Brenna's First Day of Nursery

Brenna's first day of nursery was today. She goes to the same nursery Ellen went to, Lawley Village Day Nursery, but is in a toddler class.  Brenna's two trial days a couple of weeks ago went pretty well. She was very excited the first day, went in confidently, said to Amy, one of her teachers, "B for Brenna" while she pointed to her name sticker on her water bottle and waved good-bye to me.  However, she got upset when I didn't come back to pick her up as soon as she thought I would.  I asked her why she was crying and she said, "Because I missed my mommy".  Heart strings pulled!

The second day she didn't want to go, but was alright when I dropped her off.  Since those trial days, she has been crying and saying "I want to stay home with my mommy" every time we discussed her having fun with her teachers and the other children.  So, this morning was the same scene... she simply didn't want to go.  She stopped crying long enough to get a few smilely pictures.

When Ellen and I dropped her off, her teacher, Alex, eventually took her despite her kicking and crying.  I felt so guilty!  Was I doing the right thing putting her in nursery at almost 2 1/2?  We really thought she was ready for school, always loved going into Ellen's classroom and playing with the toys and thought she'd enjoy playing with other children.  Yes, we're doing the right thing, I keep having to convince myself of.  I rang the nursery about 30 minutes later to see how she was doing, and the teacher reported that she was happily playing dinosaurs with Millie.  When Ellen and I picked her up at 12:30, although she hadn't eaten much for lunch, she was lying on a little couch reading a book.  She was happy to see us and announced to the class, "My mommy came back!"  Bless her little heart.  I told her that I will always come back for her.

Brenna said that she had fun at school, so we'll see how things go on Friday.

Her lovely curly locks and her sweet Cath Kidston backpack, which she loves.

Of course, Bunny had to go to nursery, too. This is how she usually holds Bunny, too.  She holds her bottom and strokes the tag... I'm not sure what she's going to do when the tag is completely gone!

Ellen's First Day of School

A new chapter in our lives began today - it was Ellen's first day of school today.  She has been excited to go to Reception (Kindergarten) since her first visit to "big school" in July, especially the idea of wearing a school uniform every day.  This morning she popped out of bed when I woke her, gave me a quick cuddle and promptly went down stairs to get dressed.

She chose her usual Marmite toast for breakfast.

A few pictures before our first-ever real school run (as opposed to the school run to nursery).

Ellen's gorgeous Pottery Barn Kids backpack.  She chose the rainbow design and really loves it.

Brenna's not looking forward to her first day (after 2 trials days a couple week ago) of nursery tomorrow and will miss not having her big sister around during school hours.

During our 15-minute Brenna-and Ellen-speed walk to school we were joined by a few families and their 4-year-olds who would be in Ellen's class.  I could feel the parents' excitement mixed with nerves as we walked together. 

Ellen poses in front of her school, the Lawley Village Primary Academy.  This school only opened in January this year and there are only two classes of children currently attending it: Ellen's reception class and the Year 1 children.  A class will be added each year the school is opened due to funding. By the time Brenna attends in two years, two more classes will be added.

Every morning we will wait at the school gate (more like a prison-like fence) at the side of the school until the headteacher (principal) Miss Hopley unlocks the gates (there are three entrances).  This morning most of the parents walked their children to the classroom gate, but I was confident that Ellen could walk in by herself and she did fantastically. She was greeted by her teacher, Miss Richens, at the gate and went in very confidently.

Ellen is just about to walk into her classroom for the first time.

Although many parents were sad to "let go" today, I was quite excited.  Perhaps I'm slightly sad that our little girl is growing up, I'm actually very excited for Ellen's new beginning.  She's excited to learn new things and to meet new friends.  I'm also looking forward to a little more time to spend at home getting chores done and finally getting to some projects that have been put to wayside the past...uhh... 4 1/2 years.  In addition, I believe that I can spend more quality time with the girls while they're home, instead of trying to fit in chores during the day.  It's a new day for all of us!

The children will attend school from 9:00-12:00 this week, but from next Monday they'll attend from 9:00-3:15 every day.  This morning Ellen said they wrote down their names on a piece of paper and drew a picture of themselves. They played a game outside in teams, but she didn't tell me what they played.  They also listened to a story using headphones.  In Miss Richen's letter that was sent home, she explained that the children will learn and learn through well-known nursery rhymes this half-term (before the end of October).  Ellen really enjoyed her first day of school and is looking forward to tomorrow... we'll see how long that lasts!  Lastly, Jeff and I are super proud parents.  Ellen is bright and confident in her academic abilities.

Ellen enjoyed trying on her uniform yesterday.

Monkey Puzzle

Brenna has begun to "read".  We are absolutely amazed at her ability to remember stories.  As Ellen learns to spell, Brenna has also taken an interest in writing. Although her letters are merely squiggles, they are a good indication at her future interest in learning.  Tonight Jeff captured Brenna reading the book Money Puzzle.

Ohio - Day 1

"O-H-I-O!", the girls shouted as they excitedly skipped around the baggage claim area at the Columbus airport yesterday afternoon.  Our trip "across the pond" was quite easy considering we were travelling with a 4- and 2-year-old, but we were all VERY happy when we landed in Columbus.  Ellen ran up to the security gate at the airport where Mom and Norm were waiting; Brenna followed close behind.  There were long-awaited hugs and kissies for Gramma and Palon.  Dad and Barry met us in the baggage claim, and then we went to Champps for supper with two very tired girls.  It was wonderful to step outside and finally feel some HEAT!

Today we spent the day playing and organizing.  While Mom and I went to the mall to exchange some clothes I had ordered online, the girls enjoyed played in the paddling pool.

 Fun in the paddling pool

Brenna plays with the princess clip-clop horses with Gramma

Race for Life

I'll post about this another night...

Popping Bubbles!

This video was taken on Sunday, the 8th of May.  The girls loved running around the garden/yard popping bubbles in their cute dresses.

Country Dancing

Ellen has been taking Diddi Dance at nursery this term. So far she's really enjoyed it and came home on Friday excited to show me the country dancing she learned that morning.  It was so cute that I had her do it again so I could take a video of it.  Of course, Brenna had to have a turn, too :o)

Farm on Wheels

A lot has happened in the past month, including Mom's two-week visit, Brenna's 2nd birthday, Easter and Ellen and my birthdays; however, I'll start with our visit today to the Farm on Wheels organised by our neighborhood management team.  A trailer pulled up carrying a donkey, three rabbits, 2 lambs, the most gorgeous grey hen and her four fluffy chicks and Sandy the rat.

Up close with the rabbits

 Petting one of the sweet chicks

 I love Brenna's excitement in this picture.

 Mommy Hen and her babies.

 The girls got to feed the hen and chicks.

 Brenna loved feeding the lamb. Ellen chose not to... no surprise.

 

 Brenna confidently petted the lamb and, after a little persuasion, Ellen did, too.

 Both girls were happy to pet Sandy the rat.

 Sandy had a little climb on both girls!

 We played on the nearby playground until I deemed it too cold to continue playing.

Pancake Day

Today is Shrove Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras, aka Fat Tuesday, but in the Bolton house, it's simply Pancake Day!  Unfortunately, Jeff missed out on a delicious pancake breakfast due to being away for work for a few days.  Ellen always enjoys helping me make pancakes and enjoys eating them, too.  Brenna wasn't interested in actually eating the pancake, just dipping a piece in the maple syrup and licking it over and over... *sigh*.

I was asked a couple times today whether we ate traditional English pancakes or American pancakes.  Light, fluffy American pancakes, of course!  Britons like to make thin pancakes (crepes) and top it with lemon and sugar... uh, no.  Give me a drizzle of maple syrup any day!

Our First Snow!

Happy New Year!  Now that Jeff and I are almost over the flu, Ellen over the tummy-itis that she had and Brenna a milder version of the flu and an ear infection, our life has returned to normal this week.  We've had such mild weather this winter so far, but it's turned cold enough to snow this week.  We had our first snow this morning, but it was a slushy snow and melted almost straight away.  However, there was still enough mushy snow on the car for me to gather a bit in a bowl to bring inside to the girls.  They were so excited!  A little ball of icy snow and they were dancing around the lounge!  More significantly, this was the first time Brenna has seen or touched snow, so I had to take a video of her first experience with it.  Tonight it is supposed to snow overnight for a real snow, so we'll see what happens!

Cookies, Cupcakes and Reindeer

Since we had many cut-out cookies leftover to ice, we invited our friends Gemma and her children, Amelia and Max, over to ice the remaining cookies.

 

Our darling daughter decided it was more fun to disintegrate her cookie instead of icing her cookie, though she loved icing it the day before.

A week or so later, Ellen asked to make Christmas cupcakes. So, like the amazing mommy I am, I made her red velvet cupcakes... from a boxed cake mix! I did, however, also buy Christmas cupcake cases and snowmen chocolates, as requested.

 The finished masterpieces!

 So stinkin' cute!

On Christmas Eve the girls donned their reindeer antlers to play "Reindeer Den"... because reindeers live in dens, duh.  We dined on reindeer food (sliced bell peppers, cucumber, apples and clementines... because that's what reindeer eat... don't question it!), and read Christmas books, including listening to Great Grandma read "The Night Before Christmas" that she sent last Christmas. Snow also fell in the lounge and it was freezing cold... brrr!