Beatrix's First Day of Kindergarten

Beatrix was so excited to start kindergarten!  She could not understand why everyone else got to start a couple of days before she did.  I don't think she was scared at all, she was counting down the days and kept talking about how excited she was.

We went to her classroom about a week before she started and saw the school and her desk.  Then she went again to talk to the teacher without all the other kids there.  It is why she started a couple days later.  They like to do a slow start kindergarten where all the teachers meet one on one with their kids and parents before the first day of school.  I think it helped Beatrix.  It was so nice to send a child off to school who wasn't scared.  I've had kids excited to go and I've had kids crying hysterically that I had to pull off my leg, and a couple in between.

After school she had nothing but good things to say about her first day.  I'm glad it went well for her, and just a little sad that I don't have anymore kids at home.

Last Day of School

Monday was Penelope and Scarlett's last day of school.  Tucker officially ended school last week.  Wohoo I'm so happy it is summer!  I'm pretty sure everyone in my family was really excited for school to end.  The kids had a great year, I'm just ready for a schedule break.

I wanted to get some pictures of their last walk to school... kind of.  We actually are planning on walking to the school a lot this summer to use their playground/library/free lunches.  But this felt different.  We usually drove to school in the mornings but it was nice out so I wanted to walk them on their last day.  I always walk to pick them up after school, rain or shine.

Over all it is a pretty nice break to get out of the house every day and get some fresh air.  I wanted to get a picture of my walking buddies.  Tucker usually comes too.

The girls both really liked their teacher.  Scarlett had Mrs. Chinnock, who was a lot of fun.  Scarlett said she was going to miss her.

Penelope had Mrs. Sherry who she really liked.  Mrs. Sherry was a little more strict but I could tell she cared a lot about her class.  She is actually going to China to teach a bilingual class for the next two years.

I'm grateful for all the school teachers!  That has got to be one hard job!

School Fun

The end of the school year has been lots of fun for the kids.  Penelope's first grade class went on an all day field trip to the Seattle Art Museum.  I even had to drop her off at school and hour early and pick her up two hours after school regularly gets out.  She said she had sooo much fun.  I could tell that she was worn out.

They also had a whole week of dress up days.  The first picture is of job day.  Both girls just picked something they wanted to dress up as and made it clear to me that they probably don't actually want to be that when they grow up.  Penelope is a dancer and Scarlett a teacher.

Hawaiian day was fun.  Penelope first wanted to wear a grass skirt too but she changed her mind.

I was excited for twin day because they get asked constantly if they are twins anyway.

And lastly crazy hair day.  Penelope did not want to participate.

On crazy hair day Scarlett's class went on a field trip to the park.  The boys and I decided to meet her class there and hang out with them for a bit.

Baby Baluga

Penelope and Scarlett had their end of year music performance called "Baby Baluga".  Normally I don't like how they combine kindergarten and first grade for performances because there are too many kids and too many parents to see.  This year it worked out in our favor because things are busy with a newborn and it was nice to just go to  one performance.

They did great!  Both girls were excited and seemed to really enjoy it.  Tucker had done the same exact songs a few years ago so the night before all three of them were singing the songs together around the house.  It was cute.

Both girls got to be in the front so I could see them.  Penelope just had the music stand in front of her most of the time, it didn't block her face though.

I had a relief society activity that night so Calista, Leon and I went to the day performance and Bob and the kids went to the night one.  Leon got a little difficult toward the end.  I think he was having a hard time paying attention, but it wasn't too bad.  Calista slept the whole time.

This video is of the song that has been stuck in everyone's head since the performance.  Scarlett thinks it is funny. 

Muffins With Moms

Last week the girls school had their annual Muffins with Moms day where we got to come and read with them while eating muffins.  I was thinking of how easy it was for me to go because I don't have work to take off from or a napping baby to worry about... yet.  I was kind of excited, when in the past I haven't looked forward to these things because I usually disrupts nap time.  I just brought Tucker and Leon with me and they did great!  Tucker sat and read a book that he brought from home and Leon was quiet also and sat with me.

 We first went to Scarlett's classroom because it was the first one we walked by.  She showed me her desk and classroom.  All of which I've seen before but she was very excited that I was there and she got to show me.  Then I signed her out and we went and hung out in Penelope's classroom.  She read a few books to us and then we did a little Easter project on the computer.  Both girls have laptops in their classroom that they are expected to use and they almost have enough where they barely even have to share.  Pretty different than my kindergarten experience.

 It only lasted about 45 minutes but it was a nice way to end the school week.

School Night

The local elementary school won an improvement award so they invited the families out to celebrate.  We ate pizza and decorated tiles.  I'm not sure where the tiles are going to go up but the kids thought it was pretty cool.  I'm glad that the school is getting better but at the same time I wish they went to a school that was already better, if that makes any sense.

The tiles were supposed to be related to the school so Penelope choose to do the playground and Scarlett wanted to draw the lunch.  Bob and I helped with the pictures.

Last Day of School

Yesterday was Penelope's last day of school.  I think she enjoyed school even though she didn't ever want to go.  She really wanted to homeschool, but I felt like she needed to go to school.  Looking back I think we made the right decision.  The whole setting of going away from me with a big group of strangers was extremely hard for her.  We had weeks of her crying begging me to stay.  She grew so much throughout the year.  I thing going through that challenge was a big learning experience for her.  I'm not saying she won't be scared next time, but now she knows that she can do it.

Here she is with her amazing teacher!

The week before school got out they had dress up days.  This was another challenge for her.  She would talk about what she wanted the night before and then in the morning say she didn't want to wear it.  Each day I had to almost force her to dress up, but every time she came home from school she told me she was happy she did it.  The first day was career day and I missed the picture.  She dressed up as a ballerina.

Next was Cowboy vs Pirate day.  We had cowboys and girls at our house.

Scarlett was so nice to let Penelope borrow one of her new dress up outfits.

Tucker had fun leaning up against walls all day with his hat over his face.  A teacher took this and emailed it to me.  We were there waiting for Penelope to come out.

Next was Hawaiian day.  This was the easiest one to get her to wear.

And lastly was wacky day.  She did not want to dress up wacky.  But she had been talking about doing cupcake hair for months since she saw a picture of it online.  So we gave it a try.

I'm glad school is over too.  It is going to be so nice not to homeschool or walk Penelope back and forth from school for a few months.

Zoo Field Trip

Before I post about her last day I wanted to share one last field trip.  Bob took the day off work and went with Penelope and her class to the zoo.  He went with Tucker when he was in kindergarten so no I think it is a tradition.

They had a great time.  Bob had three students in his group and was free to see the zoo however they wanted until it was time to meet back up.  All the kids made tie dye shirts beforehand.  I thought it was a great idea to keep track of them.

This next picture was supposed to be of Bob and Penelope.  Apparently she was scared to actually get in the picture aside from her arm.  They were both instructed, by me, to take lots of pictures.  I can just see them semi-reluctantly try to take this picture.

They both came home tired and hot.  I guess it was warm out that day and our Honda doesn't have the best air conditioning for the 45 minute drive home.  I'm glad they got to go, and especially that Penelope has a dad who can take time off work for the occasion.