school prep and no princess.

it must be confessed.

mallory, my beautiful daughter, hates dresses. she hates hairbows. she hates tights. she is okay with skirts and tees, most shoes, although she prefers converse or boots, and she loves jackets.
if i ever DO manage to get her (little bit of) hair into a ponytail, it borders on torture. i have to first put charlie's hair up in a little puff ball, fuss over how amazingly cute it is, and run him to the mirror for a show. he plays along beautifully. after seeing this display, she will SOMETIMES allow me to wrestle the hair band into her (ahem) long, flowing locks. it always leads to screaming and pulling of the ponytail. at that point i go for distraction. if she forgets about it, we're golden. if not, out it comes. i mean, i have a heart, right?
here's a sad picture taken by a mean, mean, mama.



mal and i in happier times. ;)





here's the dress i bought her today. it was on clearance for around ten bucks, and i felt good about getting her a little something since CF was getting school clothes.she LITERALLY ran screaming away from it as i pulled it out of the bag. *faceplam*



cute, right? surely someone will want it one day!

that's okay. mal can be a tough gal if she wants to be. they make super cute boots and jeans and rocker tees for babies. so, anyone coming to her upcoming birthday party, be warned. :)



charlie is getting excited to begin Pre-K...in 6 days. *panic*
me, on the other hand...i AM really happy. i know he will love it. i know it is the beginning of a LONG journey that will have lots of ups and downs. i just remember walking through the airport with that baby boy, sweating next to me in the Ergo, so protective of every little bit of him. that never changes, and it's so scary to picture him...in a lunch line, a classroom, a bathroom, interacting and doing things on his own and saying things that i won't ever hear. it's a GOOD THING. it's also really, really hard. even so, i am bursting with excitement to hear all about that first day...and all the days after that. :)

shopping today was minimal. he's going to a lottery funded Pre-K, so they don't ask for supplies, which is awesome. okay, i really wanted to buy pencil boxes, and Kleenex, and crayons. (next year). i'm not ever a fan of anything with "characters" on it, but he really loved this dragon backpack from the How To Train Your Dragon movie. it was minimally tacky, so i said sure. we got a nap mat (can't wait to hear how THAT goes)...and a lunchbox. we bought some new hair goo and i combed out a long summer of pool fun. he looks so handsome.



he came home and wanted to rest on his new mat. he lay there and repeated his teacher's name so he can remember it. mallory ran around the living room with his new backpack strapped to her. i just laughed at them, with a lump in my throat, because it's all going by so fast. soon, they will both be running out the door, weighed down with books and personal problems. maybe charlie will drive them both, or drive them ALL. *gulp* i can't focus on that, though. let's just get the boy and his punk rock little sis into this new routine.