BFF's

Little Sissy and Lydia. I think this could be a friendship that will last a lifetime.

First Cycle Break

I hated that my kids started school in July, when everyone else was still going to the pool and enjoying their days of leisure. But here is where the reward comes in. We've already had a week of our first cycle break. I'm pretty sure Big Sissy is ready to go back to school now, but we've enjoyed having her home--and we get her for 2 more weeks! I haven't done a very good job of planning, so we've literally been to the park every day this week--except for the day we tried to go to Grant's Farm and found out after we got there that they're not open every day this time of year.

The end of the first quarter meant our first round of parent/teacher conferences. Big Sissy's conference went pretty much as expected. Her teacher said she is sweet and smart and very quiet. Next quarter she will start the firecrackers program, which is an enrichment program, and get hooked up with a reading group. I think we both agreed that trying to put her in 1st grade now isn't a good idea. She's just starting to settle in to her class, and I think the social aspects of Kindergarten have been exhausting for her. I'm glad now that she can skate a little in the area of academics while she gets used to everything else.

One thing that was soooo uncomfortable was that I had to have a conference with the art teacher. Big Sissy has been getting stomachaches every art day, and she writes me heart wrenching notes on those days like, "I'm really coming close to not liking school at all. Not at all." She asked if she could be homeschooled just on art days. After days and days of probing, I finally gathered that she feels flooded--the teacher is loud, she feels rushed, and both of those things stress her out. I had NO idea what to say, so I just went in saying that she came home upset on those days and wondered if the teacher could help me figure out what was going on. She came up with all the things that I thought were the case, and I'm hoping that the awareness of the personality differences will help that go smoother.

Little Sissy's conference was next. Her teacher said that she is funny and comfortable and she has no worries. She went through the checklist of what she is able to do and not do, and every time I started to get worried she would finish with, "but that's a 6-year-old skill." I don't know why she told me all the 6-year-old skills that she can't do, but at least I have a heads up for what's coming...you know, in 2 years. I have to confess that since I decided to enroll the girls in school I haven't done hardly ANY homeschooling. And since poor Little Sissy is a 2nd child, I had no idea that she has learned to write her name. So imagine my surprise when I asked her to do it and she showed me this:

She's even drawing people so much better than the last time I actually paid attention to her artwork. I love that her stick person has great hair and shoes. Who needs a torso when you have great hair and shoes? I feel bad that I haven't been great at keeping up, but I will say that I LOVE this preschool and her teachers. Good job, everyone!!!

Day on the Farm

It's that time again...apple picking at Eckert's Farm! We never want to overdo it, so we end up not getting enough and having to go back again. I suppose now we'll wait until we can get pumpkins too. Here are the little apples of my eye...with the sun in theirs.

This picture makes me laugh. Little Sissy so rarely gets to pick what she wants to do AND get to do it by herself. She was just so chilled out and relaxed waiting for the swing ride to begin.

Big Sissy, on the other hand, is an adrenaline junkie. She had to choose the ride she was barely tall enough to ride.

I always say that Little Sissy and Little Buddy have the same face. They're just the girl version and the boy version. I think you'll see that here.

Big Sissy on the John Deere...tricycle.

Three little monkeys on the swing.

For all those who ask me how tall my kids are...it looks like about 3, 3 1/2, and 4 feet.

See you again at pumpkin time on the farm!

Pajama Party!

I figured I should hurry and post about Little Sissy's party before my next child has a birthday. She decided that she wanted a pajama party. Since I am nowhere near brave enough to have multiple children actually spend the night with us yet, we had an afternoon pajama party after church. The kids brought pajamas, a pillow, and their favorite stuffed animal. We had a dance party that included such hits as "Dance With Your Teddy Bear" and "Popcorn."

After a "breakfast" of biscuits and gravy (Thanks, Mom!!!), breakfast sandwiches, french toast sticks, and fruit; we had sleeping bag races. Sorry for the blurry pictures. They were just so fast!

Then came "Pin the Button on the Pajamas."

All the ruckus (and the fact that it was naptime) prompted the children to spontaneously go lie down on their blankets.

I felt a little bad waking them back up, but they needed to sample the cutest cake ever before the parents came to pick them up.

Happy birthday to my sweet girl!

Dirty Words

If I were really mature, these things would not still make me laugh. But then I would have nothing to post about. And I'm not really that mature, so I'll share.

Two things happened today that made me laugh. I'm kind of a words nerd, so I might notice things that others don't notice. But these things anyone would notice. First I was reading Little Buddy a library book. It was Bob the Builder, and it was a story about Muck's Muddy Day. Little Buddy has some speech issues. It started as a delay. Now he has an appropriate number of words; he just lacks the articulation skills necessary for all people to understand him all of the time. For example, he still calls his milk "duck." We've gone over this a million times, with my saying "M-m-m-m-MILK" and his laughing and saying, "Mama mama mama mama DUCK!" I know he can say the "m" sound (he says mommy just fine). Sometimes he just chooses to randomly replace sounds with other sounds. M is one of those interchangeable sounds, especially when it begins a word. So today, reading about Muck. he chose the "f" sound to interchange with the "m." So every time we turned the page and saw Muck, he would get really excited and yell, "MUCK!" except with the "f" sound. I'm pretty sure that library book is getting returned tomorrow.

Then Big Sissy got home from school. She and Little Sissy were playing together in the front yard, but she kept being mean for some reason. I got frustrated and said something like, "That's not acceptable behavior, Little Missy." Well, Little Sissy jumped on the bandwagon then and kept calling her "Little Missy" and "Little Sissy." She got super mad (as she often does, unfortunately) and yelled, "I am NOT little. YOU are the little weenie sister."
Shocked, I made her come and sit by me on the porch.
"Weenie is not a nice word to call someone, " I said.
"Why?" She asked, clearly confused. "It must means very small, you know like teeny weeny."
"Oh. Now I see why you said that. Why didn't you just say teeny? Well, it's just not nice."

I guess I can't blame public school for everything. :)

Meet the Parents

Just in case you've ever wondered why I'm so goofy, all I can say is...don't blame me. It's genetic. Introducing...my parents.

Little Sissy's 4!

Little Sissy turned 4 this week. She's been so excited for so long. It's a little confusing for her because she turned 4 on Thursday but didn't have her actual party until Sunday. A couple of days before we had eaten vegetable soup for supper. She didn't want to eat it, so Hubby and I kept going on and on about how yummy it was, trying to persuade her. When I told her she could pick whatever she wanted for her birthday dinner, she decided that the kids could eat hot dogs and macaroni and the grown-ups could eat that leftover vegetable soup we liked so much. She made it easy for me to fulfill her birthday wishes. So after our gourmet birthday dinner, we went to DQ for treats and present time.

A princess Barbie AND a prince!

Talking to one of her aunts, who called to wish her happy birthday.

I can play music all by myself! YESSSSS!!!!!

First Cardinals Game

For the last few years we've gone to a Cardinals game with our church as a group event. Last year we got enough tickets for the family but then decided they weren't really old enough to stay out late. We got a babysitter instead and took our friends. It was a great double date, but this year we decided to make the plunge and take everyone. It was a perfect, cool night. I brought blankets in case we got chilly, which proved to be helpful when Little Buddy started getting tired. Between my Mommy bag and all the people around us, the children had approximately 27 snacks. Then there were fireworks afterwards. I'm pretty sure they've never stayed up that late, but they did great--except for all the walking from the van to the stadium and back. I refused to take a stroller. The unanimous vote is: "We love Cardinals games--especially the snacks!!!"