Christmas Programs

Claire and Aaron had little Christmas programs at church one Sunday night. Claire's little choir, led by me and the other Little Kids Time Workers, sang Away in a Manger and Joy to the World.

Claire looked beautiful in her pretty new dress and braids!


Aaron had fallen at Kohl's the day before and got a HUGE cut and bump on his head, hence the band-aid...


My pictures during the program are not great because I gave my camera to a middle-schooler since I was directing and couldn't take pictures. I should have specified which child to photograph since very few of the pictures even included Claire. Ha!


Aaron's choir sang a few little songs, but I don't remember what they were!


Later in the month Claire and Hannah had their program at Mother's Day Out. How cute is Hannah with her little class?


I labeled Claire for you...


Singing Twinkle Twinkle...


And Jingle Bells!


They were all so cute!

Fall Program for 1st grade

(I am bound and determined to catch this blog up!!!)

In November Aaron's music teacher put on a Thanksgiving program for the parents.  The kids had worked very hard during music class each week, and even put in some extra practices in the days before the program.  It was so cute and Aaron was super-proud of himself.

Aaron is on the front row in this picture, yawning really big:








Any maybe one day I'll get the video uploaded!

First day of preschool

On Tuesday, the girls had their first day of preschool. They go two days a week to mother's day out. It was much anticipated, by both Claire and me! As usual, we went to the front walk for a picture.


I love how my babies all squat when they see me squat to take the picture!



Ready for school!


And I didn't take my camera with me when we left for school.  WHY???  Grrr...
Hannah is in the younger 1 year old room, and I had some reservations about that about a week before school because all the other babies in there were running around and seemed so much older, even though their birthdays are all within 3 months of each other. I wanted Hannah to go back to the baby room! But just days before school started, she got so much more confident with her walking, and I think by October or so she'll be running around with them!  Her first day went great--she ate well, took a good nap, and had fun at music time!

Claire is in the 4K class, and she is so excited! She has her own folder and behavior chart and name tag at her table. She even goes to computer class once a week. She is just loving being in SCHOOL! She is going to do great in real Kindergarten next year, that's for sure!

Lunch with my boy

One day while Claire was at a friend's house, Hannah and I went to the school to have lunch with Aaron.  He loves it when Mom shows up!  The other kids think it's cool too...they all started clammering to sit next to Aaron when they saw I was there.  I'm glad it's still COOL to have your mom at school!


Freckle face


I forgot to bring Hannah's lunch and she ended up eating half of Aaron's food! Aaron loved it and all the kids thought it was funny.

You're a Grand Ol' Flag

Aaron is learning a new song in music class at school, and he has been singing it all weekend.  It's a catchy little tune that is now stuck in my head! 

Claire pretends to play a violin off to the side while Aaron entertains with his song and motions.  I love these kids!!

First grade so far

Aaron is having a great time in first grade!  He LOVES the fact that he is in a 1st AND 2nd grade class.  It's actually becoming a point of pride for him so we're going to have to reign that in!  I do love how much more independent they have to be in 1st grade.

On the first day he had homework, all he had was a blank sheet of writing paper and the homework sheet said, "Rainbow spelling".  I was flipping through all the papers trying desperately to understand what he was supposed to do, and he rolled his eyes and said, "Mooo--oom!  I know what to do!"  I kept questioning because it seemed odd to me that he was supposed to write his spelling words and trace them 4 times with 4 different colored crayons.  Chris told me to back off because he obviously knew what he was supposed to do, but it was hard for mama to let go! 

He spells alot of things phoenetically now and that makes reviewing his school work quite entertaining.  Some of my favorites recently:

asasreses:  accessories
shak: shark
popcicl:  popsicle
ettn:  eaten

I love how he's not afraid to try to spell anything! Check out this sheet he did:

Fast things:  "Truck with 3 Jet ejins"  (that would be "engines")
Body parts: "Bons"  (that would be "bones")
Cold things:  "popcicl"
Flowers: "tulup"
Things in the bedroom:  "nitlite"
Fruit:  "plmb" (plum)
Trees:  "Acorn"--That one really made me laugh! 

A few weeks ago when it was "Shark Week" on the Discovery channel, Aaron watched a few shows about deadly sharks.  He was captivated, and their unit at school the last two weeks has been about the ocean.  So he's been writing lots of stuff about "dedlee shaks".  Here is one story he wrote:



Translation:
Oh no!  The fish is too close to the shark!  "Better not get eaten fish!  That shark is deadly!"  Uh oh now the fish is to close to the shark's mouth!  "Fish go away from the shark's mouth!" 

I'm loving first grade!

Off to 1st grade

Yesterday Aaron started 1st grade.  It just sounds so weird to say I have a first grader!  I actually remember many things from 1st grade. 

(My teacher at Thames Elementary in Hattiesburg was Mrs. Anderson, and there was a girl named Carrie in my class who always copied off of me, but Mrs. Anderson would always tell me to just cover my paper!  That drove me nuts!!  I also vividly remember field day, and doing the three-legged race and getting a wooden nickel "medal".  Fun times!)

Anyway, Aaron was very excited to go.  He is using an individual desk this year, instead of shared tables they used in Kindergarten.  He is in class with one boy from last year, Ethan, and he was very excited about that.  (I remember that his K teacher told me that Ethan and Aaron were the top readers in her class, so I expected to see Ethan placed in the advanced class as well.)  He sat next to Ethan at lunch on the first day, and he said Ethan sits directly behind him.  Aaron told me he can earn "Armadillo dollars" for good behavior, and one of the things they can buy with their dollars is a new desk, so he is already planning to save up $40 Armadillo dollars to move to the desk next to Ethan!  It thrills me to see him making a friend!!  Back in the spring when I chaperoned the K field trip to the zoo, Ethan and Aaron were in my group so we toured the zoo as a trio.  I liked Ethan, and I think he and Aaron could be good friends.

Here is Aaron with his sweet little sister, on the first morning of school.


This picture just cracks me up! Claire is striking her little sassy pose, and Aaron is making a goofy smile. So typical of these little best friends.

We went as a family to walk Aaron to school on the first day. Here he is going into his classroom!


And sitting at his big kid desk!


And giving his sister bye-kisses. I'm guessing this is the last year for that!


Of course when Aaron got home he was a squirmy worm, bouncing all over the couch while telling me what he could remember about his day.  He LOVES rules so the first days of school where that is all they go over are very fun for him!  After we talked for a bit, he retreated to his room and played quietly with his Legos for a while!

Looking forward to first grade

I am very excited about Aaron's upcoming first-grade year. Towards the end of this school year, Aaron's teacher told me she was recommending him for a 1st-2nd transition class. It's a class they developed for kids who pass first grade but who could benefit from repeating the year in a more advanced class before moving to 2nd grade. They also invite advanced Kindergartners to join the class, so they can do more challenging work. The class is actually more new-first-graders than repeaters, so it's more like a "gifted" class for first grade.

The transition teacher tested Aaron, and my jaw dropped when they told me Aaron was reading on a 4th grade level! I knew he could read anything he wanted to...he reads some of the biggest words and I can't believe how well he reads...but I was shocked to hear it as an actual grade level. I met with the transition teacher a couple of weeks ago, and she told me it was rare to have 4th grade level readers, but she's actually going to have two in the class next year. Wow!

The class will basically skip the normal first nine-weeks' first-grade curriculum, which is mostly review. They will jump right into October-November work. She told me they do alot of non-fiction reading and basically challenge the kids to read more books at their reading level. I talked to her about my concerns about Aaron's size and age...I don't want him to be picked on or feel self-concious about being the smallest and possibly the youngest in the classroom. She seemed confident he would do fine, and the principal even assured me that his new teacher is really good with including the quiet students and encouraging them to make friends.

I'm so proud of my boy!

Only 12 years left...

Last week was a flurry of excitement with Hannah's birthday, but it was also Aaron's last days of Kindergarten, and there were so many different celebrations and activities. I can't believe his first year of big school is over. Only 12 years left...

I was at the school for different things on the last several days of school. He had such a great year--I could not be more thankful for his wonderful, energetic and yet laid-back teacher, Mrs. Anderson. Aaron really thrived in her classroom, and he even wishes he could go back to her class for first grade!

This is Ms. Dodi (the assistant teacher), Aaron, and Mrs. Anderson, just minutes before he left her classroom on the last day.


Field day was fun. He loved when I came to the school for things.








My favorite part of being with his class is seeing how he interacts with all his classmates. He didn't make any really close friends during the year, except one girl Maddie, who he has a crush on, but she doesn't really pay much attention to him. Aaron's more of a loner, but sometimes I would see him talking with some of the other kids.

Or they were talking to him. He doesn't do much talking.




One of the funniest things at field day was this impromptu game of duck-duck-goose that broke out while we were waiting to play another game. Aaron of course "goosed" Maddie, and then made her chase him all around the playground!



On his last day there was an awards ceremony in the classroom, which I didn't get any pictures of, but I do have to share that I got the "Best Room Mom" award! I was very surprised, seeing how I didn't even sign up for room mom at the beginning of the year, because 3 other moms had signed up and I just didn't think I had time with a new baby and all. They were sorta doing the room mom things, and by about November, I was jumping in and helping with so much, I guess Mrs. Anderson counted me as a room mom too. I loved to go to lunch with the class, and especially to go read to his class after lunch. All the kids knew me and would wave and talk to me when they saw me as I waited to pick up Aaron most days. I learned all of their names and little nuances about them. I went on all the fields trips and only missed one party all year. It was so much fun and I was honored to get the award!

At the end of the last day, there was a luau in the classroom, and I took the girls to visit and say goodbye to everyone.



I let Aaron go around with my little camera taking pictures of his friends. He naturally went to take a picture of Maddie first. She told him no, but then when her best friend Trinity wanted her picture taken, Maddie jumped right in.


Ethan...


Katie...she's very tall for her age!


Hannah...this was her actual birthday. She got to go to Kindergarten on her first birthday!


Jamal...


Aaron and Maddie!


Kailin...


Azariah and Madison...


Kayla...


Mrs. Anderson enjoyed holding the birthday girl during the party. :-)


I rarely took Hannah to school with me because she was a distraction to the kids, who always came up to talk to her and tell me how cute she is. It didn't matter on the last day though! Hannah loved the attention.


Pinata time!


Aaron took another picture of Maddie.


We'll miss Kindergarten, but we're looking forward to first grade!

Aaron's Art Show

I have been so pleased with the programs Aaron's school offers. Every Monday he goes to an art class, which I thought would just be coloring and painting, no biggie. But the art teacher, Ms. Joanne, is so good and teaches the kids about different art techniques and mediums, such as pastels, charcoal, watercolors, etc...and she lets them use Sharpies which Aaron thinks is so cool! (Mom doesn't let him do that!)

I was excited to get to go to Aaron's art show at school, to see all the art work on display.



That is Aaron's class board. Aaron's drawing is that red and blue structure on the right. That's the Washington monument! Ms. Joanne teaches them how to look at a picture and draw it themselves. You can see a few different renditions of the monument on the board.



Chris was out of town so I had to tote all three kids. Hannah is outgrowing that carrier and my shoulders were killing me by the time we were done!


Aaron, with Ms. Joanne.


He really likes her and you can see how proud he is. What makes me sad is that with the education cuts the government is making, there is a good possiblity that the art and P.E. programs will be CUT next year. I am writing my congressman about that! Having this art class has given Aaron a confidence he didn't have before. Before this year, he didn't color anything at all. He only drew garbage trucks! He still doesn't particularly like coloring, but you can see how much he likes art class by how well he did on his drawing! I think that is a vital part of education. Hopefully these programs will continue!