Precious Time

There is one week left. My little girl is off to school next Wed. We took her to an open house there yesterday and it went very well. We had a lot of time to talk to the teacher and her assistant. They are wonderful! Ruby liked them also and busied herself around the room. She pulled out pegs, painted, cleaned up and washed hands in the kid-sized sink, played with the tea cups and pot (passing them out) and just enjoyed the room while we talked. We got to meet some of her classmates and their parents, too, which was nice. It's going to be a really great experience for her and part of me is just so excited!

The other part of me is a bit choked up. After all my giddiness about free time and getting to go back to the gym, somewhere around last week I was suddenly struck with the realization that she's not gonna be here all day anymore. EVER. These are the last Mommy and Ruby mornings and days of lazy long snuggles. Just her and I all day long. Sure we will have weekends and summers and a million more amazing times. But, these are precious moments while she is still young and (choke)  I am feeling rather sentimental about it!

Yesterday was one of those dreamy days. We did nothing much and yet our day was full of magic. We snuggled, we played, wondered around the yard. She studied the wind blowing through the trees and found her favorite stick with which to "sword fight" me. (Ha, ha -I am the rock monster and she is Nutcracker from her favorite Barbie movie. What happened to being the princess?) We sat on the porch and laughed, rocked. Later, we tried on clothes for hours. I tried to get her down for a nap early in the afternoon to no avail. She laid there snuggling and quiet like such an angel but after a half hour I looked at her and she was still wide awake. So I said OKAY, do you want to get up? YES!!! So I told her we were getting pictures taken this weekend and we had to try on some clothes. It was so fun. She's so into dress up now and was delighted to prance around in one outfit after another. I am now packed for the shoot, know what she is wearing for Halloween, and know what will fit her for fall. I can't believe how fast she has grown in the last year. Heck, I can't believe it's been a year!

Today is, unfortunately, filled with errands to run. The bank, the grocery store, the hairdressers, the post office. But we will definitely work in some fun for Ruby in there somewhere. Maybe a stop at the park or maybe we will make something fun and messy tonight. Water or messy play always seem to be the most fun, don't they? In fact, I will leave you with a few such shots.

This child LOVES to dunk her head. Silly goose!

Two cute heinies up in the air and 2 happy wet kiddos.

Studying each others wet head.

Is there anything more fun than being soaked?

Guess not!

Happy Thursday!!!