I'm A Survivor!

Monday night Hana helped make her lunch for her first day of preschool the following day.

What little girl doesn't love a butterfly-shaped peanut butter and honey sandwich? 

We also packed (baked) Cheetos, some fruit (grapes, watermelon & strawberries) and water to drink.

A healthy lunch to go in a pretty lunch tote

for one very special little girl!

A little girl who got to eat pudding and a cereal bar for breakfast. (I was in need of grocery shopping, wanted to make sure she had plenty to eat since she wouldn't be getting her usual mid-morning snack, and sometimes - especially on the first day of school - it's just not worth the fight!)

We packed her lunch.

We posed for some pictures.

How excited are you to go to school, Hana?

"This excited!"

Show me your backpack and lunch tote that you so proudly told your friend Haley is "all matchy matchy." Wonder who she learned that from? I'll give you a hint. Her name starts with J and ends with ennifer.

We grabbed the gift for her teacher.

We got in the car.

We went to school.

We signed her in, chatted with the owner and her teacher, put her things in her cubby

(I corrected them on the misspelling of her name because apparently I am now that mom.)

She had a wonderful first day! When I picked her up she had a sticker on her shirt that said Excellence and her teacher said she was, in fact, excellent. But I, of course, already knew that. It will take about a week for them to really get in the swing of things according to her teacher, and that makes sense to me. Hana cannot wait to go back. She really had a good time! As for me? Well, I survived! I teared up a little in front of her but she knows that's just because I'm so proud of her and cannot believe how big she's gotten. She knows all about happy tears. I shed a few more tears when I got in the car but then I headed to the store to do some much-needed grocery shopping. After that I came home, put them away, exercised, showered, ate lunch and then it was time to go get her!

She made me so proud yesterday morning by being such a brave girl. I honestly don't think there was an ounce of nervousness in her. That amazes me! I strive to be more like her, seriously. Right before I left her at school she seemed a little uneasy, but I would describe it more as shyness than anything else. Once a couple other kids showed up (we were the second ones there) and the teacher started talking to her about the color of her toenails, she was good to go! I had warned her that other little boys and girls might be scared and upset to be at school for the first time and she said, "That's okay. I'll just be their friend!" What an amazing, amazing little girl I have been blessed with! And for that, I bought her some princess removable stickers to decorate the walls of her room. They were waiting for her in her car seat when she got out of school! And I treated her to some frozen yogurt before we went home.

Maybe that will become our new "thing." A nice, yummy, healthy treat for a special little girl who is absolutely beautiful inside and out! Thank you, Hana, for being such a wonderful little girl and helping me be a better person, too.

(I have a couple videos to upload that Blogger, of course, thinks are too long. I will get them on YouTube and let you know when they're there. While YouTube will upload them, it takes

f-o-r-e-v-e-r.)