpack. This mermaid option is just too cool.
I wanted Louise to have a rolling backpack this year (mainly because I get tired of carrying it), and after seeing everyone the first few days, the majority of other parents had the same idea. It also seems like unicorns are the au courant backpack pattern – I spotted three others just in Louise’s class!
This was the first year they both happily posed with the tiger. Celine even greeted him and said goodbye.
Celine had a moment of being overwhelmed when we walked into her new classroom and stood at the door with her bottom lip tucked for about two minutes. Then I asked if she wanted to color with the pink crayon and that snapped her out of it. She happily said goodbye to me and got to work!
Louise was the surprise this year. She was happy and confident all the way until we got to the door of her room, and then she panicked and didn’t want to go in. She kept saying she was too shy. Finally we (gently) muscled her in and left. She was a happy camper when we picked her up, saying she already made a new best friend (for the record, she now has five).
Sort of by accident, Mike and I started a tradition last night where we asked Louise questions on the eve of starting a new school year. We think it would be interesting to see how her answers change each year. Her answer for favorite holiday in particular melts my heart! (And who can forget her sidekick…)
I’ll let the pictures speak for whether or not Louise had fun in New Orleans last week, playing with her cousin, going to gardening camp and tennis lessons, eating a lot of snoballs and beignets, and swimming for hours every evening. (Sounds terrible)
We needed something to occupy the girls for the first few days of the week before our trip to Colorado. I had Louise in ballet camp at Le Ballet last year, and decided to do it again with both girls. It is a cute little program and one of the least expensive options out there – plus, the girls get to dress up in ballet outfits. So: win-win!
The website said they had to wear the full getup: pink leotard, pink tights, ballet slippers. I of course had no problem with this, and sent them off on Monday in the outfit. Turns out they don’t need the whole shebang for camp. Oh well – they were adorable looking anyway!
Look at that form. Flawless.
I convinced Celine to wear pigtails (she’s not into ponytails of any sort) by reminding her that Tallulah – from the book Tallulah’s Tutu – has piggies.
They rounded out the camp on Wednesday in their pinkest leotards. Celine woke up on the wrong side of the bed but quickly turned her mood around.
One of the “presents” Mike and I decided to give Louise for her birthday was a sleepover with a friend. She’s been pestering us about it nonstop, and although we were apprehensive because she’s still pretty young for something like that, we relented. This past Saturday, our friends the Ederas came over and we visited and ate dinner, and then Lily’s parents and baby brother went back to their house for the night and she stayed over!
We told my parents about the sleepover and they asked if we wanted to ship Celine off to their house for the evening to make it easier on us. This worked out perfectly – Celine loved the one-on-one time with Grandma and Papa (and the animals), and allowed us to focus our time and energy on Louise and Lily.
Because Lily’s family was over until about 7pm, there wasn’t a ton of time we needed to fill with activities. Besides, Lily and Louise raced off to Louise’s room and played by themselves for over an hour. It was nice to have two kids playing with minimal fighting – unlike when Louise and Celine play!
Once Lily’s family left, we put the girls in their pajamas. I was a little excited about the sleepover and brought Louise to Old Navy to pick out matching pj’s for them both (and Celine too). Look at these two cuties!
We set up some blankets for movie watching and let Lily pick what she wanted to watch. She selected Frozen. I thought Louise might get bored since we’ve moved on from Frozen (all Moana, all the time), but they watched Frozen like it was the first time, giggling their way through it. I popped some popcorn for them to enjoy while watching even though we just had dinner.
There was a slight scuffle over who got to have the Elsa part of the blanket directly over their body. Understandable…Mike and I have that disagreement all the time. 🙂
It was about 9:15 after the movie was over, so we had them brush their teeth and Mike read them a story.
They giggled in bed for a bit, but they were asleep by around 10:15pm. I’d call that a success!
The next morning we had donuts and played for a couple of hours before we dropped Lily off at her house on our way to pick up Celine. All in all it was a wonderful experience…looking forward to when Louise has a sleepover at someone else’s house! 🙂
Louise had a great year in Pre-K, and Celine did a great job adapting to a new school this past year. We’re loving DIS!
Of course I took the obligatory first day/last day photos. There is a torrential downpour happening today so the photos are a bit different, but what are you going to do.
Their teachers post pictures occasionally throughout the year…here are some highlights.
Celine first:
And Louise!
Not the greatest picture since she’s hidden, but this is her class!
One of Louise’s after-school activities for the past two years has been circus, facilitated by Lone Star Circus. They put on a concert at the end of each year but last year she was too little to perform. This was her first performance and we are so proud of her!
Monday was the dress rehearsal day, and I can categorically say that it was a nightmare for all Haydel women. The “Little Tots” (her age group) were slated to do their run-through from 4-4:45, but the woman with their costumes didn’t even show up until 5pm, so there was a lot of sitting and standing around.
Oh – did I mention I had Celine with me?
I called Mike to complain about the insanity of the situation, and he offered to come pick up Celine. Since I was in Garland, I didn’t think that would work, and at this point I was still optimistic about our ability to get out at a reasonable time and with minimal issues.
Once the costume person arrived, there was mayhem trying to figure out who got their costumes first to put on. Louise was waiting patiently while the other kids in her group got their costumes…and then, all of a sudden, she was sobbing next to me, wailing that they didn’t have a costume for her. I was confused (it was very chaotic and loud backstage), so I said “of COURSE they have a costume for you!”
And then I realized that they didn’t have a costume for her.
I was given a backup costume that was way too big, which caused Louise to start crying again. After waiting for about 5-10 more minutes, we finally acquired an appropriately-sized costume and retreated to the tiny bathroom to put it on. As Louise was slipping into the costume, a girl flung open the bathroom door, hitting Louise in the head and causing her to fall over, hitting her head again on the bathroom wall on her way down. I jumped up to grab her as she started crying in earnest, and my phone dropped from my lap and smacked the tile ground flat on its back, shattering the screen.
It was at this point that Celine decided she was done being a patient little sister and wanted to go home.
Sigh.
I called Mike back, trying (and failing) to hold back tears. He could hear my frustration and told me he was on the way to pick up Celine. I bribed Louise to go out there and practice with her costume on (she was still upset about the costume snafu + the head injury) by promising that she could open three presents from her birthday party when we got home. Begrudgingly, she sauntered to the floor to go through her routine.
Mike arrived to relieve me from the girls, and thanks to him, I made it through the evening.
Friday was concert day! Mike and I picked up the girls from school and headed to the venue, stopping briefly for dinner on the way. Mike and Celine dropped off Louise and me and headed to a restaurant to wait until the start time with my parents. Louise and I headed in for hair and makeup. The hair women were busy, so I plunked her in a chair and did her hair myself!
Then it was time for makeup! First time she’s worn eyeshadow and mascara…
She and her silks partner were ready!
We waited around for about 45 minutes, popping out briefly to say hello to Grandma, Papa, dad, and Celine. Finally it was go time and they asked the parents to head to their seats. Louise panicked a little bit but she was brave and let me go. Then it was showtime!
Her age group was the first to go, and then they let the kids sit with their parents in the audience. Mike and I both teared up with pride when she did her act – it was her first big show and we are so proud of her!!
