Preparing for preschool...

I registered Luke for preschool today. Can it really be that my firstborn is getting ready to start preschool??? My how quickly time passes! He won't actually begin until late August, since his soon-to-be school follows the traditional Redlands schoool district schedule. The cool part? He will actually be attending the very same preschool that I went to as a little girl. Redlands Playschool. I am SOOOOO excited about this! I adored preschool. I have quite a few fond memories from my time there so many years ago! And I even still have a couple of friends that I made all those 28 years ago...Heidi being the one you all know best. I wonder if Luke will make life long friends there as well? One just never knows! By the way...getting into a good preschool 'round here is like trying to get into college!! (Okay...well...maybe not that bad!) Moms have been known to stand in line at midnight the night before registration to ensure that their kiddo gets into the school they want. Isn't that just crazy?! When I went to tour our school, the director told me this, and I was floored! There was simply no way that I would be able to do that! But since I was an 'alumni', she told me that I would be allowed to come in for pre-registration today. Yay! And once I was there this morning, she actually told the few of us there that we were filling up the few spots that were open and there probably wouldn't be any spots left to be filled on the regular registration day! Phew! How thankful I am to have been able to sign up today!! This school offers everything that I want for Luke. Its perfectly in line with all that I feel is important! A play-focused, Christian school with small classes and a very loving, comfortable, friendly environment. I'm just so glad that he will be able to go there! It is still up in the air as to what his schedule will be like. My first choice was for him to attend Tues/Thurs mornings (9 to noon) and my second choice was M/W/F mornings. We'll find out soon which one we got.

As I was driving to registration this morning, I saw something that made me so sad though. Since we moved here, one of our most favorite things to do has been to admire the beautiful, grassy pasture of horses that sits alongside the highway near our freeway exit. Nearly every single day, those horses have been part of our daily routine. We always admired them as we drove past and Luke and I would look forward to seeing if they were eating or playing as we headed to and from our errands. "What are the horses doing today?" we'd always ask one another. We would often take a quick detour on our way home to sit on the side of the road near the fence line to gaze as those majestic creatures...especially the mare and her foal that was born last spring. Several times, I held Luke up on the wood fencing to pet them, and they would nuzzle up to Luke as if they had always known him. Those horses were always a breathtaking scene for me and daily I would praise God for His beautiful creation as I watched them. Several times, I considered leaving a little note somewhere for the owners, just to let them know how much we enjoyed watching their horses, but I never did. :( Lately though, we had noticed that the horses were corralled in one small area and then one day, part of the fence line was down. And this morning, as I drove down the highway, bulldozers were tearing down their corrals and the horses were gone. I nearly cried. I am so sad to see this bright spot in our day taken away. I wouldn't be surprised to see homes there in time. :( So sad....so very sad.

But of-course, there are other bright spots in my day. And Ellie is one of the cutest!!! :) She seems to be changing so much lately and growing WAY too fast! I think that she signed her first word yesterday. I've been signing several, simple words for her at meal time....more, eat, all done...etc. And yesterday as we were finishing lunch, she flung her arms up near her head and kind of thrashed them around. At first, I thought it was just a fluke and ignored her, but when I tried to offer her another bite, she clamped her mouth shut and threw her arms up again. I asked her then if she was 'all done' and did the sign as I spoke, and sure enough...she threw her arms up and smiled a gigantic smile for me. Awww! I love that she's starting to understand! And she is certainly good at communicating her wishes too! Several times lately, she has flat out refused the food I am offering her (even when it's something she likes) if she sees us eating something she wants. She will make this horrid screeching sound until we offer her a bite (as long as its something she can have) and then she will smile broadly and accept the other food. Silly girl! But I certainly cannot complain! She is a GREAT eater!!!

I have a ton of other little stories to share, but seeing that its getting late for me, I should better let you all get back to your own lives. :) I'll share more later. But as always, thanks for checking in on us! I always love knowing that you are out there reading. And its nice to know that what oftentimes seems mundane to me is actually interesting to you guys! Have a great night, my friends!