Green for Birdie

While Birdie LOVES school and is learning so much, she still struggles behaviorally with the discipline in class.  Her teacher is a very strict disciplinarian who expects a lot from her Kindergators.  Birdie stays on "Green", at the top of the behavior color chart, most days, but rarely can make it through a whole week without a "warning" or a move down the chart to "yellow."  Since Christmas break, we've been a bit shocked for Birdie to receive the first "Red" marks of the family and quite a few of them in a short period of time.  For the most part, her disciplinary troubles have been minor - difficulty following directions and getting a little excited at times.

Despite her difficulty, we've been pleased with her progress through out the year. With the strict discipline, Birdie's teacher is lovingly preparing them for a successful future in school.  It worked for Ashley in this class and we don't doubt it will work equally well for Ms. Birdie Boo.

In March, things started to turn around for our little trouble-maker.  We noticed she made it through a week on all "Green," and then another week!  By Spring Break, Birdie's behavior calendar had only smiley faces (which means "Green").  After Spring Break, we challenged her to stay on "Green" for the whole month. Day by day she inched closer to the goal.

At the end of the month, Birdie's chart looked like this!!

Yay Birdie!!!!!  Great job!!!

She earned herself quite a treat and was able to take pride in the fact she could follow the classroom rules when she tried really hard.  

100th Day of School

My baby just finished her 100th day of Kindergarten!  Can you believe it?  Laurie absolutely LOVES school and is just thriving as a kinderGator. She can't wait to do homework every night and tell us ALL that she learned during the day.  We still deal with behavior issues at least once a week, (she ranges between "Warnings" all the way up to "Red Notes,") but I am confident she will eventually settle into the rules of kindergarten. Before the end of the school year would be nice.

Laurie on the 100th Day of School

The KinderGators had a great time Monday, making necklaces, hats and trail mix signifying the 100th day of school.  Laurie was thrilled.  Daniel & Ashley were a little sad it wasn't a big deal for them any more in the 2nd and 4th grades, but they had their turn.  For now, Laurie got the spotlight - and all the fruit loops she could fit on that necklace!

Fall 2011 School Pictures

It is school picture time again!

 Ashley is now in 4th grade and just shy of 10 years old.  She devours books, is interested in horses and art, and has an affinity for math & science.  She wears a size 7 women's shoe and is almost 5 feet tall!  And she tells everyone she meets, EVERYONE, that she has a hamster - Isabella Fluffball Jones.  She is taking dance again, this time enjoying "funky jazz," a cross between traditional jazz and hip hop.  On any given night, you can bet you'll find Ashley snuggled in her huge bed filled with stuffed animals reading a book late into the night. 

Daniel will be 8 in a couple of weeks and loves the 2nd grade.  Much of his time is spent playing iPad, making movies with his iMac, and playing soccer.  This is his first season playing Academy soccer with the same league and second year as a cub scout, on the track for Wolf.  He enjoys math, Legos, Star Wars and making people laugh. He is quick to smile his infectious smile no matter what he is doing. Daniel is always the first one out of bed, dressed and prepares his own breakfast (and usually Laurie's too.)  He absolutely loves his sisters and will do almost anything for them. A true helper.

Laurie started Kindergarten 2 weeks after her 5th birthday and loves every minute of it.  My "little" girl is not so little anymore and will do whatever she can to keep up with her siblings.  Not only will she talk your ear off, but will impress you with a vocabulary that doesn't belong to a typical 5 year old.  Laurie loves doing homework, reading books and telling jokes.  She joined her first dance class, enjoying ballet and tap once a week while wearing a lavender leotard with a huge tutu!  She is fiercely independent but will agree to anything if it is Daddy asking.   

Last Day of School!

Don't they look extremely happy school is out for Summer!

Budding Artist

Have I mentioned that Ashley is a budding artist?  At Christmas, Nana & Papa gave her lots of new art supplies and paint, which have kept her very busy.

Several years ago, I bought art canvases with the plan for my children to create their own art for our playroom walls. Needless to say, it was one of my many crafty ideas that never actually happened.  I remembered these art canvases last week and gave one to Ashley.  She was soooo excited!  At first, she looked at the canvas to decide what to draw.  We looked through a few art books for inspiration and she finally settled on a picture of flowers.  

Immediately she set to work on a masterpiece.  We put it on Laurie's little art easel in front of the breakfast room windows (for the natural light) and she sat for hours painting.  At some point, she decided she was painting for her teacher as a Valentine's Day gift.  

We were very impressed with the completed painting.

It reads, "Your My Teacher" & her name

 Ashley took it to school on Valentine's Day for her teacher.  She loved it!  She told Ashley her painting will hang in the classroom because it is so bright, colorful, and cheerful.

The next day Ashley started on a new painting, something completely different.  It is in the style of a Jackson Pollock, only with brighter colors.  It is unfinished, so no pictures yet.

At the end of the month, Ashley and I have tickets to a special exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston with Karen and Emerson. A girls afternoon out. 

The exhibit is - Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from National Gallery of Art.  I am thrilled to show her more examples of my favorite period of art.  But I'm sure we will cruise through the galleries of some of Ashley's favorites also - Remington, Picasso and moderns, like Pollock.

Wacky Wednesday

It is Wacky Wednesday again at the preschool.  Some friends would say that Laurie dresses Wacky every day with bright conflicting patterns on her clothes, jackets and coats.  It goes against every fiber of my being to let her wear some of the combinations she comes up with to wear, but I'm trying to embrace her individuality.  

I'm beginning to think she is just a non-conformist rather than a crazy dresser because she wasn't too thrilled about getting to dress wacky today when everyone else does to.  She did resist a little at first.  Maybe she just was confused because I for once, was encouraging it rather than "discussing" her clothing choices before letting her out the door.

She did allow me to assist her in getting her dressed as wacky as possible.  First, we picked out her favorite leggings and skort and put them on together.  Then found two of her favorite shirts and put those on.  To top it off, she chose Halloween socks and a Christmas hair scrunchie.  Overall, this might be even wackier than last year! See for yourself.

Boy was she a happy camper wearing all these patterns together. 

As she walked out the door to school, I realized her leopard coat just threw it totally over the top.

Fall 2010 School Pictures

Ashley Lynn

3rd Grade

8 years old

Daniel Ryan

1st Grade

6 years old

Laurie Elizabeth

Preschool 4's

4 years old

We have a Green Friend

Laurie went back to preschool this morning as a Green Friend.  She was convinced she would be an Orange Friend since her friend's mommy is the teacher (and her last teacher was also a friend), but a few minutes with the Green Friends teacher was all she needed to get excited about Green.  She even said that Green is almost her new favorite color - that's big for this Yellow loving girl.

Ever since the big kids started back to school last week, she has been ready to get back to preschool.  This morning she knew exactly what she was going to wear - a Green dress!  And was ready to go about 30 minutes early.  She kept running to the window asking what was taking Aunt Leah so long to get here.

When I picked her up after school, she was exhausted but had a great time, loved the new playground at school and really liked her Green Friends teacher.

Laurie with her Green Friends teacher at Meet the Teacher last week.  Notice how fast Laurie adapted to a "Green" way of thinking.

A New School Year

The end of summer came upon us so very fast, but we were all about ready for school to begin again.  

Ashley is excited to be a 3rd grader (can you believe it?) and managed to get two of her good friends in her class once again.  She has already come home telling us she LOVES her new teacher.  

Daniel was excited to no longer be a kindergator, but a "big kid" in 1st grade. He only knows one boy in his class, but knowing my son, he will make lots of new friends very quickly

Daniel was insistent he did not want to be walked in on the first day, but Ashley wanted to have us go in with her.  The plan was that Brian would drop them off in the carpool lane, since they were no longer kindergartners.  After they left, I once again hosted several mom friends over for a little back to school celebration, and Laurie was happy to have playmates for the morning. I was extremely surprised when several of my friends told me they saw Brian at school that morning.  I thought they must have meant in carpool, but no, they saw him in the school.  When I picked the kids up (carpool took an HOUR that first day), Daniel explained that Daddy really wanted to walk them in, so Daniel let him.  So very sweet.  Brian got a big kick out of taking them in and meeting their teachers.  

The first day was great, though I wish I'd taken an "After" picture when they got home. Much different than this "Before" picture.  Day 2 after school was a little rougher as the exhaustion set in.  But the rest of the week went smoothly.  They love their new classes, teachers and friends.  We're off to a great school year.

Fun Day at MDS

Laurie had her first “Fun Day” at MDS this year.  This event celebrating the end of school for the preschool gets better and better every year.  The school sets up tons of activities, games, and fun stuff for the kids to do for hours.  

Laurie spent time playing in the sand, getting her hair painted, playing baseball, painting a box, getting a tattoo, playing bean bag toss, badminton and too many other things to mention.  

She and Alex ran around together for a little while but soon found their other friends to hang out with.  As a parent, I love the opportunity to accompany my daughter for a little while and then to work at “Fun Day”. 

Laurie will miss being an Aqua Friend, her teacher and classmates.  But what a wonderful way to end the year!

Laurie and her Aqua Friends teacher, Mrs. Thiem

2nd Grade Field Trip

Ashley's 2nd grade took a field trip this year to the Houston Arboretum in Memorial Park.  I will admit to not know this park existed before our trip, but we loved it.  I was amazed at what a great job they've done preserving this piece of wilderness in the middle of Houston.  The volunteers were all very knowledgeable and helpful with the children.  Ashley and I plan to return with Daniel & Laurie this Summer and bring friends.

During the nature walk, we encountered many things...

Poison Ivy

Many many snakes, turtles and even an owl.

The big surprise of the day had to be...

the poisonous Coral Snake up against the building.

The volunteers kept all us humans at bay to protect the snake.  It did unnerve several of the adults considering this was where we would be sitting to eat in an hour or so. 

This was a great field trip, probably one of my favorites.  We learned lots of new things and discovered a new place to frequent.  

It is always interesting to see your child interact with their friends and teachers. I don't know why, but I'm always a little surprised to see how independent she is even with her peers.   And, after watching Ashley's teacher with the 7 girls and 13 boys in her class - I have a new respect for her.  She was amazing with them.  No wonder Ashley loves her so much.   

Aqua Friends Open House

Last week, Birdie had her Preschool Open House event.  She, along with all the "3's" preschool classes, performed two songs for the church full of family and friends.  In the videos, she is on the top right in the back wearing pink with a pink bow in her hair.  Her cousin Alex is on the front row on the left wearing brown pants.

Laurie and her friend Brooke

Birdie has had a great year as an "Aqua Friend" at her preschool.  She has learned so many new things and really blossomed.  It's hard to think of her as a "little" girl any more.  We've been blessed with a great teacher who is also a good friend.  She has worked really well with Laurie, encouraging her to do things on her own and helping her pursue lots of new fun.  Laurie has loved being an Aqua Friend.

KinderGators at the Zoo

Daniel had his first school field trip to the Houston Zoo.  In addition to his first field trip, it was also his first time on a big yellow school bus! 

Another mom and I were chaperones of 5 BOYS!  With 5 boys, our group was in constant motion, only stopping long enough at each animal for conversations about animal poop and to check the map.  Speaking of the map, Daniel was so excited to finally use the Houston Zoo iPhone app I had downloaded on my phone a few weeks ago.  With videos, animal information and an integrated map, he loved using it.

We could not have asked for better weather for a day at the zoo.  They were great kids, but wow, what energy! It was a long, fun day. 

They love school

The kids have been coming home with lots and lots of artwork and projects. 

Daniel's self portrait for Go Texan Day

Ashley's map with key US Landmarks.  

Birdie's handprint Valentine

Daniel's story about Spring.  It reads, "I like Spring because it is fun."

Ashley's letter to welcome us to Open House.

It reads, "Thank you for coming to open house tonight.  I hope you like my quilt story and my can character.  The best thing I love about school is guided reading.  I love school.  I hope you love open house.  Love, (As much as I love dogs and horses) Ashley"

Turkey Project

Daniel had a take home kindergarten art project due this week.  We forgot about it till it was due, so he actually did the project on the day it was supposed to turn it in.  Oops!   They are given an outline of a turkey on a sheet of paper and told to decorate it using anything they want.

I've noticed that Daniel shys away from most creative projects, simply wanting to copy something else rather than create one on his own.  Huh, that sounds like someone else I know.  **cough** Me.

I got out things for him to glue and use, but the moment I started directing him, he stopped me and took over.  And it turned out GREAT! 

What do you think??

The feathers are dried pasta, buttons on the front, string bow tie, and googly eyes.  Rather than paint or color the turkey, he cut out and glued colored paper on each section, then re-drew the lines over the paper.  

He has one proud Mommy today and one Wonderful looking Turkey!

Fall 2009 Preschool Picture

Laurie 

Preschool Picture
Fall 2009

Fall 2009 School Pictures

Ashley and Daniel got their report cards and school pictures this week. 

This year, Ashley receives numerical/letter grades for the first time.  We were very proud of her as she received all "A's" this first 9 weeks.  Ashley was a little disappointed because she received two grades of "93", which precluded her from getting the straight A+'s she was working towards. We cheered her up by reading some of the glowing comments from her teacher.

Daniel is on the E, S, N and U grading system and received all "S" with an "Exceptional" grade in one area.  I'm not sure it really mattered to him one way or another.  His teacher had some glowing comments for him also, but with the caveat that his social life might be getting in the way of his becoming an excellent student.  I laughed at that comment because it doesn't surprise me at all.  He is quite the social bee of his KinderGator friends.

What a great way to start the school year. 

First Day of Preschool

Laurie started Preschool last week! In stark contrast to last year, there was no crying or stress. She was ready and excited to go to school. As an extra plus, 6 of the 12 kids in her class were in her class last year, and she already knew her teacher.

We learned at "Forms Day" before school started, that Laurie is an Aqua Friend. All the classes have color names and I was a little concerned that my young 3 yr old got the "strange" color, but it didn't take her long to learn it. In fact, she wore her pretty Aqua dress to "Meet the Teacher" day.

Several new things for her this year include "signing in" every day when she arrives to class. This is a picture of her new teacher showing her how to put her aqua sticker on the attendance poster. Birdie also discovered that the first activity of the day is cutting with scissors. Wow, that was a huge hit! Laurie loves all the painting, coloring, playing outside, dress up and so many more neat things she gets to do while at preschool. During her first week, she even got to be the Line Leader. This is a big honor in the class.

Due to her August birthday, our little girl started in the 3's class with kids that are already turning 4 this month and are much bigger. Don't worry about her though, she's used to asserting herself against bigger kids - her older brother and sister! She thinks she is finally in with the "big kids".

One of the things Laurie LOVES about the new school year is that we are carpooling to school with her cousin, Alex. He is in a different class at the preschool, but they see each other on the playground and in the car. The two of them are so very cute together. I know Leah and I say that all the time, but it really is true. They are just the best friends, even when they're arguing about something trivial, which happens so often. This is a picture of them waiting in the car to get out in the carpool line one morning the first week of school.

Now that Daniel is in Elementary school and no longer on our drive to the preschool, Laurie and I have continued Daniel's counting of the school buses. On the 2nd day of school, Laurie, Alex and I counted 74 buses, almost beating Daniel's all time high of 84.

Back to School

It's the Fall!

This year, we had two headed off to Elementary School. Daniel is absolutely thrilled to be a Kindergator at our local elementary school. Monday, he got up early, walked into class and gave us a big huge wave goodbye. Despite the kindergarten teachers recommending the new students bring their lunch for a few weeks, Daniel was just as antsy as Ashley was her first day, to buy his lunch at school. Lucky for him, the first day was one of his favorites, Pizza!

After school, he was so excited, telling me all about his day before we even pulled out of the carpool line. The second day went just as well as the first. Getting up super early without an alarm clock. I think he is going to love going to school this year. His only hesitation is the idea that Laurie and I are doing things and having fun without him while he is at school. I'm sure that will pass soon.

Ashley also woke up early on her own for her 1st and 2nd day of school, which never happens. She is very proud to be in the 2nd grade and have a real desk in her classroom. Her teacher seems very nice, friendly and excited to be back teaching this new group of students. This year, one of her good friends from 1st grade is assigned to the desk next to hers. What luck! Today, she came home telling me all about the new science lab, the rules and what experiments they will be performing. We have no doubt Ashley will thrive in second grade and continue to love learning.

The only tears we had going back to school Monday weren't mine, Brian's, Ashley or Daniel's, they belonged to Birdie. As we were all going out the door to take the big kids to school, Birdie ran into the kitchen and grabbed her school backpack. After we dropped them off, she started telling Daddy and I that she was going to school too. Then, when she noticed we were headed back to the house, the tears began to fall. She sat in her car seat crying, "I want to go to My school!" Well, her preschool doesn't start until next week.

Soon after we got home, the tears stopped as she realized she was having a big playdate. I had invited several Mom friends (and the younger siblings) over for a "Back to School" celebration at our house. Laurie had 4 friends over to play, while the moms sat downstairs talking and eating for hours. After they left, she and I met up with friends at McDonald's for a playing lunch. It was a good day for her and I too.

We are preparing for a busy but exciting and fun year! I have done the unthinkable and have volunteered to be the room mom for not only Laurie's preschool class, but also Daniel's kindergarten class. Wow. Am I crazy? I just wanted to make sure he has a great start to school, and this is a great way to help out. Thankfully, we have a week to adjust to school again before Laurie goes back and our extra-curricular activities get into full swing - Dance, Soccer, CCE (Sunday School), Swim and a Hip Hop class for me. Its going to be a good year.

Meet the Teachers

Wednesday was "Meet the Teacher" day at the Elementary school for Ashley & Daniel.

We were pleased to hear that Daniel had gotten a teacher we knew as an assistant when Ashley was in Kindergarten. When we met her, Daniel just loved beamed and smiled his big smile. At our school, the kids go into the classroom with their kindergarten teacher while the parents go across the hall for our kindergarten orientation. When I came back into the classroom to get him after almost an hour, he told me I wasn't gone long enough and that he wanted to stay. And he had little tears in his eyes. It was so sweet. Course, when he heard me tell another parent later about it, he vehemently denied the tears part. Such a boy.

For 2nd grade, we hadn't heard much about any of the teachers, so we were excited to meet Ashley's teacher. I think Ashley really liked her, but it was hard to tell, because she was acting so shy. Who would have thought my eldest would act shy around adults, but it has happened. While her teacher was talking to her, Ashley couldn't seem to look her teacher in the face. It was strange to watch for me. The rest of the day she kept talking about wanting to start school now and not waiting till next Monday, so I think she liked her teacher.

While at the school, we spent lots of time going around to Ashley's previous teachers saying hi and giving hugs. It is sad to me in a way that my kids don't get the same teachers, but it does give us the chance to experience so many different and wonderful teachers in our school.

They are excited and can't wait for school to start next week. Slowly, I am coming around, getting used to the idea of them being away at school during the day again. As of right now, I'm not quite ready, but I probably will by Monday.