First day of Kindergarten! (oh yeah, 3rd grade too)

It's finally here, the long-awaited day when both of my kids would be in school at the same time, same place even! Wow! I've been waiting for this day for so long, I expected to throw a parade or leave the school skipping and singing while the wind swept through my hair and the diet coke fairy bestowed a fresh, bubbly beverage in my hand and throngs of mothers everywhere would line up on the side of the street and say "Well done! You made it! Free at last!!!"

So I know you're as surprised as I am that I was a little emotional about the whole thing. It didn't help that our morning was a little, well, off-plan. But, when we got out there, and headed on our way, the kids looked good, Stu joined us for his first 1st-day experience, and all was sunny and warm. I felt bad when we dropped Sam, which became sort of an afterthought to the big FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN thing for Kate. He was fine, though, and told his new teacher he was ready to go.

For Kate, I have wanted her to be a kindergartener for so long, and she's been so ready for so long, that over the last week or so it occurred to me that I wasn't giving her first day the same weight that I did Sam's way back when. But once we were there, on the kindergarten play ground, in line to go into class, it hit me that this is a big deal. My big girl is finally where she belongs, where she wants to be.

I am so happy with her teacher, Ms. Consalo. When the bell rang and the kids lined up, she stood on the chair at the front of the line and yelled, "Good morning Ms. Consalo's pirate class. Are you ready for a pirate adventure? If you are, say "Aye aye mate!"" and then all the kids yelled back. It was so fun! She marched them off to the class room, telling them that the big people who were there (Parents) were all soft and weepy about the big day, so she needed the kids to be super strong ("Show me your muscles!" she told them). She read a weepy story (The Kissing Hand), and told the kids to run and give their parents a kiss and say good bye quickly. Kate looked up from her spot on the rug like, "I'm not getting up. You people can go now." She did finally get guilted into coming back and saying good bye, but she was NOT doing the kissing hand thing. See ya mom and dad. Ugh. My heart. Breaking.

I know, I'm proud she's a tough girl, and I taught her to be that way, but geesh. Just a little kissing hand? Please?

Silly faces.

Happy faces.

First day of school faces!

Preschool graduation

It is finally here! Kate's preschool graduation was Friday morning at a local church near Merryhill. Kate had been talking about the graduation for weeks. We picked out our dress and painted our nails (sparkly!) the night before. Dad took off to be home for the big day. Unfortunately, Sam had school. :(

On the way to the ceremony, Kate tells me: "Soon, I'll be graduating from high school!" Maybe not too soon. Just another 13 years.

The ceremony was quite an event. All the kids were dressed up and fitted in graduation hat (with tassel). The parents staked out prime seats and had cameras ready. They processed in to Pomp and Circumstance and sat on the stage in a line. Could a real graduation be any more exciting, I ask?

It really was a nice program. Each class has their own ceremony, donut was just room 2 and our teachers. They sang their favorite songs and one about being ready for kindergarten. Then her name was announced and we cheered and took pictures for our girl.

We really have had such a great experience at Merryhill, which is a particular blessing considering our rough start elsewhere in Henderson. Her teachers were great, and she learned a lot. (when I asked her what she learned she said "math, social studies, Spanish and phonics too!")

It was sad to be celebrating without the family we know would have been there if they could have, but we cheered as loud as we could anyway and recorded the whole thing to show everyone when we get home. I do mean everyone, so get ready for a home movie bonanza.

Congratulations, Kate!

Making my own lunch

Sam declared that he would make his own lunch today. Check out the meat on the sandwich!

Risk (or Geek Life Lessons 102)

For some time now, Sam has been itching to learn how to play Risk. I'm not sure why, other than that he's seen it in the game closet and wanted to learn.

Yesterday, Stu acquiesced. Since then, they've been at it. I thought maybe simply listening to the directions would squelch Sam's interest, but no. Clearly not. Before bed last night, I caught Stu staring at the game board. "Strategizing against your own son, eh?" I asked.

"No. I'm trying to figure out how not to lose," he said.

"You should be proud."

"I am."

And as I type, Sam's down there winning. Welcome to the world of geek gaming, son. What's next? Catan?

Christmas Morning

We had a terrific Christmas this year, even though it certainly marked a first for us. This was the first time we didn't have the kids in our own home for Christmas morning. Fortunately, Jack did a great job and let Santa know just where to find us, so we awoke to a living room full of surprises on Christmas morning. The kids were great about coming to wake us up first, and then patiently (or not so, in Kate's case) waiting for us to get up and around for the festivities. Grandma and Grandpa were prepared with all of the things we needed to open boxes and power up new toys. Grandma Mary made the breakfast casserole we always have, and Janet supplied us with enough cinnamon rolls for all 6 of us. We are so blessed!


We're just so excited! (Isn't that a beautiful Christmas tree??!)



Tangled Sing and Glow doll for Kate

Unwrapping mania!

Whoever came up with the boxing strategies for Barbies should be shot.

Wearing our new jacket (for me) while playing wiht the Beyblade we are really interested in

Snow!

Yes, that's right. Today in the hills of Las Vegas we woke up to snow! We had this crazy windy storm overnight, but I didn't hear rain this morning. Storms not being the torrents of rain we're accustomed to in the Midwest, that's typical. But when I pulled apart the blinds, snow! Very fine, crazy, swirling snow. It lasted about 30 minutes off and on, and covered our backyard, the cars out front, and the mountains behind us. It was beautiful, but minimally intrusive. The kids were singing "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" all morning. We were late getting Kate to school because of the school traffic, but what a joyful morning.

First day of School!

Sam and Kate both started school today. Not many stories really, but I did get some pictures. Sam loved it and liked math best. Kate said all they did was puzzles, but I'm not too sure about that. I hope not!

Our kids on the balcony of our temporary apartment-- Looking good, right?!

Walking to the school. We had to park about 2 blocks away-- it was crazy!

Sam with school supplies in tow. Can you see all the people? Chaos!

Kate's first day at preschool Nothing as cute as the mural at Stepping Stones to take pictures in front of, but here she is anyway, dressed in her favorite purple with purple shoelaces in her (required) tennis shoes!

After school... happy boy = success!

Training Camp

I helped out again with this year's Chiefs Charity Game, which benefits the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired. There are several perks. One is working with my friend Eileen. One is getting a chance annually to chat with my favorite Sports Radio 810 host, Soren Petro and crew. This year, we also went up to St. Joe for training camp. Sam and Kate get along terrifically with Eileen's twins John and Nora. The Wilkerson clan came up that day also!

Here are my pictures from the big day:


Chiefs QB Matt Cassel signing an autograph for Kate



Chiefs QB Matt Cassel signing Sam's ball cap



Here's our crew. Note the influence from Kate's meeting the cheerleaders. Pose much?

Bad Mom of the Year

About 3 weeks ago, Sam and Kate were messing around while we were waiting at a restaurant (I mean, they were sitting quietly in their chairs waiting...) and Kate knocked a chalkboard with the daily specials off the wall. Naturally, it landed right on Sam's finger, and caught it between a chairback and the wooden frame. It swelled immediately. Fortunately for us, a friend and doctor who was eating with us that day checked it out and said he thought it was most likely bruised or jammed, and should be fine. We put ice on it and went on about our day, never again to give it a second thought.

Until last week, when I noticed that it was still pretty swollen on that lower portion of his finger. I asked him if it still bothered him, and he said something to the effect of  "Only when I use it or bend it like this" and made some sort of extreme pose that I considered unnatural in daily life. But, it was nagging at me, so I decided to ask the aforementioned friend about it.

"Yea, it's been a few weeks, so I'd say you should probably have an x-ray." he texted back.

Great.

So, thus started my day yesterday at the pediatrician's urgent care. The pediatrician on call (not our regular, though one I like a lot), looked at me like I'd just eaten my young when she asked, "How long has it been again?" She declared that she was pretty sure it was a break, and gave me a list of orthopedic surgeons if it was on a growth plate, which I think she was pretty sure it was.

It wasn't. X ray revealed a fracture in the finger, but it was already starting to heal correctly (Yea!). According to dr. friend, it was well-aligned from the start. Good thing. And the radiologist also said it's good that he didn't rebreak it playing basketball or something, because then they'd probably have to go in and stabilize it with a pin. So, we're lucky all-around.

Sam has a splint on his finger and is sidelined for the rest of the basketball season. Sad! He's loving the extra attention at school, though, which rendered him "popular" (according to Sam) yesterday. And last night he claimed to need tylenol before bed. Even though I reminded him that it was really no different than it had been the day before. But, Tylenol I gave-- it eased my guilty mother soul.

Sweet Sam (I'm sure I have a dozen posts labeled this!)

Last week Sam came home from school excitedly telling me about some snowmen that are in his music teacher's class. I admit, I probably wasn't giving him my full attention, though I get so little info from school you'd think I'd perk up. The conclusion of his verbal dialogue was, "So she still needs two more and I was thinking we could get her one for Christmas!" Now I'm listening.

"Get her what, did you say?" I ask.

Sigh. "Get her one of the snowmen she needs in her room."

I explained that I was going to need a few more details about said snowmen-- what do they look like, how big are they, and more importantly, do you know where she got them? He said he didn't, but he knew Mrs. Barnard (last year's teacher) had given her one and so he'd ask. And by golly, he did.

The next day, he came home with a written piece of paper that said, "Hallmark Snowman Drummer." (I'm positive it wasn't spelled correctly, but I can't remember exactly and didn't want to misquote him.) Of course, this was Thursday, when I was ready to fly out of town for the weekend before Christmas, so I had to put his idea on hold in classic mom fashion: "Okay, Sam, thanks for finding out the details. That's great, but I'll have to see what I can do next week when I get back." He was a little deflated, but satisfied with my response. I even made a note on the noteboard, so he'd know I remembered.

I went yesterday to purchase said drummer, and fortunately for me, the sales clerk knew exactly which snowmen I wanted. Unfortunately, no drummer existed, nor was there ever a drummer. I chose one of the 4 and came home. Sam knew that the one I'd purchased was one she had, plus she'd gotten another just yesterday, so now only one remained. We hurried to the closest Hallmark and purchased the remaining snowman. (The sales clerk there asked who it was for and knew another student had purchased her the same one earlier that night! Ugh!) Sam wrapped it up and took it into school today. He even made a card declaring her the best music teacher ever.

I admit, I was a bit of a Scrooge when it came to this errand. I purchase teacher's gifts throughout the year so I'm ready in December, and admittedly do not include every teacher at school on my list. I was thinking, now are we starting a precedent of gifting to the music teacher? Do we have to gift to PE and art too? Who else? One more thing to get last minute. Ugh!

But really, isn't it sweet that Sam noticed something his teacher liked and wanted to meet her need with a gift? Isn't that the very behavior I should be encouraging in my child? I am really proud of him for thinking of her, and I know she'll appreciate being appreciated too. What a sweet Sam.

Little chefs

At the fall Just Between Friends sale, I picked up a Rachael Ray kids cookbook for cheap. Last week the kids and I looked over one of the first (and presumably easiest) recipes and picked one to make for dinner. Last night was our big night. Our menu was referred to as the dipper menu-- all things that you dip. We made chicken toes, veggie salsa dip and veggies, and peanut butter-caramel dip with apples. Yum. Or Yum-o, in Rachael speak.

I was hoping this might help them engage in the kitchen and also encourage them to try some new foods-- thinking if they participated in creation, they'd want to try. Experiment gone wrong when Sam tried a celery stick and it was super-bitter, for celery. Oops.

Sam was commenting about how messy the cooking process was. They were working on the chicken, which required Kate rolling chicken in flour and dipping in egg, then Sam rolling in the breading. Sam said, "If I'd have known how messy this would be, I'd never done it!"

He came back from washing his hands a few minutes later and added, "When I grow up, we are NEVER going to do any more cooking. It's too messy!"

Kate responded, "What are you going to do then, go out for dinner every night?!"

"Well, no. I guess when I get married we'll have to cook some, because it's good for the kids. If I have kids. You know."

So, we may not have succeeded in expanding our gourmet palate, but we definitely made an impression!

First Day of School

Kate's first day of preschool was a while ago, and I'm posting this in retrospect. We dropped Sam and went on our traditional trip to LaMar's. No matter when we leave, we always seem to have about a half hour before we need to be at school, but she absolutely insisted that we go straight there. I took a longer route than usual, and she kept saying, "You're going the wrong way!"

When we got there (now 20 minutes early), I warned her that we'd need to stay in the car a bit. A few first-timers were getting out to take pictures everywhere-- on the stepping stones, in front of the sign, by the tree, etc. We always take a picture in front of the sign and by the mural inside too, so we're not immune to the need to record history. Kate wanted to "do" the stepping stones, but they were too busy with picture takers.

T-10 minutes, they unlock the front doors to the preschool so we can go in. After a quick  picture and greeting with the director we now have only 8 minutes until school time. Kate could hardly wait.

The time for class finally comes. Other kids were crying and not wanting to leave their moms, not Kate. She went directly to her new class, said a quick goodbye to me (at least I wasn't ignored completely) and started to play at the sensory table. She definitely loves school!

Pictures to come! I guess they are still on the camera!

I should mention too that some of the "first-timers" turned out to be 3-4 year olds in Kate's class. She's a good head taller than many of her classmates!

First Swim Meet

Sam had his first swim meet (at least the first he actually got to swim in-- the other was rained out) on Saturday. In the boys 8 and Under group, he swam the Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and on a Freestyle relay team. (All swims for 8 and under are 25 m). He placed 2nd in backstroke, 4th in breast, and 8/16 in the freestyle. His relay placed first, though there was only one other team, but they won by a long shot. We were so proud!

It took Sam a swim or two to really figure out how the racing worked. His first race was the freestyle, and he was so concerned about giving the timers his name that he didn't touch the wall, which is when the timing ends. His coach and I are standing there yelling, "Touch the wall, Sam! Touch the wall!" We talked afterwards and his response was, 'Oh, I'll do that first next time." But he had a great time.

One of the surprising things is that Sam started to get competitive about where he placed in his heats. He'd look up and say, "Was I first?" It's the first flash of competitiveness I've seen from Sam, and I like it!

Here's a picture of Sam with his first ribbons. We're so proud.

First swim lessons

Kate had her first REAL swim lessons today. She was so excited to have her own class. I had to tell her, because we made two trips to the pool today, that she would just play during the first trip, but have her own lessons during the second. She said to me, "I will swim over here in the little pool now, but later I will be out there in the big pool with my teacher." I warned her that Level 1 involved mostly staying in the little pool, but that she needed to do what her teacher said.

When we got to lessons, she was talking with some girls about her size, and they asked what level she was in. "Level 3," she said definitively. "Me too!" said another little girl. After talking, we found out those girls were 5 and 8, and one really was in level 3. I told Kate that even though she is 3 years old, she would have to start in Level 1, so we got that all straightened out. She looked at me like "Whatever, Mom. I'll be in Level 3 next week."

She was so cute sitting there waiting with all the kids for her class to be called. When they said her name, she waited until the class list was done, raised her hand and declared, "I'm Kate!" She was by far the most eager of her group, though it included no criers, which was nice. She did a great job following directions and looked like such a big girl.

Afterwards, I told her I was so proud of her being big enough to take swim lessons. She said, "Are you proud of me for listening to my teacher and following directions too, Mom?" Yes, now if we could only do so well at home!

Pictures!

This is Sam and his private swim instructor, Nick. They have so much fun!

Kate and Sam before her first lesson

Kate listening to the instructions (and, most likely, giving some of her own)

Kate working on back float

The in-town spring break

Stuart and I decided to treat the kids to a trip to in-town family favorite, the Great Wolf Lodge. We had never been, but we figured a trip to a hotel with an indoor waterpark would be a big hit. We looked into it for spring break, but apparently GWL has figured out when spring break is, and the rates are about double the typical, which aren't really cheap from the start. So, we picked a date in affordable February, and headed off to the Lodge last Saturday night.

We waited to tell the kids where we were going until the last minute, but it turned out they had no idea what the Great Wolf Lodge was anyway. Sam's response was, "Is there a pool there?" Um, yeah.

We didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked, because the weather was down-right wintery and Sam had some homework, Stu had a cold, you know, same old same old. Still, we spent a good 5 hours or so swimming, and that was really enough for them to fall in love.

The place is a true resort for kids-- it was totally themed inside (though several notches below the fantastic Wilderness Lodge at Disney World, natch), and they not only had an indoor waterpark (like that would be enough), but a craft room, story time, an indoor quest game, and an arcade too. If it had been warm, putt putt would have also been an option.

We participated in the story time with about 150 other small kids in pjs, but the kids loved every minute of it. It was truly a little mini-break in our very cold cold winter. I personally enjoyed standing in line with the kids for water slides while watching it snow huge flakes outside.

We have pictures! They are mobile phone pictures, but at least we have something. Check them out below:

He's A Writer

A couple of weeks ago, we received a note from Sam's teacher that a book he wrote was chosen to be submitted for the Young Author's award in the district. Being the newbie school mom that I am, I had no idea if everyone was entered or just a few, but assumed that it was more likely the former. Still, the book was super cute and we told Sam how proud we are of him.

Yesterday, Sam came home with a note that his book was a selected winner in the contest. He has been invited to a ceremony in March recognizing his book, etc. Well, I'll be. We made a huge deal about this and again told Sam how great it was that he was becoming such a great writer!

The book is about T-Rex. It's illustrated non-fiction. It's about 10 pages, and very cute.

You know me, I had to satisify my curiosity by asking the teacher how many kids won this particular award. I mean, is this every other kid in the school or is this something to really get excited (aka brag) about? Obviously, we were really excited with Sam, but you know, can I include it in the Christmas letter or what?

Here is her response:
HUGE deal. Only 2 kindergartners are recognized form Cedar Creek.
I think there was like 350 entries...and 35 winners.
It is a really nice ceremony too.
I am SO PROUD of how hard he worked. I only selected the very best done ones to enter. M. in our class won also. The only 2 kindergartners at Cedar Creek to win.

See. Christmas letter worthy.

Baptism

Sam accepted Christ just before Christmastime, and he waited until Mamaw and Papaw could be here in January to be baptized. The day came, and he was pretty excited. We had to get there early and put on the white gown, which I was informed was easier referred to as a robe and that term made it much easier to get Sam into it. Kate went to Sunday School until it was time for service, and when I dropped her off she said, "Come get me when Sam's ready to get appetized." She referred to his being appetized for the entirety of the day.

While we were waiting through the songs and things, Sam was praise dancing in his little baptismal ROBE. It was such a fun sight-- he was so excited, and so happy, and I really do think that he was praising while he danced. The man who is the baptism expert at church, helping us with the robe and such, really got a hoot out of Sam I think. Rarely has he seen such a jubilant, at least physically so, candidate, I'd expect. Even while Sam waited in the baptismal tub for the curtains to be pulled back and the baptism to start, he was swimming around and having so much fun.

Stuart performed the baptism, which was so important to us and was so special. I know that will be a special bond between Sam and his Daddy for life.

We celebrated afterwards with the whole family-- only a small group of 30 or so people. Thank goodness everyone brought something and we had a great place (Bob and Adella's neighborhood clubhouse) to gather. We're so blessed to be able to share Sam's special day with so many people who love him.

I'll try to remember to download the pictures and put some up here-- he really was so cute! (You know, in a manly, 6-year-old boy way.

Stepping Stones Christmas Program

Kate participated in her first preschool Christmas program last night. She was really anxious to get there, and when we opened the garage door to leave and she saw it was dark outside she said, "See! I told you it was late!" I tried to explain the difference between dark and late, but she didn't get it.

So we were there excruiatingly early. Its harder to get good seats at the preschool programs than in the GA at Allen Fieldhouse. Well, almost. Anyway, it's craziness, so it was only the 4 of us plus Grandma and Granddad. Don't worry, it's all on video.

Kate did a great job. She had no fear, and followed directions. She only played with the bottom of her skirt at the very end when they were sitting on the step-- fortunately it was long enough to cover up any potential lifting. Whew.

Here are the pics! Note Sam and his fellow alumnae Grace. Always making the moves, that Sam.

Our First Official Snow Day

We had our first elementary-school snow day yesterday, sans snow. It was all very exciting. For me. I didn't mention the possibility to Sam, because I didn't want to get his hopes in the non-materializing snow up. So, when my phone rang at 5:50 to announce the cancellation of school, I wasn't greeted by an anxiously-waiting child or anything. When they did wake up, the response was mixed. Kate was disappointed to miss silver/gold day (and santa) at preschool, but Sam was thrilled for a day off of kindergarten.

Naturally, I had to try to cram in as much snow-day fun as possible into this one day. We started with chocolate chip pancakes. Kate liked, Sam did not, but didn't admit it. Then we made a Christmas gift for dad. Can't say any more, but it was the most crafty I've been in a long time. They loved it and worked really hard on making it great. I will tell you it involved some coloring, and when I suggested that Sam do some and Kate do some, Sam looked at me and whispered under his breath, "You know mom, Kate scribbles." I had to laugh, because until about 4 months ago, so did Sam.

Then we had to take a little activity break (for my sanity) and they watched some Christmas cartoons. (That "Prep and Landing" by Disney was SO cute. They loved it.) Kate demanded cookie-making, so we made some of our annual Christmas sugar cookies. Only sugared this time-- I told Sam we'd save the special icing for closer to Christmas. Kate cut cookies while Sam mastered the art of sugar-sprinkling. We had several cookies that should have been labeled hazardous material because of the heap of sugar on each, but he learned how to use it sparingly.

After cookie-making, I required another break. Kate, who previously pronounced "no naps," crawled willingly into her bed for a rather long one. I tried, but of course the phone rang too much, so I got up to exercise while Sam played Wii. We really need some new games, Santa, if you're reading along.

We finally ventured out for piano and Chik-fil-a, complete with adult converation for me with Janet and Bill. Thank goodness for Chik-fil-a. It was a long, exhausting day, but we all had a really great time. Yea for snow days!

Mission accomplished!

I'm getting so lazy on my days off. Since I'm going to exercise after I drop Kate, I've taken to laying in bed as long as possible then throwing on clothes and going. Gross, huh?

Well, about 15 minutes before Sam had to get on the bus, I was trying to look presentable, and Sam ran up the stairs declaring "Look what I did Mom!"

So, i looked. To my surprise and amazement, he'd done it. He'd tied his shoes all by himself! After working on it last winter, and starting again on PE days for school, he really had never done it completely by himself, but was getting closer. Sure enough, in his own time, and without my help, he did it.

What an accomplishment. I kept wondering if we'd have to send him to high school graduation in velcro. I'm sure he wouldn't be the only one-- I think that's why the trend of those converse shoes with the untied laces has become popular.

Hurrah!