say cheese; or don't

I've been meaning to write this post for several weeks now. But as you are well aware, I've been running a bit behind on life. So it should come as no surprise that this particular post has been *on deck* once something less interesting/exciting was already written about (and don't think I don't know how interesting AND exciting my post of all lost items was the other day!)

But having a daughter in pre-school has brought along many firsts. First day of school, first fundraiser, first fall break, first parent/teacher conference AND first school picture.

First of the firsts would be the parent/teacher conference. I'll tell 'ya what... its been a LONG time since my buns tried to squeeze onto one of those mini plastic school chairs. My guess is that the teachers have a good old laugh at us moms who could stand a chair a size or two bigger, thankyouverymuch! Anyhoo... the report was actually really good. I didn't expect to hear anything crazy like that Olivia is bullying others or disobedient or even disruptive. But I WAS surprised to get the report we did. Her teacher started out by saying, "Well isn't Olivia just the cutest, quietest, most petite little thing?!" Yeah, well duh, she gets that from me!

The teacher went on to say that Olivia is the youngest, smallest and most quiet in the whole class. (She is in a classroom with other kids 3-6 years old and she is one of only two 3 year olds.) She said that she does her work diligently and is "cautious." That didn't surprise me but what did surprise me is how she kept saying how quiet she is. Girl must save it *all* for me then. 'Cuz she can run her mouth with the best of 'em.

I tried SO hard not to be that mom that steps in and corrects the teacher by bragging about her large vocabulary or that she's been saying "Go Buckeyes" since she was 18 months old. I mean, I have no idea how she operates when she gets to school. And apparently, she operates as a mute. Hmmm... who knew? The teacher also said she won't let the other kids push her around, get in her work or cut in front of her in line and that she can really use her body to block the other kids out. YOU GO GIRL! Now that's what I like to hear!

On a different note, we also had our first school picture day. I was SO excited! She wore an adorable dress, had cute hair and *loves* to cheese for a photo. I had to order sight unseen, so I figured I'd go ahead and think about some Christmas gifts for family. So, I spent $30 on this...

dontcha think a professional could have gotten my daughter to flash even a fake grin???

Seriously, if this is the best they could do, someone should be fired.

Oh well, lesson learned. Next year we'll skip buying the school pics and march straight to J.C. Penny's.

For real. This picture looks like a most wanted shot. Probably wanted for boxing out a 5 year old for cutting in line.

Hey, if 'ya mess with the bull, 'ya get the horns!