Ellie's Fall Program

Ellie's Fall Singing Program this year was very cute.  It is hard to get good pictures, but she did a very good square dance.  She made me giggle because she reminds me so much of myself.  She kept pulling her partner along with a sigh as though he needed all the help he could get to be in the right place at the right time.  It was very fun to come hear her sing and see her perform.

Halloween

Halloween:

I win some awards for my Chili at the Ward Party.  It's one of my few "meals" that people really like, so I have to be proud and everything.  Of course, I poisoned Justin when he ate it the next day and got a migraine.  So, there you go....

Going Trick or Treating:

Spencer did not want to be pictured in this photo.  He also refused to wear his Puppy costume, and so ended up wearing Grant's Batman pajamas and the Batman cape.  He really got into the whole candy thing once he figured out what was going on though.  Ellie was Cleopatra, Grant was a dinosaur, and Meg was a Frog Princess - her, very specific, request.

The School Parade:

School Days

Ellie goes to 2nd grade, and Meg goes to kindergarten.  They were soooooo excited.  Meg has the same teacher Ellie did in kindergarten and she was so happy to go to school.  (Two weeks later, she is a little disillusioned with waking up early and anything not called recess, but she is still doing a good job.)

Ellie walking to school with her friends: Aimee and Erinn.

Making Valentines for School

I love that Ellie enjoys creating things.  Usually she comes up with way cooler stuff than I could think up on my own.  Here she is making her valentines for school:

Actually, this turned out much tamer than her usual projects, which is probably good since they needed to be mass-produced.

School Halloween Parade

We went to school for Ellie's Halloween Parade.  I love when I can visit her in her classroom.  She won the bingo game that they were playing, which she was very excited about - even if her neighbor Nate had to point it out to her.  I guess that's what Captain America is for: saving the world one bingo game at a time.

These kids were pretty good waiting.  Until Spencer wasn't.  Until he wandered around the class trying to eat the plugs, the CD players, the books, and everyone's dropped goldfish.  In the spirit of survival, I let him eat goldfish off the 1st grade classroom floor.  I am such a good mother, it is amazing.  Still, while he did momentarily have the plug for the CD player in his mouth - I did take that away.  Gold star.  I know.

1st Grader!

Look at this wonderful 1st grader!  Boy, do we love her.  And we miss her now too!  M and GQ hardly know what to do with themselves now that E has disappeared. 

Since I was suffering from bad haircut guilt I had her shower the night before school and then I actually pulled the blow-dryer out from its crate under the sink.  I don't really know how to use it, but I made my best effort.  E was a little irritated because she's never had her hair "done" that way by me.  I'm usually a braider.  Anyway, we dried the hair, and cut off some more crooked parts (she was a little suspicious when I pulled out the scissors - I am SO buying one of those cutters you suggested Gaylene!). 

We had also gone to pick out a back-to-school outfit, which is a first for E.  Last year I - cough, cough - made fun of her clothes choices.  But then when I packed for our trip and tried to find outfits that matched, I found out how difficult it is to make the leftover wardrobes of four different girls come out to anything remotely matching.  So, this year we got to pick some things that matched when they arrived.  Since then, E has really taken to the whole matching thing and she likes to color-code her days.

I also told E I would let her have a treat after school if she tell me every detail of her school-day.  Last year she always informed me that "she didn't remember."  This from the girl who remembers some random thing I told her three years ago that means I have to let her do something today.  Usually I don't do snacks because I am lazy that way and it means I don't have to cook/clean an extra thing and that my kids are more likely (slightly) to eat their dinner.  E was very excited - kind of embarrassing - "I can REALLY have a SNACK????"  So, now she tells me about her day and eats her snack.

I am currently trying not to be insane about the whole public school thing.  But it is kind of weird out here because unlike Utah where they have 80 gazillion kids and appreciate volunteers, in Iowa they have 16 kids and would really like it if you never entered the school door.  (Justin would say I'm exaggerating, but I really feel like anytime I bring up that I would like to volunteer in the classroom the teacher gives me this look like I'm Napoleon trying to take over the world.  The "Claire Jones" part of me wants to stage an actual invasion.  Justin offered to make me a Napoleon hat.)

E's favorite thing about school - as far as I can tell - is that they have a Guinea Pig (that thinks your fingers are carrots) and that she can pull up grass at recess and analyze the root systems. 

Back to School

In the summer, in the morning, I lie in bed.  Justin does not leave at 5:30 as he does during the school-year.  Baby S wakes up, eats, and joins us in our laziness.  And around 6:45 the other kiddoes rush in.  There are days that I keep my eyes closed and pretend to be sleeping, days that I give up on not being jumped on - and get out to make the bed, and days where we all manage to get along and be lazy for a half hour more.

And sometimes - instead of debating who has the best spot, who stole who's pillow, who kicked who, who's hungry, and whether or not E is screaming or talking in her regular voice - we have fun:

Which brings me to my point.

(You know, the one about me hating school.)

E goes to school on Thursday.  She will be in 1st grade.  And I am not excited about losing her again.

On Friday E joined Justin and I on our get-away date.  We ate BBQ and went to pick out a "back to school" outfit.  Since E has half a heart that wishes she were an only child (the other half enjoys people to boss/love) she had a great time. 

I cannot believe she will be gone on Thursday.  Which is why I quite enjoyed the homeschooling magazine I suscribed to last year when it arrived in my mailbox this week.  But I did eventually throw it away.  Sigh.

Kindergarten: Check!

E has officially finished Kindergarten.  We are excited for the summer here, although E is already worrying about next year - good ol' Andersen style.  Here she is with Mrs. Swartzendruber on the last day of school, which happened to be really rainy:

Since we had just done a "real" gift for teacher appreciation, E made a gift for the last day of school.  I didn't get a picture of the puzzle she made Mrs. S., but the puzzle below is similar.  E likes to draw intricate pictures and then cut them up to create her own puzzles.  Justin had the patience to put this one together:

This is one of my favorite drawings E brought home this year.  While it looks pretty simple, it is the detail which says "E" to me so completely.  This is a picture of our dining room and E has made sure to only have two of the five lightbulbs working above the table.  (We are down to one now!)

This next picture was hung up in the hallway, which made E very proud.  It is meant to be similar to the famous "Grant Wood's" paintings.  E became very traumatized when a few days later the head of her cow was ripped off.  They later found it taped to another painting and she was able to fix it.  (I am not sure why it is sideways.)

Lately...

... Justin and I had our 8th Wedding Anniversary.  I took advantage of this moment to buy a cake that my friend Donna forced me to become addicted to.  It is all her fault.

We had the kids blow out candles, which they definitely enjoyed.  (This, however, is when I told them to pretend to blow the candles out so that I could take a picture.  Only M really looks like she's taking it seriously.)

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This morning we walked to school despite threats of rain.  I hate putting Baby S in in his carseat, and avoid it if at all possible.  GQ steals Baby S's bear if at all possible.

And just look at those humidity curls...  I love the humidity, which most people find insane.  But I just feel so warm and wrapped up.  It's nice.  Plus, M's hair gets curly.

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Yesterday, E decided that she and M were running for President.  When I told her that I would not be voting (I can already hear the wails, regardless of who I voted for) she told me I was being mean to both of them.  Then she made M the President.  I assure you, it was in name only.  There was a real boss running things behind the scenes.

(This is the wall under the counter where E is allowed to tape things up.  She also has two drawers upstairs for projects, and two bins downstairs.  Two nights ago when I informed her that the bins were getting full and she might need to go through them and throw things away she became traumatized.)

I particularly like the oath of office pictured below.  If only. 

"I will be a good President my whole President days.  I will not give up.  I will be very honest."

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E's teacher Mrs. S. saved this for us:

True that, my friend, true that.

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And below, an illustration of the many pirate swords being drawn around our house lately.  If you look closely you'll notice they come complete with blood on the ends.

These pirate swords are displayed on what GQ refers to as the "table mable." 

As in "Get off the table, Mable, the dollar's for the beer."  This is because in true Andersen fashion I always say: "Get off the table, Mable" when the kids are on it.  Justin has picked up this habit despite himself.  GQ obviously thinks tables are called "table mables"

He He.

Things I do to my kids.