Jennifer Woodbury

This was the week my girls got to be flower girls in our babysitter Diana’s wedding.

Diana – or “Nina” as Lucy calls her – has been watching my kids for three years, starting back when Ella was still in preschool, Claire was just barely a toddler, and before there even was a Lucy. In fact, she was the one who watched Ella & Claire while Lucy was being born since we didn’t have any family nearby at the time. Diana splits her time between us and two other families, and I thought it was so sweet that she included all of “her kids” in the wedding.

The groom is from India so there was a Hindu ceremony first, which was fascinating since it was so different from my own wedding, or for that matter any wedding I have ever seen before. My favorite part was the baraat, or groom’s procession, during which the groom rides a white mare to the wedding venue. A drummer and dancers are part of the procession and I absolutely loved how joyful and celebratory the whole thing was; so fitting for a wedding!

After the Hindu ceremony was the more traditional ceremony that my girls participated in. I was really nervous about how Lucy would do, but she ended up pretty much stealing the show. She came out last (out of 6 flower girls) with a very determined look on her face, and she made sure that every single petal in her basket made it onto the ground, one by one. Claire of course loves anything involving a pretty dress, but I was surprised at how much Ella enjoyed the whole experience as well (you should have seen the look of horror on her face when she saw what she would have to wear). I think it had a little something to do with feeling like she was the center of attention.

At the reception: (left) the card Ella made for the bride and groom, and (right) watching the first dance. Afterward Ella got a chance to dance with the groom, and she later said that was her favorite part of the whole wedding.

This was also Claire’s first full week of school. She was so excited to finally eat lunch at school with her brand new pink lunchbox.

Last year Claire only went to school three mornings a week, and this year she is going every day (four full days and one half day). I agonized over the decision of whether she was ready for that much school and fully expected her to be exhausted and falling asleep every day during the car ride home that first week, so I was pleasantly surprised to find her happy and still full of energy when I picked her up that first afternoon. Since then she has never once fallen asleep in the car after school (or at home afterward) and she is thriving at school.

I am getting used to the new school routines, which now means packing two lunches most mornings. I love how much you can tell about Ella & Claire based on the magnets they chose for their lunchboxes (Ella is using the same luncbox as last year; I just let her pick a new set of magnets). Claire’s chose a rainbow theme with flying hearts, butterflies, and a unicorn, while Ella went with the rock star theme.

There’s no school for Lucy this year, but I did sign her up for a mommy & me ballet class. I normally don’t do “mommy & me” except for Music Together, but Lucy spent all of last year lying on the floor outside of Claire’s ballet studio trying to get a glimpse of the little ballerinas inside and occasionally throwing a fit when she didn’t get to stay in Claire’s class. Since she isn’t old enough to do a class on her own, and she is now at home most days without her two older sisters to keep her company, I figured the least I could do was take a ballet class with her. She was so ridiculously excited about her new dance attire and could not stop talking about gong to “baw-ay.”

But then we actually got to class and she made me hold her the entire time while *I* did all the dancing. Oh yes, I remembered as I was tiptoeing across the “tightrope” made out of blue tape on the floor, this is why I don’t sign up for mommy & me classes.

Afterward, she twirled around her room showing off her dance moves and then sat in her rocking chair and lied to me about how much she liked ballet. Maybe she’ll warm up next time… or maybe I will just be a really awesome ballerina by the end of the semester!