Friday, September 28, 2012

This morning

Watching "I Stink" together ... Avery's new favorite movie. =)

Friday, September 21, 2012

Random thoughts by Avery

Yesterday we were playing airplane and Avery said to Kai, "Kai, we are about to land. Where do you want our home to be? Florida or Idaho?" Um, Idaho? Kai wisely chose Florida, but I am still cracking up about Idaho as a choice.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Garteners

On Friday, Audrey's school had an assembly and all of the classes did a short performance. As Audrey was telling me about it, she said, "First, the 5th-garteners went, then the 4th-garteners, then the 3rd-garteners, then the 2nd-garteners, then the 1st-garteners, then the kindergarteners!"

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Kindergarten Update

Audrey has finished 3 days of kindergarten and, by most of her accounts, is having a good time. She still says each night that she's not going back the next day, but all stories between the time we pick her up and bedtime are full of, "...and Mommy, do you know what else, ...."

She starts her day in English, then moves to Spanish, and then has her specials in the afternoon. Music, Library and PE are in English and Art and Science are in Spanish. On Tuesday, she followed directions well in art class and got to be the line leader to leave class, so she was happy about that.

I have asked her many questions about lunch. Today, she told me the cutest thing:

Audrey: Well, you know, I sit in the same seat at lunch every day and it's the perfect seat for me. It's on the corner of the table and no one else ever takes that seat so I sit there. The wall is painted black behind that seat.

Me: What makes it the perfect seat for you?

Audrey: Well, you know, it's on the corner. That means there's only one seat next to me. That way, in case a boy sits there, there's only room for one boy to sit next to me. If I sat somewhere else, maybe a boy would sit on both sides of me and, you know, boys might be crazy at the table, so this way only one boy can sit next to me.

Me: Did a boy sit next to you today?

Audrey: No, it was a girl. The same girl sat next to me every day. I guess that's the perfect seat for her.

Me: What do you talk about with her?

Audrey: We don't talk. We have to eat our lunch. We have a lot to eat and not much time. But we did go to the bathroom together in music today.

Me: Super. What's her name?

Audrey: I don't know.


While Audrey was getting the full interrogation after her first day on Tuesday from Iain and I, here is a little excerpt of what was going on with Kai and Avery.



Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Audrey's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Um, is anyone else as shocked as I am that Audrey is starting kindergarten today? Does it seem to anyone else that she was only recently born and learning to walk and talk? These 5 1/2 years have flown by, and we are so proud of her!

I was a blubbering mess last night as Iain and I were going to sleep, just wondering if we had prepared her well for this day, what should we have done differently, will she make friends, will she like school, will she remember to choose chocolate milk since she doesn't like regular milk, how am I going to manage every minute of her life if she's not with me every minute? You know, rational kinds of things like that. =)

Iain was fine until after we walked out of her classroom, where she happily put her backpack in her cubby, found her name at a table, and started coloring on the contruction paper shirt at her spot. She barely looked up to tell us good-bye. As a matter of fact, I don't think she ever said good-bye. She was completely happy and content (I know this because I've been managing every minute of her life for 5 1/2 years and I know her very well .... see above). Seeing her happy was such a relief and joy to us. Iain expressd his with tears all the way home. =)

Here are some pix of the big girl this morning. We took many more pix so if you'd like more let me know.






Sunday, September 2, 2012

Guess who knows how to ride a bicycle!

My dad died 13 years ago today. He was an amazing person and the best of the best in the dad category! Dad, I miss you! I wish you were here to see this ... you would love it! I can even hear your laughter and see your smile, as if you were standing on the street to watch it.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Santa Claus Has Skills and Other Things

Yesterday, we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and as the Grinch was going back up the chimney, Audrey asked me how Santa got back up the chimney. I told her that going down was the easy part, but getting back up must be more difficult. She said very matter-of-factly, "Santa has skills." =)

Separately, Audrey now knows how to tie her shoes. I am so proud of her! I intentionally bought her new school shoes with laces instead of velcro so that she would learn to tie. She hasn't actually worn the shoes yet (saving them for the first day of school), but she put them on last week to practice tying. We went through it about three times with me still pretty heavily involved in the process. Today, she put them on again and I tried to show her. She said, "No, no, Mommy, I can do it." And she did. Amazing!

On Monday, we went to Sesame Street in Pennsylvania. We stopped to see Iain's Aunt Siz on the way (the Grinch movie is courtesy of her; thanks, Aunt Siz! =) ). We had a great time, as always, and Kai would walk toward her and throw himself on her. He does this with us regularly but I've never seen him do it with anyone else. Very cute!

We had a great time at Sesame Place, but the rides were closed a couple of time due to crazy thunderstorms that would roll through and then disappear as quickly as they arrived. Here are a few pix.

Kai pushing the girls; he's very strong

Kai was happy until the horse started moving

We meet the Count!

The girls' favorite ride of the day

Kai's fave part of the day: the kids' pool

Leaving the park; it was a bit wet

From tonight, just before getting ready for bed