Kindergarten – Check!

Tanner finished up his first year of school this week.  Part of me feels like is was just yesterday I was sending him to school [see here]…and now it’s already done. 

But the other part of me feels like was an eon again…back when I only had two kids, back when Brooke hardly had an hair, and back when Tanner only knew his letters and couldn’t read or write. 

Tanner's Kindergarten school photos. What's with that smile? And since when are school pics full body shots? Yes I let him wear sweat pants to school!! But only cuz he agreed to wear a "church" shirt!

We have LOVED LOVED Kinder this year!  I was so hesitant towards sending him, but its worked out great.  If you ask him, his favorite part about school is GYM CLASS and RECESS.  There were a few days where the class was running behind and the teacher would have them stay and finish their work inside rather than going to recess…and I always heard about it later.

Tanner has loved going to school in the afternoons.  It gave us the freedom to explore and play in the morning.  We got to do all of our normal fun activities, story times, singing times, parks, play dates, gymnastics, and lots of meeting up at Chic-fil-a for lunch!  And then in the afternoon, Tanner headed to school and the girls took naps.  At least Brooke did…Rylee is a whole different story!

In school, Tanner has loved meeting new friends, going to specials, learning to read and write, and always telling me about so many things.  

To me, I was shocked at how quickly they move through the material.  Day one, they were working on reading.  Not learning the letters and their sounds, but reading WORDS.  In a few months, he had mastered Kinder sight words and moving onto First grade words, which he finished before the end of the school year.

But the intense, hard work, but it’s paid off..  Each day, his teacher gave them homework, on top of their reading bag.  I’m sure some kids can finish in 5 minutes, but they don’t have our POKEY PUPPY Tanner.  He’s so distractible!  Tanner is almost a year younger than his classmates so I felt like there was a gap to be made up. 

Super intense!  Tanner is definitely not the smartest kid in his class (that would be the girl we carpool with…and in case you ever doubted who it was…she’ll tell you :)  But she’s right, and we love her fun, witty, super-intelligent self).

But let me tell you…that work has been worth it!!!  On Tanner’s end of the year report card, he got the HIGHEST MARKS HE COULD GET!!!  Yeah for Tanner, Yeah for his HARD work!  I’m so proud of him.

Now he’s easily reading at a first grade level…and I hope to keep up some level of “education” over the summer…to keep him right on pace.  I have lots of worksheets, science projects and activities planned, but I’ve said that many times before.  But at the beginning of summer, I’m hoping for the best!!!

I can’t believe he’s finished.  I’m super sad.  Next year will be first grade, all day, and I’ll practically never ever get to see him.  I know…SAD!!!

And in case you’re wondering, Tanner feels completely different.  This t-shirt his teacher made pretty much sums up his feelings…perfectly!

 

Here’s a look at the school year, moving backwards through time:

FIELD DAY!!! 

 

Tanner’s absolute favorite day of the year…was FIELD DAY!!  Gym class all day long!  The kids got to do so many fun activities…the entire day.  I got to volunteer at the TUG-O-WAR Station…which pretty much zapped all my energy (and VOICE!). 

I have a new found appreciation for teachers…cause after battling groups of nearly 40+ kids at a time, I was exhausted!  The kids were crazy, some kids didn’t know how to play and pulled the wrong way, some kids would start to cry when their team lost, and one time went crying to a parent cause I cheated and helped the underdog team win.  And thankfully, no major injuries, although many rope burns and dog piles (once one kid would fall, the kids wouldn’t stop, and would end up with a stack of kids on top of them).  Next time, I think I’ll ask to do side-walk chalk station!!!

Talent Show!

All the Kinders performed a Jazzy rendition of the “Three Little Pigs” complete with signing and hand motions.  Tanner soaked it all in, and for the first time, actually looked like maybe he was having fun being up in front of a large audience.

To kick-off the jump start of spring, they got a “Shorts & Shades” day at school.  And time to play on the big-kid portion of the playground!

 

Field Trip to the Sea Life Aquarium

Field Trip to Kaleidoscope

This was the kids first time riding a school bus for a field trip, and what-do-ya-know, the bus broke down on their way home.  It’ll be a trip they never forget, that’s for sure!

Tanner has a twin in the class, Tres.  Their class only has 14 kids in it, and they’re all super close.  Love our Tres, Charlotte, and Gillian! 

 

100th Day of school

Tanner’s class celebrated the 100th day of school with these awesome hats with 100 stickers, and a special visitor, Zero the Hero! (aka their principal, Mr. Reves)

Tanner’s favorite part was making zero-the-hero capes!  They painted a Zero on an old t-shirt.  I love how fun Mrs. Swan makes every school day. 

Snow Days

During the winter months, they had 6 snow days, coupled with 6 days off in Feb and then Spring Break in March!  Their principal made this “What does the Principal say?” parody video that went viral :)

Red Bag Christmas Donations

Tanner went shopping for this little boy and picked out some super-hero Legos and some matching PJs.  Overall, I think this little boy was going to have a GREAT Christmas.

And I LOVE how we can still celebrate Christmas in his school, and even better, do a service project for another!

  

Halloween Party

A pirate by day (school party)…Darth Vadar by night (trick-or-treating).

 

His BFF, Gage!

   

Earlier in the month, Mr. Reves stopped by for a special reading of “Big Pumpkin”

 

Fire station Field Trip

 

The best part…was spraying the water!

 

Johnny Appleseed Day

At the beginning of the year, I got to volunteer and go to the classroom to help celebrate the day with tons of apple activities and experiments.

Walk-a-thon

The first fundraiser of the year the kids raised over $25K.  The PTO was so kind as to tell us how much we needed to raise. 

On the day of the walk-a-thon, Tanner walked/ran the most laps in his class, and got to go in the Human Sphere!

 

And since the school met their goal, Mr. Reves did a candy drop from the roof-top!

Show and Tell

Tanner got to show off his love for Legos and rockets.   He accidentally left them at school overnight and realized we couldn’t live a day without it!

 

Color Days

The first sight words the kids worked on this year were colors…and celebrated by having a color day for each one.  It’s the simple things…that make school so fun!   

First week of school

And this piece of play equipment…has been replaced.  Good-bye blue elephant!

 

And this takes us all the way back…to the first Day of School!!!

I love this kid!  While I’m not in any hurry to see him grow-up, I am thankful to be a part of it – and will be happy to see all the many things his future holds!   

Happy Birthday Brooke!!

Brooke turned 2 this past week.  But shhhh, don’t tell her.  Cause if you ask her, she thinks she’s 5.  Just like her older brother Tanner!!!

This little Brooke, just 2 years ago…

Except she never was little. And she tries to do BIG things.

Like if you say “Can I help you?” she gets terribly offended.  “No HELP mom, NO!”

Climbing into the van and into her car seat has to be done all by herself.  And getting out, she closes the door behind her…except she’s fanatical about it…and has to do it every.single.time. 

Even if she’s climbing up a rock at the playground taller than me.  “Brooke, you can’t climb up things you can’t get down.  See, you’re not going to be able to get down by yourself and I’m holding Rylee.”   Brooke looked down to the ground, then back to the rope.  “I do it!” And she got done.all.by.herself.  Determination and spirit is a deadly combination, at least at the age of 2. 

After putting Rylee down for a morning nap, I came into the kitchen to find Brooke making herself a piece of toast…like it was no big deal.   She would live in my kitchen pantry if I let her! 

And today, she insisted on riding the scooter all by herself.   Around the whole neighborhood.  There was no pushing or helping of any kind allowed.  She was so proud and happy!

 

Even if her handle bars were in reverse, she did it her own way.  And don’t worry folks, she does have a princess “girly” scooter, but thankfully she was fine with a friend borrowing it. 

And she’s terribly intelligent.

She can count to 10, if you ignore the fact that she skips the numbers 4 and 6.

She sings her ABCs, yet when she recognizes a letter, she yells out, H! 

She’ll listen to a song just a few times and have the tune/words down.  Like the song “Let it Go” she learned just from listening to other people sing it.  

 

She LOVES to sing songs, finger plays, and rhymes.  Her current fav is “I”m a Little Teapot” but “This is the Church” and “Johhny Johhny” are close seconds. 

Oh, and let’s not forget “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” Thanks to this song, she now knows her most of her body parts…except she calls her elbow ELMO!

There is nothing better than listening to her sing.  Along to a CD, or completely on her own.  Every time, I stop what I’m doing and it makes my heart skip a beat!  I LOVE IT!!!

Lately, she has a Super Why fascination.  She loves to spin around in circles and say “Super Why” just like the character does on the show.  And in case you’re wondering what we do on Sundays morning, this gives you a little idea :)

The way to her heart…is food!  Aunt Kristan happens to know this…and brought her a yummy treat just for her :)

And the day after Easter, I let the kids have some candy.  The faster it’s gone, the better.  Well, I didn’t notice until later in the day that Brooke hid some away in the stash of her dress.  She outsmarted her own mama!  Anything for chocolate!

     

We’re just learning to channel it into useful things.  She can do this hard elephant puzzle in just a few minutes, and I bet she could beat most adults. 

She’s super motherly to her baby dolls.  I had a pile of clothes I was sorting through for Rylee, and later that day, she was sorting through it, inspecting each one individually and then putting it back in the pile.  Trying to find an outfit for her doll. 

 

And for her bday, she got a baby doll that has a sleeper on.  Well, guess what Brooke HAS to do a million-ca-jillion times a day?  Get that baby undressed.

The best part of being a mom is seeing them love on their siblings.  I was putting Rylee in her car seat when I had to quickly grab one more thing.  Rylee was NOT happy about the situation, and when I came back, Brooke was rocking her  and signing to her, “Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way!”  Brooke’s favorite song, I am a Child of God.

But don’t worry, she’s not that perfect angel all the time.  She has lots of opinions and attitude, and if she doesn’t get her way, she’ll storm off and put herself in time out (yup!  you heard it right!!!) 

Most days, she’s a LOT of wild and crazy with oober amounts of energy.  Her favorite game is…Ready…Set…Go!  And then proceeds to run around in circles all around the house.  Even Tanner joins in.

Yet, she loves nothing more than climbing into my lap, snuggling and getting cozy.  For dinner, for stories, for any time of the day. I’ll take it…anytime!  There’s nothing better than Brooke’s cuddles and kisses.    

On her birthday, we did a family trip to one of our favorite places –Deanna Rose Farmstead.   Gorgeous weather with sunshine and great company—Keith and Kristan’s family and animals included :)

 

A very uneventful fishing day…and in case you didn’t MEMO…it wasn’t wear patriotic color day.

Brooke’s first go with the Tractors…not impressed!

  

But she was loving giving the tiny baby goats some milk…

until they started “loving” on her.  She did NOT like them eating her sweater!

 

And some kids doing some pretty intense drawing…

For their Earth Day Flowers.  Brooke was SUPER excited about her own flower!

But Tanner still talks about this play ground…and not the animals or fishing or anything else.

 

And when we got home, it was time to celebrate some more.  Tanner decorated Brooke’s birthday mini-Bundt cake and couldn’t wait to show her, “Look Brooke, it has flowers and grass and garter snakes!”  How did he know…it was just what she wanted!!!