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. 

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!")

First Wiggly tooth

Olivia's got her 1st wiggly tooth. Another sign that My little girl is growing up (in case I wasn't paying attention). We read "Silverlicious" nearly every night now "in honor of" her tooth, as she says.

The last 2 weeks of school have been short (3 days each) due to teacher work days and conferences. Olivia's conference was good. Her teacher had only good things to say. She is meeting expectations and progressing in all evaluated areas. She's in one of the higher reading groups and doing well. Literacy folders seem to have been bringing home progressively more complex books (Dan The Tan Man).

We've had some fun projects come home, including a "quilt square" to highlight a family tradition and an "All About Me Tee" to share O's faves like movie, book, food, etc.

Integrity, Confidence, Empathy, Creativity - a few of the attributes the kids have covered in the past few weeks. Next week is curiosity: A strong desire to know or learn something, A quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation.

sight words: this, that, is, in, it, she
sounds: /s/, /sh/, /th/