The Movie

Tonight at dinner, John told us "We got to watch a movie today." Daddy asked "Really, what movie?" John said "Toy Story!" Daddy questioned him, "You got to watch Toy Story in class?" John laughed and said "No for recess!" Gillian said "We watched a movie too! In the cafeteria!" Daddy asked "What movie did you watch?" Gillian looked very confused and said "I don't know the name. Can I tell you about it? There was these two things. And they was looking for leaves. There was no more leaves. And the grandpa knew where to go. And there was dinosaurs." We were all confused. At least she said dinosaurs. We asked "Did they talk?" She said "Yes!" We asked "Was there a big elephant?" She said "No!" I guessed "Land Before Time." She had no idea what I was talking about so I asked "Was there a baby dinosaur with a long neck?" She said "No. It wasn't a baby. It was a kid and he had a long neck! And we watched it in the cafeteria!"

How it's made

John is obsessed with the show called "How's it made." The show takes you through how a few different things are made. John loves it. He would watch it for hours (if we let him). Today there is a marathon on the Science Channel. This is where I found him. 

A day at the office

The kids' schools were closed today for Yom Kippur so they got to spend the day at the office with me. They were super excited to go to work. 

When we arrived, John walked Gillian upstairs and they found two new Crayola Design Pro sets. I found them opening the boxes. John said "Look what we found!" I said "How do you know they are for you?" Gillian said "We're the only kids that come here!" They played with the new sets for a little bit before they decided to build their fort. There is a big plant next to John's desk and every time they come to the office they hide out behind the plant in a little fort. I gave them a box to use as a wall. It didn't take long before Gillian climbed into the box. 

They got a little crazy, but everyone went back to their projects and quieted down. They did some reading for school and had lunch together. 

John ran some messages up and down the stairs for me. He also hung out with Uncle Jay and Mr. Janno too. 

The kids spent most of the afternoon in their "fort" watching Netflix. 

Overall the kids had a fabulous day at the office. I have to thank all the people I work with for treating my kids so well. 

The invitation

John received and invitation today for the Summer Reading Celebration. Every year our school system rewards the kids that read over a certain number of steps (every step is equal to 15 minutes of reading) during the summer.  John proudly told Daddy, "I am one of the lucky few that got invited! It was just me and a few other kids in my class." Daddy said "No. Lucky means that you didn't do anything to have something good happen. You worked really hard to read all those books this summer." John said "So I guess I'm one of the hard working few!" 

Religion Class

The kids had their first religious education class of the year today. Well, let me take that back, it was Gillian's first religion class ever. In the parking lot, we met a boy that was in Kindergarten just like Gillian. All the kids and parents met in the meeting room. Gillian got very nervous and sat with me while the Deacon talked to the kids. Then it was time for the kindergarteners to go to their classroom. Gillian was a little nervous, but the little boy we met in the parking lot walked with her. It made me feel better. 

Daddy and I went and got coffee and then came back to pick them up. Gillian was so excited to see us. In the car we asked John about class. He said "It was good. We talked about Jesus." Gillian interrupted and said "You talked about Jesus?!?! We did too!!"  

The painting

Last night I went to a paint and wine party and left the house before the kids went to bed. This morning when I saw John, he said "When did you get back?" I explained that I got home after he fell asleep. I asked "Did you see what I made?" He said "No." And I led him down the hallway to show him my painting. He said "No way! That's amazing! Good job!" 

Later I showed Gillian my painting. She said "Did you buy it?" I said "No, I painted it." She said "No. You went to the store and buyed it. You didn't make it." 

My two little art critics. 

Sweet Motivation

Tonight for homework, John needed to write six to eight sentences about his favorite book. We worked on a rough draft together and when we were happy with it he started to write out the story neatly. He was very discouraged and immediately said "This is going to take forever." I cheered him on and told him to keep writing. He wrote three words and just stopped and stared at the wall. So I went to the cabinet and took out some chocolate chips. I said "Every time you finish a sentence, you can have two chocolate chips." He smiled and said "Yes! That's what I'm talking about!" He wrote the first sentence and then stopped for his chocolate chips. And then the negotiator arrived "What if I write two sentences?" I said "If you write two without stopping then you can have five chips." He smiled and said "I was hoping for four."

He finished his homework in no time and ate his dessert at the same time. 

Ice cream

Last night on our way home from Aunt Missy's party, we stopped and got ice cream. There's a place around the corner from us that makes homemade ice cream. It's delicious. Anyways, Gillian got chocolate and John got mint chocolate chip. The kids didn't finish all their ice cream so we put it in the freezer for another day. 

This morning I was helping Gillian find something for breakfast. She just keep telling me "I don't know what I want." I asked her one last time and she said "Can I whisper it in your ear?" She came over and whispered "I like ice cream." I said "Me too. But you aren't having ice cream for breakfast." She continued to argue with me "But I really like it!" 

Fire Drill

Last week, Gillian's school had their first fire drill. Her teacher had an entire lesson to go along with the fire drill. Gillian came home with this picture. 

I'm sure you have noticed that Gillian made a little modification to the picture. I asked her "Gillian, what's on the kids' heads?" She said "Tiaras!" Whew, we didn't think they were tiaras. She then proceeded to tell me "The ones with the orange tiaras are the king and queen!" I didn't realize tiaras were necessary attire for fire drills. 

Color Run 2015

For the past few years, Daddy, John, Aunt Betty, Justin and I have run the Color Run. This year Gillian joined us! She was very excited when we were at the house. 

And in the car. 

When we arrived she was very nervous and I think overwhelmed by all the people and noise. She sat in the stroller and refused to move. We had to bribe her to come out and take before pictures. 

We then moved towards the starting line. We wanted to be in the first wave of runners. So we would have the maximum amount of time to go through the race. We brought a stroller for Gillian, because we knew she wouldn't be able to run the entire 5k. Before we started Daddy had a quick pep talk with the kids. 

He let them know that John could run ahead, but we all wanted to go through the color stations together. 

The first color station was pink. Gillian was nervous, but excited that it was pink. We had her get out of the stroller and walk through the station with Daddy. The workers made sure she got a lot of pink. They paid more attention to her than Daddy (he didn't get any pink). After that she walked for a little bit. 

She walked for a little bit and Daddy carried her on his shoulders too, but she mainly stuck to her stroller. She always got out for the color stations. John, on the other hand, ran or walked the entire race. He spent the entire time with Justin. They would run ahead, but would wait for us to go together as a group through the color stations. 

After pink, we had orange, yellow and then blue. The very last station was silver shine. I got to walk with Gillian. The volunteers just loved her. They gave her high fives and they carefully doused her in the silver. She was covered in it. She just sparkled. And she was so happy. 

We rounded the corner and headed to the finish line. At the finish line we all got medals, a packet of color and a packet of shine. We all opened our packets and had a little color war. Gillian said that was her favorite part. 

It was an amazing day. Looking forward to next year!

Massages

We discovered tonight that John likes to give foot or back massages. 

It's not the best massage and it really tickled my feet, but he felt very important. I'm one lucky Mama. 

Another Beach Day

Last Tuesday, we took the kids to the beach. It was just Daddy, Granddad, John, Gillian and I. We got there early and the John immediately started building a sandcastle. 

Gillian seached for shells and rocks and when she found enough she laid them all out on her blanket. She decided she needed to name them all. But there were way too many and she stopped after three. 

The kids spent a lot of time in the water. 

Gillian got knocked down by a wave and I had to catch her, but that didn't stop her. By the end of the day Daddy had her out in the water floating over the waves. 

It was another fabulous day at the beach. 

Rest Time

On Wednesday night, we had a back to school night for Gillian. It was an opportunity for us to meet teachers before school started. Gillian also got to come and meet her teacher, the kids in her class and learn how to buy lunch in the cafeteria. While we were there, Gillian's teacher told us that in the afternoon the kids would have a rest period and that we should send them in a blanket to lay on. She said it would only be for the beginning part of the year and the rest of the year they would use that time as free reading. Gillian gave up naps 3 years ago. On occasion she would actually sleep at daycare, but it was rare. 

We sent in a blanket on Thursday. She came home that night and said "The monkey blanket is too small! My feet don't fit on it!" Daddy and I explained that we wanted to send something small to fit in her cubby and that we were a little shocked to even find out that we needed to send in a blanket. 

On Friday, I asked her "Did you take a nap?" She said "There's no napping in Kindergarten! It's a rest period. You don't nap in Kindergarten!" 

My Grandma's Birthday

Last Monday, was my Grandma's birthday. She would have been John and Gillian's great-grandmother. Unfortunately she passed away before Daddy and I got married. She never got to meet John and Gillian. But I know she looks down on us. I see a lot of her in my Gillian. 

Anyway after we went to the beach on Monday, we went to Grandma's house for lunch. After lunch we celebrated Grandma's birthday. We had cake, Dixie cups and M&Ms. It took awhile to explain to Gillian that we were celebrating MY grandma's birthday and not HER grandma's birthday. I told her all about how we would go to my grandma's house for birthday parties and we would get Dixie cups and she would save the plastic Dixie cups and fill them with M&Ms. 

Gillian enjoyed the celebration and would have made my grandma very proud. She ate every last bite of her ice cream. 

The Kissing Hand

Aunt Betty gave Gillian and I a book called "The Kissing Hand." It is a sweet book about a raccoon who is starting school. The Mom tells him that she can kiss his hand and whenever he misses her he should put his hand to his face. Then he will get the kiss and feel better. I read this beautiful story to Gillian on Wednesday night, the night before she started Kindergarten. It's a wonderful story and I got teary-eyed. She asked me "Can you read it again?" I did. And when we were done, I kissed her hand so she could have her own kissing hand. She then wiped the kiss off on her leg. I said "Gillian, that's not very nice." And she laughed at me. 

The next day at the bus stop she seemed a little sad, so I said to her, "Do you want me to kiss your hand?" She said "Mom, I don't NEED it." 

Thanks Aunt Betty it's a beautiful book, but Gillian is one tough cookie. 

First Day

Today was the kids' first day of school. Gillian started Kindergarten and John started 3rd grade. Our town passed full day kindergarten this year and in order to accommodate the additional kids, the schools got shifted. The schools historical had one for K to 3rd, one for 4 & 5 and one for 6, 7 & 8. In order to the full day program, 3rd grade got moved up to the next school. That being said John and Gillian go to two different schools (and will never be in the same school until high school). So today was a big day, new schools for both kids. 

We woke them up and went thru the typical morning routine. We had a little photo shoot on the porch. 

And then it was time to go to the bus. Two different schools means two different buses and pick up times. Luckily the bus stop is the same and pick up times are only 10 minutes apart. 

Gillian was not very patient waiting for the bus. Finally her bus arrived and she jumped on. No fuss, no problems. 

We didn't have to wait long before John's bus arrived. 

Yes. I cried. I'm a crier. It's a big change for both of them. And I worry. Daddy and I spent the day together waiting for them to be done with school. 

We picked them both up from aftercare and they were smiling and happy. John said "No homework! I bet no one got homework!" He told me a lot about his day and it sounded like a lot of fun. Gillian couldn't remember everything, but she did tell me little bits. We asked her if she made a friend on the bus and she said "No one sat next to me. And it's not easy making friends." I don't really believe that. She will make friends fast. I did ask both of them if they wanted to go back tomorrow. Gillian said "YES!" John said "I can't wait!"

I can't wait to hear about tomorrow.