Our Christmas Pageant

 

Our church celebrated the Christmas story at church with having all the children participate. 

This picture was actually taken after the play the kids performed.  The three kids on the right played their instruments, and the rest of the kids were singing carols. 

Seanelle and GaryTodd didn’t know for sure if they wanted to participate.  GaryTodd had told us that he didn’t want to be a Wise Man.  He wanted to be an XMen. 

I suggested it, but I didn’t have anyone that wanted to change the story that much.

 

 

 

 

 

Seanelle was a little angel, and GaryTodd ended up being a sheep.

They were much more comfortable when they were told they wouldn’t have to remember any lines.

Oh my gosh they are so cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year we were able to have a real baby play the part of Jesus.  He was only about 10 days old.  And he played his part perfectly.  He never cried, and slept through the entire thing.

Here his brother is caressing him while GaryTodd and other children keep a close eye on him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seanelle told us that she was cold.  After the program, I was expecting her to come sit with us like GaryTodd did.  But to my surprise, she went directly to her friend and sat with her. 

Her friend is the attendant in the nursery.  She loves her so much that even though she is in 1st grade, she doesn’t want to leave the nursery.

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Getting Geared Up for Christmas!

Wow!  Christmas already!  I thought this year would never end, and now I find myself wondering how Christmas sneaked up on me!

This is GaryTodd’s first Christmas at school.  He has been waiting for these parties that he remembers Seanelle celebrating last year.  The parties were the main reason he was excited about starting school.

Yesterday, Seanelle brought home a gingerbread house that she decorated at school. 

She was very proud of it and couldn’t wait to show her dad.  But she was really interested in eating all the candy…

“Dad wouldn’t notice if I just ate one of the Dots…” she started to justify. 

We decided to take several pictures of it so her dad would get an opportunity to see it before she started eating it.  It was a good thing too.  There was nothing left an hour later when Dad came home from work.

(Don’t worry… she shared it with her little brother.)

GaryTodd came home with several items.  He decorated a tree with all kinds of glitter, and he made this Rudolph hat, and he made me a picture. 

(Now that they are getting bigger, they are getting impatient with waiting for mom to get the camera.  They have games to play and if mom wants to get a picture, well… there’s no telling how long you are going to have to stay still.  This is seriously cutting into their playtime.  I offer this as an excuse as to why GaryTodd isn’t wearing his shirt anymore.)

Today GaryTodd brought home this wreath.  I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to tell which one was his, and which was Seanelle’s from last year.  But luckily, this year GaryTodd has his picture on it.

This is what the poem says,

Sometimes you get discouraged

Because I am so small

And always leave my fingerprints

On furniture and walls.

 

But every day I’m growing -

I’ll be grown up someday

And all those tiny hand prints

Will surely fade away.

 

So here’s a final hand print

Just so you can recall

Exactly how my fingers looked

When I was very small.

 

The Kindergarten classes were able to wear their pajamas to school today.

I did make GaryTodd pose for a picture to show off his pajamas, but he was getting hungry and was too distracted to get a very good picture.  I decided to try to capture a candid picture of him trying to decide what he wanted to eat for lunch. 

He just happened to turn and say “Cheese” as I was snapping the picture.  I thought he was saying “Cheese” for the picture, but as it turned out, that was what he decided to eat for lunch.

I am looking forward to spending the next week with the kids all day, and I will hopefully have time to post some more pictures.

If I don’t have an opportunity beforehand, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!  Love to you all!

The Reptile Man

Tonight the kids and I went to see “The Reptile Man” at the school.  The kids picked seats in front near the all the action, but I chose to sit in the back.  I wasn’t frightened, but I didn’t feel the need to have a front row seat.

Getting pictures was difficult for a couple of reasons.  The first reason would be that kids were so excited about these creatures that they kept jumping and clustering around them. 

Secondly, which is probably the biggest reason, I didn’t take the camera… and had to rely on my cell phone to take a decent picture.

I was intrigued when the crocodile started whipping his tail and the kids nearby started screaming and squealing.  But when it was explained that crocodiles don’t actually have a bladder, I immediately lost all interest.

 

We saw about three different types of turtles, and about three or four iguanas, then came out the crocodile, and then all the snakes.  The last snake he pulled out was pretty big. 

Some of the snakes were actually interesting to look at (from the back row) and had all sorts of interesting patterns to camouflage themselves.

The kids had a chance to pet the iguana.  When Scott Petersen asked for volunteers, I don’t think there was a kid there that didn’t have a hand in the air.  I even looked around for my kids… and sure enough… their hands were up too.  (I’m not sure how they would have handled it if they had been chosen.  My guess is that GaryTodd would have walked away.)

The children had fun, and I was glad it didn’t take much longer than an hour.  Of course, Seanelle really wanted to get her picture taken with a snake, but I didn’t want to stand in line.  (And to be honest, I really don’t think I would have wanted to see that snake wrapped around my baby girl.)

Halloween Dance

Here’s a couple of pictures taken while at the dance.  I wish I could just record Corissa’s recollection of the dance, because it is absolutely hilarious.  Not just what she watched her brother and sister do, but her own experiences during the dance.

Corissa took these pictures before the dance.

 

She managed to get them to pose for the camera, but GaryTodd can’t resist looking at the camera.

Aren’t they absolutely adorable?

 

 

Here’s some pictures from the dance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seanelle and GaryTodd found some neighbors that helped show them what a school dance was all about. 

I had fun bowling tonight, but I’m sure I would have enjoyed being at the dance with the kids.   Yet, I am pretty happy that Corissa was able to have that opportunity.  And there is something about listening to my oldest daughter tell the story that I really enjoy.

Halloween Party At School

Of course we will be taking pictures tomorrow night, but I wanted to give you a little preview of the fun we had today.

GaryTodd had his Halloween party this morning, but then was able to celebrate this afternoon with his sister in her classroom.  He followed her around during the parade (his second time through today… but the first time with the entire school participating in the parade.)

GaryTodd was having a fantastic time being with his sister!  This was so much better than he was expecting!  He played with the other boys in her class and was very polite to all the little girls. 

Seanelle was very generous and shared her toys and candy with her little brother.  I guess she felt it was better to be on Megatron’s good side.

They had a great time, and didn’t want the party to end… until there was an announcement made about the Halloween dance tonight.  Then they wanted to rush home and get Corissa. 

Corissa is taking them to the dance tonight while Todd and I go bowling.  It doesn’t even start until 6:30pm, but the kids are anxiously awaiting the event.

I can’t wait to hear all about it when we get home!  Maybe the will get pictures that I can share.  Hope so!

Happy Halloween!

Cousins!!!

We had some cousins come to visit this weekend.  Katie is actually my first cousin, although she is the same age as my oldest daughter. 

In this picture is LeighAnn, Phynix, and Seanelle.  They are actually 3rd cousins.  Wow!  Not many people know their 3rd cousins!  That really is pretty impressive to me. 

Because they are children, they are all cute and love to have their pictures taken.  But that doesn’t make it easy to get a good picture.  Either one of them is talking, or moving, or looking at someone else…

You aim the camera, tell the one not looking at you to smile for the camera, as soon as you are certain you have a great photo, *click* and you check out the picture you just shot.

You suddenly realize that they are less interested in the camera, and more interested in the car through the window, getting a drink, a nearby toy, a toy that isn’t so nearby, the smell of dinner coming from the kitchen… basically, anything other than getting a “perfect picture.”

I only had one of the kids willing to be still enough to let me get her picture.

This is the littlest addition to their family.  Becca wore herself out and decided to fall asleep just before the dinner was put on the table.

 

 

 

Seanelle wanted to show off her new trick of being able to do a backbend before Katie and her family left town.  But Katie had a surprise for Seanelle.

 

 

 

She had Seanelle stay in her pose, and then she joined in the fun.

I was the one that was able to surprise them.  I took their picture… and then posted it on the world wide web!

I was even able to get Roy pose for a picture.

They stayed for dinner and then decided to head for home.

Even though the kids didn’t remember meeting before (They were pretty young when we saw them about 3 years ago) they played together very well, and didn’t want the fun to end.  Phynix was willing to stay behind and have us “ship” her back home later.  Seanelle didn’t see a problem with this plan. 

First Cross Country Meet Today!!!

 

Seanelle enjoyed her first Cross Country Meet.  She has been training for the past couple of weeks, and has been looking forward to this. 

Not having ever been to a Cross Country meet, she didn’t have any idea what to expect, but she was eager to get started. 

 

She was the second group to run.  The first group was the 1st grade boys.  She watched to see what they were doing so she would know what to do when it was her turn.

She started well.  The picture above was her running in the first quarter mile.  She paced herself well, and was confident enough to even pose for the camera.  (Somehow though, those pictures didn’t turn out as well.)

In the picture at the left, she is running the last quarter mile… which started uphill.  She was still running and has a smile on her face. 

During her practices, she usually runs a little and then walks a little.  But we asked her to try to run as long as she possibly could.  I would be proud of her as long as she did her best.

Well, I watched her run past me, and because she made such great time, I knew she hadn’t stopped to walk at all.  And she seemed to be running at the same pace I saw her running in the first quarter.  Wow!

I have never seen her still running after such a great distance.  The weather was a little cool for spectators, but nice for the runners.  It was much better weather than the 90 degree weather conditions they have been experiencing during practice.

Below is a picture of Seanelle on the home stretch… she’s still running, and excited to see her daddy cheering her on to the finish line.

 

Out of the 30 or so girls, Seanelle came in 13th place.  They wouldn’t post the times until the end of the meet.

Because we wanted to go out to dinner to celebrate, we didn’t wait until the end of the meet to find out her time.  We are hoping to find out tomorrow at practice.

In order to qualify for the All City Meet, she will have to run the mile in less than 9.5 minutes.  If she didn’t make it, she has one more chance.

But even if she didn’t qualify, it was a huge victory, and you can see from these pictures that she is really happy with herself for being able to run the entire distance.

What a cutie… (She ate well and fell asleep fast tonight.)

Seanelle’s Open House – Part 2

I just wanted to share with everyone what Seanelle told me about the huge heart on her painting.

“Seanelle, I love the big heart you drew on your picture.  I loved her blonde hair, her blue eyes and her big smile, but why did you put the big heart on her?”  I asked.

“Because that is where God lives!” she said.

It Was a Fair Day…

We chose to go to the fair today.  It rained on us the entire time we ate lunch.  Most of the time we were inside buildings, but during our lunch we ate outside.  (And I’m sure it smelled better than with the animals!)

They had a great time painting their very own bird houses.  They worked very hard on them.

It was pretty nice.  Each child was able to participate, and t-shirts were provided to protect their clothes.  Unfortunately, some kids really flung the paint around and it wasn’t until I got home until I noticed I had been hit. 

But the kids had a great time.  We tagged them and then we picked them up when we were leaving the Fairgrounds.  They are very colorful.

We kept our distance from most of the animals, but the sheep seems friendly enough.  Until the kids actually touched them.  Then all of a sudden they became a little shy.  I had to beg Seanelle to go back to pet the sheep so I could take a picture, but I had to be fast.  GaryTodd would have none of that.  Seanelle touched the goat and ran, and GaryTodd didn’t want to get any closer.

We watched some dirt bike racing, which the kids really enjoyed, while my mother and I were ready to get away from the noise.  We also huge pumpkins and paintings and the kids got to get a free plant of parsley… (although right now they only think they got some dirt.)

Even though I would have liked to see some more things, and I am certain my mom shares that sentiment, we did get worn out.  The only one that didn’t get a nap in was Seanelle.  She waited for all of to fall asleep and then asked if she go ride her bike.  (Luckily I didn’t fall for it this time!)

Seanelle’s Open House…

We attended Seanelle’s Open House this week.  I really like the way they handle it at this grade school… Instead of having to go to the gym and listen to the Principal talk forever about the school and the rules and whatever they usually ramble on about (which I obviously sleep through most of the time…) we instead went directly to the classroom.

Seanelle showed us around the classroom and pointed out some of her projects.

This is a picture of my favorite.  Seanelle has decided for a while now that she wants to be a Veterinarian.  But apparently she wanted to make sure that everyone in her class understood what kind of a doctor she plans to be.

I am curious as to why she has a Roman numeral IV on her shirt.  I keep meaning to ask her, but whenever I think about it, she isn’t at home.  And when she is home, she is generally making plans to go somewhere.

In case you can’t read the picture, this is what it says:

“My name is Seanelle.

I am an expert at painting.

In first grade, I want to learn

how to make good choices.

When I grow up, I want to be

an animal doctor.”

Some of the things that I like about this is her blonde hair, blue eyes, and her huge heart.  She really does love everybody, and has a huge heart.  But my favorite thing is that she said she wants to learn to make good choices in first grade. 

I wish that was what I wanted to learn in first grade.  I wanted to learn to read.  Wanting to make good choices wasn’t something I desired until after years of making several bad ones.  I really hope she learns it!

First Week of Sunday School!

Today was the first day of Sunday School.  Seanelle and GaryTodd went and sat down and waited for the fun to start. 

Neither of them have ever attended Sunday School before, so they didn’t know what to expect.  They just found some chairs and sat down and waited. 

Before long they were engaged in a game similar to “Duck, Duck, Goose” but was modified to help learn the names of the children attending the Sunday School. 

This is a great game for kids that like to run and be active.  This should only be played in wide open spaces where the kids can run easily, because none of them really care about obstacles… only running…

I don’t think they slowed down to prevent running into spectators.

Seanelle is a brown blur on the picture in the left, and GaryTodd is the purple blur in the picture on the right.

The were moving fast.  Catching the kid they were chasing was not their concern.  They were all excited that they were allowed to run in the church!

Although this was a game to learn the names of the children, the children paid little attention to that either.  (But the Sunday School teachers did!)  As if this wasn’t enough fun to make the kids want to come back next week, there was another special treat planned for them!

Each of the children got a balloon.  There was a piece of candy attached to the end of the string of each balloon.  The children were told to eat this piece of candy.  (I think they would have figured that out on their own.)

But I think that was to sweeten the idea that none of them would be keeping their balloon. 

The candy pieces would be replaced with a note inviting people to come join us for Sunday School, and the balloons would be released.

GaryTodd and Seanelle waited patiently for the balloon.  (I think they were being selective in which type of candy they wanted that was attached.)  I’m certain I heard one of the teachers ask, “What color balloon do you want?” with an answer of, “The one with the lollipop!”

 

 

We all went outside to watch release of the balloons.  The original idea was to release it from the grass, but the trees were an obstacle, and we didn’t want any popping prematurely.  So the children moved to the parking lot.

 

 

With the children heading to the parking lot, the building obstructed our view.  Many of the parents and grandparents decided to get a closer look too.

It wasn’t very windy today, and a few of the balloons floated back to us.  The children caught them and released them again, and enough of a breeze picked up to take the balloons on their travels.

I have no doubts that a few of those children were wondering why the adults were telling them to let go of the balloons on purpose, something they wouldn’t normally do… but they had candy.

We came back into the church and celebrated with doughnuts and apple juice.  It was a fun day for the children, but I think we older ones had more fun being able to watch the entire process. 

I grew up going to Sunday School every Sunday.  But I had more fun today than I ever did as a kid.  I’m so glad we didn’t sleep in today!

Seanelle Loves the Spotlight!

We knew when we saw her perform for Kindergarten that Seanelle felt completely comfortable being center of attention in a big crowd.  On Sunday, during the “Moment with the Children” she was asked to stand in front of the congregation and hold up a sign as high as she could.

As you can see, she was not at all shy.  Next to her was a friend that she brought to the church.

Eventually all the children would participate in a “commercial” to help get the word out about Sunday school.

Seanelle really wasn’t as interested in what the message was, she was pleased that she was part of the ‘show’.

 

 

 

 

I am so pathetic.  I’m sure I blocked a view from the people sitting behind me, but Seanelle made me chuckle, and I needed to take a picture of it.

I took these pictures with my cell phone, which should have been turned off.  I’m glad I didn’t turn it off because I would have missed these shots.

My phone has been known to ring during church, followed by a frantic commotion that I create as I am rummaging through my purse trying to find the phone and turn it off.

I did get a call while I was in church today too.  Usually it is one of my children that call me, but this time it was my husband.

Todd has been waiting all year for this day.  He had plans to draft for his Fantasy Football league, so he wasn’t able to attend church with me.  But he had a great time with his friends.  And he designed a new jersey and sent me the picture.

On the tops of the sleeves, it has the Men Are Pigs Association logo, (which he is a card carrying member) and on the back it has “Goose.” 

I wish he wasn’t wearing his hat, because he has a very cute bald head that we shave often.

(Seanelle and GaryTodd think that all bald or balding men shave their heads.  Including some people at church that only have bald tops, but have hair around their ears!)

Our Littlest Sponges

For Kindergarteners, they have their Open House before school starts.  That way they can get acquainted with the classroom, their teacher, and the surroundings.  We went to the Open House and GaryTodd was super excited.  He gave his teacher a high-five, and later gave her a huge hug.

But when we actually entered the classroom, he didn’t want to do anything the teacher had wanted him to do.  He wanted to play with the toys.  He especially didn’t want to color on the coloring pages that had been set out.

That was what made him get nervous about going to school.  He got upset because he didn’t know how to color.  He has never been interested in coloring with me, and he suddenly realized that he was going to have to color in school. 

This was his first paper he did in school (left).  I was very happy with the fact that he colored. But then I was excited that he followed the directions, and even wrote his name!  I had never seen that from him!  I was impressed that he had traced most of the circles too.  I have been so happy with how much he enjoys school, and how much he absorbs.

On the fifth day of school, he came home with this paper (right):

I was amazed with how much his coloring changed in just a few days.  And he uses many different colors whenever he colors. 

He tells me every day that he doesn’t talk in school.  He can be a quiet kid, so it doesn’t really surprise me that he is quiet in school.  But we just entered September.  We’ll see how quiet he stays by the first parent/teacher conference. 

Seanelle is really enjoying school too.  Today she gave everyone a huge scare.  She is a first grader now, so she wants to be like all the other big kids. 

We take a neighbor to school in the mornings, and then her parents pick them up after school.  Today I got a call asking me if I had picked up Seanelle already.  They searched for her in the school, but no one had seen her. 

I immediately left the house to search for her.  I found her not far from home, just walking home after school.  When I asked her why she walked home, she told me that she just wanted to be a big kid and walk home. 

I suppose it is a good time to learn a lesson about being where people expect you to be, about being safe, and keeping your word… but I could have done without the panic.  We are definitely going to have to keep our eyes on that girl!

First Day of School!

Thursday was the first day of school and everyone was excited. We take a neighbor to school in the morning. Despite the fact that I reassured her we would pick her up in plenty of time, she couldn’t wait any longer and decided to just come over.

That was good because Seanelle was still in bed (so was I because she was 2 1/2 hours early.) She was able to wake Seanelle and get her motivated to ready herself for the first day of school. It wasn’t the routine that I had planned, but it worked.

They had several minutes of time to kill and decided to work out on dad’s treadmill. They each had several turns before they decided to find something else to do.

They each had a difficult time concentrating on eating breakfast. GaryTodd decided to eat cereal with milk like the older girls, and although he ate, he didn’t eat much. Seanelle only ate about half of what she normally eats. They were all just too excited.

 

 

 

 

 

GaryTodd is not usually the leader. But he was really excited to get to school. He already knows who his teacher is, and he doesn’t want to be late. The older girls followed, but not at the pace GT would have preferred.

We found GaryTodd’s cubby and he hung up his Transformer backpack. Then we went to find his seat.

He got to choose where to sit, and he chose a seat right next to his cousin, Ashton.

The teacher told the kids that their first job as Kindergartners were to tell their parents “Good-bye.” He did a good job of following the rules. What a sweetheart.

“Bye-bye my baby…” Now what am I going to do for the next 2 1/2 hours?

 

When we showed up at the school to check the list of names to find out who Seanelle’s teacher was, she wasn’t on any of the lists. We were able to find where our friend was assigned, but we couldn’t find out where Seanelle was supposed to go.

We had to go to the office and stand in line. Luckily Grandma came with us this morning and was able to stand in line in the office with Seanelle while I took her brother to his classroom.

Luckily Seanelle wasn’t completely forgotten. She was on the master list, and her teacher was all prepared to have her there. She was very excited to find out that she got the teacher she has been telling us all summer long that she wanted to have.

 

 

 

After school, GaryTodd waved at us as the teacher lined everyone up to show them where they will need to be in the morning.

It was a strange day for me to have my baby in school, but he had a lot of fun. He told me that he didn’t talk at all in school because it is the rule.

Then he told me that his backpack is too small and that he needs a bigger one.

That’s what they learn to do best in school, and it starts on the very first day of Kindergarten. They learn how to get more and more money out of the parents.