Happy October 2014

The weeks are flying by now. October is half over and I feel like I should be saying Merry Christmas soon...

Pet Badge

Libby went on a tour of a vet clinic yesterday with her Brownie Troop. She earned her Pets Badge in the process. I'm so happy that she's enjoying Girl Scouts. 

She has another wiggly tooth - top right side of her mouth. It may take a few more weeks to pop out though. 

Parent Teacher Conferences were last week. Both girls are doing great. It's especially nice to hear with Libby as she gets older and has more demands on her. Mrs. B said she's a well-rounded student, doing well in both reading & math. I know she enjoys reading much more, though it may be due to the fact that it comes more naturally to her. She has to put more effort in with math and she gets frustrated when she doesn't get it perfect the first time. 

O is such a great big sister. She made a chart of colors to help S get dressed in the mornings. Each day has a different color(s) with Friday being "free choise." ;) 

S is a bit of a whining mess at times. I don't remember 4 being so difficult with O. Little sis always has an excuse for not doing something: "I'm too scared to brush my teeth alone." "I'm too scared to get dressed by myself." "I don't know what to wear." "I can't do it." "I'm too tired." UGH! 

I did manage to take the girls to a pumpkin patch over the weekend. We got 3 nice pumpkins. I guess we will carve them next week. It's been really warm lately and I don't want them to rot. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Libby started taking some art classes outside of school. A friend recommended the classes. They are for elementary aged kids (1st-5th grade), every other Saturday for 1.25 hrs. In her first class she learned about charcoal pencils and pastels, how to shade and blend colors, and how to add a 3-D look when drawing a pumpkin. 

Time for your check-up, Little Sis!

I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but Little Sis has grown 3.5" in the past year. Back in the 90th percentile for height. She's such a bean pole. Love her. And she handled her vaccinations/boosters like a pro. I had to send Libby out of the room as she started freaking out and trying to transfer her anxiety on all of us. But barely a flinch from S and I forgot that the MMR/Chickenpox booster happened at age 4. It's a painful one, but the good news is that she's done until about age 11 now :) 

So, now we are ready for S to start preK. Class will be in the PM this year. We may have to add some AM nap time back in...but I think she's ready. 

Oh, and Libby & I went for our dental check-ups and cleanings a few weeks ago. She's so odd about flavors, hates mint, so the poor hygienist has to deal with that...but she does well, thankfully. No new cavities. Little sis will have her first check up this coming week. I'm a bit behind schedule with her, but she's much better about brushing her teeth than Libby ever has been. 

Summer time, summer time! 2014

Well, my big girl is now a 2nd grader. *sigh* How's that possible? I still remember the crazy fog-dazed months of her arrival. She's grown up so much in the past few months - better behavior, learned to ride a bike without training wheels, and lost another tooth.

Daddy spear-headed the bike riding project. I think she was ready awhile ago. It only took a few launches down the hill one weekend, then some transitions to concrete the following weekend and she was done. Now, she's great! Can start up and stop on her own.

We've also noticed even better behavior in Libby. She always offers to help me do laundry now. Also, Libby will step in to help little sis if she is struggling. Of course, there are still struggles, but it's so nice to see progress and see a happy child. Wish I could say the same about Little Sis, but hey, she's 3...time will tell, right?

Only my family calls me Libby

I overheard Libby telling this to a friend the other day. It was quite funny since she's started telling me that she wants to change her name. She also signs some of her school work with Libby=Olivia. She wants her hair to be blonde, too....We are in trouble ;)

Updates...up-to-date?

February brought a fun, last-minute trip to DisneyWorld. Daddy & I decided to take the girls out of school for a few days and fly down (booked a great trip through Costco Travel). Skipped the Spring Break madness and it was awesome. I wasn't sure the girls were the "right" age but it really is the "happiest place on Earth" and "magical." They loved it, didn't complain about the long days/nights, great behavior. And Nana flew up to spend the week with us. It was really nice.

March brought Spring Break. We didn't go anywhere, but the girls & I managed to have some fun while Daddy worked. We went to paint one day with friends. Another day we went to the movies with J & N (saw the Muppet Movie).

April has been quiet (mommy wrapped up in tax time). Easter was later this year, too. Libby participated in the school Peeps diorama contest. Her book that she based it on is "Sleeping Beauty." She called it "Sleeping Peep." She sketched out the scene, came up with characters and materials. It was fun working on it over a few days.

The girls have spring colds now. I kept Sabrina home on Thurs as she had a low-grade fever, but everyone seems better.

Libby is growing up so fast. It's bittersweet some days. She's been reading to herself a lot more. We talk about responsibility and integrity as there have been some incidents of fibbing. Hoping we can nip it in the bud. That said, she's a fantastic big sister and a fun kid.

Little sis is following in her foot steps, too. It's hard to remember that she's not even 4 yet. She pretends to read books, her drawings have become more detailed, and her lettering is really clear.  Still going through some Jekyll & Hyde moments but the hugs and kisses can't be beat.

Oh and Libby has about 3 loose teeth at the moment - top 2 front teeth, and another 1 on the top. I hope the Tooth Fairy is saving her pennies.

Fall 2013 conferences

I'm so proud of my Libby! I went to her Parent-Teacher conference yesterday. It's really, really nice to sit down and have the teacher look at you sort of blankly. I'm serious :) Because they have nothing bad to say! No issues. No problems. No concerns. Then, she hands you a report card full of good scores and a stack of papers that she's complied to show your child's progress. Math, Science, Spelling. Everything is "on track." Can you see me beaming with pride? I've been worried b/c O hasn't had much good to say about school and we've struggled every night with homework. My lesson (a continuing one): she's good at school, a different kid for her teacher. She's doing well and I'm happy.

The book fair always coincides with conferences. This year the girls & I went on a joint trip with our new neighbor friends. It's pretty magical to see kids excited about books. O asked me to go back and look for the 2nd installment in a My Little Pony comic that we bought.

Another tooth is loose. Not the one I expected, but one nonetheless. Little sis wants a wiggly tooth, too.

S is doing well in preschool. She is always tired when I pick her up, but she enjoys it. She gives me a full report of who was at school and what they did. It's really sweet.

We had a 2nd annual Fall Party with our good friends last week. HP hosted again at her house. Such a fun time seeing our kids grow and play together still after all these years. The kids had their costumes, made crafts, played games, ate yummy food. O is a Monster High girl this year...and Sabrina is Princess Ariel ("on HUMAN LEGS!")

Nana & Popsie came to visit. They watched the girls so that Daddy & Mommy could go away to celebrate their 10 yr anniversary.


Everyone did a great job.

Olivia had strep throat and Sabrina had an ear infection a few weeks ago.

Olivia fell during the start of the Fund Run at school.

Sept 2013

School is in full swing and the Homework Folder came home yesterday. First grade is a different animal: spelling tests, timed math tests, and sight word tests. Libby doesn't have anything positive to say about school :( I finally got to attend a volunteer orientation, so hopefully, I will be able to get in the classroom to help out and see what's so "terrible" about 1st grade.

On a brighter note, little sis is loving preschool. She is enjoying 3 hrs, 4x/week and Mommy is enjoying the break ;)

Auntie Dee was here for a visit.

Olivia has 3 books from the library this week. There was no school last week on library day, so she's finally getting new books after 2 weeks. She chose 1 audio and 2 regular books.
"Magical Animals"

March 2013

I love seeing the girls play together now. It's usually nice, though there can be occassional fighting ;) They play Barbies, trains, My Little Pony, school...

Libby's behavior is definitely getting better, steadily. We still have fights but she gets over it faster and apologizes. It's nice to see things improving.

School is going well. Conferences are in a few weeks. They will be "student-led" which sounds interesting. Her latest math paper that came home said, "Super! Less than 1 minute!" Her last project about resources and living things went well, too. She presented on Shetland Ponies and items from the grocery store.

We have had a few delayed starts and 1 snow day in the past few weeks. Much needed snow.

Night 1: One accident, then 2 hrs, then all night :)
Night 2: One accident, then 4 hrs, then all night
Night 3: two accidents, then all night (4hrs between)

Library Books:
"Penny and her song" by Kevin Henkes
"Snow Moon" by Nicholas Brunelle
"Silly Sally" by Audrey Wood
"Come In and Swim" by Anders Hanson

Last week's books:
"Lost and Found" byOliver Jeffers
"Penny" by Jane Gerver
"Max" by Bob Graham
"A Ball for Daisy" by Chris Raschka

Happy 2013!

Well, it's a new year and Libby FINALLY lost her 1st tooth. So excited and a bit sad. Baby girl is growing up. It's been loose for so long that the new tooth has been growing in behind it (shark tooth).

The last week of school before the break started was a bust. We spent the Monday up in Aurora getting Olivia's passport renewed. Tuesday, I kept Olivia home because she had a cold and Wednesday, the last day, we had a blizzard. Schools were closed. I wound up taking the girls to the pediatrician that day. Turns out both girls had double ear infections. Thankfully, we discovered it a few days before we left on our trip, so they recovered pretty well (Amox 2x/day for 10 days, 10ml for O and 5ml for S).

We had a nice trip to Jamaica for Christmas and New Year's. Sabrina had a tough time with her ears on the landings of the planes (we had 3 flights) and true to form, O put up a fight with her medicine, though she toughened up in front of her cousins.

Behavior during the trip was pretty bad, but improved over previous years. I guess she gets too tired running all day and night with the big kids and starts acting out ?? Things have been better since we got home on the 1st. I hope these few days of recovery will leave her in good spirits when school starts back on Monday.

The girls swam in the pool, played in the yard on the zip line and had tons of fun with their cousins.

Where did the good manners go?

Library Books:
"Berlioz the Bear" by Jan Brett
"My Deer is a Dear" by Mary Elizabeth Salzmann
"Fly High Fly Low" by Don Freeman
"The Magic Fan" by Keith Baker

Scratching my head over the horrific behavior I witnessed after school today...Libby was hitting me, yelling at me, calling me stupid, throwing her book bag at me...It was ridiculous. I don't even know....

"Hey guys? Look at me!" "Hey, wait for me!" - Sabrina's new phrases crack me up. Her speech has gotten really good, very good at articulating what she wants, needs. She understands everything and can give a detailed account of her day. ;)

Libby's behavior has been out of control some days. It's usually in the evening. I know she is tired from school, activities and playing, but it seems pretty bad most days. We deteriorate to shouting and threatening consequences (no dessert, no toys, no books). She starts yelling, stomping her feet, rolling her eyes or even laughing. I know that deep down she is a good kid. She has been doing great at school. Why does she test us so much at home? 

The loose tooth has decided to hang on to the bitter end, leading the new permanent tooth to surface behind it already ("shark teeth"). So, we may be heading to the dentist to get that tooth out. Lovely...

Literacy folder yesterday: "Have You Seen My Cat?" by Eric Carle
Literacy folder today:  "Arthur's Underwear" by Marc Brown

Library Books:
"Outside Over There" by Maurice Sendak
"A Pride of African Tales" by Donna L. Washington
"Fly, Little Bird" by Tina Burke
"Henry and Mudge and Annie's Perfect Pet" by Cynthia Rylant

Recovering from the break

Seems like we're having a tough time getting back in gear after the break. O is sleepy and been having tummy pains for the last 2 days.

Books from library:
"Sister Tricksters: Rollicking Tales of Clever Females" by Robert D. San Souci
"Lily's Purple Plastic Purse" by Kevin Henkes
"Olivia" by Ian Falconer
"Little Lucy" by Ilene Cooper

I'm surprised at how much O seems to enjoy "Sister Tricksters." It doesn't have many pictures and is written in a Southern dialect.

We stayed busy during the break. Started off with Olivia having a sleepover w/Ms. Angie's girls on the Sabrina had ballet, but Olivia did not. We went to the gym one day so that Mommy could work out, then had lunch with Daddy. Later that day we went and painted ornaments for Christmas. We also hung out w/Ms. Angie and her girls one day. Then, gobbled up a "plump & perky turkey" as O calls it on Thanksgiving. We went to paint one day and O made a painting for Dede and one for Nana. The weather was pretty nice all week, so the girls had time to play outside, too. We finished up the break with O having a birthday party for a former preschool friend, who now takes ballet with her.

Olivia had a presentation for school yesterday for the How We Express Ourselves planner. She interviewed Oma about the games she played as a child and researched the games they play in Germany. I got to see her present and she did a fantastic job. She wore my old dirndl to present, too :)

Literacy folder had "Get the Gag" Decodeable No. 14 this week. She's been up to No. 20 "Red Hen and Rod Rat" but books come out of order sometimes. She's doing really well with sight words, read about 30 of the ones on her ring last night. Though she's still having trouble with a few on the "High Frequency" word list.

Little sister is getting dressed and putting on her pull-up by herself.  Miss Independent. She likes to play with the Leapster, dress up like a princess or a witch, color and play with dolls/babies.

"Fall back"

It's been a strange few weeks. Halloween and seeing The Fresh Beat Band made for a long week, last week. Now, daylight savings time seems to be messing with the girls. Despite the extra hour and waking up after sunrise now, the girls seem grumpy and sleepy. Hopefully, it will straighten out soon.

Literacy folder, decodeable #18: "The Pin with a Tin Fin"

Good days and bad days

Kindergarten has been an interesting adventure already. Some good days, some bad days, some ok days.

Today was a good day, I think. In the daily class minutes, Olivia was mentioned as being 1 of only 3 kids (all happen to be girls) that can tie shoes. The teacher wrote: "Congratulations to Olivia, Sienna and Rachel. They can tie! They were being Independent and Cooperative when they showed friends how to tie." She also came home talking excitedly about the craft that she did in Art class today - making a "blanket." She grabbed some construction paper to show Sabrina & I how to do it :)

Blanket

Kindergarten, are you ready for this?

Libby started Kindergarten. How can it be? My little baby will learn to read and write this year. She let her father take her to the first day and drop her off in the kiss n' ride line. No tears, no drawn out good-byes. My big girl :)

The first 3 days had some highs and lows. Libby was bummed about not having any friends that she already knew in her class, but seems to be making new friends already. Also, she gets to see her other friends at lunch and recess. Her teacher seems strict, but fair. O already had a visit to the "safe seat" for talking too loudly during a class activity. I can understand after witnessing the chaos of 24 kids in a room and know that O does talk very loudly sometimes. Lunch seems to be a bit of a struggle. She has only finished her lunch on 1 of the 3 days, so far. She complained about not having enough time and a friend told me that the kids only get 15 mins to eat.

Class schedule includes PE for 3 days/week, Spanish and Music for 2 days/week and Art and Counseling for the other days. The kids have a journal that they bring home every day w/ Class News. Eventually, they will have to do a class presentation. That should be interesting.

Book of the week: "Old Bear" by Kevin Henkes (I think it's interesting that Libby chose this book in preschool as well).

Barbies

It's fun to watch Sabrina playing with Olivia's toys. She plays w/Barbies a lot lately, mimicking what she sees Olivia doing. So, her barbies have conversations, fight, change clothes. She recognizes the mermaids and some princesses.

Summer break 2012

I think it's going to be a long break...Olivia has been good about playing by herself most days, but we need more friend time. Some of our neighbor friends will be moving soon and that will be difficult and sad :( The weather has been pretty good, so we're playing outside a lot, too.

Little sis loves to watch "The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot About That" lately. It started after we were watching a DVD that Olivia got for her bday from Oma & Dede. It's also shown on PBS. I don't mind. It's fairly educational and I love Martin Short as the voice of the Cat in the Hat ;)

Sabrina is making longer sentences now: "Mommy, I want fruit leather."