Today Olivia turns six. I often sit, gazing off, and think of the many memories Clif, Olivia and I have together. I sometimes daydream too long and this turns my thoughts into questions. How can my life be any better with these two? And yet, each day I’m reminded that these memories spill out from every angle. Overflowing my heart with pure joy. I think back to when Olivia was smaller and I cant remember our daily routine. So i figured what better way to document it then to add it to our yearly blog book diary!
Clif and I both wake up and Olivia wakes up about 15 minutes later, giving us time to actually wake up. She turns of her bird noises (her soothing nature sound from her alarm clock that she blares almost as loud as it can go) and hops in bed with me for a few minutes until we can see the weather on the morning news.
Olivia and Daddy go downstairs for breakfast, to feed Pebbles and to figure out lunches while I get ready. I join them after I finish getting myself ready and we are out the door. Of course you’ll want to give or take a few minutes because sometimes it then takes another ten minutes just to get the car out of the driveway. When we get in the car I have to plug in my phone and put on my headset, buckle , and after 3 warnings that she had better stop drawing funny faces on my window dew and get in the car…we are on our way to school. At least once a week we’ll even go to the bagel shop for a sweet treat, just her and I. Or sometimes a few friends will join us.
We park the car once we get to school, read some of our books and put last minute lotion and sunblock on her face. As we walk across the street she still looks back to hold my hand. Her hand is still pretty small and delicate. And soft. Before school. After school is a different story.
At school the kids think it’s funny when she crosses her hair braids way down in front of her mouth and chin. It makes it look like she has a beard. She requests to wear her hair this way for that particular reason and was pretty nervous that when she got her hair trimmed (about 1″) it would no longer be long enough to do this and the kids at school would be sad, lol.
Back to our morning…she plays on the playground for 15 minutes and then lines up for class. I kiss her once before she goes in and watch all the kids file into the classroom. She is so grown up now! She’s become friends with a few of the 2nd graders in her class and they seem pretty sweet. One of them even came to her birthday party and that made her smile.
After school I meet her in front of her classroom and we wait for all of our other friends. We all then walk together to the cars, say our goodbye’s and we’re headed home. Olivia is currently enrolled in Spanish and Science so she goes directly to those classes after school on a few days instead of coming straight home. After school you should see her. She looks like a complete mess. It looks like a marker box threw up in her hands. And splashed some on her shirt too. Her hands are so stained with markers and she usually has dirt caked inside her nails so we always know that she was involved in art at school that day. Her hair is usually half done and her jeans rolled up as high as she can get them-because her legs were hot. She’s always hot. In fact, the one time she got in trouble for lying at school was when her teacher, whom I love, asked her if she had a jacket because it was cold and she needed to put it on. Haha!
The whole way home we talk about how school was and what she did. This was my priority starting on day one because otherwise they start telling you that they don’t remember. If you don’t already know this, you’ll see. So she knows that this is our routine and she had better remember. Makes for a special time in the car.
Even though she ate her lunch less than 2 hours prior she’s always ready for a snack. A big snack! She knows that the bottom drawer of the refrigerator is her “go to” destination for healthy snacks. We complete her homework and she’s out the door playing with the neighbors. If they aren’t home she is into her playroom playing with her Lego’s, crafting, playing restaurant, baby dolls and school. She would love to watch Big Time Rush and some of the older kids shows on television but we don’t allow it. Too much boyfriend talk and drama. I usually work during this time or we build Lego creations.
When Daddy gets home we eat dinner, Olivia gets a bath or shower and as a family we usually play at least one board game before bedtime. She gets a book to read and lays down to be asleep by 8pm. Usually it’s about 8:15pm but she is yawning by then and can barely keep her eyes open. She turns her bird sounds on and lays down, usually falling asleep within a few minutes. She’s gotten really good at going to bed and never fights. Sometimes she even asks to go to bed because she is so tired. I love her routine and I consider us lucky.
And that there… is a school day in Olivia’s first grade life.
And a quick photo of the birthday girl…
