McKinley Goes to Preschool

We have experienced yet another "First" here at the Organ house...McKinley's first day of school. Granted, it is only preschool but in my book that still counts.

McKinley is attending Otter Creek Kindergarten and Preschool two days a week. Mike and I are so thankful that she is attending a Christian school, surrounded by lots of wonderful loving women who will teach her more than just academics.

Here are a few things she loves so far about school:
1. Her teachers: Miss Jeannie and Miss Katie
2. Playing on the playground: blowing bubbles and going down the slide
3. Nap time: because she gets to sleep on a COT!
4. Singing the "Clean Up" song while picking up her toys


I will share one story and then let you get to the pictures:)

After just one week of school (2 days), we were at home. I was cooking dinner and McKinley was playing in the living room. I heard her talking, so I stopped what I was doing and walked around the corner to check on her. I found McKinley sitting with her back to me singing "God Our Father" while she was playing.

In that beautiful moment I was reminded of several things:
1. How blessed I am to be the mother of this sweet hearted little girl.
 2. The importance of surrounding her with wholesome and loving people.
3. How impressionable this little human beings is. Her brain is like a sponge!
3. The pureness of her heart.
4. And most of all, hearing that sweet little song coming from that amazing little girl reminded me that the stress of reworking our budget and stretching our pennies to afford school, and loading a newborn in and out of the car twice a day to do school drop off & pick up makes all those worries and inconveniences worth it and I wouldn't want it any other way!

 

Snoopy Day 2013
McKinley's very first experience at school was "Snoopy Day". It is where the kids get to "snoop" around their classroom and meet their teachers and classmates.

Miss Jeannie and McKinley

 

Here are some photos from her actual first day of school. Somebody was more than just a little excited!

 

1st Day of Preschool:
August 12, 2013

 

 

Here are the sweet and simple words to "God Our Father":

(sung to the tune of "Are You Sleeping")

God our Father
God our Father
We thank You
We thank You
For our many blessings
For our many blessings
Amen
Amen

Mia's First Bath

Bathing a newborn...that is something I don't really enjoy doing. They are so tiny and fragile, I don't want them to freeze and they are so slippery. I definitely don't want to be known as the momma who dropped her newborn because she was slippery when wet! But regardless of my silly fears, Mia was going to have to be bathed at some point:)

Mia screamed from the second we started the bath until the very end when we wrapped her in a towel. Thankfully we survived the first bath (there was no dropping of babies) and now that Mia is 8 weeks old we have a routine and she loves bath time!
 



McKinley Visits the Library

 

A few weeks ago McKinley experienced yet another first...her first visit to the library. I was a little surprised that she was much more interested in the puzzles, magazines, puppets, etc. and didn't really pay attention to the actual books.

 

She did make a new friend who was trying to encourage her to read:)

A week later, McKinley visited the library for her second time. We made a little bit of progress on this visit. I think I got her to sit still and look at a whole 2 pages of a book:)


 

Our next library adventure will be Wednesday morning story hour. I have no idea if this crazy toddler will love it or be clawing at the door to escape:)

A Day at the Zoo

Earlier this year my brother surprised us with a wonderful gift. He gave us a year membership to the Nashville Zoo! On Memorial Day Weekend we activated the membership and McKinley got to experience her very day at the zoo.

There are two things that McKinley absolutely LOVES:

#1- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & The Hot Dog Dance

#2- Animals of all kind

This kid can spot and/or hear an animal a mile away. When we go on our evening family walks, she has to see every dog that we pass, even the ones in houses barking through the windows. She even notices the birds on the overhead wires. Since we knew of her love of animals, we had a feeling that a visit to any zoo would be a success.

As you will see, the day was full of squeals, giggles and moments of extreme excitement where the making of noise wasn't even possible.

The Nashville Zoo:

The first animals we came upon were 3 blue macaws. I could not believe how excited she became over 3 birds that were twenty feet away, but her reaction made that entire trip worth it!

McKinley loved this pig/warthog/thingy. By the look on her face you would have thought it was some cuddly kitten.

The Safari Animals: Elephants, Giraffes & Zebras

"I'm ready for my next adventure!"

 

She LOVED the petting zoo...her mother not so much, but that's what antibacterial wipes are for:)

Her absolute favorite exhibits were the meerkats and the aquarium. Unfortunately we didn't get any great pictures of her with those creatures.

We saw several other exhibits, but some were hard for McKinley to see. If the animals were sleeping or not moving (mostly all of the cats) then she couldn't find them. So next visit we will probably just save some time and skip those until she is a little bigger.

"It's been a long day...I need a nap!"