June 4

Boy, this whole "Practice Kindergarten" thing is eye-opening! 

I am shocked at how hard it is to get Caleb dressed, breakfasted, and out the door on time every morning. With preschool, it was never a big deal because it didn't start until 9, and if we were running a few minutes late, it didn't matter. But with Practice Kindergarten, Caleb has to be at his elementary school to get on the bus at 7:40. 

7:40!!

Add to that the fact that if he misses his bus, I have to drive him 15 minutes away, to a school whose exact location I don't actually know, and get him to Lord-knows-which classroom. So missing the bus is not an option. Also, every morning this week I've had to wake poor Lily up to put her in the car so we could drive Caleb to the bus. 

So. Mornings have been really stressful lately. I have absolutely no idea how working moms do it; by the time I'm dropping Caleb off, I'm seething with frustration at him for being soooo sloooow and engulfed by shame at myself for being so frustrated. 

But the bright side is that for real kindergarten, Caleb's bus stop is two houses down the street, and the bus comes at 8:30. I can do 8:30.

The other bright side is that the girls and I have been finding lots of fun things to do while Caleb is at school.

Today, while Lily napped, Daisy and I made Lemon Chia Seed Muffins, Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, and Cookie Balls (with almonds, instead of the cashews this recipe calls for. Chris can't do cashews.). So far, we have 8 days worth of breakfast in the freezer. It's pretty satisfying to look in the deep freeze and see all of those bags of baked goods, each one promising a stress-free, cooking-free morning...

Daisy is totally into helping me cook right now. She wants to do it all herself, and she has definite ideas about wearing aprons and standing on chairs...

But the real reason Daisy wants to help?[ 

Sampling the goods. That girl is such a stinker!

After we squeezed lemon juice for the Lemon Chia muffins, we had an extra lemon. Daisy juiced it to make herself some lemonade!

Later, while the big kids napped, Lily practiced her standing on the porch. 

Isn't that mop of hair hilarious?

After steadying herself with both hands for a while, Lily pulled back to one hand and one finger,

And then just one hand! What a big girl! These developmentally-appropriate gross motor milestones are so foreign to me; I'm pretty sure Daisy didn't do this until she was well over a year old. I love it!