Dinosaur Park Field Trip

For some reason we just don't seem to have good luck with the weather when it comes to this field trip. Two years ago when we went with Bridget's class, it was snowing like crazy so we didn't get to go outside to see much of the park. This time, it was just cold and there was snow on the ground. Luckily, we'd been as a family in good weather a little over a year ago so it wasn't a big deal if we didn't see everything outside this trip.

Felicity loves this place though and will be talking about it for weeks. She loved the robotic dinosaurs inside the most, and we also got to watch some of the paleontologists that were working that morning to carefully dig some bones out of some rock with their little tools. We had a great time with her class, and I really enjoyed the one-on-one time I got to spend with her while Dayton was home napping and Nate was working from home.

Felicity's First Day of Preschool

For a few months now, Felicity has been very much in the stage of wanting to do a lot of the things Bridget does, and she could hardly wait until she could go to school too. More than anything, I think she was excited to have her own backpack. Bridget's school started 2 weeks before Felicity's, and she was having a hard time being patient because she was so ready to go.

When I dropped her off in the morning, there was no tearful goodbye or clinging to me. She took off running and hardly looked back. I just hope her excitement continues. I love my Felicity and hope she makes some good friends and learns lots this year.

It is kind of a bittersweet thing to send another child off to school. It certainly reminds me how quickly my kids are growing up, but I also look forward to having some quiet one-on-one time with Dayton a couple of mornings each week.

Bridget's First Day of First Grade

Even though I loved the relaxed schedule of the summer, I must admit I was ready for school to start. The girls have been great buddies all summer long but there's also been more fighting with them spending more time together. The constant asking of, "Can I watch TV?" was also getting old, so I was ready to get back into routine. Bridget was excited and a little nervous, but she enjoys school so she was pretty ready for it too.

Her smile in this picture really says it all. When she got home at the end of the day, she said 1st grade is pretty great! I hope she has a wonderful year, makes good friends, and continues to excel and enjoy school.

Bridget's Kindergarten Opera

For their end of the year program (actually the only program they did all year), Bridget's kindergarten class put on an opera that they wrote and created themselves. It took them the entire year to come up with the storyline, music, etc. In the end, it was a story about some pirates sailing to find some treasure, but some sharks come and attack their boat. Some mermaids come and help the pirates and everyone lives happily ever after.

The kids did a great job although it was hard to hear them at times.

 

Bridget chose to be a pirate.

 

Too bad I couldn't get a short video of the beginning to upload, or I would post it too.

Other December Happenings

Here's the rest of our December highlights and a lot of pictures:

Over Thanksgiving we installed a mantel on our fireplace, and here it is all decorated for Christmas. I did get Dayton's stocking finished in time too!

I spent an afternoon in Bridget's classroom helping the kids make "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers and a ton of candy. There was plenty of candy consumed as well as brought home on the finished house.

As part of the décor for our church Christmas party, they asked families to decorate tables with items representing a family Christmas tradition. I chose to display our Christmas book advent basket along with the books we had opened up to that point. This is only the second year we've done this, but we love it! There are so many cute Christmas books out there, and I have a hard time not buying a bunch more. I'll probably add one or two new ones each year just to expand our collection. This year I bought The Polar Express and The Christmas Sweater.

Last year, our kids missed out on getting to see Santa due to some unforeseen circumstances, but this year they got to see him twice. The first was at Kneader's (one of my favorite restaurants) when we got to go have breakfast for dinner with Santa. Chunky Cinnamon French Toast for dinner and see Santa? Yes, please! Felicity was excited up until it was our turn. She bolted in the other direction and started to cry a little. I scooped her up and got her to at least sit on my lap next to Santa. Dayton slept through the whole thing in his car seat.

Our second visit with Santa was at a Christmas party with Nate's extended family. Felicity actually sat on his lap this time without any difficulty. She even ran back to him after her turn was over because she wanted to give him a hug.

Bridget has always loved Santa - even as a baby and toddler.

Even Dayton got a little cuddle from Santa.

As for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we spent it right here at home with just the 5 of us. We've traveled for the last 2 Christmases and decided after last year and even Bridget requesting it, that we would stay home. I didn't really want to travel with a new baby anyway. We enjoyed our traditional turkey dinner on Christmas Eve.

And then the kids got to open some new pajamas that night. Bridget loved her fleece Rapunzel PJs.

Felicity was pretty excited about her new cupcake PJs.

On Christmas Day we enjoyed watching the girls open presents. Bridget moved from one gift to the next pretty quickly but wanted to play with every single one later that day. Felicity was a little slower at opening because she wanted to stop and play with each toy after she opened it.

Dayton was content to just lay on the floor and watch everyone open presents.

My dad and Bev were going to come up and spend some time with us on Christmas Day, but my dad came down with the flu.

And to finish off the month...New Year's Eve! Our kids don't care about staying up yet, and part of that is probably because we haven't really explained that part of it to them because we don't want to encourage it yet. Heck, Nate and I rarely stay up until midnight either. To make it a fun evening, we've made fondue for dinner and dessert our New Year's Eve tradition. We had a great time and probably ate too much.

Definitely a great end to a wonderful year!

Bridget's First Day of Kindergarten

Bridget's first day of Kindergarten is finally here!

She was excited and a little nervous, but she's so ready for it!

In some ways it seemed like this day couldn't come fast enough. For a while now, she's been getting so bored in the afternoons while Felicity is napping. More often than not she expected me or electronics to entertain her, so this will be a welcome change for her - especially since it's full-day kindergarten.

On the other hand, it seems like it was just yesterday that she was a baby. I have a vivid memory of rocking her in the rocking chair when she was just a few days old and thinking to myself how quickly she would grow up, and that she'd be in kindergarten before I knew it. And here we are!

Several months ago, I wasn't sure where I was going to enroll her in school. The elementary that's about a 3 minute walk from our house is a Title 1 school meaning the majority of students are low-income. I wasn't sure if I wanted her there and considered charter schools as well as another elementary in the district that's a 5 minute drive from our house. I went ahead and did a boundary exception request to have her go to the other elementary school but was told we had to go ahead and register her at the one by our house, and we would find out just before school started if they had room for her. As the months ticked by, I realized more and more that she would do really well in full-day kindergarten which they only offer at the Title 1 schools in the district, so that's where she's at. I haven't been super-impressed so far, but hopefully volunteering in her classroom will help me feel better about it. I also know that what we do at home to supplement her education is more important than school. I'm determined to move within the next couple of years so that she won't have to continue there.

Anyway, as I walked her to school and dropped her off in her classroom, I was excited for her to start this next part of life and couldn't help but walk away a little teary-eyed. I hope she does well, makes friends, enjoys her teacher, and has fun. Our days at home will certainly be much quieter without her.

Bridget's Preschool Graduation

I can't believe how fast another year has gone by and that Bridget is now officially done with preschool and registered for kindergarten. Yesterday was her last day of school which was actually just a field trip to a bounce house place called Kangaroo Zoo. She had a great time playing with her friends one more time, and it wore them all out.

Later that night, she had her program and graduation. They sang a few songs and then her teacher read a little bit about each of the kids that were graduating before giving them their portfolio/yearbook.

A few of the kids with Bridget right in the middle because she's the tallest (big surprise).

Kaleb, the boy standing next to Bridget, is one of her best friends. They played together a lot this year. He even kissed her a couple of times, and they told each other they would get married someday. Good thing we don't have to worry about that for a long, LONG time.

Here's a video of one of their songs:

And here's a short video about Bridget:

 

We've really loved Bridget's teacher and the kids in her class. It's sad to think about her moving on since none of those kids live in our neighborhood and won't be attending the same elementary school as her. 

Congratulations Bridget!

December Preschool Program and Field Trip

The night before we left to go out of town for Christmas, Bridget had her preschool Christmas program. It was only about 15-20 minutes long which was perfect. The dress she's wearing is one I made for her for Christmas, and I also made a matching one for Felicity. Maybe I'll get around to taking a picture of them in them togther, and post that as some point.

Here's a clip from Holly Jolly Christmas:



And here's one more clip to show how much Felicity was enjoying dancing along as the kids performed:

The morning after her program, we went on a field trip with her class to the bowling alley. We debated about going or not since we were leaving on vacation that day. Because she loves bowling so much, we decided to go on the field trip and then make the 4.5 hour drive to Grandma's and Grandpa's house after that.

 

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

The week before Thanksgiving, Bridget's preschool teacher hosted a Thanksgiving Feast for all of the kids and their families. Here's a little of what we did in addition to eating a yummy mini Thanksgiving meal:

 

Bridget made this turkey all by herself while we were waiting for everyone to arrive.

The kids had already these cute pilgrims during another preschool class, but they got to show them to everyone and say what they were thankful for.

Bridget's pilgrim said she was thankful for her family and included a drawing of all of us.

The kids also entertained us with the Thanksgiving songs they learned. Here's one of the four or five they performed:

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Bridget's preschool field trip this month was to the pumpkin patch. Apparently nearly every preschool and grade school in the area goes there because she went to the same one last year, and this place was so busy while we were there. Last year I opted to stay home with Felicity, but this year we decided to make it a family event. The girls definitely had a good time and didn't want to leave even though it was way past Felicity's nap time at that point. Here's a few pictures from our outing:

 



The 3 and 4-year-old preschool classes

Try as we might, we could not get Felicity to look at the camera because she was too interested in the ginormous pumpkins.

Bridget finally decides on a pumpkin

The tractor ride back from the pumpkin patch (and Felicity refusing to look at the camera again)

Felicity was quite interested in this goose because it was being so noisy.

The girls loved riding the train so much that we couldn't get them to get off after one ride, so they got to take two in a row.

Zoo Field Trip

For Bridget's first field trip this year, we had the opportunity to go to the zoo. Even though we went with family in June, it was fun to go again.

 

Here's a picture of all the kids. The back row is the 4-year-old class, and the front row is the 3-year-olds. The boy with his arm around Bridget is Kaleb. Although she really likes all of the kids in her class, she has a definite fondness for him and talks about him frequently.

I didn't take very many pictures since we took a bunch in June, but here's one of Bridget by the giraffs.

The polar bear and spider monkeys were Bridget's favorite this time, and that polar bear sure knows how to put on a show. He jumps in the water and swims right up to the glass over and over again.

The zoo is currently undergoing major construction, so in 2014 it should be even better when they open the African Savannah exhibit they just started working on.

We had a good time, and it was nice to enjoy the perfect temperature instead of the sweltering heat and crowds we had in June. It was also nice to get to know some of the parents and kids from her school a litle better.

1st Day of Preschool (Year 2)

Bridget was anxiously awaiting the start of preschool for this year as much as I was, and it's finally here. Last week we went to a party at her teacher's house so she could get to know the kids in her class and parents could get all the info they needed. That just made her even more excited to go.

 

This year she's going to a different preschool than last year. Her teacher from last year only does 2 days a week, and I really wanted her to go more since she's almost 5. I also wasn't very impressed with her old teacher's lack of organization and communication with parents. Her new teacher, Miss Cindy, is quite the opposite, and we both love her already. Bridget gets to go Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for 3 hours each day. It should be a great year for her, and I'm sure she'll make some good friends and be more than ready for kindergarten next year.

 

When I picked her up the first day, her teacher said she loves her smile and that she is always smiling. Bridget and I had talked a lot beforehand about being friendly instead of shy and how to introduce herself to others. I asked how she did, and she informed me that she was friendly and even invited other kids to play with her. Yea!

Bridget's Preschool Graduation

The whole concept of "preschool graduation" is kind of funny to me since they didn't seem to exist when I was a kid, but now they seem to be all the rage. And Bridget actually still has one more year of preschool before starting kindergarten, but all of the kids "graduate" even if they still have a year left. It would make more sense to just call it an end of the year program and let those kids who are moving on to kindergarten "graduate," but then you might have a bunch of kids having meltdowns if everything isn't equal. Oh well. It was a fun event nonetheless.

Here she is ready to perform

And here she is quite proud of herself afterward

Here's a video of the Macarena Months song they sang:

And here's a video of her getting her graduation cap while sharing her answers to some questions her teacher asked her beforehand. You may need to turn your volume way up to hear it well enough:

Congratulations on finishing your first of MANY years of school, Bridget!

Fire Station Field Trip

When I met with Bridget's preschool teacher last spring before I decided to enroll her, I asked how many field trips the kids go on, and she said about one a month. Sadly, that has not been the case. Here it is January, and this is only the 2nd field trip they've gone on this year. Anyway, I was happy to be able to go with her on this one as we toured our city's fire department.

Her teacher actually has 3 different classes, so there were about 24 kids there. Here's a picture of her class together sitting on the front of the ladder truck.
The kids had the opportunity to walk through part of the ladder truck, walk through an ambulance (Bridget thought that was pretty cool), see the inside of the fire station where the firemen sleep, eat, and hangout, and see, hear, and touch the fireman while he had all of his gear on.
I also really appreciated the lessons in fire safety - not playing with matches, having a meeting place outside for your family, stop, drop, and roll, etc. - since that's not something we've ever really discussed with Bridget.

It was also kind of cool because while we were there all of the firemen had to leave on a call with the pump truck and ambulance leaving the fire chief to do some of the instruction.

At the end, all of the kids got little plastic fireman hats, and Bridget looked pretty darn cute in hers.
Although this was not her first time in a fire truck (thanks to Grandpa being a fire chief), she had a pretty good time.