Weather finally seems to have broken, and it's much more comfortable in the house than it was yesterday- a single fan in each room keeping it lovely and cool instead of just moving hot heavy air.

Excitement abounds as the first day of preschool approaches. We went for orientation yesterday, and the small had a chance to meet her teachers and get a feel for the classroom (and a few of her fellow students). She is now fully gung ho and can't wait to get on the schoolbus Tuesday morning. She doesn't know yet, but there are two packages waiting for her to be opened Monday night- a new Tinkerbell backpack from her nana, and a fancy matching pencil box from one of her aunts (completely unplanned, but a fortuitous happenstance). I remember lying awake late into the night the eve before school started; somehow, I think the small might have a similar problem. She's been ridiculously well-behaved this past week, and bubbling over with love and kisses for everyone. I'd like to think it's because the nervousness about something new has worn off and she's just reached the excited stage, but we'll see when Tuesday rolls around. I'll be able to put her on the bus Tuesday morning, and I fully intend to have the camera ready to go to catch the first day... The fact that she's old enough now to get on a bus and be independent of me for the entire day hasn't fully sunk in yet, and when I do think about it I just marvel at how quickly the time has gone and exactly how far she's come even in just the past six months or so. This evening I set her up on the computer to play games on Nick Jr., and she navigated through the site like a pro- twice she asked for help, and it was just because the instructions weren't clear on how to switch from video mode to game mode. Incredible.

I told her that before school started we would redecorate her room in whatever fashion she chose, and she decided on a purple Tinkerbell theme. Fortunately Mama still gets a say in how things are decorated, so instead of massive amounts of plastic and Disney-stamped everything, we've incorporated some actual "nature" into the design... Ages ago I purchased two pale purple saris from the thrift store, and between the two of them there was enough fabric for a window curtain, two large curtains to replace her closet door, and a reading tent in the corner. The reading tent is just a grapevine wreath with the sari fabric attached to hang down like a circus tent, suspended from the ceiling by several lengths of purple yarn, and inside is a small Tinkerbell papasan chair, a tiny purple art tray that's been repurposed to hold library books, and a small reading lamp. She spends the better part of her evenings after she gets ready for bed either sitting or lying down in the tent, flipping through storybooks in the gleam of her "very own light!" as she puts it. Her furniture is all natural blonde wood, and we found a string of lights with colored iron butterfly shades to drape around her vanity mirror and provide some soft lighting for bedtime, as well as a small wicker basket to hold her "outside treasures"- pinecones and interesting stones and twigs that she brings home from our walks. We incorporated a few new storage units in her closet for sorting toys and art supplies, and a few Tinkerbell printed pop up boxes on her bookshelf round out the decor and hold most of her farm animal collection.  Since we wrapped up the better part of the decorating about two weeks ago, the cleanliness of her room has been astounding. Occasionally I have to remind her that toys need put away or that a shirt worn the day before needs to go in the laundry pile, but for the most part now that each thing has a designated area she keeps it fairly orderly.  Just another reminder that she's growing up far too quickly for my taste, but at the same time I'm beyond proud of her and wouldn't wish her to be anything other than what she is.

Well, school- I just hope that my little girl gets everything she expects from you, and more. She's an awfully special little bug.