All About Kindergarten

What happened to my little girl? She's adorable as ever, but she's a whole new person it seems! At first it was hard to not know every single detail of her day, and she didn't feel like sharing with me all the details that I wanted to know about: "what did you talk about?" "what story did Mrs. Nelson read?" "who did you play with at recess?" "what did you play" "what did you eat for lunch?"... I'm starting to just deal with it, but I was THRILLED when parents were able to come to an open house at the school in October. It was great to have her show us around and see all the fun things she has done this year!

Sitting at her desk, with her science journal

Showing Mom what she is learning

Showing my Nana the blue carpet, where they read stories and have learning time

The helper chart. Her favorite job is the line leader. She also likes wiping the tables after lunch

My Nana was also excited to see her school library (she was an elementary school librarian for many years)

Erin was excited about the huge Clifford dog sitting in the story corner at the school library!
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I am constantly amused by all the funny things that she has said since starting kindergarten. It's funny to recognize other influences in her life that didn't originate at home:

One night Elaina was imparting her wisdom and couldn't be challenged by parents who might be older, wiser, and a little more knowledgable. I sarcastically said to Mike, "Elaina knows everything because she's in kindergarten." Apparently this just reaffirmed what she already knew because whenever we disagree she insists "uh-huh! I know that because I'm in kindergarten!" Something in me tells me that she will continue to be smarter & wiser than us until she has children of her own. At least it was that way for me, I believe.

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We learned at parent-teacher conference that Elaina likes to be noticed when she walks into her classroom. Mrs Nelson told us that Elaina usually comes into the classroom after the bus-rush, and stands at the doorway until Mrs. Nelson acknowledges her and invites her in by saying "well hello Elaina, come on it." And then she enters. But until she is singled out and recognized personally, she will wait in the doorway and wait for the type of welcome that she wants. Some things never change with this girl - as long as people notice her, she is happy. She has a little bit of diva in her! :)

Elaina and Mrs. Nelson

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Elaina came home one day and announced,
"Hailey is my BBE."
Me: "Huh? Oh, do you mean BFF?"
"Oh, ya, BFF. Hailey is my BFF"
"What does BFF mean Elaina?"
She shrugs, "I dunno."

I've since learned that a best friend in kindergarten can be determined simply by who happens to have the exact same water bottle as you. Because a week later Becky was her BFF...because they have the same pink towel for rest time.

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She blares her music in her room, while dancing and singing along. The thing that has changed this year is that it's not Mickey Mouse or Wheels on the Bus anymore :( We've got teeny-bopper music coming from her room! Who is old enough to listen to that stuff??
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No wonder people talk about Texas pride! I used to laugh at BYU because the only people that would hang flags in their windows were the Canadians and the Texans. I am a proud Canadian, and seem to be raising a proud Texan :) And she's learning the meaning of Texas pride in kindergarten! She has been learning lots of songs about Texas (for all my Texan friends, I do think it's great, just amusing), but the other day she came home and asked,

"Mom, do you know what? Texas is the best place in the whole world. Do you want to know why?"

Um, yes, Elaina, I definitely want to know why you think this.

"Well, in other places kids can't go to school. And in some places girls can't go to school, and in some places boys can't go to school, but in Texas, everyone can go to school!"

Wow! I realize it was probably a huge misunderstanding on her part, so we had a big conversation to clear things up, and I unsuccessfully tried to explain that most places allow children to go to school, but that she can certainly be excited for the opportunity that she has to attend school.

She insisted that Texas is particularly unique in that ALL children have the opportunity to attend school, and other places are not like this.

I explained that I got a great education in Calgary, and Venezuela, and Daddy got a great education in California, and we both got a great education in Utah.

She still wasn't convinced. She insisted that this is one thing that is really special about Texas, and Texas alone. We still don't agree on the issue. I will, however, become particularly worried when she comes home in fourth grade insisting that Texas is part of the Confederacy, or even worse...that the USA won the War of 1812 against Canada/Britain. But even I don't want to open up that can of worms with my American friends & family, so forget I even said it!

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In Elaina's class she comes home with a folder each day which details her homework assignment. Her teacher also indicates how her behavior was that day by giving a happy face (good day), a straight face (ok behavior, with a few problems), or a sad face (a pretty bad day). Now it seems that behavior in the home is being measured (by the kids) with happy faces, straight faces, or sad faces. If Elaina is upset at Erin she says, "Erin! I'm mad that you ruined my picture. I'm going to draw you a sad face!" And so she finds a piece of paper, draws a sad face, and hands it to Erin. If I'm upset at her for something she'll draw me a straight face or a sad face so let me know that my behavior is unacceptable! This is intended to be the worst possible punishment. Erin is also catching on. Mike just told Erin to stop doing something, and so Erin went to get a piece of paper, drew a sad face and handed it to him as his punishment for disciplining her.

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Here she is on pajama day. It was pajama day because the letter of the week was P, and pajamas start with the letter P! A perfect opportunity to wear pajamas to school! :) I love the way kindergarten teachers think! She was so excited to wear her pajamas and bath robe to school!!
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A few days after kindergarten started, Elaina blessed the food at dinnertime. This was part of her prayer:

"Please bless me that I can get all the wrinkles out of my mat at rest time, and please bless the-girl-who-can-tie-shoelaces that she can stop talking during rest time and that she can whisper."

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She's doing really well in kindergarten and we couldn't be happier for her. She loves the social interaction with friends everyday, she loves to tell us all about the things she is learning, and she loves all the activities she is participating in. She wasn't really into arts and crafts before kindergarten, but now she loves it, and she comes home and draws pictures all day, and also brings home lots of great artwork.

Showing off her fireman (notice how pink he is?)
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She often returns to school with cards and pictures for her friends and teacher. She loves to write Mrs. Nelson notes. Last night she realized that she left a gift bag at school (a gift she was bringing home for her family). She determined that she would talk to Mrs. Nelson about it in the morning. This morning I found a card in her backpack:

The front was addressed: "To Mrs. Nelson"
The inside read: "I lost mi gif bag. from Elaina"
Oh, I love how she solves her own problems. Apparently a discussion was not enough, and she needed to write a note to explain the situation in detail.

She is also loving to read. She recently entered a challenge at school to read 250 pages in three weeks. If she completed the challenge, she won 2 tickets to an A&M basketball game in January. We are really excited for that, and love that she is excited about reading and books!

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She of course loves music time (she has always loved to sing!). Here she is with Mrs. Simpson, her music teacher:

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Mrs. Nelson said Elaina spends all of her center time either in art or the home center (I think my Kindergarten teacher also once asked my Mom how she could pull me away from the craft center, and home center...oh, we are so alike!... although my crafty skills seemed to have stayed back in kindergarten, and apparently my homemaking skills too, if you were to see the state of my house right now).
I love that she is enjoying kindergarten so much. I am really glad, however, that I get to have her home for 2 weeks over Christmas break. I love her so much and miss her when she's gone.

Silly Erinisms

Erin has an imaginary preschool in her mind. Note: she already attends a preschool group with a Mom's coop group that I am in, and she LOVES it! This is a different preschool that she also attends (in her imaginary world). She calls it her "new preschool." Randomly she'll describe to me something about this preschool. For example, we were waiting outside Mike's school building one day and she pointed to the building next door and explained, "Mom, that is my new preschool. It is next to Daddy's school. I have to go up the stairs to get to my new preschool."

She has pointed out the bus that will take her to her new preschool.

Today she announced that they have "JELLY BEANS!" at her new preschool. Oh, and princesses go to her new preschool...princesses like Cinderella and Jasmine and Ariel. It sounds exciting. I'm sure I'll continue to learn more about it.

Here she is on the first day of her "non-pretend" preschool
(fake smile and all...she was actually truly excited. Maybe the sun was in her eyes?)

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Erin loves to teach me how to say words properly. Recently the word of the day was spaghetti:
"Mom, say 'ba'
Now say 'ske'
Now say 'ti!
Yes, 'basketi! Great job!"

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Last summer we seemed to see frogs all over the place in the evening time. We see lots of them every summer, but they seemed to be double the size and more plentiful this year than in previous years. Because of this, we also saw lots of squished, dead frogs on the driveways and streets in our neighborhood (one day I ran over one, and found its blood and guts spewed out on my driveway. So gross!). Anyways, my kids were seeing all these dead frogs and were so sad for them. Ever since then, when I've reminded the kids to hold my hand on streets and in parking lots, Erin usually responds by saying, "ya, because we don't want to get run over and squished like the dead frogs!" She says it in the most matter-of-fact tone, but I wonder what kind of ghorry image she has in her mind? Elaina often thinks she's too big to hold my hand, so while I'm trying to get her to hold my hand, Erin will remind her, "Elaina you don't want to be like a dead frog!" So be safe out there, and look both ways before you cross the street...you don't want to find yourself shmushed and squished up like a dead frog!

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Mike gave the girls a bag of Peanut M&Ms to share. Apparently it's the first time they've ever had peanut M&Ms, because Erin exclaimed:

"Ah! Look! My M&M has a surprise in it! I found a peanut inside my M&M!!"

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Soon after Thanksgiving Erin and I were talking casually talking about Christmas, and I mentioned Jesus. She got really upset with me and exclaimed, "NO MOMMY!!! Jesus is NOT part of Christmas! Christmas has Santa Claus!" We actually got into an argument about it, but it's been a good opportunity to teach her this holiday season. We always try to teach the kids the real meaning of Christmas, and I can't really blame her since she remembers nothing of any other Christmas, but I've been trying extra hard this year to explain to her that Christmas is all about Jesus, and that Santa is just a fun thing on the side. She gets it now, thank goodness :)

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For the most part, I LOVE having the girls share a room. I love hearing them giggle together before they fall asleep, I love that they read together and tell each other stories at night, I love that they climb into each others beds and fall asleep cuddling. One thing that I do not love are nights when they are up way too late talking and getting out of bed. And when one person gets up, they both do. When one child needs drink, apparently they both need a drink. When one child hurts their finger, for some reason they both need to come and tell me about it. When one has to go potty, apparently the other is there for moral support.

One night was really bad - it was about 10pm and they were still finding reasons to get out of bed. I happened to be passing by their bedroom just as they both came walking out. I stopped Elaina and asked her why she's out of bed:

Elaina's response: "I have to go potty."
I can't argue with that.

I then stopped Erin (who was following big sis to the bathroom), and asked why she is out of bed.
Erin's matter-of-fact response: "Because Elaina has to go potty."
What?!?! What does this have to do with you? And then it clicked.

As I explained to Mike, "you know when you're on a double date and your wife has to go use the restroom. The other wife often says she will accompany her, and they go off together. Guys usually don't understand this need to use the ladies' room in groups. Well, it obviously starts when we are three years old."

And I finally understand why the girls need to get up with each other at night. Mike still doesn't get it.

This is a picture I took of the girls having a sleepover in their tent in the toyroom tonight. They watched the Polar Express, and ate popcorn. They LOVE having sleepovers together!

Soccer!

Erin did 6 weeks of pee-wee soccer this fall and loved it! I think it was the cutest thing in the world to watch. The first four weeks they learned basic soccer skills (dribbling, kicking, throwing, running), and the last two weeks were games.

Day 1: Learning to dribble

Day 1: Lying on the ground because it's exactly what Mom wants me not to do (and besides, Duncan is doing it, so why can't I?). We had lots of times where she decided she was done for the day and would rather roll on the grass or play with the goal net than play soccer. I'd threaten, "ok, fine, we'll just leave and not play soccer today" to which she would respond, "ok Mom, let's go." Grrr..I wasn't planning on actually following through with it! I hate it when that happens. Most of the time, though, she had a great time.

Game Days:

Game days were the best. The kids were so funny because they'd all run after the ball but not take it from anyone. At one of the breaks, I told Erin "hey, if someone in a brown shirt has the ball, you can take it from them and run the other direction with it!" And then I thought: "whoa, this goes against everything I've been trying to teach her for the past 3 years!" Still, nobody stole the ball from anyone - it just turned out to be 9 cheerleaders running behind the kid with the ball until they either scored a goal or kicked it out of bounds.

Here they are having a pep talk before the big game. Erin is listening so intently, can't you tell?

When it was Erin's turn to do the kick off...

...she kicked the ball without any opposition from the other team.....

...and dribbled it down the field with both teams trailing behind (because they were all so nice and didn't want to take the ball away from her)...


... and somehow made it to the goal post rather than out of bounds, and scored a goal!!! GO ERIN!!!!

(and here is where you can see that all the kids, on both teams, were kind enough to stay far behind so that she could have her moment!):

Erin and her friend Jonah:

WICKED (kids-free) Getaway

I just realized that I didn't blog about this, and want to (journaling purposes). Besides, a kids-free weekend getaway is always worth blogging about, even many months later :)

So last May I went with a group of girls to see Wicked in Dallas. Without kids. Woohoo!

We drove up Friday morning, and came home Saturday evening. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Dallas. Without kids!

(you'll probably recognize the hotel's tower if you've ever seen a picture of the Dallas skyline)

We went swimming at the hotel pool (without kids)...


we went out to eat (without kids!!)...


and we got to sleep in (because we had no kids!!). Unfortunately we couldn't sleep very late because we're Moms and our internal alarm clocks don't quit working...even when we're on vacation without kids :(

The highlight of course was seeing Wicked, which I had never seen before. It was fantastic!


It was great to get all dressed up (oh how I love a reason to get all dressed up!), and spend the weekend with good friends.
I love these girls!

Melisa

Sara

Darlene

While we were away our husbands decided to get together and have a playdate with the kids. It didn't take the Dads long to realize that parenting is much more fun when you've got company, so they ended up spending most of the time together as well: a play date Friday, a bbq together that afternoon/evening, and swimming and more playing the next day (all day). Ironically, between the 4 families, we have 9 daughters (and no sons). They all had a blast together! Well, the kids did. I still wonder how these Dads survived with 9 girly girls all in one room. Lots of drama that the Dads couldn't relate to, I imagine. I only wish they had thought to take a picture...but then again, we took all the cameras with us to Dallas!

I'm grateful that Mike and the rest of our husbands stayed with the kids and made the weekend possible for us. They even seemed to have a good time. I know the kids did at least: when I arrived at Darlene's house (they were still in the middle of their 2-day playdate) to pick them up, I was so excited to see them. They were not equally excited to see me. Both girls whined and said, "NO Mom! Go back. We're still playing." Welcome home to me. :)