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. 

Reunited

Over the past month and a half, Gillian has been having some problems at school and aftercare. She has been misbehaving and acting out. Our first response was to take away her favorite thing, her blanket (aka Manket). This didn't make a difference in her attitude. So we changed strategies. We opted for a reward system. She gets stars on the calendar when she behaves and frowning face when she is bad. She then earns privileges for a certain number of stars in a row. Today was her 10th good day in a row! She earned Manket back! She was so excited. This morning she woke up and said "If I'm good today, I get Manket! Almost ten stars!" When I picked her up from school she was grinning from ear to ear. She knew it was a good day and she would get Manket. I let her have her blanket as soon as we got home. She is so happy! Let's hope this good streak continues. 

Cool

This morning, I was talking to John. I asked him "Is it ok if I come and read to your class?" He smiled and said "Yes, because I want my friends to meet you." This makes me so happy. I said "So it's cool to that I go to your school? So I'm cool?" He said "Yes! Why?" I am so happy at this point. And he said "Yes. You are cool. Well a little cool." Ouch. 

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. 

Red Nose

Gillian has been talking about Red Nose Day all week. When you asked her about it she would say "Thursday is Red Nose Day! I'm so excited! All my friends will have red noses!" Gillian's class had a bake sale today with all the proceeds to go to the Red Nose Fund. She had Daddy buy brownies for dessert. When John and I got home tonight, she greeted us with "I got you dessert!" She wore her red nose during dinner and even let John try it on too! I'm sure she doesn't know exactly what Red Nose Day is about, but I'm glad she was excited and enjoyed it. 

The art show

John's school had their annual art show tonight. I took John and Gillian to look at the show. John was super excited. He practically ran through the school. We got to see a lot of beautiful artwork. The theme this year was coexist with character. There was a lot of animals and nature scenes. John's favorite part was a full size cut out of a blue whale! It took up an entire hallway! Gillian loved a jungle science complete with monkeys. 

My favorite part was seeing John's beautiful artwork. 

The Lizard Guys

Gillian's school had the Lizard Guys come visit today. Gillian told me about their visit in the car tonight. She said "Silly Billy came today. What? That's his name! He brought a lizard. The lizard was so fast! He ran all over the carpet! And there was a frog. He was slimy and bumpy!" I asked "Was he a tree frog?" Gillian said "No! But he was hopping everywhere. And he said 'I'm outa here!'" I said "Really?" Gillian said "What? I can talk frog!" She also told me about the snake. "The snake's name was Jack-Jack. He was a boy!" Then she told me about the turtle. "And there was John's favorite animal! His name was Tickle. He was slow. Not like the lizard." It sounded like Gillian had an awesome time.  

Puzzles

Gillian loves to do puzzles. Last week I went to pick her up from school and I found her sitting at a table putting together a puzzle. She asked "Can I finish it?" I have a hard time saying no to that. So I sat down with her and watched as she completed her puzzle. She put some pieces together then said "close your eyes. I want to surprise you." I closed my eyes and waited for what seemed like forever. It was totally worth it. She was so proud of her finished puzzle. 

The Story

Everyday Gillian comes home with a stack of pictures that she made at school.  Today was no different.  She folded all the pictures together to make a book and then she "read" John and I the story.  She created the story in the car, but after bath time I asked her to tell me one more time.  Here is a video of her story.

 



2nd Grade Concert

Friday was John's 2nd Grade Concert.  This year the theme was Character Counts.  MFA teaches the kids "Pillars of Character."  The pillars are Responsibility, Respect, Citizenship, Caring, Trustworthiness, and Caring.  They focus on a pillar every month and it was nice to see an entire concert focused on everything they learn throughout the year.

I have videos of all their performances.  The quality isn't the greatest, but you can see John grooving and singing.  He is wearing blue.  

The first song they sang was Respect.  

The next song was Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Next was I'll be there.

Then they did John's favorite, Our Lips are Sealed. 

The finale was Think.

Magnets

Gillian had Mad Science today. Mad Science is a program at her school where they do science experiments. Gillian loves Mad Science. Today they learned about magnets. But the only thing Gillian told me about was the magnet she brought home. "I got to color it. I made flowers, write my name and Baby Kenzie and the sun! Did you see? I made a sun!" 

I think she did an excellent job decorating her magnet. As soon as we walked in the house, she stuck it on a lamp. "See?! It's a magnet!" 

Walking

I dropped Gillian off at school on Monday. On our way up the sidewalk, I asked Gillian "Wanna skip?" She said "No." So we walked up the sidewalk to the building. When I picked her up that night, she decided to pout right outside the door. I wasn't tolerating the attitude, and I ignored her. I asked "How do you want to go down the path? Hopping? Penguin walk? Skipping?" Gillian giggled and said "Let's hop!" And we did. It was so much fun! Today when I dropped her off, I asked her how she wanted to "walk" up the path. We were going to walk like penguins, but Gillian changed to walking on our heels. It's a short sidewalk but oh so much fun when you are with Gillian. 

Consumers

John has a test this week on consumers, producers, and products. Daddy was quizzing him this morning. Daddy first asked "What are producers?" John said "Producers make things." Daddy said "Good, what are consumers?" He said "Consumers buy the products. Namely Mom!"

Pictionary

On Friday, I picked up the kids from school. Just as I arrived, Gillian and her friends were getting ready to play Pictionary. Gillian begged me to let her stay and play with her friends. Luckily, they let her go first. I was able to get a video of Gillian drawing. 

Later in the car, I asked her if the circles she was drawing were jewels. She said "Yes. Them sparkles. The other was a design. I didn't have time to draw a bow." 

PB&J

John had a half day of school on Friday. On half days, he spends the time from dismal to 6:00 pm (or when we pick him up) at TimePlus. TimePlus is the aftercare program at his school. TimePlus is a peanut free program, so we can't pack John a PB&J for lunch. We normally buy him a lunchable. He thinks it's a special treat and it's easy for mom to pack. Daddy went to buy one on Thursday and they didn't have the "big kid" lunchable (the sub sandwich kind). So Daddy bought turkey, cheese and rolls. Daddy picked the kids up from school and he told John "Sorry no lunchable. But don't worry Mommy will make you a turkey and cheese sandwich." Gillian asked "Can I have a sandwich too?" Daddy said "Of course. John just can't have peanut butter." Gillis asked "Am I allowed to have peanut butter?" Daddy said "Yes." "Ok, then I just want peanut butter with cheese." John meanwhile is saying "Thats disgusting!" Daddy questioned Gillian, "Oh do you want jelly with that also?" Gillian confidently said "Yup." John started gagging and said "I'm going to throw up."

She was pretty adamant about it. When I got home she asked "Can you make me a peanut butter and jelly and cheese sandwich for school?" I asked "Are you sure?" We convinced her to wait until this weekend to try it out. Hopefully she will forget all about it and I won't have to make that disgusting sandwich. 

Drop off and pick up

On Tuesdays, I drop off Gillian and pick up both kids from school. Since I don't drop her off daily, my drop offs are miserable. And today was no different. She didn't want me to leave. She clung to me and the teachers and I ended up distracting her so I could leave. I hate drop offs like that. I feel guilty about leaving her and I spend the day looking forward to to picking her up all day. 

Tonight, I arrived at school and found Gillian playing with two boys at a table. She looked up when I walked in, looked at me and continued to play. I let her play for a few minutes and then said "Ok Gill, we gotta go get John." She said "I just want to play more." I said "I'm sorry, but we gotta get Johnny." She continued to play. Then Miss Denise, her teacher, said "Start cleaning up." Gillian continued to play. I attempted to help her put away the toys. All that did was aggravate her, and she ran across the room. Miss Denise said "I will have to write Miss Lisette a note letting her know that some of our friends didn't have a good night. And she won't let you play tomorrow." This statement scared Gillian and she apologized and started to clean up. But then she refused to put her coat on. 

Ugh. All day I think about my kids and I can't wait to spend time with them and then she treats me like this. I wrote about this tonight, not because it's a memory I would like to remember but so years from now when Gillian has a stubborn little girl that refuses to leave school I can remind Gillian that she once did it to me.  

The duck part 2

Tonight, I picked up Gillian from school. In the car I asked "How was your day?" She didn't answer me. I asked again "Gillian, how was your day?" She said "I don't want to talk about it now." Ugh. I hate that. So we sat in silence for awhile until she heard something on the radio. "Mama, can you make it louder?" It was a commercial for the new Imagine Dragons song. She said "I want to hear it. Mama where did it go." Unfortunately it was just a commercial, and we didn't get to hear the whole song. So again we sat in silence. Then she said "Can we play the duck game?" About a month ago I blogged about how she was quacking in the backseat and I kept asking her about the duck. Well that's what she wanted to do. So she quacked and I asked "Gillian, did you hear that?" And she laughed. Then she quacked again and again. I played along and questioned if she saw the duck. She thought it was hilarious. Finally she said "It was me! I am the duck!" Love her. 

Penguin visit

Today the penguins from Jenkinson's Aquarium visited Gillian's school.  They visit every year.  Check out some of my previous posts about the penguin visit:  1) 2011 Penguins & Toothbrushes, 2) 2011 Yoshi & Checkers and 3) 2013 Penguins. 

I picked up Gillian from school today. In her cubby was an adorable picture of a penguin. When I saw her I said "I love your penguin! He's so cute!" She said "It's a girl. And a real penguin came to school today! He didn't like his cage. And and....and..." And her teacher interrupted, and said "He was new. He doesn't like his cage and he followed the trainer around the room. He was so cute." 

In the car on our way to get John, Gillian told me more. "They use their beaks when their hair gets crazy! But they don't gots no hair!" I asked "Did you get to pet him?" She said "No! Cause he would bite me!" I asked "So what else to penguins eat besides little girls?" She laughed at me and said "He doesn't eat people! Thems eat fish. And some other stuff. But the boy only likes fish! And him's didn't like his cage. He would put his wings up when he had to go in!" 

When we got home, she posed with her penguin. She decided "Hers a girl. And her name is Sparkle!"

Thanksgiving pageant

Today was the annual Thanksgiving Pageant at Gillian's school. All the classes sing songs and then they have a turkey lunch.

Since Gillian's class was going to sing songs about turkeys, all the kids in her class had headbands with turkey legs on them. 

Here are some videos of the songs.

Once again, TLC put on a great show.  I'm so glad I got to see it!

Drop off

I dropped Gillian off at school this morning. When we walked in her classroom, Miss Lissette kneeled down and said "Do you know so and so from the kindergarten class? Well their mommy had a baby today! Baby Matthew. Isn't that exciting?" Gillian said "I like babies. Do you know I have a baby cousin? Baby Mackenzie!" Miss Lissette smiled and said "Yes. You love Baby  Mackenzie very much." Gillian then got off subject, and said "Do you know that my Grandma made a blanket for my stuffed animals and babies? And it's blue." Miss Lissette said "You are lucky that your grandma makes you things." I said "Oh, Gillian is obsessed with all the things Grandma crochets." Gillian then said "This is my Mom. And my Grandma is my Mom's mom. And do you know what? Her name is Grandma! Can you believe it?" Miss Lissette and I laughed. And I said to Gillian "You know Grandma's name. It's the same as mine." Gillian said "Oh that's right. It's Rose." She's so funny.