2014_05_23 Friday

It's the last day of school!!!!!

From Elise's class:
We went out in style!  Our day consisted of playing on the playground, making our own ice cream sundaes and having ANOTHER lunchtime pizza party!  Thank you for a great pageant and a great year.  I am thankful for all of your support and generosity.  Have a fantastic summer!

Video:

2014_05_20 Tuesday

What a day!! Elise was up and waiting at the door for me when I got back from the bus stop this AM -- that's 1.5 hrs earlier than she should be up! We took a shower, and her hair springed up like Shirley Temple/Orphan Annie.

From Elise's school:
We started the day with an obstacle course.  X thought she needed help on the climbing wall but it turns out all she needed was some loud cheering - she did it all by herself!  Everyone completed the course and got a rainbow lollipop!  Thank you X!  After that we moved on to bubble blowing. X was able to catch bubbles on his wand without breaking them.  Elise took the prize for popping the most bubbles.  X received a special invitation and got to enjoy lunch upstairs with his big brother.  In art X chose some really sweet pictures to put in his class book.  X and X got to choose centers from the shelf because they figured out how to spell my name.

Jonathan got an award at school for being on the honor roll for both semesters. They had a big awards ceremony, and the 1st graders all sang Over the Rainbow. Very cute. Then, we had a end-of-year party in the classroom. Jonathan pulled out a tooth (#6?). Teacher made a PPT of all the kids; a mom made a PPT of each kid with a quote to Teacher (a lot like the book I made for KinderGan). So sweet, and I'm really glad she did it b/c I sure haven't had any extra time in my days. made her cry. Teacher got bad (health) news from family and left the class very upset, so we ended up hanging around a little longer than anticipated. Sounds like she'll be back tomorrow, though. J had a friend come home with him b/c Mom also got very sick. Dad took us to the frozen yogurt store as a (completely unnecessary) 'thank you.' And, I worked in between all this. I fell asleep on the couch just before dinnertime. What a day, I say!

2014_05_19 Monday

Happy Birthday to Opa!!!

From Elise's school:
We had a fun but cloudy popsicle picnic today.  Thank you X for the delicious treat!  Elise brought a goody bag with a joke for each treat.  She thinks the smarties that are like smarty kids are the funniest.  We discussed ways to keep ourselves safe and X warned that "if you crack your head, all your stuff will break".  X and X did a great job counting in Chinese using the beads. X showed X and X how to play our timed sorting game from Friday. They all practiced and practiced until their times got shorter and shorter.  X broke the minute mark!  X had kind words for his friends all day.  He said to X, "You are beautiful and so sparkly today". 

2014_05_18 Sunday

I rarely brag about myself, but today I think I deserve it. I made both kids' teachers a belated teacher appreciation (or maybe an early end or year) gift. It's mostly food things like:
a box of tea: You are TEA-riffic
a gift card to Starbucks: Thanks a LATTE!
donughts: You DONUGHT know how much we appreciate you!
a plastic egg: You are EGG-zactly what we want in a teacher
mints: I MINT to tell you that in person.
Starburst: You are the STAR of the school
animal crackers: While it may feel like a circus sometimes, you are the best ring master.
nail polish: (on a hand print) You are HANDS DOWN the best teacher.
soda: You are SODA-riffic!
orange tic tacs: ORANGE to sad that the year is almost over?
cookie: You have made me one smart COOKIE.
pencils: Pencils are #2 because you are #1!
 there were a couple more but I can't remember them now. Pinterest is amazing for that stuff.

oh yes, I am a rockstar parent this year, albeit it a little later than I had really intended.

So, Dave's been away this weekend for his boys' 40th b'day trip to Colorado. Sounds like they had a great time rafting, ziplining, and doing other manly things. He missed his plane tonight (killed too many brain cells??), though, so he'll be in in the AM.

I took the kids to IKEA today for a bit of time in their playspace and then a late lunch and, of course, a soft serve cone. We got new nightlights for both (Jonathan's had died, and E is still using an infant monitor), and they seem happy with them.

2014_05_16 Friday

From Elise's school:
Today was perfect.  We went directly from listening to our visitor, the dentist, tell us how to take care of our teeth to chowing down on lots of sprinkly cookies that X brought for his birthday.  We all discussed going to the dentist and other people who keep us healthy and safe.  Elise said, "My dentist is a girl [not true!].  She said that I have to brush my teeth 'cause I'm a big girl now.  I take care of my own teeth but if I make bad decisions she will help me."  X gave us good dental tips saying, "You have to brush and floss all of your teeth once at the morning and once at the night.' X is glad that the policeman keeps him safe by "keeping all the bad guys away and locking them up with handy cuffs."  X is healthy because his doctor "checks out" his "hands and ears". X should be on our list of people who help us.  More than once she came to the rescue today when a friend was having trouble lifting or carrying something.  We played a great game with the sorting bears at circle time. Everyone had a turn to get timed by the stopwatch.  X (1 min 37 sec) and X(1 min 33sec) had some impressive times, but Elise took the championship with 1 min 6 sec.  I want to thank everyone once again for a wonderful and touching teacher appreciation week.  It's always fun to get treats but when they are delivered with so much love and excitement that's a double gift.  Thank you.

I also got to watch Elise's tumbling class today. Oh what fun. There are only four girls in the class, so they get lots of one-on-one attention, but they sure can get wild (or maybe that was just for our benefit). Elise did a double forward roll and a bridge facing up and then down so that the other girls could crawl under. She was also an awesome log-roller. Then it sort of all fell apart with the crazies. I can see why she sleeps so well after tumbling, though!

2014_05_13 Tuesday

From Elise's school:
We discussed our neighborhoods and compared them to all different kinds of neighborhoods. X told us about going to visit someone who lived in an apartment.  He had to ride an elevator to their floor.  For art we made some city skylines and X counted and glued 24 windows onto his buildings.  When we reviewed our street names in circle time, Elise even knew her house number.   In her tracing center, X learned about a new kind of line - zig zag.  X chimed in, "A zig zag is like a "W".  Exactly.  X became the first in our class to beat the clock in our shape matching "Perfection" game.  X brought lovely flower stickers and handed them out at circle time saying, "You get what you get, and you don't have a fit."  Words to live by.

And, on my news: I'm the new PTO Vice President for Jonathan's school!

2014_05_12 Monday

From Elise's school:
I got some great updates about Mother's Day.  X "put out pancakes" for his mom and X made cookies "with hearts and flowers on them".  Elise helped to demonstrate the new movement we added to our pageant song.  It goes with the part about the pig that oinks and it's pretty cute. We began talking about our neighborhoods today.  X and X were already able to tell us which streets they live on.  X and X worked hard finding all the letters they needed to put their names on their class books.  This was harder than it sounds - all the letters were in different fonts. X helped X find an "H" with a great description - "It's a line with another one beside it that looks just like it.  Then another one connects them." Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful surprises today.  The kids were so excited to deliver them. X presented her gift and said, "I colored in all the hearts because I love you."  Whats' better than that?

2014_05_09 Friday

From Elise's school:
Part of being a good friend is being a good listener.  We practiced good listening by playing "I Spy" and "Mother May I?'  X and X both stumped us with the items they chose for "I Spy". Elise was the champion of "Mother May I?", remembering to ask if she may even when I was being tricky.  X and X set the table for me and followed lots of directions about where things should go.  X brought a great book for us to read at circle time - "Flounder to the Rescue". X and X thought it was the funniest thing they ever heard when X misunderstood and said, "Flounder to the Restroom???"

2014_05_06 Tuesday

From Elise's school:
Today we talked about two of my favorite things, polite words and table manners. At lunch X told us to close our mouths when we're eating and drink without slurping.  X added that we should drink with no food in our mouths. I hope I'm not giving too much away by saying this, but X and X learned how to turn MOM upside down to make WOW!  X worked a looong time on another Mother's Day surprise.  Elise brought some cool "Z" items for circle time - a bee that says, "buzzzzz" and a Z bar.  

Dave and I had a really special treat: a work colleague hooked us up with free tickets to Lady Gaga's show. We were at eye level and Row L (so, 17 in from the front) to the side of the standing-room-only crowd. She was ridiculous. The audience was so flamboyant; I mean over. the. top. Her music was far more techno than I realized, but I totally enjoyed the songs that I knew from the radio. And, she sang and danced the entire show; quite the stamina, I think. We stuck around afterward for a bit to meet my colleague and to see how fast they deconstruct the stages. Very, very cool night out.

2014_05_05 Monday

From Elise's school:
We started production on all of our Mother's Day treats today.  I have nothing to report, as it is all top secret.  We continued to discuss being a good friend and focused on being a good friend at school.  Here's how we can be a good friend to our classmates:

- give them things they need

- give them presents when it's their birthday

- pick up things that they drop on the floor

- do whatever makes our friends happy

- help them clean up a mess

Here's how we can be a good friend to our teacher:

- clean up all the toys

- kiss her on the head

- do some art with her

ELISE - snuggle with her

2014_05_04 Sunday

Today we had Elise's 4th birthday party at a local bounce town!! We invited her whole class and then a few friends too. It was a really good choice, considering I just got back from EUR and really would not have had time to make it a real party AND the kitchen is not done.

2014_05_02 Friday

From Elise's school:

We added to our list of good friend traits today.  X is a good friend to his brother by giving him great ideas.  Elise added that it's kinda hard to be a good friend to your brother.  She said, "Sometimes I be mean to my brother.  I can be a good friend to him when he stops being bossy." We worked a lot on "X", "Y" and "W" again.  There are so many ways to make these letters - they're a big hit.  X made a cool "X" with blue tape.  X made a "Y" and an "X" with the sticky sticks.  In centers, X got way creative with the big magnets and made a movie camera.  In music, X helped everyone remember all the animals in our "Bought Me a Cat" song, AND she put them in order.  X brought some mint that he grew and let everyone smell and taste it.  X said, "It's really yummy.  It almost tastes like a leaf."  X had some great ideas for his Mother's Day card - but that's a secret!

And, I won a seat at Jonathan's PTO! I fear it will be more work than I expect, but I'm really excited to get to know more people in ATL and understand the school system better. I'll adjust my (paid) work load so I can balance it all.