End of School Celebrations

The month of May has been a busy one, with kids having all kinds of programs and assessments in school, a Science Fair and a few birthdays.  There is so much excitement with school wrapping up and summer coming.

Kyle and his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Lish

  

On May  22nd,  Kyle had his "graduation" from kindergarten.  It is rather cute, but also a little silly to me to have them graduate from kindergarten, but that's okay- it's all for fun.  Kyle said,  "Now I can move on to first grade!"

Kyle is on the top row, 5th from the right.   (This was 2 kindergarten classes but you can't see them all.  ) 

Kyle has had a great year in kindergarten this year and has really loved his class.  He has made so much progress in school and we are so proud of him!  

Getting his "diploma" from the principal

Right after Kyle's graduation, we watched Erika perform in the assembly with her recorder.  She has been practicing all year and it was fun to watch her.  She is in the top row, right in the middle.

Two days later, on May 24th, Heidi had her preschool graduation with the Fielding Developmental Preschool.    She has had a great year, too and has loved her class.  She has made a lot of progress and had a lot of fun.  I am a little nervous about kindergarten for her the coming year, but I am hoping to work with her a lot over the summer to help her get ready.  

Receiving her "diploma".  

Heidi in the front row, looking a little bewildered.  

Heidi with her teachers, Mrs. Carma and Mrs. Karen

A visit from our cousins!!

On April 19th,  we were so excited to have a visit from my sister and her kids. It has been about 2 1/2 years since we have seen them,  so it is a big deal to have the chance to spend some time with them.   They have lived in New York for the last 5 years and her husband just got a job in California (quite the move).   They have traveled across the country and are staying in Utah for a few months until they settle down in CA.  California is still far away, but at least we will be able to visit them now!  The kids had a great time just hanging out around home.  They played in the backyard together and we had a little picnic at the park.  We are looking forward to the next few months when we will get to spend some more time with them!

Chillin' on the swing set in the backyard

As you can see, after several hours of church, the kids were done sitting still
and we were out of luck with getting any more pictures!

Erika and Lucy

Stepping into Spring

Erika standing up in front and talking about her art work

We were very proud of Erika for making the effort to enter the Reflections contest this year.  It was even more exciting to discover that not only had she won First place in visual arts for her age level at her school, but she had gone on to Regional and won first place there.     

All the kids who won Reflections for the District

On March 8th, we went to the school where they recognized the winners of the contest and gave the kids each a nice plaque and had some refreshments.   We are proud of Erika for being involved.  

Here is the picture Erika drew for Reflections.  The theme was "Diversity Means..."
It is not a very good scan of her picture- I tried.  

We have been enjoying the warmer weather this last week and the kids have loved getting outside to play.  Yesterday grandma and grandpa Parkinson came down for conference weekend and the kids had a great time coloring eggs with grandma.  Afterward, they each took a turn hiding them all outside and then everyone had to come out and find them.   I love how excited they get about something so small!  

Jared enjoyed his ice cream cone to the fullest.  Now this kid knows how to eat a cone!  

I don't know what it is about having ice cream in a cone, 

but to mine it is just way more fun than a boring old bowl.    

Heidi decided to give me her cheesiest grin.   She loves to pose for the camera.  

Making our own fun

The other day Erika and Kyle were busy playing together in Kyle's room and finally came out to announce, "Mom and Dad, we have a surprise for you!"   This sign was posted on the door:

(Notice the words "parents free" are crossed out in red.)  We thought it was very creative so Aaron and I each went and found a few quarters for the kids to put in their banks.  Who wants a free "plain-old-regular" massage when you can get a "super duper massage" for 50 cents?   So Aaron and I laid out on the bed while the kids gave us our "Super Duper massage".  It was relaxing, and in another way pretty comical.   I had Kyle as my masseuse and he pretty much just did whatever Erika did.  Aaron and I got a good laugh out of it anyway.  

The weather has been so uncharacteristically warm this year and the kids were outside playing in the backyard like it was spring.  Jared found himself a nice little nook to hide away in.   I thought it was adorable!  

Halloween 2011

We had a fun Halloween this year.  The kids were really excited about their costumes and dressing up.   I put a lot of work into making Erika into a ROBOT.   It was funny because she wore this costume to the ward party on Oct 28th and could not reach her mouth with her hand, so we had to help her eat.  

Kyle had fun being a mummy on Halloween.  Doesn't he look creepy?  He likes the spooky ones.  

This was his first year at the Elementary school so he got to be in the Halloween parade, which he was so excited about.  

I put together a "Halloween Costume Exchange" this year through the Relief Society, which went pretty well.  Anyone who had extra costumes from previous years could bring them and then choose from what was there.  I figured this could be a blessing for anyone who would have otherwise had to go out and buy a costume that only gets worn once.  I have a huge tub of costumes stored away as I'm sure most people do.   This was nice for me, too, so that some of the younger kids didn't have to be the same thing their siblings were in the past.  

A "care bear",  perfect for my little Heidi.  
 She got to wear her costume to school for a
Halloween party and was so excited!

Jared was a little mouse.   He knows he is cute.  

 The kids had a lot of fun trick-or-treating this year and even more fun eating the candy afterward!

                                          

                                               All four of them anxiously waiting to go trick-or-treating.  

Back to School

In front of the new school with their good friends Lilly and Emma.  

It was an exciting day when the kids went back to school on Aug 29th.  They have been anxiously anticipating it all summer as they have watched the new school being built.
     I don't know who is more excited about the new school, me or them!!  It is only a block away- just down the street, so they can walk to school, now.  I absolutely LOVE that part of it.  The new school is also really nice.

Erika started the 3rd grade this year.    Her teacher is Mrs. Oyler.  The funny thing is that Aaron actually taught her in seminary!!  Woe!  This makes him feel pretty old.  He was pretty surprised to see her when we met her in Erika's classroom on back-to-school night.  So far Erika is loving school and things are going well for her.   She has a lot of friends and is always coming up with new games and "clubs" with them.   She still loves learning and is a great example to her classmates.  

          Kyle started kindergarten this year.  What an exciting thing for him!  He goes every day from 12:10 to 2:50.   After the first few days, he was disappointed to learn that he would only go for half a day.   He loves school and wishes he could go all day long like the other kids.   He gets pretty bored at home with me and so it is a challenge for me to find things to keep him busy.  I do love having him with me for part of the day, though, and will miss that next year.   He always says to me, "Mom, what are you going to do today while I am at school?" and "Make sure you watch out for my room so it doesn't get messed up."  One day he said really sincerely, "I hope you are not bored while I am gone.  I know you'll miss me."  What a sweetie.

Heidi is still attending school with the Early Learning Center for Development assistance.   She was bussed to the Corinne Learning Center for 5 weeks in the summer twice a week.  Now that the new Garland school is done, the Fielding school is being remodeled and so they are using the old Garland school until theirs is remodeled.  They have a developmental preschool there and so this year Heidi gets to go there!  This is great for her because it is a lot closer.  She still gets to ride the bus, but it's less than a mile away.  Last year she sat on the bus for almost an hour each way to preschool.  She also gets to go four days a week instead of two this year.    Heidi is really loving school and making so much progress.  I am so thankful for the school system and for all the help they give.  I do what I can at home to teach the kids, but I don't think I could teach them as much as what they get at school.

Kids in My Closet

I don't know if anyone knows this, but we keep a few kids chained up in the closet.  It is a sad confession, but yes, this is where they eat and sleep.  We let them out occasionally to go to the bathroom. 

Okay, really-  the other day I walked into my room and heard some giggling coming from the direction of the closet.  Then, I saw this post-it note stuck on the door:

When I opened up the door, this is what I found:

I don't know what happened between the note and Kyle being in there, but it didn't seem to be a problem.  I found three children nestled snug as a bug in our closet.  "Close the door, mom" they said, "We're trying to sleep!"  and so I left them there to giggle together. 

February Fun

Going for laundry basket rides.  Who needs Lagoon?
 Jared's not so sure about this.   (Erika was pulling)

I just thought I'd post a few pictures from this last month of the kids.  Where it has been so cold outside, they have had to get a little creative with their fun.  (You can only play out in the snow so long!)  We have made a snowman and a snow cave, and played on the playground equipment (in the snow).  We have had fun up at the cabin twice, snowmobiling and sledding.   

I could not believe how much snow there was up at Strawberry!!
(This was actually on New Year's Day)

This morning before church,  the kids decided they wanted to put on a "play" for me and Aaron of "The Billy Goats Gruff".  They made masks out of paper and each had parts- the trolls and goats.  Heidi got to be the "little troll".  It was so adorable!!   

Come on, little guy!!  You need to strengthen those muscles!!

My sweet Jared

We celebrated Aaron's birthday this last week.  The kids were happy to help him blow out his candles!  

Halloween 2010

At Erika's school with some of her friends for the Halloween parade.  

All the kids getting ready to go trick-or-treating

We had a fun Halloween this year.   I took it a little easier on the costumes this year.  All I really had to make was the wig for Erika's costume.  She was "Jessie" from Toy Story.  Heidi wore the giraffe costume that Erika wore a long time ago, Jared wore the classic hot pepper costume Heidi wore 3 years ago, and Kyle, well, he just wore his pajamas  :)   I am not afraid to recycle!

Erika as Jessie from Toy Story

Kyle was Superman

What a cute little hot pepper!

We have a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating so that's what we do every year.  We go from house to house where there are a lot of good people we can trust.  We LOVE our neighborhood!!!  There are lots of young families with children.   We also enjoy all the kids who come in their costumes.

     Oma and Opa came up tonight to spend Halloween with the kids and go around the neighborhood.   The next day at church was our primary program, which I was leading the music for so they also got to be there for that.   We were so glad to have them come!!

 Heidi looks like she doesn't have a clue, but really, out of all the kids she was
 the most excited about trick-or-treating and candy and didn't want to stop!

School Days

August 28th was the big day for Erika.  She started 2nd grade.  She was really excited about school, but this was the first year she was also a little sad.  She had a fun summer this year and realized how nice summer can be.  She likes her new teacher and class this year.  One of her best friends last year isn't in her class, but she does pretty well adjusting and making new friends wherever she is.

Erika and her two friends Braxton and Lillie

Kyle started preschool for the 2nd year on Sept 1st.  He is in a different preschool with Mrs. Francom in Elwood, the same teacher Erika had 3 years ago.  He is really liking preschool and actually surprising us with his excitement for learning.  During the last 2 months, he has really picked up quickly on his letters and numbers and is writing a lot.  I am glad he will have this whole year to prepare for kindergarten.

Look at how small she looks in front of the school!

Heidi started preschool at the Early Learning Center in Corinne Sept 1st.  It was with mixed emotion that I dropped her off there.  She still seems so young to be going to preschool!!   Technically, she is only one year behind Kyle in school because they are only 18 months apart.  But, she has been behind Kyle in development and just doesn't seem ready.  I guess that's why she is going to this particular preschool where she qualifies for early intervention for kids who are behind developmentally.  They have a good program there and I was excited to have her start.  She has been my little buddy at home, though, and I would miss that.  She has been going to the center for 2 months now and I have been really pleased with her progress.  In the last month, she has started talking like crazy and expressing herself so much more!   We have all noticed a change.   I hope she continues to progress throughout the year.

Another nice thing about the Developmental preschool is that they have a bus pick her up and drop her off!    Heidi LOVES the bus.  When she is getting ready to go to school, she puts on her backpack and says "Bus, mom.  Go to school."  (Over and over and over...)

 

It has been nice for me to have some "quiet time" on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon when Heidi and Kyle are both at preschool at the same time.  It was weird the first day driving home with just me and Jared (But it was easy to get used to :)   During this "quiet time" I have been able to go to Erika and Kyle's schools and help out, which has also been a nice thing.  I am hoping to be a little more informed and involved in their schooling this year.