So we're on to new adventures...new beginnings and a new "normal". ahhh, life is good! :-)

Things are still going well with Kira and kindergarten! The more time that goes by the more she is loving it. She has really been enjoying music and phy. ed! Thats my girl! :-) I would love her to gain a passion for music - those were some of the best memories from school for me.
She is also still in soccer which she is still enjoying. I think she gets tired out pretty fast but that comes with running up and down the soccer field for an hour. She's slowly getting more and more open with the other players too which really helps.

Julia is still doing well with me at home. It has been VERY different without Kira at home during the day. It's ssoooo quiet! :-) It has been an absolute pleasure being able to spend some time with just me and Julia. I love it. But unfortunately, it has led to some seperation issues. All in good time that'll get better though.

I'm very excited for my first opportunity to volunteer at Kira's school!! I love volunteer opportunities and helping making a difference in the lives of those around me. I'm also excited to get to meet more of the school staff too. I think I'll feel much more comfortable and confident with the setting once I know more of the staff personally and develop that relationship. The event is a "Flyer Fun Run", and its for all the grades K-6 and the kids raise money for the school and run around a track and enjoy themselves. It's a great event and the weather is supposed to be gorgeous!! This will also be the first time Julia has ever been left with a babysitter all by herself. We absolutely adore the girls that babysit for us so I'm sure Julia will adapt quick!

Thanks for checking in to the blog!! I've been much better at keeping it updated and just having frequent posts. Eventually I'd like to learn how to add pictures to it too. Good times ahead!! :-) Maybe i'll shoot for that for the next blog! :-)

Adios!

My new theme song..."I will survive"

We've survived the first week of kindergarten!! Yay!! Kira has been loving kindergarten and been making a few new friends already. What a relief that things have started off on a good note. She has been coming home absolutely exhausted which has sure been interesting. She is throwing some pretty nasty tantrums that she never had done before but I know she's wiped out and is just getting used to the "new" schedule and the new "normal". All in good time, it'll get better. :-)
She has come home with some funny things to say and it almost feels like she is just maturing even after the first week. She came home on the first day and said, "Mommy, I have two new best friends!" So I said, "Oh, thats great Kira - what are their names?" And she replied, "I can't remember." Oh the little details! :-) She has been having fun and later this week came home and talked about playing with Abby and Jessica. Otherwise she has really enjoyed her teacher, music class, gym class, some of the lunches - ya know, its a pretty wide variety. We're off to a good start! And crazy enough, we already have conferences in a few weeks for her! I'm guessing its more of a this is what we're working on and what you can work on at home kind of thing. How much can they really tell us at this point. :-)
I knew this kindergarten transition was going to be a tough one for me too. Holy moly, I had no idea how much I would miss her!! When she comes home, I just want to sit down and talk and work on school stuff with her and she just wants to play with her toys and play outside and be a 5 year old. It's a little nuts! My rollercoaster started the night before. I knew I was letting go of my little girl into the world of school now and that was a little tough. I definately shed some tears the night before. But the day of kindergarten when we dropped her off, I only had a few tears! She showed us through her actions that she was totally ready for this. It really helped me emotionally to see that. The second day is when Kira had her melt down. This was the first day that I've left her at the door and said, "Okay Kira, thats the bell, you need to go into your classroom now". And she knew what that was and she knew how to get there but she wanted mommy to help her. I resisted and a music teacher ended up helping her and another little boy to their classroom. Then on day 3, that was the first day that she rode the bus. I did good then too but I have to admit, I was a bit nervous of her getting on and off the bus and finding the right door to go out of and stuff. Then on day 4, Kira just ran right into school and didn't look back! She was used to it and ready to go in all by herself (and William - her friend from preschool that goes to the same school). This was pretty emotional for me. I called Tom right away and was just overcome by emotions. I called Tom right away and said "Tom - she did SO good this morning!" She wasn't scared, she didn't look nervous, she looked happy and excited and just ran herself in! It was really a very heart-warming feeling and made me feel good.
I've also had the wonderful opportunity to meet a few parents of kids that are in Kira's class too! The parents are such wonderful people and we've all been there for each other and each others kids now. It's really been nice! It's been great for me too because I was a bit nervous as to how this huge public school was really going to work out for us. I've ever stepped up for a volunteer opportunity at the end of September which I"m pretty excited about too. I plan on volunteering a lot and getting involved so I can get to know more of the staff.
Thank you all very much for your prayers!! It has been a very big rollercoaster ride for me, not to mention Julia (she's been missing her "da-doe"... :-(
We're surviving though and getting a few more weeks into it will make it even smoother. I'm excited to see what the school year has in store for us!!

Have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

New beginnings...

We're beginning the journey of having a kindergartener on Tuesday!! I can't believe its already just 2 days away!! I have a lot of mixed emotions with it. I'm SO happy and VERY proud of her! She has done awesome in preschool and is ready to take on "big girl school". She is very excited.

I will be honest and say that I'm excited for her but very nervous and sad at the same time. We had a chance to meet her teacher a few times and she seems awesome - so thats a very reassuring feeling. What is seeming to make it harder for me too is that I've had such a wonderful privledge of staying home with the girls for the last 5 years and now I won't have that anymore (well...with both girls home...Julia will still be home with me). She is going to all day kindergarten, so we're going to seriously miss her everyday! It's going to be a rough day on Tuesday but we'll manage. Tom and I both took the day off on Tuesday. Lets hope we can both hold it together.
I can't believe the fall weather is here!! Today it was in the upper 60's!! It's crazy! But it feels

great. I have been loving having the windows open and the fresh area flowing through our house,

its a wonderful feeling.

Kira is off to her first sleep over tonight!! She has talked about it before with her friends at preschool but it just felt like it was so far off still. She was approached tonight by her little friend and now she's off enjoying herself. Wow! I really feel old now. It's just another part of her thats just growing up too fast. She's getting so big and I would just really prefer it to slow down. :-)

I hope you all are enjoying your summer!! Take Care!!

-The Marlins