First day of school - 2014

Kate is in 3rd Grade in Mrs Bishop's class.  She is excited to learn multiplication and division.  She thought the first day was really fun and was so excited to see old friends.

Sawyer is in 1st grade and has Mrs Tierney.  He was also really excited about the first day and excited to make some new friends.  This year he wants to learn about planets.  He says his favorite thing so far about 1st grade is snack time.

We got home from Utah on Saturday and started school on Monday.  We had a little bit of a hard time with the time zone transition but things are calming down and getting back to normal.  These kids love school and I sure love them!

What a difference a year makes!

We had a wonderful school year at our wonderful school!  

Sawyer loved his teacher, Mrs Minnucci.  She is just the sweetest and most fun teacher a kindergartener could ever ask for.  He loved learning to count forever, how to read, how to use his writing skills to write books during rest time, and how to make fun friends.  He love building shelters and fires at forest friday and he knows all the plants and trees around Vermont.  His teacher said he was kind of quiet and would sit back and watch a lot but that if she asked the kids what it meant to be kind they would always say, to be like Sawyer.  And they always wanted him to be in their groups and play with them.  And Mrs Minnucci said he is the only student she has ever had who has said, "Is there anything else I can do to help?"  His teacher was very impressed with how he could write stories.  She would give everyone a packet of 5 blank pages to write on during their daily rest time and she had told them they had only one page a day and they couldn't get more.  She was amazed how Sawyer knew just had to create a story, with a beginning, a middle conflict and an ending conflict resolution, exactly within the boundaries of the page each time.  We love those stories and will cherish them forever!  Mrs Minnucci also said the one thing she will remember about Sawyer was one time, out in the woods at forest Friday, he was using the "Forest John" (a bucket surrounded by some sticks they set up for the kids to use outside) and she peeked in to make sure everything was okay and he was wiping off the seat.  What 6 year old boy does that?!  He is the best and I love him.  

Kate had a very successful year in school.  Her teacher would give them spelling pretests and then make their spelling lists individualized based on what they got wrong.  Mrs Connolly said she would have to give Kate lots and lots of tests before she would have enough wrong words to put on her list.  One time, after Kate brought home her spelling list for the week, she said, "Why do I have to keep practicing these?  She told me how to spell them so now I know how to spell them."  And that sums up Kate.  She is so smart and she picks things up immediately.  She LOVES learning.  She loves math and spelling.  At the beginning of the school year she told her teacher she wanted to "learn new words" when her teacher asked her what she wanted to learn in first grade.  Her teacher has spent time making sure that she had vocabulary words to pick out of the books she was reading so she could reach that goal.  Kate has lots of friends and is kind to everyone.  I really couldn't ask for a better little second grader.  

Now on to 1st and 3rd grade!  YIKES!

First Day of school - 2013

Sawyer popped out of bed and ran into my bedroom like it was Christmas morning.  This boy was ready for Kindergarten!  Kate was ready too...but is getting old enough to drag herself out of bed with a yawn...she is learning to love sleeping in.  After a breakfast, as requested, of waffles, berries and cream and getting everything in order, we took a few pictures and headed off to school.  

 Kate with Mrs Connolly

 Sawyer with Mrs Minnucci

Now what are Clara and I going to do all day long by ourselves?

Kate's spring concert 2013

Kate had her end of the year performance at school in May and she was excited to share the songs she had been learning. Her kindergarten year her music teacher was really fun and taught them current songs like Katy Perry's "Dynaminte" but she retired and the new teacher is a little more traditional. So they sang lots of patriotic songs like yankee doodle.


Ryan was working that night so I was on my own with the kids. The auditorium fills up fast so we got there an hour and half early to get good seats. We sat in the second row on the side where Kate said she was going to be and the seats in front of us had signs on them that said "reserved". I knew only one thing could ruin our view....
 
and then he sat down. Luckily we could move around a little in our seats throughout the performance and still enjoy the show.

 

Walk to school day

The school sponsored a walk to school day where we all met at the Quechee Green and walked to school together. The kids loved it!  And I love to see them with their sweet friends.  I also love how Kate and her friends still let Sawyer be a part of whatever they are doing.  Think that will last forever?

100th day of school

I got to come help in Kate's classroom for her 100th day of school. She has the best teacher in the whole entire world. I'm not joking, she is amazing. And it is so fun to see Kate in her element and get to know these kids a little better that she talks about all the time. We made some funny hats with 100 stickers on them and the colored some funny glasses. She looked so adorable. I wanted to remember it forever but even more I want to remember how I walked in and she was so excited to see me and we laid on the floor together reading a book during quiet time until it was time to start our projects. Think I will always be her best friend? K She is getting too big....

First day of school 2012

 


 

The morning was a whirlwind and I surprisingly did not shed a tear! They were both so excited!

Last day of school - 2012

This feels like it was an eternity ago, but my Kindergarten Kate is now a first grade Kate! My heavens, I can't believe how big she has grown in a year!  And not only taller but she has gained so much confidence with herself.  She is the smartest most beautiful 6 year old I know! 
On the last day of school she had an assembly in the morning to say goodbye to the 5th graders and then she had a field day outside.  I went to go help and I got to be at the face painting station.  There was a jumping castle and a tug of war station and all sorts of fun things going on.  After the field day they ate lunch outside and then got to go in and meet their teachers for the next year.  I have heard such good things about her 1st grade teacher and when I met her, I felt so good about it.  I know she is going to have the best year! 
Now, forget school, on to summer vacation!  Spending every minute of every day with my beautiful kids!  Getting to hear Kate and Sawyer giggling together while I'm cleaning up the house.  My favorite thing ever!

Ocean Commotion

Kate learned about the ocean the last little bit of Kindergarten and at the end of the year they had an open house called "Ocean Commotion". They had each traced and painted a sea creature (Kate's was the brown eel above her head in the middle picture)and they sang a few songs to us. When we first came in they had stations set up where we could do different things. One table had their sea creature books they had written on it so you could read them. They had a game called "guess what is missing" where there were sea creatures on a table and one person took one off while the others closed their eyes and then you had to guess what was missing. There was also a big box full of ocean things (shells and seahorses and such) that they called the "ocean museum". And the whole class wore their capes one last time! It was a great night. We sure love Mrs Bradley and are so grateful for all the fun things she has helped Kate do this year!

Super Kindergarten!!

I didn't get a chance to help out in Kate's classroom as often as I would have liked but as the school year came to a close I had a chance to help out with a special project. It all started sometime after Christmas when I made Kate and Sawyer super hero capes and Kate asked if she could wear hers to school. The response was so positive that she wore it off and on for a few weeks. Then one day I was walking out of the school after picking up Kate and the principal told me he loved Kate's cape and he thought Mrs Bradley, her teacher, should have one. Because Valentine's Day was coming up I decided to make one for her and have Kate give it to her on Valentine's Day. It was a big hit and everyone in the class was asking for one. That gave Mrs Bradley the idea to use some fabric that had been donated to her to make a cape for everyone. She sewed them up and then I came in one day to help them paint them. After they were done I took them home to sew on the velcro. And now they all have capes to wear around school! I went in one day this week to take some pictures and they were just too darling.  We sure love Mrs Bradley! Best Kindergarten teacher ever!

Kate's pottery

Kate has been coming home from school and talking about her pottery project that she has been working on in art class for a while and finally this week she brought it home! When we went to pick her up from school she told us that she had it and that it was wrapped in newspaper so it wouldn't break. She was so excited to show us as soon as we got home and it was so cute to watch her carefully unwrap it. Sawyer asked what we were going to put in it and she said maybe after Easter she could put her jelly beans in it. Everyone needs a jelly bean pot, right?

Kate's school presentation

Last week Kate had a little presentation at her school. They call it the "morning meeting" and the pre-k classes through 2nd grade take turns doing it. For their turn, Mrs Bradley's class said hello to all the classes and then introduced themselves. They drew pictures of what they liked about being in Kindergarten. After that they taught and then sang "Boom Chicka Rocka" with everyone there. It was short but fun.

Here is a video of Kate saying her part. She amazes me how much she has come out of her shell since starting school. You can tell she's shy, but she did it! And I'm so proud!

They are supposed to say, "My name is ______ and I like to _________"

Kate's Show and Tell

Last week Kate brought home the show and tell bag and was so excited to think of something to put in it. As we were talking about it she said, "I know, I want to bring this toy!" and she held up a McDonald's toy she had gotten a few days before. I told her it should probably be something that is a little more special and we settled on Isabelle, her American Girl doll. She was really excited about it. She had to fill out a paper where she drew a picture of it and came up with 2 clues for the class to try and guess it. When she got home that afternoon she was really happy but didn't give me a lot of details on how it went. I guess that means it went well!