Willow

Santa brought Gillian a doll similar to an American Doll for Christmas. Her name is Willow. Gillian loves her doll. Last night Gillian laid out her outfit for school today. Gillian picked a pair of black pants and a purple plaid top. It just so happens that Willow has the same outfit. This morning after helping Gillian get dressed I also had to help Gillian dress Willow. Gillian ate breakfast and then asked "Momma, can you fix Willow's hair, it's messy." I sat and brushed the dolls hair and Gillian asked "Can you put my hair in ponies too? So we can match?" And I did. Both girls had matching outfits and hairstyles. 

Before bed Gillian insisted on changing Willow in her pajamas. I'm so glad my little girl loves her doll!

Sound checker

Gillian has a new classroom job this week. She told me yesterday "I never had this job before. I read the sight words!" Tonight she told me "I'm the sound checker at school. I use the eye stick to point at the words. The words are on a pocket chart." I was confused. "What's an eye stick?" She said "It's a stick with an eye on it." And I said "What's a pocket chart?" She said "It's a chart with pockets." Oh, that makes sense. 

I had Daddy ask Gillian about her job. She said "I'm a sound checker!" And she proceeded to tell him about how she reads the sight words to her class using the eye stick. I'm still not sure I understand, but she is very excited about this job. 

Snow is magic

Yesterday morning I was on the phone with Aunt Missy as I was getting the kids in the car to drive to the bus stop. We were talking about work. We got in the car and my phone synced with the car so everyone could hear our conversation. John started talking to me and I looked back and realized his coat wasn't zipped. I said "John zip up your coat it's cold out!" This was probably the second or third time I yelled at the kids during my conversation with Aunt Missy. She took this as an opportunity to tell the kids "Guys, you better listen to Mommy because if you don't the snow won't come to your house. It will snow everywhere else and you won't be able to play in it." She quickly hung up and I was left with two kids that didn't understand. John said "How is that possible?" Gillian said "I don't understand." I said "Well where does snow come from?" Gillian didn't know. I said "It comes from the North Pole. And who else to we know that lives in the North Pole?" She said "Santa!" I then asked "Isn't Santa the most magical person ever?" Gilly said "Well elves are magic too!" I said "Exactly, the North Pole is magic. So snow must be magic too!" She was totally on board until we heard John say "Well actually snow is made from tiny water particles in the air. It doesn't come from the North Pole." He totally debunked my whole story. Oh well, I think snow is magic. 

Kindergarten Concert

Friday Gillian's school had their first ever Kindergarten Music Concert.  The kids have been practicing for months.  Gillian has been home singing songs for weeks now (check out the lion sleeps tonight). 

The theme was "Old MacDonald Had a What?"

 

The kids started out singing Old MacDonald and then replace a common farm animal with something crazy.  Then they would sing a song based on that animal.  The first song was "Rockin' Robin." Gillian is in the middle of the group wearing a fish hat.  Please don't mind the bad video quality, I used my cell phone and the lady in front of me was not very cooperative!

The second song was "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."  This is obviously one of Gillian's favorite songs.

The next song was "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a."  The kids explain in the clip, but the humuhumunukunukuapua'a is the state fish of Hawaii.  It is a fish that looks like a pig.  Gillian has a very special part during this song. 

The fourth song was "Five Little Monkeys."

The next song was "I can't Spell Hippopotamus."

The final song was "See You Later Alligator." 

The kids did awesome!  We are so proud of Gillian. 

The routine

Last night, Daddy moved all the furniture in the living room to one corner.  The kids loved having a big open dance floor.  After bath, they asked for a dance party.  We put on some music for them and let them go crazy.  I danced with them for a little while, but got sidetracked in the kitchen.  After awhile the kids called me into the living room so I could see their new dance. 

They were so proud of themselves.  I love that they worked together and had fun too!

Dancing

We went out to dinner tonight.  We sat next to the window and throughout the meal, John danced in his seat and watched his own reflection in the window.  It took me a couple tries but I got it on video. 

Pick up

I picked up Gillian tonight and then we headed to John's school. When we arrived at John's school we found another parent waiting by the gym doors. But it didn't look like anyone was there. So I said to Gillian "Maybe they are in the library. Let's go over there." The library is on the other side of the school. I was planning on driving over there. Gillian said "Let's walk." We didn't walk. We ended up jogging around to the library (we beat the dad that opted to drive). John was not too happy to hear that we had to go all the way to the gym to get to our car. Gillian didn't care. She ran all the way back. In the car, John asked "Why did you decide to walk? It's too cold!" Gillian just laughed. John said "She's crazy!" It just made Gillian laugh even harder. 

Masterchef Junior

I introduced the kids to Masterchef Junior. They are obsessed. We have been watching old episodes tonight. In one episode the contestants need to cook scallops. They have to take scallops out of the shell and then cook them. John is completely freaking out about how disgusting the scallops look. I said "Don't worry about it. They are just scallops." Gillian said "I love scallops!" I said "What? You've never had scallops before!" She said "I had them at the mall!" I have no idea what she is talking about. 

The calculator

Tonight I picked up Gillian from Time Plus then we went to pick up John. Gillian immediately ran over to one of John's Time Plus teachers (she always gives Gillian coloring sheets or projects to do at home). While Gillian was distracted John ran past me to get his backpack. I noticed he was holding a calculator in his hand. Once John had his coat on we headed to the car. Gillian asked "Where did you get that phone, John? John, why do you have a phone?" John said "It's not a phone Gill. It's a calculator! I got it in class today." I said "John were you supposed to take it home?" He said "Yeah, we had a game and if we beat Mrs. Cuttler then we got to pick a prize. I picked a calculator. There were only three!" Gillian said "So the calculator was the best prize?!" John said "I think so!" Gillian wanted to see it in the car. But we talked about how it is John's and he would show her after dinner. He did show her how to use it. "Gill, this is how you turn it on. And then you push this button to clear it all. And Gill, do you know about dividing? Cause that's the button you use to divide." He was very sweet and showed Gillian how to use the calculator. 

Back to school

Today was our first day back to school and our regular routine. I have been lucky to have spent the last 11 days at home with the kids. Well I did go to work for a full day in the middle of that and spend some time in the office another day. Anyway you look it it, there has been a lot of time at home with the hooligans.  I was tired of playing referee and entertainer. But I was also dreading sending the kids back to school. We laid out outfits last night and tucked the kids into bed early. 

There was no drama in the morning. Everyone got up and got dressed. They were also well behaved at the bus stop. I picked up Gillian first. She came running over and said "I had a good day!" Whew. I was so worried. It sounds like she had an awesome day. Later I asked her "Did you cry today?" She said "No. I didn't miss you at all." I'm not going to lie. That hurt. But I said to her "That's ok. I'm glad you had a good day." John also had a good day too. He had no complaints or problems. 

Pickles

Last night, I drew a hot bath for Gillian. She was so content and took her time getting herself washed. I said "Gillian you gotta get your body washed." She said "But I'm just relaxing. You know like one of those places where you get green on your face and then they put pickles on your eyes?" I laughed at her. And finally got her to get washed. Next it was John's turn in the bath. He also laid down in the water and relaxed. I said "Gillian thought it was like one of those places where you get green on your face and ..." Gillian finished my sentence and said "Pickles on your eyes! Why do they do pickles?" I explained "It's not pickles, it's cucumbers and it's to take away the bags under your eyes." Gillian didn't miss a beat and said "You have bags under your eyes." Yes I do sweetie. I'm a mom. I guess I need some pickles. 

The lion sleeps tonight

Today, Gillian was coloring and John was using his spirograph in the kitchen.  I didn't have the radio on or the TV on.  So it was pretty quiet.  Before I realized it Gillian started singing.  I thought she was just going to sing for a little bit and stop.  But she didn't.  I was able to get a little video of her performance.  She is concentrating so hard on her coloring that she didn't even notice me filming her.