Pumpkins!

K & T were both assigned a project to create book characters out of pumpkins.  Tyler's favorite book right now is Pete the Cat (same one he chose at the book fair) - so that was an easy decision for him.  Katie kept going back and forth and finally decided on Pinkalicious - only to have another little girl in her class show up with a Pinkalicious pumpkin on Tuesday which made Katie not want to do the same.  We already had all of the stuff, though, to create Pink and thankfully she finally was okay with doing another Pinkalicious because she said they would have twins!

They did a fantastic job!  Tyler wanted absolutely no help and did everything himself.  Katie cut the yarn pieces for hair (and asked me if every single one was the right size after she cut it), and did the face but wanted me to do the painting.  She is definitely averse to mess and getting dirty these days - so strange to me since she was the one that loved to play in the mud when she was littler!

We will carve our pumpkin tonight, and as a group the neighborhood has decided to push back our Halloween trick-or-treating to Friday night since the forecast for Thursday calls for 100% chance of rain and high winds and storms.  They will have a big day at school tomorrow with fun class parties and we may find something fun today out of the rain that night, but I am glad that they will still get to trick-or-treat at least in our neighborhood!

Report Cards

The kids got their first report cards and they both did great!  With all of this common core stuff the report cards read a little strange (from what I remember), but the main thing I take from them is that they are both on track and even ahead in some areas.  The report cards give the teacher the option to give a 1, 2, or 3 and say that students are not expected to receive a 3 until they have full mastery and typically that is at the end of the year since common core is measuring year long expectations.  So, with that said, Tyler only received a 3 in two areas but the rest were 2's and there were no 1's.  A 3 is "meets with proficiency," a 2 is "Developing Proficiency, and a 3 means that they require more time and experiences and shows limited achievement.  Both of Tyler's 3 areas were in Math (which he truly loves).  Katie, on the otherhand, received mostly threes.  In Language Arts/Literacy and Math she got a 3 in all areas.  She didn't get any 1's either, but got 2's in Science and Social Studies.  They both got overall scores of E - Excellent Performance, and got E for Exceptional Effort in all of their special classes.  I am very proud of how well they are both adjusting to Kindergarten. 

The disparity in the number of 3's isn't wholly surprising since Katie tries much harder to be a good student, and is a teacher pleaser which Tyler definitely isn't.  He has always been reluctant to demonstrate to teachers what he knows, for some reason, but I am completely comfortable that he is where he needs to be in terms of learning letters, and sounds, and especially vocabulary.  Some of it is the difference in teachers, too.  Tyler's teacher is not going to be overly impressed with much and really expects complete mastery and that there are very few areas where any student would have a 3 at this point in the year,  whereas I think Katie's teacher is looking at where she is compared to the other students and sees no reason to wait to give a three if she truly already has mastery of a skill (i.e. she can write all of her letters with very rare errors, but Tyler will sometimes write a few backwards which does technically mean that he doesn't have full mastery).  All in all, I am pleased with how they are doing and feel validated in the decision to put them in Kindergarten on the young side! 

Halloween?

The weather looks like it is going to be rough for Halloween - I really hope that changes because the kids have been on countdown for a month and haven't had a chance to wear their costumes at all.  Typically we go to Fall Festivals where they can wear them, and they can usually wear them to school - but not this year.  We had a Fall celebration in the neighborhood yesterday and some of the kids wore their costumes to that, but since it included a bounce house, chili dogs and making smores - I didn't think it was a good idea for K&T.  They jumped for two hours and had a blast.  On Saturday they had a good time out at the birthday party for a friend and then were excited that Cousin Liz was coming over to watch them while Lance and I got to go catch-up with some old friends.  That was fun for everyone!

This week is going to be stressful enough without Halloween being cancelled so I hope the weather holds off - we can trick or treat in the rain, but they are saying storms and that isn't good.  As we wait to see what Thursday holds (and I have a field trip with the kids from work that I am chaperoning on that day too that we don't want bad weather for) - we have a lot going on in the meantime!  We have to make book character pumpkins for each of their classes and I am not crafty or artistic at all so I have been just dreading this project.  The kids have very specific ideas of what they want to do, but unfortunately I know the ones we have seen on pinterest are nothing like what we will actually be able to create.  We will attempt it this evening, though, after their dentist appointment.  Katie has been begging to carve our pumpkins, too, so that's on the agenda one of these nights - I really hope they don't have much homework this week.  They have a field trip tomorrow, class party on Thursday, and no school on Friday (parent conference day) so for them it should be a really fun week. For me, it reminds me that being a working mom is really hard.  I have a million things I need to do for both work and home and feel like nothing is getting done.  A friend posted on her Facebook about the struggles of working moms and how she feels like she is drowning (I can so relate) and I need to try take the advice I gave to her that basically reminds all of us perfectionist, want to "have it all" moms that most of our worries are just "small stuff" and that happy kids learning to be good people, and good citizens is the goal and that doesn't take as much as we think!  I get stuck in these cycles where I stress about the house and car not being clean, not working on sight words with the kids often enough (even though they are both ahead and there is no need to rush it for either one), not preparing healthy, family meals every night, etc., etc. and sometimes I just have to recognize that most of this really won't matter in a few years, and just work on giving my time, attention and effort to the things that will!

Fingers crossed for Halloween - my "nice witch" and "construction worker" will be very disappointed if it's a no go!

Family Fun!

My kids absolutely love spending time with their cousins, I really enjoy catching up with my sister, and Lance and my brother-in-law get along so well that they were up way past bedtime Friday and Saturday night, just hanging out - which is why it was a really great weekend of family fun!  We all went to tailgate for the Vandy game on Saturday, but the weather was nasty so my sister, me and all the kids went to lunch at Chuy's and then back to the house to watch the game while the boys were sitting in cold, rain. The game was awesome though, and the 'Dores were victorious!  We had a yummy ribs and twice baked potatoes dinner Saturday night and then went to breakfast at Monell's Saturday morning.  We definitely ate well this weekend!  The kids have so much fun together, though, that they can barely stop playing long enough to eat anyway. 

My sister and I went shopping for a little bit Saturday after the guys got home since the weather has turned chilly and the kids needed some more cold-weather appropriate school clothes.  I got some of what we need and will get the sweaters, shoes, etc. sometime soon.  I do love uniforms, but these last two weeks have shown me two drawbacks.  One, it is kind of expensive to be forced to buy new attire each season - at least for my kids who didn't already wear collared long-sleeve solid shirts, cardigans or khaki pants at preschool and can't wear what does fit because denim and prints aren't allowed.  The second is that shopping is really boring since you can't go for anything really cute, and we have to choose between getting them decent school attire, or cute weekend (or two week break as the case has been) clothes - but not both, and of course school clothes worn 5 days a week win. 

Halloween costumes have been selected and purchased (so there is no going back) and the kids are both begging to wear them all the time.  Tyler couldn't be persuaded not to be a "construction worker," but he seems really pleased with his choice so that's all that matters. 

This weekend we have a birthday party for a close friend of theirs, a fall festival in our community that we want to check out, a neighborhood Halloween celebration, and we hope to get to catch up with some old friends at a get-together they are having but need to find someone to watch the kiddos.  Work is crazy busy, still, but that should mean that the week should go by pretty quickly, anytime there are a million things to do the only plus is that it seems that the weekend arrives sooner! 

Fun Festival

Yesterday was spent searching for a new washing machine (not much luck but only because we can't decide if we should bite the bullet and get both a washer and dryer or just get a cheap washer and hope the equally as old dryer hangs on for a while), searching for Halloween costumes (Katie found a "nice" witch that she likes but we didn't find the construction worker or garbage man that Tyler was looking for), and a trip to Costco for some lunch stuff they need for their week at Science camp.  So, today we did something fun for them and went out to a festival sponsored by Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.  It was a great time - I thought the highlight was the "musical petting zoo" sponsored by the Country Music Hall of Fame, but the kids would probably tell you it was the plethora of inflatables that made it so fun. 

There was lots more to do, too!  They had cupcakes with Miss Tennessee, completed an obstacle course, popped massive bubbles, and more!

Next week is their official Fall Break and they will be at Science camp each day.  I am going into my crazy, busy time at work - unless the shutdown continues in which case I have no job - and have a lot going on, but hopefully this week we can finalize the washing machine purchase, and take care of some other errands as well.  This weekend my sister and her family are coming in to town and next weekend we will all go to the Vandy game so lots to look forward to! 

Beach Trip!

We had an awesome time at the beach.  Poor Katie fell the very first day we were there and had (and still has) a bruise on her cheek.  But, that didn't stop them from having a ball on the beach our first day.  We were staying at a friend's house and the beach near their house has a tide pool that was perfect for the kids on our first day there that was kind of overcast, a little chilly, with rough waters. 

The next day we took the kids to stay with my mom and Lance and I went deep sea fishing.  It was really fun (even though I got a little sea sick at first), and I even caught a pretty big triggerfish.  Lance and I cooked it that evening and had a great meal, fresh caught! 

Our next two days were spent pretty much on the beach and it was fabulous.  The weather was gorgeous and it was the perfect set-up for little ones with a sandbar and shallow area all along our stretch.  They made some friends who they just loved spending time with and we chatted with their parents and all had a a great day at the beach.  Tyler was really into digging holes (and being buried in them occasionally) and writing in the sand and Katie was happiest playing in the waves and making up games with her new "best friend." 

On Wednesday night we tried to play mini-golf but the two hour wait derailed us.  We rode go-carts instead and had a good time, and went to Back Porch to eat for the first time in years (and first time ever with the kids). 

After our super long last day at the beach, the kids were more exhausted than I have ever seen them.  We really wanted a meal at Red Bar, though, so we ventured out despite how tired T&K were hoping they could make it.  They did great - but were absolutely delirious with fatigue. 

It really was a wonderful trip, and I am so glad we were able to go.  It was just the relaxation and family time that we all needed.  Tyler is at a super silly age, but they sure do love hanging out with their daddy!  Since he works weekends they don't get to do as much fun stuff with him, which makes vacations like this super special! 

Annual Check-Up

All went well at the kid's check-up today.  Katie even got her flu shot (Tyler got it a couple of weeks ago) with no crying and I don't even think she realized it was done.  They did very well answering the doctor's questions and doing what they asked - I was proud of them.  Katie is, still not surprisingly, very small.  She is almost 40 inches tall and weighs almost 37 pounds.  She is in the tenth percentile for height and weight and according to the calculators is still expected to be about 5 foot tall as an adult.  The doc said that she is the perfect height for her weight and for now has 20/20 vision.  Tyler, unfortunately, only has 20/30 and we will have to watch him to see if he needs corrective lenses.  He is almost 41 inches tall and is 38 pounds.  He has been "mirror writing" lately and turning around a lot of letters and numbers that he didn't use to so I asked the doctor about it and he said that it was perfectly normal, so that is reassuring.  Their dad just walked in and Tyler told him that "this morning I was a little scared of the doctor, but I liked it."  That's good - no doctor phobia, yet! 

Katie passed her sight word test today and when I saw her teacher when I picked them up for their appointment she said that Katie did great on the test and that she is way ahead of those in her class - yay!  I don't know how Tyler is doing in his class, but they have mastered the same sight words so I expect that he is doing OK too.  Makes me feel better, because I haven't had much opportunity to work with them!  I am so glad that they are settling in to Kindergarten!