2014_02_28 Friday

From Elise's school:
Another great day talking about music.  We added some great songs to our list of favorites:  

X-"Let it go"

ELISE - "Diamonds in the Sky"

X- "The Story of my Life"

In our drawings about the special things we would write songs about, X's theme was The Justice League.  X chose orange juice because "it's the best". There were lots of construction projects in our centers today.  X used the magnets to create a garden with beautiful detailed flowers.  X made a lighthouse and the eiffel tower. We read the Frog and Toad story "Swim".  Everyone used 3 descriptive words to tell us about their own bathing suits.  Elise has a "colorful, flower. bikini" bathing suit.  "It's kinda funny 'cause it has a skirt but it's still a bathing suit." A big hand goes out to X!  She had excellent listening ears, great focus and awesome table manners ALL DAY LONG!

2014_02_25 Tuesday

From Elise's school:
...another relaxing day.  We revisited our meditation and added on some yoga and new age music.

We talked about how some people like to think of something special when they meditate, to help them feel happy and relaxed.  Elise shared that she was picturing ponies and X said that he was thinking of the circus. X said her house is the most special place in the world and she was thinking of being at home.  During yoga, X led us in some of her favorite poses. X and X concentrated hard on making their meditation bracelets.  X chose the tiniest beads, "cause they're the cutest".  X was afraid that his bracelet may not fit because his muscles are getting so big! X completed our tough Dora puzzle with no help, earning great praise from X .  All day in fact, X went out of his way to help and compliment his friends.

2014_02_24 Monday

From Elise's school:
We had a relaxing day learning about chanting music and meditation.  X and X chose each bead carefully for their meditation bead bracelets.  They took their time and threaded even the smallest beads. Our meditation time must have calmed our brains because X focused so intently in cutting and X was prolific in the drawing center. X held her scissors properly and cut "millions" of tiny paper strips. X made many drawings inspired by the shape of his hand. X listened well and participated excitedly in Chinese - especially when they learned about chocolate. We ended our day with a story from "Frog and Toad".  Frog was not feeling well and Toad told him to go to bed because he was looking a little green.  Elise cleverly picked up that that was so silly because "frogs are always green".

2014_02_23 Sunday

Ah, a typical ATL spring day, finally! After browsing Michael's for lots of art projects...

...we spent the better part of the day at the Botanical Gardens. Today was Vanilla Sundae, so they were passing out free sundaes. Jonathan prefers only sundaes with sprinkles, so of course Elise does too. We also got the recipe for vanilla playdough; the docents said it lasted as long as real playdoh and sure did smell better. We had fun doing handstands and rolls on the Great Lawn and then playing in the Kiddy Garden. I was pretty tired after that, so we called it a day.

At dinner tonight, Elise told us how she really prefers the Atlanta Ocean over the Pacific one. She also told us that she knew which state Alaska was (?!), and she was right.

I'm dealing with some pretty strong nausea tonight for no good reason. Elise's dry cough (that came from me) is nearly gone, thankfully.

2014_02_18 Tuesday

From Elise's school:

Our morning began with something we have almost forgotten...going to the playground.  It was beautiful and a perfect lead in to our "Flight of the Bumblebee" theme.  We listened to a performance of the piece by a 7 year old pianist.  X made the clever connection that the song was so fast just like bumblebee wings.  Elise made an extensive black and yellow bee pattern in her center.  In other centers, Xcompeted a floor puzzle that he had been sure was too tough for him, and X sorted dinosaurs.  He sorted first by color, then size and finally made sets of all the healthy ones and the ones with broken legs.  We did lots of letter "S" work and X was super excited to tell me that my name starts with "S". X did an awesome job in Spanish!  I heard her naming each piece of fruit and telling everyone its color.

2014_02_17 Monday

I really need all of us to get back into our normal routines...I took Elise to school today to realize it was closed for President's Day. When we got home, I saw that I did, in fact, have it written in my calendar but I guess I just really, really wanted it to be open. ugh.

Now I'm a time zone behind, and I am bracing myself for miscalculations on that in the morning.

2014_02_15 Saturday

I finally was able to fly home today. It only took an extra 3 days for the airlines to get back on track. The absolute best was that Dave brought the kids to greet me at the airport with original artwork!! I was shocked!!!! What a terrific surprise. Then we went out for a late brunch at the diner I really like. Great welcome home!

More on the actual trip later.

2014_02_14 Friday

From Elise's school:
Happy Valentines Day!  We had a great party.  X chose "Party Rock Anthem" for our freeze dance song and knew all the words.  Elise and X had creative and dramatic poses each time they froze.  At the computer center X matched the correct amount of hearts to the numbered boxes.  X showed excellent manners in art by first saying, "Excuse me, can I please color my heart now?" and then, "Can you help me with the sticker please?". X stopped short in the middle of building and ran to his cubbie.  He excitedly told me, "I have to give you a holiday treat!"  Our day was full of treats and fun. Thanks to everyone for my sweet valentines.  X shared that the coolest thing about the day is animals. What?  I didn't understand. He patiently explained to me that all of his valentines had animals on them. X said that Valentines Day is great because his mommy cooks syrup and pancakes.  Yum.

2014_02_10 Monday

Ack! APS has already cancelled school for the next two days!

From Elise's school:
We had a great show and tell today!  X and Elise performed a drum/whistle duet of "Old McDonald" for us.  We learned some new musical vocabulary too: forte (loud) and pianissimo (very quietly).  X remembered these all day and applied them to everyone's speech.  X took the prize in our "most forte forte" contest.  X did a great job learning some sports vocabulary in Chinese.  During center time, X built a giant ship and sailed it into the jungle.  X sorted all the pegs by color and counted each set. X's favorite thing today was Simon Says. Several times the entire class was wiped out in one move - this absolutely cracked her up every time! APS has just announced closings on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the expected storm.  That means we are closed too.  Enjoy your snow days and stay cozy!

2014_02_09 Sunday

And, our second adventure to the Botanical Gardens.

We met Dave at home to find out we have lost fish #5. None of them made it through the winter. Maybe user error; maybe winter weather; maybe woodland creatures. Who knows. We'll try again once it's permanently warm.

2014_02_08 Saturday

Dave was up in DC for his Georgetown dinner gig, so we had a weekend to ourselves...here's the first adventure, at the zoo.

Jonathan also decided to sleep in his tent tonight. Can't imagine that's very comfortable, but why not let him!? He loved it. I was very clear, though, that's only for non-school nights!

2014_02_07 Friday

Jonathan's school sent out a warning that they were monitoring winter weather conditions overnight and would notify if school was going to be cancelled! I nearly had a heart attack. It's beautiful outside today.

From Elise's school:

Today we learned that ANYTHING can be an instrument and ANY SOUND can be music. We made our own band with objects from around the room.  X decided that since she was going on a sleepover this weekend she would make a suitcase drum.  X was the first to identify thunder in our sound effects game.  He shared that his dog is very scared of thunder and has to take medicine when he hears it. X loved playing Alphabet Zoo on the computer.  She matched each letter using the keyboard and freed all the animals.  X found 10 Qs in the giant box of letters and X completed the whole alphabet train with (almost) no help. Elise matched different kinds of money.  She told us that her dad does not have any more money because he bought her so much food and so many games.

We've got friends coming over for dinner tonight. I'm making pork tenderloin with mushroom gravy; roasted potatoes; and asparagus. delish!!

2014_02_04 Tuesday

From Elise's school:

X started our day on the right foot with a great joke.  "Why is 6 afraid of 7?  Because 7 ate 9!"  After some time on the playground we had a visit from a member of the Tahino Mariachi Band.  He brought lots of South American instruments to share.  X, X, and Elise got to go "on stage" and play an instrument for the whole school! Back in the classroom X made more matches than any of us in the alphabet game.  X impressed me with his attention to detail and careful placement while making our wind instruments and X painted like a pro. We practiced playing our instruments by blowing pom pom balls across the rug.  So fun!  When we played them X said we sounded just like birds!

2014_02_03 Monday

From Elise's new teacher:

We learned all about string instruments today and even made our own ZITHERS.  We practiced plucking the rubber bands and everyone was eager to give a concert at home.  X got into the creative process and put LOTS of strings on his.  We listened to dueling violins and formed two dance teams for our own "dueling dance show".  X loved this and had quite the moves.  During center time X and X helped their dinosaurs go hunting. The dinosaurs kept saying, "Mmmm.  I smell meat."  X is 4! She told us she is still a princess and constructed a beautiful princess castle. She kept her crown on all day. Elise and X were super thoughtful with their friends today. They held doors, dried off the slide, pumped the last bit of soap and made room at circle time. X told us all about hoppin john at lunch. She said she knows about it because her granddad makes it every morning but he calls it the real name - beans and rice. It was lovely to spend time with your kids today.  I am looking forward to lots of learning and silliness.

2014_02_02 Sunday

"General Beauregard Lee declared spring to be just around the corner after emerging from his plantation-style home at Gwinnett County’s Yellow River Game Ranch on a cloudy Thursday morning and seeing no shadow."
So, I'm not sure why he was looking on Thursday, as Groundhog Day is today, but it appears that we are officially in SPRING now. Adios snow!!!

Another discovery I made today: you cannot buy alcohol in GA before 12:30 on Sundays. would have been good to know before waiting in line at 12:10 today, but now I do. So, back to the grocery store I'll go with all the other Superbowl-ers later today.