Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Vanessa's first pigtails
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Calvin's first day of preschool
He was in a good mood this morning, which always helps when doing something for the first time. It was a little chilly outside and raining, so he chose to wear a long sleeved shirt. He picked a Cars shirt that lights up, and found it really exciting that he had two things that lit up (his shoes light up). After taking Violet to school, we got Calvin ready for his first day of preschool at Orchard Hill Church Preschool, the same preschool where Violet went. I took some pictures of him by the door as I have taken of Violet year after year. He is almost the exact same height as her compared to the height she was when she started the 3-4 yr preschool class. Vanessa wanted in on the picture action, standing by the door and smiling like Calvin.
Dave was able to get away from work for 30 minutes to come with me. Calvin walked in with us (Vanessa in stroller) and he found his name and put his backpack on the hook. When we walked in the classroom, Miss Jesse greeted him with a big smile. He was pretty quiet, but responded to her with a smiling nod when she asked him if he brought along his happy smile. He was acting a little shy. He told Dave he wanted to say his Bible verse to the teacher. Dave encouraged him to do so, so Calvin walked right up to her and started reciting his verse. She looked a little confused but kept smiling. He said "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor giving preference to one another." and most of his speech was hard to understand, so she said excitedly, "really!?" to him. I think he was happy he did it. I bet she was a little confused. We took a couple pictures, gave kisses/hugs and said goodbye, and he walked further into the classroom, probably looking for the train set that he had been talking about for weeks since the open house. He didn't cry or get upset when we left, he just stayed pretty quiet and mellow, but still happy, so that is a good sign. I asked him if he wanted me to come in to pick him up, or drive up the van by the side door. He said "drive up the van."
He found his name by the right hook.
Miss Jesse, his teacher.
I will update when I go pick him up in about 20 minutes. I made him some chocolate chip cookies (with m&ms like he requested) as an after preschool treat to celebrate his first day! Having a cookie might be the only thing he remembers about the whole day, we'll see.
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Calvin's reactions:
I picked him up and he walked to the van with Miss Jesse with a big smile on his face, he was excited to see me. He buckled up on his own, his teacher said he had a great day! I pulled ahead to let him buckle up, then drove home. He said there was a kid there trying to put a hat on him but he didn't like it, and he said he asked them to stop over and over because he didn't like it. He said:
- Miss Jesse read a book to them about the first day of school
- snack was something black and peaches (I probably won't ever figure out what the black stuff was, who knows...) * Later he said the stuff was brown, I wonder if it was chocolate pudding?
- She sang a song but he didn't sing because he didn't like the song.
- He didn't play with the trainset but found other toys, something squishy.
- They played outside in the little park.
- Addison brought the snack, her name starts with the letter A and there is also a D in her name.
- He thought it "was his day but it wasn't." I couldn't figure out what this referred to until I realized he thought it was his day to bring the snack.
Dave was able to get away from work for 30 minutes to come with me. Calvin walked in with us (Vanessa in stroller) and he found his name and put his backpack on the hook. When we walked in the classroom, Miss Jesse greeted him with a big smile. He was pretty quiet, but responded to her with a smiling nod when she asked him if he brought along his happy smile. He was acting a little shy. He told Dave he wanted to say his Bible verse to the teacher. Dave encouraged him to do so, so Calvin walked right up to her and started reciting his verse. She looked a little confused but kept smiling. He said "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor giving preference to one another." and most of his speech was hard to understand, so she said excitedly, "really!?" to him. I think he was happy he did it. I bet she was a little confused. We took a couple pictures, gave kisses/hugs and said goodbye, and he walked further into the classroom, probably looking for the train set that he had been talking about for weeks since the open house. He didn't cry or get upset when we left, he just stayed pretty quiet and mellow, but still happy, so that is a good sign. I asked him if he wanted me to come in to pick him up, or drive up the van by the side door. He said "drive up the van."
I will update when I go pick him up in about 20 minutes. I made him some chocolate chip cookies (with m&ms like he requested) as an after preschool treat to celebrate his first day! Having a cookie might be the only thing he remembers about the whole day, we'll see.
****************************************************************
Calvin's reactions:
I picked him up and he walked to the van with Miss Jesse with a big smile on his face, he was excited to see me. He buckled up on his own, his teacher said he had a great day! I pulled ahead to let him buckle up, then drove home. He said there was a kid there trying to put a hat on him but he didn't like it, and he said he asked them to stop over and over because he didn't like it. He said:
- Miss Jesse read a book to them about the first day of school
- snack was something black and peaches (I probably won't ever figure out what the black stuff was, who knows...) * Later he said the stuff was brown, I wonder if it was chocolate pudding?
- She sang a song but he didn't sing because he didn't like the song.
- He didn't play with the trainset but found other toys, something squishy.
- They played outside in the little park.
- Addison brought the snack, her name starts with the letter A and there is also a D in her name.
- He thought it "was his day but it wasn't." I couldn't figure out what this referred to until I realized he thought it was his day to bring the snack.
Monday, August 29, 2011
We visited Grandma Rowena this past weekend
She invited us down to Albia for their town's Restoration Days Celebration. We went for the celebration two years ago (or was it 1 yr ago? I can not remember!). We drove down right after we picked Violet up from school at 3 pm, and arrived by 5:45. The two older kids slept in the car, I thought for sure Vanessa would fall asleep but she did not, instead, she sqwaked and squealed the whole time. Mama Row had a delicious dinner waiting. She made BBQ beef ribs, okra with tomatoes, corn on the cob (cut off the cob), cornbread, and peach cobbler with ice cream. There was more but I don't remember. It may come back to me. Vanessa terrorized the place, taking things from any available location and relocating them to any other available location. Ahh! She was a challenge but Mama Row was pretty calm about it all. Calvin broke an abacus, but Dave put it back together with a little glue and a rubber band.
Friday night we spent walking around the square. I just can not believe she is 85 years old. She doesn't seem to have changed at all since I remember her from when I was a young child. She's still energetic, healthy, and very physically able. She told me she's had all her numbers checked and all are normal. We stopped to look inside the windows of all the stores, she pointed out all the puppets in the store where she got Violet's llama and Calvin's dragon puppets. People on the square were setting up their tents and things getting ready for the next day's celebration.
The kids played card games with Mama Row (crazy 8s, Go Fish) and all got in bed shortly after the walk around the block. Vanessa slept in Grandma's room with Dave and I, she slept in the small bedroom with one twin bed, and V and C shared the room with two twins. It took awhile to get the kids calmed down, they were so excited to be there. Grandma's elevator is the main attraction. Once they finally settled, we tried helping her with some ipad/e-book issues but couldn't resolve them. The sleeping arrangements worked out well.
The next morning the kids woke up bright and early thanks to the huge skylight window in their bedroom. Grandma got them dressed and took them outside to the town square to have some pancakes and sausage that the Albia Lion's Club served up in celebration of 90 years of existence. We woke up later and found a note in the kitchen explaining where they went. We got ready quickly and joined them for breakfast but they were done eating and walking around. Dave and I ate, gave Vanessa some breakfast too but she didn't want anything. We got ready for the parade at 10 am, going back to her place to clean up sticky hands, bring along water, and find a spot to set up our chairs on the corner to watch the parade. Vanessa sat in the stroller, V and C were on the curb, bolting up every chance they got to snag candy off the street. They both ate a lot of candy and I think it ruined their appetites for lunch. The parade was really neat too, lots of stuff...even a little demo from the Chicago Boyz acrobatic team on the street. Mom, I have a video clip to show you of their performance!
After the parade we went back to her place to use the bathrooms, drop off our candy, put Vanessa down for a nap, and take Violet and Calvin back to the square to watch the Chicago Boyz perform their acrobatics. Grandma stayed with Vanessa. The Chicago Boyz team did some cool jump roping tricks, bounced off the mini tramp and did flips over people.
Mama Row had prepared a macaroni and cheese casserole for lunch, so after the show we went back to her place to eat. She also served tomatoes and carrots. Calvin stuck a whole tomato in his mouth and ate it. It was really good but the kids did not eat much, probably too much candy. We tried to get them to lay down for a little bit and rest but they were not having it...they giggled and goofed around the whole time.
They had wanted to see "the jumping things" (big inflatable slides) so we took V and C there, Grandma stayed back with Vanessa. They jumped and bounced to their heart's content for a couple hours. They were absolutely filthy. I don't think I've ever seen them so dirty. They even climbed in a big "sand"box filled with field corn, so they were up to their heads and down to their toes covered in dirt and corn dust. We got them in the tub as soon as we got back from all the jumping. Dave and I sipped fresh cherry lemonade while we watched them jump. There were 6 inflatable things so they spent a lot of time on each one.
The bath didn't exactly turn out to be a bath - it was more like they took showers. The tub thing didn't stay up and keep the water plugged. I got soaked in the showering process...but they both came out sparkling clean. Mama Row had ingredients ready to start dinner, and got the kids immediately involved making supper. She had them spread out the pizza dough in the pan and sprinkle on the toppings (broccoli, green peppers, red onions, salami, sauce, and cheese). Despite my initial feelings about a pizza being good that had broccoli on it, the pizza came out very delicious, and we all enjoyed it. She also served a spinach salad with cranberries, feta cheese, walnuts and dijon dressing. Dave cut up a delicious watermelon.
We left around 7 pm after packing our stuff up.
Vanessa discovered where we kept the loot from the parade, and quickly discovered the taste of tootsie rolls.
This is as close as she got to smarties.
A fire truck blasted its siren, kids screamed and plugged their ears!
Vanessa warmed up to Mama Rowena finally, which she was just tickled about!
Making pizza
Friday night we spent walking around the square. I just can not believe she is 85 years old. She doesn't seem to have changed at all since I remember her from when I was a young child. She's still energetic, healthy, and very physically able. She told me she's had all her numbers checked and all are normal. We stopped to look inside the windows of all the stores, she pointed out all the puppets in the store where she got Violet's llama and Calvin's dragon puppets. People on the square were setting up their tents and things getting ready for the next day's celebration.
The kids played card games with Mama Row (crazy 8s, Go Fish) and all got in bed shortly after the walk around the block. Vanessa slept in Grandma's room with Dave and I, she slept in the small bedroom with one twin bed, and V and C shared the room with two twins. It took awhile to get the kids calmed down, they were so excited to be there. Grandma's elevator is the main attraction. Once they finally settled, we tried helping her with some ipad/e-book issues but couldn't resolve them. The sleeping arrangements worked out well.
The next morning the kids woke up bright and early thanks to the huge skylight window in their bedroom. Grandma got them dressed and took them outside to the town square to have some pancakes and sausage that the Albia Lion's Club served up in celebration of 90 years of existence. We woke up later and found a note in the kitchen explaining where they went. We got ready quickly and joined them for breakfast but they were done eating and walking around. Dave and I ate, gave Vanessa some breakfast too but she didn't want anything. We got ready for the parade at 10 am, going back to her place to clean up sticky hands, bring along water, and find a spot to set up our chairs on the corner to watch the parade. Vanessa sat in the stroller, V and C were on the curb, bolting up every chance they got to snag candy off the street. They both ate a lot of candy and I think it ruined their appetites for lunch. The parade was really neat too, lots of stuff...even a little demo from the Chicago Boyz acrobatic team on the street. Mom, I have a video clip to show you of their performance!
After the parade we went back to her place to use the bathrooms, drop off our candy, put Vanessa down for a nap, and take Violet and Calvin back to the square to watch the Chicago Boyz perform their acrobatics. Grandma stayed with Vanessa. The Chicago Boyz team did some cool jump roping tricks, bounced off the mini tramp and did flips over people.
Mama Row had prepared a macaroni and cheese casserole for lunch, so after the show we went back to her place to eat. She also served tomatoes and carrots. Calvin stuck a whole tomato in his mouth and ate it. It was really good but the kids did not eat much, probably too much candy. We tried to get them to lay down for a little bit and rest but they were not having it...they giggled and goofed around the whole time.
They had wanted to see "the jumping things" (big inflatable slides) so we took V and C there, Grandma stayed back with Vanessa. They jumped and bounced to their heart's content for a couple hours. They were absolutely filthy. I don't think I've ever seen them so dirty. They even climbed in a big "sand"box filled with field corn, so they were up to their heads and down to their toes covered in dirt and corn dust. We got them in the tub as soon as we got back from all the jumping. Dave and I sipped fresh cherry lemonade while we watched them jump. There were 6 inflatable things so they spent a lot of time on each one.
The bath didn't exactly turn out to be a bath - it was more like they took showers. The tub thing didn't stay up and keep the water plugged. I got soaked in the showering process...but they both came out sparkling clean. Mama Row had ingredients ready to start dinner, and got the kids immediately involved making supper. She had them spread out the pizza dough in the pan and sprinkle on the toppings (broccoli, green peppers, red onions, salami, sauce, and cheese). Despite my initial feelings about a pizza being good that had broccoli on it, the pizza came out very delicious, and we all enjoyed it. She also served a spinach salad with cranberries, feta cheese, walnuts and dijon dressing. Dave cut up a delicious watermelon.
We left around 7 pm after packing our stuff up.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Vanessa is turning into a little climber
I sat down for a short time today, and got up when I realized it had been way too quiet for too long - I wanted to see what Vanessa was doing. It did not take me long to find her, because she was sitting on TOP of the table in the kitchen eating area. My oh my...she had climbed on top of the little green trike's seat that was left near the tabe, then on top of a chair, then onto the table. She was happily pressing buttons of the phone handset that was left there. She probably wanted a bite of the yogurt on the table, and probably wanted her special blankie and baby you see on the table too. Yikes! The trike has been confined to the basement! She also can climb up the slide outside, and go down it herself. She's becoming a little independent girl!
And more pics, just because:
I brought up the bounce and spin zebra from storage and gave it to her, she loves it!
She scrunches up her nose and breathes in and out quickly, so goofy :)
I brought up the bounce and spin zebra from storage and gave it to her, she loves it!
happy girl!
This look is directed toward Calvin and says "don't you dare try take this toy away from me, I'm on it right now!"
She scrunches up her nose and breathes in and out quickly, so goofy :)
Calvin learned Violet's memory verse
So Violet was assigned a Bible verse to memorize by Friday. She got the sheet on Monday, and has worked on it all week. Calvin has picked up the verse just by us hearing it and memorized it quicker and better than Violet did. Don't tell HER that though, she'd be devastated. Today, Calvin recited it with out looking (well duh, he can't read, but I wrote it on the white board so she can read it). It is Romans 12:10, since "honor" is the theme of her week at kindergarten.
This video might need some translation because he doesn't pronounce things very well. It sounds more like this when he says it "Be kindwy affectonnate to one anoder wif broderwy wuv, in honor, giving preference to one anoder."
"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor, giving preference to one another."
I captured it on camera today.
This video might need some translation because he doesn't pronounce things very well. It sounds more like this when he says it "Be kindwy affectonnate to one anoder wif broderwy wuv, in honor, giving preference to one anoder."
"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor, giving preference to one another."
I captured it on camera today.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Vanessa in the morning
Trying out mobile blogger this morning. She knew V and C were playing outside and could barely eat breakfast, she was begging to go outside. I guess I will feed her out there instead.
She also is almost running and learned to walk on her toes. This blogger doesn't upload the nicest looking mobile phone pictures, I will stick to my regular camera.
Instead of making a new post, I'll update this one. one 8/25/2011, she saw Dave while I was buckling her in her car seat. She quickly said "hi dada!" So that marks her first string of two words together! She also likes to copy sounds and intonations. She growls when the other kids growl at her. :)
She also is almost running and learned to walk on her toes. This blogger doesn't upload the nicest looking mobile phone pictures, I will stick to my regular camera.
Instead of making a new post, I'll update this one. one 8/25/2011, she saw Dave while I was buckling her in her car seat. She quickly said "hi dada!" So that marks her first string of two words together! She also likes to copy sounds and intonations. She growls when the other kids growl at her. :)
Vanessa slept in til 10am
I am testing out my mobile blogging tool by taking a pic of Vanessa's crazy morning bedhead.
She also can say "hi!"
She also can say "hi!"
Friday, August 19, 2011
Thought this was worth blogging about - drive through difference
I was listening to the radio at some point in my driving around today and heard it was a day that Christians can do something special for others in the drive thru lanes by paying for the order of the car behind you. I also read about the idea online earlier in the day. So, I thought that would be something nice to do. I made a point to remember to drive through Starbucks on my way home from picking up Violet, so I did. I pulled up to the drive through window and there were a couple cars ahead of me. I was really, really hoping someone else would drive through the line behind me so I could pay for them...but nobody showed up.
I figured as long as I was sitting at the order window I'd get something simple and inexpensive, like an iced coffee. I pulled up to the window to pay for and pick up my drink, and the lady working in Starbucks said "Oh, the lady ahead of you paid for your drink." I was floored! Never once in my life had that ever happened to me! And the ONE day I sought out to do this for someone else, I ended up being the recipient. Crazy how the Lord worked that one out. :)
I figured as long as I was sitting at the order window I'd get something simple and inexpensive, like an iced coffee. I pulled up to the window to pay for and pick up my drink, and the lady working in Starbucks said "Oh, the lady ahead of you paid for your drink." I was floored! Never once in my life had that ever happened to me! And the ONE day I sought out to do this for someone else, I ended up being the recipient. Crazy how the Lord worked that one out. :)
I joined Violet for lunch at school today
Today I went to have lunch with Violet at school at 11:15. Dave was able to hold down the fort long enough for me to scoot away for an hour. It was fun to see her for a short time during the day! She was excited to see me. I arrived during the eating time when the traffic light in the lunch room was red, and that means no talking. So I was quickly shushed, and we all ate in silence. Many goofy faces and silent smiles were passed between me and the other kindergarten students. Miss Smits turned on the yellow light after awhile and that means you can talk and quickly finish up your lunch. When the green light turns on, we can get up and throw away trash. I helped the kids get their trash where it needed to go and I joined the kids for recess. Violet had fun with the kids, they all seemed pretty nice. I headed back home right after recess. Her class lined up and I gave her a high five as she walked down the hallway in line with the rest of the kids to her classroom.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Great first day of kindergarten for Violet - her reactions
Ok, so I feel like I'm blogging a lot about this subject...I guess there's just a lot to say!
I went to pick up Violet today, and when I watched her teacher walk out the back door of the school, all the kids were lined up behind her. Miss Smits walked with the kids closer to the car. Violet was the first one in line, so I stepped out of the car, and she ran towards me with her arms open for a BIG hug! She was an arm full with her big backpack on her back! I held her for a moment and hugged her. She was excited to wriggle down and walk with me to the car. She was really excited, and started talking a million words a minute. The first thing she said was "mom! Guess what was so fun?! When we laid down to rest on our pillows, the teacher said she was going to take a loooong feather and tickle our arms when she wanted us to get up!" And that was the beginning of the stories. Another one was "Mom! Guess what! God ANSWERED MY PRAYER!! I prayed last night that he would help me make a friend, and I made TWO friends! He answered me!!!" She was just beaming at the fact that He answered her! I love it! She said the names of her friends are Hannah and Sailor. I don't know how if it was Selah or Sailor, she couldn't remember exactly. She said because God answered her prayer, she said she can trust Him now.
I can't reiterate all the stories for memory, so I'm going to start a bullet list of what I remember that she told me:
- she was a little sad when we left in the morning but started playing right away and had fun
- they went outside for recess three times.
- the playground has a big section she called a castle and it had a big ladder
- she saw Amber and Levi Smith. She thought in her head "is that Levi?" then when his head turned toward her she thought "yeah! it is!" and she said "Hi Levi!" and he said hi back.
- the teacher closed her eyes, counted to 10, and when she finished counting to ten, all the kids had to be sitting
- lunch was a beef sandwich, peaches, carrots, milk and a popsicle. She ate everything but left a bit of her sandwich because she said she was full
- teacher gave them oreo cookies
- she got really hot during the day (I told her I'd put her hair up in a ponytail for tomorrow, she thought that would be a great idea, with a pretty ribbon)
- she colored, wrote her name on a paper
- daddy guessed her locker number was 15, she said "one inch down!" and he said 14, and she said, yep!
- she said her teacher is really fun
- she said the only bad part of her day was when they all had to come in from the playground.
I went to pick up Violet today, and when I watched her teacher walk out the back door of the school, all the kids were lined up behind her. Miss Smits walked with the kids closer to the car. Violet was the first one in line, so I stepped out of the car, and she ran towards me with her arms open for a BIG hug! She was an arm full with her big backpack on her back! I held her for a moment and hugged her. She was excited to wriggle down and walk with me to the car. She was really excited, and started talking a million words a minute. The first thing she said was "mom! Guess what was so fun?! When we laid down to rest on our pillows, the teacher said she was going to take a loooong feather and tickle our arms when she wanted us to get up!" And that was the beginning of the stories. Another one was "Mom! Guess what! God ANSWERED MY PRAYER!! I prayed last night that he would help me make a friend, and I made TWO friends! He answered me!!!" She was just beaming at the fact that He answered her! I love it! She said the names of her friends are Hannah and Sailor. I don't know how if it was Selah or Sailor, she couldn't remember exactly. She said because God answered her prayer, she said she can trust Him now.
I can't reiterate all the stories for memory, so I'm going to start a bullet list of what I remember that she told me:
- she was a little sad when we left in the morning but started playing right away and had fun
- they went outside for recess three times.
- the playground has a big section she called a castle and it had a big ladder
- she saw Amber and Levi Smith. She thought in her head "is that Levi?" then when his head turned toward her she thought "yeah! it is!" and she said "Hi Levi!" and he said hi back.
- the teacher closed her eyes, counted to 10, and when she finished counting to ten, all the kids had to be sitting
- lunch was a beef sandwich, peaches, carrots, milk and a popsicle. She ate everything but left a bit of her sandwich because she said she was full
- teacher gave them oreo cookies
- she got really hot during the day (I told her I'd put her hair up in a ponytail for tomorrow, she thought that would be a great idea, with a pretty ribbon)
- she colored, wrote her name on a paper
- daddy guessed her locker number was 15, she said "one inch down!" and he said 14, and she said, yep!
- she said her teacher is really fun
- she said the only bad part of her day was when they all had to come in from the playground.
Today definitely feels different with Violet at school
It has been amazingly quiet. To my surprise, Calvin has played REALLY well on his own. I think he was downstairs putting his trains and tracks together for two hours, I was able to get laundry downstairs, sorted and started. I emptied and loaded the dishwasher uninterrupted, made a batch of muffins (banana with chocolate chips) for snacking, I wanted something special for Violet to have when she gets home from school (still weird to type that).
Vanessa took a nap around noon after lunch and she's still sleeping. I just love that Dave works from home so in the event of a napping kid, I can leave them sleeping to go run and pick her up.
Calvin enjoyed a muffin, and is off playing with trucks on the deck. Its a gorgeous day. I don't think he misses her much YET...we'll see how the rest of the year pans out. But today's gone well.
I have had moments of sadness, I am programmed when making meals and getting food ready to get two plates, today I only had to get one plate. Calvin ate on the table outside alone (in the warm sun like he requested), I sat with him to keep him company.
Violet was just so sweet and happy this morning, I know she isn't like that all the time, but it was hard to let her go when she was on her best behavior, it just made me want to hug and snuggle her all day, even though she wouldn't have let me. Then I remember the major attitude she gave me yesterday and the "are you REALLY fighting about that?" moments between Violet and Calvin each day this past summer and I am instantly reassured that we made the right decision to have her go to school....and I am glad that he has a more time to himself and can do what he wants with out Violet bossing him around. Just need time to adjust to this new schedule and routine.
I go to pick her up in 15 minutes, I am excited to see her and I wonder what she will have to say!?
Vanessa took a nap around noon after lunch and she's still sleeping. I just love that Dave works from home so in the event of a napping kid, I can leave them sleeping to go run and pick her up.
Calvin enjoyed a muffin, and is off playing with trucks on the deck. Its a gorgeous day. I don't think he misses her much YET...we'll see how the rest of the year pans out. But today's gone well.
I have had moments of sadness, I am programmed when making meals and getting food ready to get two plates, today I only had to get one plate. Calvin ate on the table outside alone (in the warm sun like he requested), I sat with him to keep him company.
Violet was just so sweet and happy this morning, I know she isn't like that all the time, but it was hard to let her go when she was on her best behavior, it just made me want to hug and snuggle her all day, even though she wouldn't have let me. Then I remember the major attitude she gave me yesterday and the "are you REALLY fighting about that?" moments between Violet and Calvin each day this past summer and I am instantly reassured that we made the right decision to have her go to school....and I am glad that he has a more time to himself and can do what he wants with out Violet bossing him around. Just need time to adjust to this new schedule and routine.
I go to pick her up in 15 minutes, I am excited to see her and I wonder what she will have to say!?
Violet comparison pictures, ages 3, 4, and 5 starting school
I don't know how long I'll keep this up, but for now I like it, so I'll post `em.
August 2009 - 3/4 preschool class:
August 2010 - 4/5 preschool class:
August 2011 - kindergarten:
August 2009 - 3/4 preschool class:
August 2010 - 4/5 preschool class:
August 2011 - kindergarten:
Violet's first day of kindergarten
She told me last night she was a little bit nervous, a little bit scared, and a little bit excited. She said, "Mom, I don't know how make friends." So I said, "Well, you could start like this. 'Hi, I'm Violet, what is your name?' " And she said, "yeah! I can do that!" So, I think she'll be just fine. :)
The Lord blessed our morning and "drop off" and made it a positive experience! This morning wasn't as bad as I expected. And by "bad"...I meant how early it was. I guess the natural "glass half empty" side of me was expecting grumpy inconsolable kids because we had to wake them up earlier than they've woken up all summer. Me included. I woke up at 6:15 (normally I get up at 7:45) and the hardest part was NOT hitting snooze and going back to sleep. I got out of bed and into the shower so I could get ready before all the kids woke up. Since it was her first day, our whole family went with her for the drop off, the rest of the days either Dave or I will take her each school day. I was showered and ready in 30 minutes, then Dave took my spot in the bathroom. I woke up Violet out of a dead sleep. I picked her up and took her downstairs to the big comfy rocking chair and rocked her for a couple minutes. She slept on my shoulder and slowly woke up, rubbing her eyes. She was cheerful though. She smiled and kept snugging with me for another minute, then I got her dressed and got breakfast started. She requested cream of wheat, so I made her a bowl.
Dave came downstairs, then shortly after that, Calvin came downstairs. He was wondering why everybody was awake. He is usually the first one up and waking US up. Violet stayed cheerful, she was really smiley and sweet, we snapped a few pictures, I got Vanessa out of bed (she was cheerful too! wow! her first word was "baba?" which means "pick up ALL my blankets and my little doll and take me downstairs!") She can't leave a single blanket in her crib, she insists in me picking them all up. The moment I lay her down to change her diaper though, she shoves them off her.
Violet posed like a pro for all her pictures...she knows her mama likes to snap a ton of pictures. On the way, she was quiet, Dave talked to her about a few things. She got a little half smile when we got close, and when we walked into the school I could tell she felt confident because she smiled at everyone she knew. At Waterloo Christian School, there are quite a few people that go to our church, so there were a lot of friendly familiar faces smiling back at here. We saw Bobbie and Teresa, Whitney, and Doriece Stickfort. At the end of the hallway is the K classroom. There was a short line, and we waited behind 2 other families. Miss Smits was behind the "check in" table, and when it was our turn, she gave Violet a huge smile and she walked right up. Miss Smits said welcome, and asked her if she brought a cold lunch or if she wanted a hot one. She said "hot lunch". I don't think she knew what the difference was, we didn't pack her food so she will eat whatever is served for lunch there. We had a moment or two to take a couple pictures then, one with dad, one with mom, and then a teacher's assistant took her backpack and school supplies, and we said goodbye. She walked right into her classroom and didn't even look back. I was a little sad, but there was so much commotion going on in the hallway and I had to grab Calvin's hand to guide him out the right way with Dave pushing the stroller with Vanessa in it. We chatted with some people on the way out the door, got in the van, and took off. So that's it! I'll go get her at 3 pm. I am sure I'll hear lots of things about her day later.
Calvin chose to ride back in Violet's car seat so he could see Vanessa. On the way home he got grumpy because he wanted to go to the school's playground, but when we told him his preschool would have his own playground, he wanted to know what it looked like. We told him the same one near our house with the little bridge and he got even grumpier because he doesn't like that playground. He got really thirsty (there was no water in the car) so the ride back to our house was a little unpleasant with Calvin's attitude. I fed myself and Vanessa breakfast while he played. He quickly changed when we got home, grabbing stampers out of the closet, stamping paper, getting into playdough, finding his rockets, and now he's watching some short Cat in the Hat videos on pbskids.org on my other computer so I could sit and blog.
Now for some pics:
The Lord blessed our morning and "drop off" and made it a positive experience! This morning wasn't as bad as I expected. And by "bad"...I meant how early it was. I guess the natural "glass half empty" side of me was expecting grumpy inconsolable kids because we had to wake them up earlier than they've woken up all summer. Me included. I woke up at 6:15 (normally I get up at 7:45) and the hardest part was NOT hitting snooze and going back to sleep. I got out of bed and into the shower so I could get ready before all the kids woke up. Since it was her first day, our whole family went with her for the drop off, the rest of the days either Dave or I will take her each school day. I was showered and ready in 30 minutes, then Dave took my spot in the bathroom. I woke up Violet out of a dead sleep. I picked her up and took her downstairs to the big comfy rocking chair and rocked her for a couple minutes. She slept on my shoulder and slowly woke up, rubbing her eyes. She was cheerful though. She smiled and kept snugging with me for another minute, then I got her dressed and got breakfast started. She requested cream of wheat, so I made her a bowl.
Dave came downstairs, then shortly after that, Calvin came downstairs. He was wondering why everybody was awake. He is usually the first one up and waking US up. Violet stayed cheerful, she was really smiley and sweet, we snapped a few pictures, I got Vanessa out of bed (she was cheerful too! wow! her first word was "baba?" which means "pick up ALL my blankets and my little doll and take me downstairs!") She can't leave a single blanket in her crib, she insists in me picking them all up. The moment I lay her down to change her diaper though, she shoves them off her.
Violet posed like a pro for all her pictures...she knows her mama likes to snap a ton of pictures. On the way, she was quiet, Dave talked to her about a few things. She got a little half smile when we got close, and when we walked into the school I could tell she felt confident because she smiled at everyone she knew. At Waterloo Christian School, there are quite a few people that go to our church, so there were a lot of friendly familiar faces smiling back at here. We saw Bobbie and Teresa, Whitney, and Doriece Stickfort. At the end of the hallway is the K classroom. There was a short line, and we waited behind 2 other families. Miss Smits was behind the "check in" table, and when it was our turn, she gave Violet a huge smile and she walked right up. Miss Smits said welcome, and asked her if she brought a cold lunch or if she wanted a hot one. She said "hot lunch". I don't think she knew what the difference was, we didn't pack her food so she will eat whatever is served for lunch there. We had a moment or two to take a couple pictures then, one with dad, one with mom, and then a teacher's assistant took her backpack and school supplies, and we said goodbye. She walked right into her classroom and didn't even look back. I was a little sad, but there was so much commotion going on in the hallway and I had to grab Calvin's hand to guide him out the right way with Dave pushing the stroller with Vanessa in it. We chatted with some people on the way out the door, got in the van, and took off. So that's it! I'll go get her at 3 pm. I am sure I'll hear lots of things about her day later.
Calvin chose to ride back in Violet's car seat so he could see Vanessa. On the way home he got grumpy because he wanted to go to the school's playground, but when we told him his preschool would have his own playground, he wanted to know what it looked like. We told him the same one near our house with the little bridge and he got even grumpier because he doesn't like that playground. He got really thirsty (there was no water in the car) so the ride back to our house was a little unpleasant with Calvin's attitude. I fed myself and Vanessa breakfast while he played. He quickly changed when we got home, grabbing stampers out of the closet, stamping paper, getting into playdough, finding his rockets, and now he's watching some short Cat in the Hat videos on pbskids.org on my other computer so I could sit and blog.
Now for some pics:
Friday, August 12, 2011
"Quite the party!"
Today I took a walk with the kids. I let Violet and Calvin go ahead of me on their trikes and I pushed Vanessa in a stroller. Calvin stopped to concentrate on something on the sidewalk, and when I caught up to him, he was watching a swarm of ants attack a dead cicada bug. He was fascinated with it, watching in silence for awhile. He then said, "huh! That's quite the party!" and hopped on his trike and kept riding. haa!
God through the kid's eyes
I am trying to capture some of the comments the kids have had about God lately. They are so fascinated by the fact that He's so...powerful and can seemingly do ANYTHING in their minds. Some examples (not conversations, just comments):
Calvin: "Mom, can God swim with no water?" (on the way home from swimming lessons)
Violet: "Mom, is God faster than ANYTHING!?" (moves her finger from one side of her body to the other and moves it as fast as she can, saying God moves faster than that)
Calvin: "Mom, can God hear us? How does he hear us?" Violet responded by saying, "Yes, Calvin, he can hear us, even if we whisper, you don't have to yell." Calvin then whispers, "God, you are awesome!"
Another time we were driving home from Waterloo after running a few errands and it was downpouring rain the whole morning and the whole way there. On the way home, we came to a stoplight and the rain suddenly stopped and the sun came beaming through the clouds. Violet said "HEY! I just prayed quietly that it would stop raining, and God HEARD ME! He answered my prayer!" and she was beaming herself in the backseat. It made me smile.
I know there are more, when I remember I'll update this post.
Calvin: "Mom, can God swim with no water?" (on the way home from swimming lessons)
Violet: "Mom, is God faster than ANYTHING!?" (moves her finger from one side of her body to the other and moves it as fast as she can, saying God moves faster than that)
Calvin: "Mom, can God hear us? How does he hear us?" Violet responded by saying, "Yes, Calvin, he can hear us, even if we whisper, you don't have to yell." Calvin then whispers, "God, you are awesome!"
Another time we were driving home from Waterloo after running a few errands and it was downpouring rain the whole morning and the whole way there. On the way home, we came to a stoplight and the rain suddenly stopped and the sun came beaming through the clouds. Violet said "HEY! I just prayed quietly that it would stop raining, and God HEARD ME! He answered my prayer!" and she was beaming herself in the backseat. It made me smile.
I know there are more, when I remember I'll update this post.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Summer is wrapping up...family update
The pool is done....poor kids (yeah right). It has a hole in the bottom lining and water won't stay in it, and my attempt at patching was a failure. So this sort of marks the "end" of summer, when the pool isn't on the deck. I think that has been the best summer activity over the last three months (which have absolutely FLOWN by). Violet and Calvin have a mom that spoils them by dragging the hose connected to the hot water spigot in the garage to the pool and warming it up for them so they can swim, and the effort of dragging the hose across the house to warm it up usually pays off well. Two or three hours would go by, and they would still be happily splashing and swimming in the water. Calvin gains confidence by seeing Violet do things. He goes under water and flips around like a fish. However, at swimming lessons the last few weeks, all he did was scream and freak out, so I didn't go to the last 4 classes with him, he happily stayed dry and watched Violet in her lessons. I guess it was just too early and too cold at The Falls for him to get comfortable enough to let me hold him in a back float. Oh well, next year we'll try something else.
Violet however, has had an amazing summer. She enjoyed learning to swim, and is very excited about it! Dave gave her confidence at a hotel pool a few weeks ago by telling her she can float by holding her breath. She since then has done 15 bobs in a row at swimming lessons, swam across the length of the pool where they have lessons (probaby 20 feet), can do back and front float alone, dive for rings and toys at the bottom of the pool (3 feet 6 inches deep), use the kick board to go backwards and forwards, jump off the diving board with no life jacket and swim to the edge, and who knows what else. The feeling of being uncomfortable underwater is NO longer. The girl who used to freak out in the bath if water got near her eyes. She's certainly grown up!!
The next year is going to be a big change for this family, as we adjust to a "school schedule". This means going to bed earlier, getting up earlier, and taking Violet to and from Waterloo Christian School Monday through Friday, and taking Calvin to preschool Tues and Thurs mornings.
I know Calvin will miss Violet when she's at school. They have played SO well this summer together, and I know they thoroughly enjoy each other's company. Yes, they absolutely fight like siblings, but they also have wild imaginations and their stories/ideas carry them for hours, making all sorts of "set ups" with their blocks, legos, and train tracks in the basement.
I hope Calvin and Vanessa connect more. So far, Calvin likes to run and chase her, and she laughs and giggles when he does. He's rough, and I'm constantly reminding him to be gentle with her, and not to sit on her and jump. Even though she laughs when he sits on her, I still don't trust him to THINK with his head and make a conscious decision to not hurt her somehow. Not that he would intentionally hurt her, he just lacks logic...what do I expect...he's a 3 yr old rambunctious boy!
I'm working on getting together Violet's "school uniform" wardrobe ~ which will be solid color pants (khakis) and polo type shirts and dress shirts. The polos can be solid, stripes, polka dots, or prints, just not graphics or writing. I got her some pretty and sparkly hair ribbons to put in her hair for some pizazz, the girl LOVES things sparkly and pretty.
I hope Calvin does well in preschool. I'm slightly nervous about him starting, simply because the only experience he's only had in a classroom setting is Sunday School, and that is only for an hour a week, and its with people and friends he knows well. This environment will be completely new, but the idea of going to preschool is not new. The teachers already know Calvin from what seems like the hundred times I dropped Violet off and picked her up the last two years. Especially this last spring "semester" Violet went to Orchard Hill Church Preschool, every time the van door opened and the teacher would be there waiting to pick her up, Calvin would try chime in the conversation and try tell the teachers something. They enjoyed the interaction too, so at least there is that familiarity. I'm sure he'll do fine, I just have parent jitters. He tends to have male performance anxiety...yep...that's what I'm going to call it, cuz he's a boy and freaks out and throws a screaming fit if he tries to do something and it doesn't go as he planned. When I told him he will get a chance to be the leader at preschool and bring the snack some times, he got pretty excited about that.
I have to say one thing about Calvin. He asks me the same question every.single.day. He says, "Mom, can you eat fish?" I always say, "yes". And he says "But you have to kill it first."
Vanessa is changing a ton too, I made a post about her recently so I won't say much. She is learning a lot, and her latest is backing up towards me and sitting down and laying down between my legs when she catches sight of her toothbrush. She lays down, spreads her arms out, and opens her mouth with out any prompting on my behalf. Good job Vanessa! She is still taking an iron supplement twice a day..if I remember to give it to her that often. Its hard to keep up with it. It makes her stools black...ick. I hope at her 15 month appointment they find her iron levels to be normal so I can stop the supplement. She has adjusted well to not nursing anymore, drinks her whole milk happily, and eats most food. Tonight at dinner I used two forks separately and gave her a fork full of food (so she could take the fork with food on it and release the empty one), she put it in her mouth on her own, and I kept doing that til she was full. She ate beef filet and mixed veggies. She doesn't like thin cheese slices, she likes the cheese in big chunks. Grapes cut in half are still a favorite snack.
Dave and I are getting into a more regular exercise routine. We try go running every other day, we take turns after the kids go to bed. It was really hard to start, hard to GO when you don't feel like exercising at the end of a busy day, but at the end of the run, we both feel better. Wouldn't hurt either of us to lose a few pounds either. My first run was 2.4 miles, my last one was 3.5. It helps to have great music to keep my mind distracted.
My prayer for the family is (and a prayer request if you are reading) that we smoothly adjust to this new "early to bed, early to rise" routine. Dave and I are not morning people....and we're going to HAVE to be morning people to pull off this school routine. Her first day of school is Thursday, Aug 18.
Violet however, has had an amazing summer. She enjoyed learning to swim, and is very excited about it! Dave gave her confidence at a hotel pool a few weeks ago by telling her she can float by holding her breath. She since then has done 15 bobs in a row at swimming lessons, swam across the length of the pool where they have lessons (probaby 20 feet), can do back and front float alone, dive for rings and toys at the bottom of the pool (3 feet 6 inches deep), use the kick board to go backwards and forwards, jump off the diving board with no life jacket and swim to the edge, and who knows what else. The feeling of being uncomfortable underwater is NO longer. The girl who used to freak out in the bath if water got near her eyes. She's certainly grown up!!
The next year is going to be a big change for this family, as we adjust to a "school schedule". This means going to bed earlier, getting up earlier, and taking Violet to and from Waterloo Christian School Monday through Friday, and taking Calvin to preschool Tues and Thurs mornings.
I know Calvin will miss Violet when she's at school. They have played SO well this summer together, and I know they thoroughly enjoy each other's company. Yes, they absolutely fight like siblings, but they also have wild imaginations and their stories/ideas carry them for hours, making all sorts of "set ups" with their blocks, legos, and train tracks in the basement.
I hope Calvin and Vanessa connect more. So far, Calvin likes to run and chase her, and she laughs and giggles when he does. He's rough, and I'm constantly reminding him to be gentle with her, and not to sit on her and jump. Even though she laughs when he sits on her, I still don't trust him to THINK with his head and make a conscious decision to not hurt her somehow. Not that he would intentionally hurt her, he just lacks logic...what do I expect...he's a 3 yr old rambunctious boy!
I'm working on getting together Violet's "school uniform" wardrobe ~ which will be solid color pants (khakis) and polo type shirts and dress shirts. The polos can be solid, stripes, polka dots, or prints, just not graphics or writing. I got her some pretty and sparkly hair ribbons to put in her hair for some pizazz, the girl LOVES things sparkly and pretty.
I hope Calvin does well in preschool. I'm slightly nervous about him starting, simply because the only experience he's only had in a classroom setting is Sunday School, and that is only for an hour a week, and its with people and friends he knows well. This environment will be completely new, but the idea of going to preschool is not new. The teachers already know Calvin from what seems like the hundred times I dropped Violet off and picked her up the last two years. Especially this last spring "semester" Violet went to Orchard Hill Church Preschool, every time the van door opened and the teacher would be there waiting to pick her up, Calvin would try chime in the conversation and try tell the teachers something. They enjoyed the interaction too, so at least there is that familiarity. I'm sure he'll do fine, I just have parent jitters. He tends to have male performance anxiety...yep...that's what I'm going to call it, cuz he's a boy and freaks out and throws a screaming fit if he tries to do something and it doesn't go as he planned. When I told him he will get a chance to be the leader at preschool and bring the snack some times, he got pretty excited about that.
I have to say one thing about Calvin. He asks me the same question every.single.day. He says, "Mom, can you eat fish?" I always say, "yes". And he says "But you have to kill it first."
Vanessa is changing a ton too, I made a post about her recently so I won't say much. She is learning a lot, and her latest is backing up towards me and sitting down and laying down between my legs when she catches sight of her toothbrush. She lays down, spreads her arms out, and opens her mouth with out any prompting on my behalf. Good job Vanessa! She is still taking an iron supplement twice a day..if I remember to give it to her that often. Its hard to keep up with it. It makes her stools black...ick. I hope at her 15 month appointment they find her iron levels to be normal so I can stop the supplement. She has adjusted well to not nursing anymore, drinks her whole milk happily, and eats most food. Tonight at dinner I used two forks separately and gave her a fork full of food (so she could take the fork with food on it and release the empty one), she put it in her mouth on her own, and I kept doing that til she was full. She ate beef filet and mixed veggies. She doesn't like thin cheese slices, she likes the cheese in big chunks. Grapes cut in half are still a favorite snack.
Dave and I are getting into a more regular exercise routine. We try go running every other day, we take turns after the kids go to bed. It was really hard to start, hard to GO when you don't feel like exercising at the end of a busy day, but at the end of the run, we both feel better. Wouldn't hurt either of us to lose a few pounds either. My first run was 2.4 miles, my last one was 3.5. It helps to have great music to keep my mind distracted.
My prayer for the family is (and a prayer request if you are reading) that we smoothly adjust to this new "early to bed, early to rise" routine. Dave and I are not morning people....and we're going to HAVE to be morning people to pull off this school routine. Her first day of school is Thursday, Aug 18.
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