Crazy Hair Day!

Today was Crazy Hair Day at school. My kids love this day. They have been talking about it for days. I have tried to talk them into a few of my ideas, but all they want are Mohawks. So Mohawks it is.

Even with their crazy hair, I think these are two cute little boys.

Kindergarten.......At Last

It's official,

Josh is in Kindergarten.

He was really excited, but also really nervous. When it was time to line up he kept looking back at me to make sure he was doing what he was supposed to.

Josh has been waiting to go to kindergarten since Joe started kindergarten two years ago. He really became anxious after his orientation last spring, so he has been ready to go for a long time. I thought I was ready for him to go too, but when he walked into the classroom I found myself holding back a few tears. I guess it is always hard to let your babies really go on their own.

Josh had a great first day and can't wait to go back everyday like Joe does. I am glad we still have our afternoons together.

King Joe

On Friday, Joe was King for the day.

This is his teacher's fun way to get to know the kids a little better and spotlight them for the class. She has each table (4 kids) be the king and queens for the day. Joe is the only boy at his table, so on his day, he was the king, and there were three queens.

Thursday he came home with a crown and a spotlight bag. He was to decorate his crown however he wanted and place five items in the bag that would represent him. The kids who had gone on the days before had been given Thor crowns. Joe had planned to put his face on Thor. He was a little disappointed when he got a BK Club Kids crown instead. It did not slow him down to much though. By the time he had walked home from school he already had a new plan. For this crown he wanted to take advantage of the word club. So we made it into a club Joe crown. We printed photos of his friends and brother and sisters and glued them over the cartoon heads on the crown. Club Joe represents the people who like Joe.

The five items he took to share were:

His Karate Trophy

A Joke Book

A Baseball Trophy

A case to a DS game

and something he had built out of Lego's.

It was fun to see how creative Joe is, and also to see what is important to him.

For Joe, the best part of being king for the day was getting to eat lunch with his teacher, and his fellow royals of the day. I thought that was pretty cool too. During lunch his teacher talked to them about school, and friends and some of their interests. He really feels like his teacher cares about him and what he likes. It really made him feel special.

First Day Of School

As summer is winding down and school is beginning our house is filled with all kinds of activity. I remember how I felt the few days before school started for me when I was a kid. The nervousness I had for the unknown, but the excitement I felt for the new adventures ahead. I didn't know that as a mother I would have these same feelings when my children started school every year.

This year is a big year for Emily. She is now in 7th grade and going to Middle School. So the unknown factor for us is huge. Needless to say we were both a little anxious.

I am so glad that Emily's middle school administration understands this.

Last Wednesday (before school even started) we had back to school night. After the initial introduction to the school and it's programs and policies, we were sent on a run through of Emily's schedule. We were able to visit each class for 5 minutes in the order she had them on her schedule. So not only did we get to meet the teachers, but she was also able to see most of the other kids that would be in her class.

Then Friday they had 7th Grade orientation. The 7th graders went for half a day and learn the ropes of the school without the 8th and 9th graders there. So Monday they were ready to start. Emily has at least one person she knows in each of her classes. She is also very lucky that her friend Lindsey is in three of them and they have lunch together.

Emily was very disappointed that she does not have any classes with her friend Tiana. In fact they might as well be going to different schools. They have different lunches and their lockers are on opposite ends of the school.

Emily's biggest struggle was getting her locker open, but by the end of orientation day she had it down. At the end of the first day Monday, Emily came out with a smile on her face. I think middle school is going to be okay. Emily seems to love it.

At the end of the year last year We had the chance to submit our first and second choice for teachers we wanted next year. For Emily I never did this and I was always happy with her teachers, but Joe is a different personality and I knew there was a teacher I did not want. As for the other two choices, I think I would have been happy with either one, but after many days of pondering which one to put first, I went ahead and requested the one I thought would push Joe a little more.

Wednesday the class lists were posted, and Joe got the teacher I requested. However, she was not the teacher Joe was hoping for. And to pour salt in his wound most of his friends were in the other two classes.

Having friends and being liked is a big deal for Joe, and to have a class without his friends was heart breaking. There were many tears shed that night.

I still had a few things to buy for school, so Friday I took Joe and Emily shopping to finish up. Joe was only interested in t-shirts with some kind of cool picture on it. We found some really fun ones. One was even a scratch and sniff. It smells like grapes. (I am not sure how long it will last.) That night I asked Joe if he was happy about his new clothes. He said, "Yes. They are very rare." Then a little quieter and to himself he said in an excited voice "popular!"

Monday Morning was the first day of School. Joe was feeling excited about school and told me he was not worried about his teacher. He still wished more of his friends were in his class, but it would be okay.

We walked up to school with his good friend Cooper. Cooper was also sad that they were not in the same class.

After School Joe was very happy with his first day. He realized he would still see his friends, and he likes his new teacher.

Josh is really excited to start school this year, and was very disappointed when he found out he has to wait another week to start Kindergarten.

Now that we have made it through the first day, I can happily say,

I think we are going to have a great year.

6th Grade Graduate

It is hard to believe that Emily is finished with 6th grade. She finished off the year with her Country fair.

She chose to do her report on France, because that is where Ryan served his mission. She has been working on her France report all year, and she did a great job. Lucky for her Aunt Tracy visited France during the year and shared her pictures with Emily. Emily liked doing this report and I could not believe all of the things she learned and remembered about her France.

Then to celebrate the completion of 6th grade and Elementary school, the PTA threw a 6th grade party.

The rule was student attending had to bring a parent with them so that meant I got to go too. the party was basically a dinner and a dance. It was fun to watch Emily with her friends.

I got some fun videos of them dancing, but Emily does not want them posted. So out of respect for her I wont, but they are really cute.

The kids all had a good time and they are all ready to move on to Jr. high..........So ready or not here they come!

Emily the Actress

Emily had so much fun in "Up With Kids" last year that she wanted to do it again this year.

Her friends Lindsey and Tiana also signed up. Every Friday they worked hard learning their songs and parts, and they had lots of fun together.

About January they get to let the teacher know which parts they are interested in. Most of the parts are about the same size. Everyone gets a speaking line and they all sing and dance in the scenes, but there are a few larger parts. I told Emily that she should go for one of those parts, but she did not want to . She told me that she likes to be in the plays, but she does not like to stand out.

Emily was given the part of The 6 of Hearts. She was very happy. As you can see from the photo she was one of the lucky cards in the croquet game, but she blended in nicely. Just the way Emily wanted to.

May 14th was the day of the big show. This years play was titled "Alice in Wonderland"

The play was cute, and I could tell Emily loved doing it.

Emily has also been busy at school preparing to perform a shortened version of "Midsummer Nights Dream"

They got to try out for the parts they wanted, and again Emily wanted something simple that did not make her stick out to much. So she was Very happy to be Fairy #3.

She looked really cute in her fairy outfit, and did a great job on her part.

When the kids in the class were not on stage they had them sitting on chairs on the side, so I could see Emily the entire time. I am so glad I could, because the thing I loved the most about this play was watching Emily when she was not on stage. She sat with a big smile on her face, laughing, watching, and enjoying the play as her friends performed. I could see that she did not care about her part, but just being a part of something fun and good.

The Karate Boys

The Karate Boys have done it again...............................

They worked very hard and passed their belt tests. Joe is now a low orange belt, and Ryan is a Green belt.

About a month before the test Sensei told Joe he did not think he would be able to test, because he did not seem focused and ready enough to do it. Joe showed Sensei how much he wanted his new belt, by working really hard the next month. I was really impressed with how hard he worked to get to test.

Ryan was also not too sure about this test. He has trained into the harder levels now, and he was not sure he had his technique down well enough to do this next test.

But they both did a great Job and I am really proud of them.

Joe is really excited about his new belt, and he was happy to get to show it off at the 1st Grade Talent show. I was a little worried when I saw how the stage was set up, but Joe did great at improvising his Kata to go up and down the different levels.

He was not sure about doing this in front of his class. I thought he did a great job, and his friends seemed to like it.

1st Grade Zoo Day

When Joe brought home the permission slip for his class field trip to Hogle Zoo he was really excited. He told me all about it, handed me the permission slip and then walked off. The next morning I handed Joe the permission slip and happily told him that I marked that he would bring home lunch and that I would come too.

I thought first graders wanted their moms to come to school things, so I was a little surprised and sad when Joe's reaction was an unhappy "Ohhhh, Why!"

He reluctantly took the slip back to school.

A few days before the field trip Joe came home and happily handed me a note about the field trip. Joe showed me the list of kids I had assigned to my group and told me that because I was the mom coming he gets to be the group leader. So that made it a really good thing that I was coming.

My group was Joe, Charlie, and Max. My friend Angela had two boys in her group ,Cooper, and Gibson so we decided to go around together.

The weather forecast for the day of the field trip had been saying rain all week. So I picked up some rain ponchos at the dollar store for our group. I am really glad I did because, it made it really easy to keep track of the boys, and it rained the entire time we were there. The kids didn't seem to mind the rain though.

We started out at the tigers. They were eating when we got to them and the boys thought that was great.

I loved the new baby elephant.

There was a special dinosaur exhibit going on at the zoo. All over the zoo were animated dinosaur statues.

They had this one for the kids to climb on for a picture. If you look at the dinosaurs mouth you will see that Joe is not the only joker in the class.

These two dinosaurs were their favorites, because they sprayed water. The boys loved this.


The original plan was to go to a park after the zoo and have a picnic lunch, but because of the rain we just headed back to the school.

But the kids still got a little bit of a special lunch, because they got to eat it in the classroom.

I am glad I got to go on the field trip. It was a little cold and wet, but I loved being with Joe and his friends. I hope he was glad I came too.

Under The Sea

Preschool is almost finished, and Josh is so excited for it to end so he can go to kindergarten. He keeps asking me when the last day of Preschool is, and when I answer he says. "And then the next day I start kindergarten?"

However, I am not quite ready to give up my preschooler to elementary school, and am glad I have the entire summer to get use to the idea.

Josh has loved his preschool and is always excited to go. He has made some great friends this year, and has learned a lot.

He has great teachers who really care about him, and are just as excited as I am when Josh achieves his goals. When Josh started bringing home his reading books, His teacher, Mrs. Valerie got to the car first to tell me the exciting news.

Now that school is wrapping up it is time for the programs, and once again Josh's preschool put on a great show.

The theme this year was "Under The Sea." Josh and his speaking buddy started the program as crocodiles

and their speaking parts introduced the song, "Never Smile at a Crocodile."

But the part Josh was the most excited about was his duet in "Puff the Magic Dragon." This is one of Josh's favorite songs at school.

Puff was one of my favorites too.

They ended the program with "Yellow Submarine." I think Josh's second favorite part of the program was getting to play a kazoo in this song. Ryan had told Josh to sing this song really well, because it was originally sung by Grandma's favorite band "The Beatles."

Josh was a little confused by this, so he asked his dad, "Were they black Beatles, or the ones with the white stripes or were they brown?

I love watching Josh perform, because I can tell he loves performing. He sings loud and does all of the actions. It was a great show. I love you Josh.

Way To Go Josh

Yesterday at preschool, Josh earned his rocket crown. To earn this special crown he had to be able to recognize all of the letters and know what sounds they make.



Josh is usually my child who hates having his picture taken, but he was pretty proud of himself for earning this award. I am pretty proud of him too.

Way To Go Josh!

Fire Station Field Trip

Josh has always loved two things. Trains and Fire Trucks. So he has been looking forward to his preschools Fire Station Field Trip since the beginning of school.
When Josh came out of his room this morning he said

"Mom watch!"

Then he shot his hand up into the air

as hard and as fast as he could.



He then said "I have been practicing raising my hand all morning

so I will get picked to help at the fire station."



Valerie and I were invited to go too, so we could help drive the kids to and from the station. Josh liked having us there with him.

When we arrived there were other schools there too and the room was very crowded. (One of the schools brought double the kids they said they were going to. The fire chief was not happy.)



I was worried because there would be even less of a chance that Josh would be chosen from the crowd. But, all of his practicing paid off and he was chosen to help demonstrate "stop, drop, and roll."

Unfortunately the room was so crowded I could not get a good picture. (I had to stand in the hall outside the room.) But I did get some rolling action on video.

After a great show we got to go see the trucks.

It was a great day at the fire station.

Getting Bigger

As soon as Emily and Joe started school Josh began asking if it was time for him to start school again too. Everyday before he got dressed he would ask if it was a school day for him.

Today was the big day. The first day of

4 year Old Preschool!

I did not realize just how much Josh had grown up over the past year.

This first day was very different from the one last year. On the first day his teachers ask a parent to stay for the first half hour of class so they can talk to us about what to expect during the year. Last year Josh clung to my leg and was very shy. This year he wanted to give his teachers his paper he found his hook and hung is bag up and he went right out and started playing with the other kids.

When his teachers were done talking to the parents they called the kids in for singing time. They had us sing two songs together and then it was time for the moms and dads to leave. Last year Josh bravely sat, and nervously watched me leave, but this year, as soon as Mrs Val told the parents it was time to go, Josh turned, waved goodbye, and then went and sat with his friend, and didn't give me a second look.

I then realized that somewhere in the last year Josh grew up a little more, and is becoming more and more his own person.

I am so excited for him to be starting school again, and I hope he has a great year learning new things.

First Day Of School

Emily is now officially a sixth grader.

She is really excited about 6th grade. This morning Ryan asked her if she was nervouse and she said no, because this is the first year she didn't have a bad dream the night before school started, so she figures it means it will be a good day. Emily got a teacher who is new to the school so we know nothing about her. I can't wait to hear what Emily thinks about her.

Joe is officially a first grader.

He does not really start until tomorrow. Today he had an appointment to meat his new teacher and talk to her a little bit. She seems really nice, and I think she is going to be a great teacher.

Joe's Talent

For the final full day of Kindergarten Joe's class had a talent show. It was completely optional. The teacher sent home sign up sheets a few weeks ago and I asked Joe if he wanted to participate. I asked Joe if he wanted to do something and he said maybe. So we talked about the different things he could do. Sing a song, tell some jokes, show his Karate skills. None of those options appealed to him. Then I remembered that for his "Up With Kids" talent show he did animal impersonations. So I asked him if he wanted to do that again. He excitedly said yes, so we sent in the form and waited for the day. You might be thinking, what kind of talent is that? Well here it is.




He started off with a dog, then did a snake and finished with a monkey. I think Joe is a very talented animal impersonator. One of his favorite games to play with Grandma and Emily are animal impersonation games. The audience was a little surprised by his talent. Even his teacher thought it was great.

He was really happy after the show, because he got more laughs than anyone else, and in kindergarten that is like gold.