Fun Times with Family

Will's brother, Blake and sister-in-law, Ruth welcomed sweet baby girl, Kennedy into the world about a month and a half ago.  I desperately wanted to go visit, but all of our weekends were full.  Every time I saw a new picture on Facebook, a twinge of guilt passed through me because we hadn't gone to visit.  They only live two and half hours away - we should have just done it. 

Anyway,  they decided to come visit us instead!  Yeah, I get the award for the worst sister-in-law award.  I mean, really.  Who asks a new mom to pack up her infant and travel?  Okay, I didn't ask, they just offered.  And I am so glad they did.  We don't have "just for fun" weekend visitors very often and we really enjoyed our time together.  Blake, Ruth, Sam, and Kennedy came last weekend and here are some highlights of our time together.

We took Blake, Ruth, and Kennedy to their first corn maze.  Sam had been to one before, but said that ours was much better.  Here are a few pictures.  Looking back through them I became super bummed.  There was a spot on the lense and its right in the middle of all the pictures.  Oh, well, what can you do?

 Immediately after entering the maze, Taylor started sneezing.  Oh yeah!  Taylor's allergic to corn pollen!  Way to go, Mom, for remembering such an important thing!  She had hives and welts on her arms that night from where the corn leaves touched her.  Next time we'll put her in long sleeves.

Yep.  That's Kennedy strapped to the front of Ruth.  Kennedy told us she liked it.

What a great big cousin.

When it was all said and done, I didn't really get any pictures of Kennedy.  I guess I'll just have to keep looking at Facebook.

Thanks, guys for coming for a visit!  We love you!

Leader of the Pride

This is a multifaceted post about lessons learned by three people - Emma, Taylor, and myself.

I will first explain that the mascot for the girls' school is a lion.  A group of lions that work and play together is called a pride.  Because they are all lions, they call themselves a pride.  Each week they have a pride assembly and each teacher chooses a "Leader of the Pride" from their class.

They get a certificate at the assembly and on Friday of that week they get to have lunch with the principal.  On Friday afternoon of the same week they also get to ring the school bell.  This is not the modern electronic school bell.  Its the old, up on the roof, have to pull a rope school bell.  Its pretty cool.

Well, Taylor was the first person to be chosen from her class.  Her teacher said she was everything a kindergarten teacher could ask for.  This mamma's heart swelled.  Her certificate said that "Taylor shows "outstanding" leadership in room 1.  Taylor can be counted on to follow directions, make smart choices, and be kind be a kind friend to others."

Seriously?  How could I not be proud?

I know its healthy to be proud of your children and I hope that every parent is proud of their child, but I felt my pride changing to sin.  It was more than gratitude that my child made good choices in school.  It was growing into an ugly monster that was feeding my ego and telling me that her success was really just because we were such great parents.  Blech.  I was becoming the Leader of the "Pride".

So, I asked for forgiveness and pushed the reset button.  I was back to just healthy admiration of my child and thankfulness of God's hand on her heart.

Taylor got her certificate and was excited even though the principal called her Tyler.  She enjoyed lunch with the principal but was glad that there was another kindergartner there.  I think she was overwhelmed by all the "big" kids that were there.  The thing she loved most though, was the ringing of the bell.  She said it was heavy and had to have help.

 

Now, on to Emma.  I made Taylor promise that she wouldn't talk to Emma about it until after I talked to her about it.  I knew there was a good chance Emma was going to be upset because she wasn't chosen to be the leader from her class.  I told Emma that only one could be chosen each week, even though there were lots of kids who deserved it.  I know that she will eventually get picked, because every student does, but I didn't tell her that.  I wanted her to just learn how to celebrate other people's success.

I encouraged her to keep doing her best, because I am really proud of how she's doing.  She's making good choices and maybe someday she'll be chosen.  She decided that she didn't want to talk about it with Taylor until she wasn't sad anymore.  I thought that was very mature of her.  She know she wouldn't say nice things.  She had a few moments during the week where she had to adjust her attitude, but in the end, she handled the situation well.

Taylor felt celebrated, but worked really hard at not being boastful or braggy.  This was a lesson for both of us.  I waited to write this post because a mom from Taylor's class might read it.  I didn't want to brag, but now her daughter has gotten it, too!  Way to go, Hannah!

Way to go, Taylor!
And, way to go, Emma!

I'm proud of both of you!

Kindergarten Update

The girls have been in school for almost a month now and I felt like I should write an update.  I will first update on me.

I'm going to substitute teach a few days a week this year.  You know, slowly ease back in to the working world.  Unfortunately, the processing of my paper work has taken a really long time.  That has given me three weeks without kids, with nothing to do!  I had big plans for myself.  I was going to tackle all those things that I never got to five years ago when I became a stay-at-home mom.

Well, three weeks later and I  still have not tackled those things.  I think its safe to say I can take them off my list.  They are not going to get done.  I am also really looking forward to working a few days a week.  I'm pretty bored.  Oh, I have things to do, just no motivation to do them. 

The girls are doing great in school.  They haven't experienced any separation anxiety from one another.  Really the only problem we're having is jealousy about what's happening in the other classroom.  If one gets birthday treats, the other is upset that they didn't get any.  If one did something fun, the other is upset because they didn't do the same thing.

These are some observations of my children that don't surprise me.  Taylor will tell me every detail of the day.  She plays with everyone.  She follows every rule.  She wants to be everybody's friend.  She is people pleaser, just like me.  Taylor has responded to school exactly as I thought she would.

Emma can't remember a single thing that she did during the day.  She doesn't eat much at school.  She plays with a few of the same people every day.  She won't talk about it, but I know she's learning because I'll see her practicing letter sounds when no one is looking.  Emma has surprised me by adjusting so well to school.

They still look out for one another.  They look for each other at lunch.  They have to run a lap before playing at recess.  If one gets out first and runs a lap, she'll run a second one just so she can be with her sister.  I think that's pretty sweet.