Fall Festival

This fall was extremely busy for us. Between the election and co-planning the Fall Festival, it was a little crazy around here. But, helping organize the festival was fun, and the festival was a great for the school community and raised quite a bit of money for the PTA. Here are a few photos to show how much fun the kids had. Well, maybe the photos just show how much they love donuts.

This is their favorite game at the festival.

She couldn't wait to try the donut game.

Celebrating at the festival

Abracadabra

Guillermo has signed up for the Principal's Challenge again this year. We left it completely up to him, but I'm glad he decided to do it.

Last year, I thought we had convinced him that this year's topic should be food. It would have been so easy to come up with 25 activities related to food. I had it all mapped out.

This year, he couldn't remember that we had even discussed having food as a topic. He asked me to give him some ideas so I did: North Carolina, Spanish, Space, I think I named a few countries, including the United States of America.

"How about magic?" he asked. "I want to do it on magic."

So it is settled. Today, for our first activity, we had a brainstorming session where we talked about what we know about magic, some magicians we know (real and fiction) and what their magic powers are.

We're also finishing up a book from one of his favorite series, "Secrets of Droon," and are going to make a magician's cloak together.

I think this is going to be a great topic.

Maya's First Day of School

Maya started school yesterday and boy was she excited. She now goes five days a week, instead of three, "everyday that Guillermo goes, I get to go, too!." She is now in the Frog class and she is so proud. She didn't have too much to say about school when it was over, just that she had fun. She came out wearing a new necklace and holding a letter that a friend made for her.

This morning, on her second day of school, she woke up at 6:30 and gave me a hug in the living room. Then she asked: "I was noticing that I might be late for school. Am I late?"

First Day of School

On his first day of first grade.

Guillermo is in First Grade. Just writing that made me feel a little wimpy, but I sent Guillermo to school this morning without a tear so I think I'm entitled to watery eyes right now.

He seemed pretty happy to go and that was a bit surprising, though he had made a few comments recently indicating he was more excited then I had expected. When I crawled down into his fort this morning (next to the tent in his room, I might add), he begged "Just a few more minutes?" When I told him him not today, it was a school day, he begged for just one more minute. I agreed, walked out and heard him crawl out and start putting on his clothes right away. He came into the kitchen all smiles ... of course it was chocolate chip banana bread day.

So, what's different about this year versus last? The main thing is I didn't even take him to school. He and Will rode their bikes. Also, extra clothes in case of an accident weren't on first grade supply list like they were for kindergarten. That makes me a little nervous. But, it doesn'tmatter that much. I packed all of Guillermo's school supplies in his backpack last night l only to find them in his backpack this afternoon after school. He had forgotten to get them out of his bag.

He didn't offer up too many details of his day, but said it was fun. Lucky for me, I'm friends with the mother of one of Guillermo's classmates, a girl. She's already talking, and I'm catching up on all the classroom gossip.

Guillermo's last day

"He's good," Guillermo's classmates said of his four-square abilities.

Guillermo is now a first grader. Thursday was his last day of school. The kindergarten teachers had planned a picnic. It was hot, but the kids had a blast. Guillermo and some of his friends ended the afternoon with a few games of four-square. Listening to the kids discuss the rules told me everything I needed to know about why Guillermo negotiates rules of any game at length before we can get started. I didn't think those kids were ever going to get the game started as they came up with rules for what is allowed, not allowed and what requires a do-over.

Before the picnic, we gave the teachers a scrapbook as a thank you gift. Each child decorated a page for the book that I later had bound. It was sweet, low tech, but sweet.

Guillermo had a great first year of school. We loved both his teacher and the assistant. His teacher is now leaving the school, on her way to teach in Saudi Arabia so saying goodbye was a little more sad than I had expected. Guillermo loved her, too, but he wasn't nearly as sad about leaving for the day, for the summer. And just before he left, he pulled out the stash of Silly Bandz he had hidden in his pocket because the students aren't allowed to wear them and slipped them on his wrist. "Hey, Ms. G, look!" he shouted to her as he walked headed to the car.

Field Day!

Cooling off during a Field Day

Preparing for a big match

After two rain delays, Guillermo and the other kindergartners at his school finally got to participate in their first Field Day. Wow, was it hot and muggy. I was lucky enough to volunteer for the first part of the three-hour affair. My station was bocce ball. It was sort of a mess for the first few rotations, but by the time the third group came through I got smarter and handed over the game responsibilities to the two fifth grade helpers who traveled with each new group of kindergartners. I took on a new job of helper and it was great. I don't think bocce ball was anyone's favorite station (how can you beat the mist tent?) but they did have fun. And, in a book Guillermo made at the end of the day, he said that Field Day was his favorite day of school because his mother was able to come. :)

Last Day in the Fish Class

A Smurf in the making.

I'm really overdue with this post, but Maya has finished her first year of preschool. As you can see from that smile, she had a great time.

The last day of the year at her school is Splash Day. The teacher set up an inflatable water slide, a kiddie pool, sprinklers and painting stations and the kids have a great time. Maya wouldn't dare go down the slide, she's not very adventurous, but she had a great time painting her hands and arms and the windows. She was reluctant to get in the kiddie pool and I would have been, too. The kids were painting with shaving cream and spraying it on themselves. They washed off by taking a dip in the pool, leaving shaving cream floating on the top. I heard from the teachers that Maya eventually jumped in. On the way out of school, she was ecstatic. "Guess what we had for snack? Ice cream AND cupcakes!"

Preschool Year End

Maya and her classmates admiring the books their teachers made for them.

I can't say enough how happy I have been with Maya's preschool. The director and the teachers are amazing and Maya beams every time she walks into the school.

Last week was the school's end of year family celebration. The school shows a slide show of pictures from the year and the teachers present scrapbooks they've made for each student. The books are adorable. Each page represents a month the kids were in school. The pages include art the child made that particular month and a photograph of the student. Maya is smiling so big in each picture and one teacher wrote that she won the "smiliest student of the year award ... by a mile."

Western Day

This was Maya on Western Day. She was a little sad we didn't have cowboy boots and she wasn't wild about the brown skirt I had her wear (she doesn't have jeans that really fit) but she loved the hat and the braids, especially the braids.

She is starting to realize that her school year is coming to an end. Today, on the way to school, she started sobbing when I told her today was her last day to bring snack for the year. I couldn't get her to stop, though she miraculously felt much better when she hopped out of the car at school. In fact, you couldn't even tell she had been crying. Oh, I love that girl!

Wacky Day

Showing off a wacky face

This is a fun week for Maya. Today was Wacky Day at her school and Wednesday is Western Day. She was so pleased with herself! When she came home and I asked her who was the wackiest, she said: "I was!"

Music and Skates

Dancing at Family Music Night at her preschool.

Determined and working hard at Family Skate Night. (I could not get a good picture of Guillermo at either event!)

Guillermo has about one month left of his first year of elementary school and Maya finishes up her first year in preschool at the end of May. The calendar is already filling up with lots of school-related activities as the school year wraps.

On Thursday, Maya's school held Family Music night with the music teacher, Ms. Chris, and many of the schools' teachers. Maya was beaming, just like she is every time she goes to school. She loves her preschool so much. The director at Maya's school is called Ms. Mary and Maya loves to say it in a loud, high-pitched voice and then giggle like mad each time she sees Ms. Mary. Ms. Mary seems to like it, too.

Anyway, music night was really fun. They sang songs and did dances and skated on paper plates around the concrete floor. Even Guillermo had fun.

Tonight was Skate night at Guillermo's school and that was awesome, though I do question the DJ's decision to play O.P.P. by Naughty by Nature at an elementary school event.

Guillermo was a little nervous when we arrived because he thought he would be too slow, but he found some friends and took off without me. Maya found a friend, borrowed a three-wheeled scooter and took off, too, though she was easier to catch. She was so nervous and proceeded with great caution. She made it almost 3/4ths of the way around the track before she decided to run to catch up with a friend. But, she loved the scooter. I now know what to get her for her birthday.

Terrific Kid

Guillermo, at the awards ceremony.

The third quarter awards ceremony was held at Guillermo's school today and he was honored with a character award. His certificate says "in recognition of demonstrating a positive attitude, good character and responsible citizenship." Maya and I were in the audience and he was pretty pleased. All the honorees were called to the stage and when they returned to their seats on the gym floor, his classmates gave him high-fives. Tonight we celebrated by going out for sushi, his choice.

Now, he wants me to stick a "I'm Proud of my Terrific Kid" sticker on my car. Hmmm, I'm proud of him, for sure, but I definitely don't want the bumper sticker on my car.

Maya's New Friend

Maya's teacher stopped me after school today with a smile on her face to offer a little warning that went something like this: "You might want to have a talk with Maya about what to do if she gets kissed at school."

It turns out Maya has become friends with a boy in her class. Good friends, apparently. I learned today that last week, Maya and the boy were sitting so close to each other during story time that their cheeks were touching. "It was really cute," the teacher said.

Today, they sat next to each other again, this time he had his arm around her and she had his arm around him and once again they were cheek to cheek. When Maya pulled away, her hair fell into her eyes and this boy gently brushed it out of her face.

Maya hasn't said much about her new story time friend except that he wanted her to ask me if he could come over for a playdate. I'd love it!

Math and Science Night

Last night, Guillermo, Maya and I made our own mancala games, created symmetrical shapes with toothpicks and marshmallows and created our own planets made of styrofoam and cds. We went to Math and Science Night at Guillermo's school. Stations were set up all around the school and each activity focused on math and science. They also panned for gold, made their own bubble wands, shot baskets and recorded their scores, measured how high they could jump and helped the school chart which area college team had the most support (UNC won, of course!). Guillermo says his favorite part was getting a prize at the end (a deck of subtraction flash cards) but my favorite was helping them make their planets. Guillermo calls his Lava Planet. Maya's is called Fire Planet.

Wrinkles

In celebration of the 100th day of school, Guillermo's class was asked to bring in 100 of something. He made a ship out of 100 Legos and wowed his classmates. The rest of the day revolved around the number 100.

This was my favorite assignment of the day:

Chinese Dragons and Monkey Bread

I volunteered several times in Guillermo's class this week and today I substituted in Maya's class.

I helped the students in Guillermo's class make Chinese dragons. It was so fun to watch Guillermo with his classmates. And, he was pretty happy to see me. He came over to the table where I was working with a group of students to check on me and give me hugs several times the first day. He barely paid attention the second day I walked into the class, but came over later for a hug. The third day, it was finally his turn to make a dragon.

Today I substituted in Maya's room. I was one of four teachers (Friday is a big class because it combines the M-W-F class with the T-Th-F class). Maya was so excited for me to come and followed me around quite a bit at the start of the day until one of her best friends showed up. I didn't see much of her the rest of the morning. I had fun playing patient to about eight doctors for quite awhile. Some of the students also got to help one of the teachers make monkey bread for snack. Maya loved it. She told Will all about monkey bread at lunch today and tonight, I heard her tell Guillermo this:

"Guillermo, we made monkey bread for snack today. It is so good. It has chicken in it, no monkeys and cinnamon!"

I think we'll pass on that version.

Friday Speaker

Posing pretty.

Last week, I was the Friday Speaker at Maya's school. Every Friday, the school asks a parent to come and talk to the kids about anything they want. The parents can read books or do an activity. One parent this year talked to the kids about airplanes and then invited the class to see his airplane at the airport. It was pretty cool.

I gave Maya's class a Spanish lesson. On colors. I'm sure I wasn't among the most exciting speaker, but the kids were good and listened and participated and when I picked Maya up, she handed me a rainbow that said thank you and had quotes from a few of the kids about what their favorite parts were. Here are a few:

Maya: "My pink and purple one."

Allegra: "Pink, purple and red."

Sydney: "Teaching us colors in Spanish."

Antonia: "Speaking Blue."

I'm already thinking about my next Friday speaker gig. Any suggestions?

BINGO

Bingo!

The PTA at Guillermo's school hosted Bingo night yesterday.

At first, Guillermo didn't want to go because "they only have one winner." When we play Bingo or Zingo at our house, the rest of the players continue with the game even after the first winner has emerged. We convinced him that even if there is just one winner per game at his school, a lot of people win throughout the night. He decided to give it a shot.

And guess what. Guillermo won the first game. He picked a school water bottle for his prize.

Picking out his prize.

P.E. Class

Last week was "Take Your Parents to P.E. Week" at Guillermo's school. Will and I both had the chance to go.

Will went to the first class and did astronaut drills for warm up and then played PacMan tag. I haven't been able to get the details from them about the games.

I went on Friday and our warm up involved two large dice. Guillermo and I both rolled one and whoever rolled the highest number got to take a lap around the gym while the other exercised in place. Guillermo mostly rollled high and ran laps. After that, we played sharks and minnows. I ended up being seaweed in both games. Rats.

Maya's Christmas Program

Maya's Christmas program was last week. It was super cute. Her class wore paper elf hats and "sang" several Jingle Bells and several other songs in the church santuary. Maya sat in the front, right next to one of her best friends, and sang, or tried to sing, the whole time. She was so pleased with herself when she finished.

After the program, the children left the church sanctuary first and were going to serve the parents cookies as a thank you but when we arrived in the party room, we found the all the kids carrying plates of cookies back to their own chairs. For her part, Maya did get three cookies so she could share one (only one) with me. :) Later, she presented me with a present she made at her school, a paper snowflake ornament with her picture on it. It is adorable and so is the wrapping paper she decorated with red heart and green Christmas tree stamps. I love her school.