Kindergarten Graduation

How are they already graduating from Kindergarten? Why do they have to grow up?

The program started with a performance. Both kids are sitting in the front row - starting from the left, Sweet Son is 3rd and Sweet Daughter is 4th. Sweet Daughter is the one who opens the entire performance by herself!

Warning it is a long video - 8 minutes.

Sweet Son gets his fake diploma and tells everyone she wants to be a scientist when he grows up.

Sweet Daughter gets her fake diploma and tells everyone she wants to be a dance teacher when she grows up.

While both kids knew ahead of time they would get a fake diploma on the stage and their real one after the show, they weren't really sure they should even bother taking the fake one. Sweet Son wanting to be a scientist isn't new. It would actually be a good fit for his currently personality (which could change greatly before he needs to decide). Sweet Daughter made a strange choice. We tried dance lessons and she didn't like them. Apparently she kept changing her mind every time they practiced so she was told she had to choose something and dance teacher was one of the suggestions someone offered her. I told her she can change her mind hourly as far as I am concerned. She has plenty of time to decide.

After the fake diploma ceremony - each child walked across the stage one by one. The kids performed one more song and then it was time for cookies and their real diplomas.

I cannot tell you how much we have loved this school. My kids literally and figuratively grew up there. One started as an excited, energetic, talk non stop bundle of joy and ended exactly the same way only taller and with a great deal more knowledge. The other started a shy, quiet, timid, cautious child. While none of that really changed, by graduation that child was leading yoga, teaching other children, and surrounded by friends. They both thrived in the Montessori environment and we still miss the teachers. We do go back to visit. :)

Getting Ready for Graduation

Kindergarten graduation. Is this a thing? I mean, apparently it is, but I was surprised just how big of a deal it is. I am glad though. It is the kids last year at the school. They have been at the same school since they were 22 months old. In that time Sweet Son has only had 2 sets of teachers. Sweet Daughter has had a few more teachers, as they moved on to other opportunities.

The kids were told to wear white. Technically the girls were told to wear all white and the boys were told to wear dark pants (black? blue? I don't remember) and a white shirt. Sweet Son wanted more than anything to wear his full white pinstriped suit. So we asked and he was granted permission. Here are some photos of them getting ready for the performance.

She wanted curly hair.

(Ignore the background, it is an accurate reflection of my life, but she is so much cuter!)

He wanted his hair down.

They are growing up too fast.

I'm going to keep them and hug them forever and ever. Except they won't let me. But I still try.

I love this photo. They are both looking at the camera and smiling.

Yer, she is tapping her foot with impatience, but look at that smile!

I will post about the actual ceremony and performance tomorrow. I need to go hug them some more right now.

Picnic

We went to a family picnic for an alumni organization I am in. They had food, face painting, games, and bounce houses. It was small and so much fun.

Sweet Daughter wanted a cat painted on her face.

How cute is this? It was hot and the paints didn't run. This was done in the morning and it lasted all day, yet came off easily in the shower. 

Sweet Son was more interested in blowing bubbles on a windy day.

A Tale of Two Beds - Part 33

Once again, here are the links to the previous tales. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Frustration, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 32.

I hear stories that everyone takes photos of their children sleeping. It's such a sweet time. They are so quiet and peaceful... and then there are my kids.

Um... Where is Sweet Daughter? That's not where her bed is supposed to be. Her favorite blanket is missing.

Oh, of course. She is crammed in a corner between the dresser and wall. Too bad she doesn't have a bed and a room to spread out in.

Am I the only one who thinks they should sleep in their beds instead of on the floor?

Awww, they fell asleep together - still on the floor though.

Ok, well one of them is on a bed. And look how nicely Snoopy is tucked in on the floor.

She said she sleeps better if someone is watching her. I'm trying not to over analyze that. She is asleep and on her bed, that's a win in my book.

Wordless Wednesday

They dress themselves with no help.

Here he is wearing tennis shoes, pinstripe dress pants, a short sleeve white dress shirt, and a vest. She is wearing tennis shoes, black sweat pants, a black Harley shirt, and a black sweat band. The contrast made me burst out laughing so we had to get a picture.

Spring Festival, part 2

This is a continuation of yesterday's post. Today I will show just a few of the games and art projects they had set up for the kids.

Quarter Pitch

Boom Blaster

Ring on the Bottle

These are all free so when we do go to a fair or amusement park we don't even bother. That saves a lot of money.

Painting boot flower pots

Making picture frames (with the flower pots and flowers in front)

This was their favorite part.

Inside Daddy's office there is a room that the walls are dry erase.

The kids honestly think Daddy just plays all day at work. Wait untill they find out about the mini golf course, baseball field, air hockey, video game room, ping pong, etc. Yes, his office really does have all of those.  No wonder he likes his job so much.

Spring Festival, part 1

Wonderful Husband's work has festivals twice a year for the families of employees. This is a fun tradition that our kids look forward to.

Sweet Daughter getting her face painted (Sweet Son was very against having his painted)

Hello Kitty!

Racing up the inflatable

Coming out the other side (He is right next to the back leg if you look closely)

Tomorrow I will post photos of the games, art, and a fun surprise inside Daddy's office!

Sweet Son's Spring Recital and Evaluation

Last week I posted about Sweet Daughter's Spring Recital. Now it is Sweet Son's turn. He will be continuing with private piano lessons again next year.

During the performance

He requested this photo, in this pose, with the piano. 

He performs two songs.

This photo was taken just before Sweet Son walked into his music development program evaluation.

This was a really big deal. He had to go in by himself and play 4 songs each showing a different technique/genre/skill, plus any of the list of scales the judge requested. He was also tested on his sight reading and ear training. We had to wait 5 weeks to find out if he passed. Not only did he pass, he passed with High Honors!!! This is judged based on the level, not on the age of the performer so there were adults taking the same level he was.

He also took the music development program theory test. This was intense. He had to sign in, line up with the others (He looked so tiny next to all of the high school students. He was the youngest by a great margin.), go in and open his test folder and take it without asking any questions. The instructions were in both English and French and there were no multiple choice. It was in a location he had never visited before and he didn't know anyone else in the room. It took over 6 weeks to get the results. He passed with Honors!

Almost 6 months after he completed both evaluations, we found out he also won an award. He had the highest combined score for anyone at his evaluation center on any level. Yeah, I think he will stick with piano for awhile.

Snap Circuits

Both kids are playing in the play room. I just heard an adult male voice coming from the playroom. Of course I go investigate. Sweet Son just built a radio with his snap circuits. A working radio that he is now tuning to try to find a music station. Thought #1 I love snap circuits. Thought #2 WTF? That's impressive.

I see sweet perfectly mannered children.

While he is building circuits, she is practicing sports, playing make believe, and creating art. They are both just so amazingly talented and inquisitive that I am constantly impressed.

 That's more like it. One is running away and the other is sticking out his tongue.

Last week he built a light circuit with a photo sensor so when it senses it's dark the light turns on and when it senses light the light turns off. If you don't have snap circuits yet, you really should get some.

Wordless Wednesday

At a warehouse book sale - they are incredibly patient if they can get new books!

Ceramics at Home

It's well established that I collect science kits and curriculums. Every once in awhile I pull one out and we just do it for fun. This activity was to make plaster animals and teeth. The teeth were actual size while the animals clearly weren't.

First we poured the plaster. Ok, first they argued about who wanted which animals, then we mixed the plaster, and then we poured the plaster, but you get the idea.

Then we let it sit to dry.

Last they painted them. Here you see the bear and the bear tooth up above.

Here you see a "gray" wolf (the colors provided were black, brown, and yellow so it was a pretty good try) and a cat of some sort... it's been a year and I honestly don't remember and can't tell from the photo. oops

The kit also came with magnets so you could hang these on the fridge. However, the magnets weren't strong enough so these didn't last very long.

Watching Airplanes

We were out running errands all over town and had no plan to stop. Then the kids had a better idea. They kept pointing out all of the airplanes. So we pulled over to watch the planes take off at an airstrip. This ended up being the highlight of the day for all of us. Sometimes I forget to stop doing stuff and just be. This was a perfect reminder.

One coming in for a landing as we sit in the back of the car watching.

A "bigger" plane getting ready to take off. Notice the smaller plane waiting it's turn.

Here 3 planes are waiting for their turns. We loved telling the kids about the biplane. 

They were perfectly enchanted and horrified at the idea of wing walkers.

Sweet Daugher's Spring Recital

It's Spring and that means music recitals. This was the last year Sweet Daughter wanted to do piano. She has decided to switch to a group guitar class for next year. She loves piano, but she was trying to compete with Sweet Son and that wasn't good for either of them. She also prefers a group class to private lessons and had passed the level of all of the group classes offered.

This dress makes multiple appearances this spring/summer.

She performs two songs. The second one really says a lot about her personality.

Slack Line

In our never ending quest to exhaust our kids, we put up a slack line in the back yard. I highly suggest it if you closely supervise. It comes down when we aren't out there or they aren't using it.

The most difficult part is deciding how high to put the top rope. You want it low enough so they can still reach it when the bottom rope is sagging the most in the middle. You don't want it so low they can put their neck on it. This would be easier if they were the same size.

The kids jumped, made it swing, crossed paths, and just had fun for an hour. This is a great use of gross motor skills, especially the core muscles.

Wordless Wednesday

They each now have a tablet. Their first personal electronic device.

Painting

It has been awhile since the kids have done a dedicated painting project. I gave them the pallet of colors and said to paint what they wanted. These turned out so nice we ended up using them for part of their teacher appreciation gifts.

 Ready to start. We use a different brush for each color so there isn't as much water mixed into the paints. We also use washable paints, old easel paper underneath, and only do it on easy to clean tile.

 

I love how they don't copy each other. They are their own people with their own ideas.

Almost finished.

Sweet Daugher's First 5K

On Saturday Sweet Daughter ran her first 5K with me. It was a Mother's Day race which was awesome! She all out sprinted as fast as she could for 1.5 miles. Then she wanted to walk the rest of the way.

Before the race 

(friend in side of picture is not one of the ones mentioned in the next paragraph)

 About the time I convinced her to run again she saw friends from school cheating - riding in a stroller or cutting a mile off the course (we saw both). Sweet Daughter said she didn't want to run if no one else was going to do it right. Both of those girls finished before her and that frustrated Sweet Daughter. I can't blame her. It frustrated me also. It gave us the perfect opportunity to discuss why we don't cut corners (literally or figuratively) and what really makes someone a winner.

The boys cheered us on - and ended up in the local paper

It's a sprint or a slow walk - nothing in between

Post race with our medals and flowers

They had the energy to jump for another 30 minutes.

The daily goal is to wear them out.