Jocelyn has been adjusting well to her new teacher at school since her teacher went on maternity leave. Of course, the day all us moms had pulled together a baby shower for the kids and the teacher, the teacher had a good case of false labor and had to miss out on all the fun but all of the kids in the classroom had a grand time and her teacher appreciated the thought and the gifts (and the pictures of the party). The older three kids have been taking swim lessons this month at the rec center and thankfully, are doing well at that. Jonas had a rough start (crying in the corner and refusing to enter the water), but we worked through it and now they are all jazzed about swim lessons. The two older girls continue to take dance lessons and seem to really enjoy that.
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| After swim lessons |
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| Girls before ballet class |
One of the most exciting things this month was the re-institution of the "Student of the Month" program at the girls' elementary school. The principal decided to begin this month reviving a program that the previous principal had done away with. The principal goes to each classroom and honors two individuals (recommended by the teacher) who have worked hard or been an otherwise positive influence in their class. Lillian came home one day with the award and was so pleased with herself. The next day Jocelyn came home with the same award. They both did well on their report cards as well so we went out to Jamba Juice to celebrate (luckily I had some good coupons that coincided!)
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| Lillian Student of the Month |
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| Jocelyn Student of the Month |
The highly anticipated, much prepared for field trips also occurred this month. Jonas went on a field trip to Petco with his preschool classand Lillian went with all the kindergartners. I was able to help chaperone Lilly's field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and I wish you could bottle the excitement and anticipation of all of those kinders upon entering the bus. All of us parents that had to sit on a crowded bus for about an hour weren't quite as excited, to say the least :) but seeing their excitement made it worth it! We took along Flat Stanley sent to us by an old roommate's son and tried to remember to take pictures of him as well. We had a fun day and I was so grateful to my parents who came down to care for my other children AND let me nap upon my return. I felt very spoiled that they were able and willing to come down for that express purpose.
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| Lillian and her friend boarding the bus |
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| Lillian and Stanley Monterey Bay |
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| Lillian and her friend in MBA clamshell |
When my parents came for the field trip, it also happened to be on St. Patrick's day so they joined us for a themed dinner and the excitement of finding our leprechaun traps littered with chocolate coins. Those tricky leprechauns had turned our milk green and had some chocolate coins fall out of their pockets, but were not stuck in the traps. I personally figured Jonas was going to catch one based purely on the amount of tape he had placed on top of his trap. He occupied himself for almost an entire hour one afternoon carefully peeling off and placing tape on an empty cereal box. Jocelyn was supposed to make a leprechaun trap for a school assignment; Lillian and Jonas wanted in on the action. We raided the recycling bin, handed them some tape and they came up with some pretty fun ideas.
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| Kids with Leprechaun traps |
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| St. Patrick's dinner crew |
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| Rainbow fruit salad for St. Patrick's Dinner |
Jonas, besides swim lessons and field trips, has been very busy building forts in my front room. Using every pillow available as well as the couch and blankets. This happens multiple times a day and if I pick them up he is very unhappy that I have "ruined his ______" fill in the blank with fort, ship, home, you name it. Jonas has also really enjoyed playing with his friend Liam. This is them during a playdate one day "saving the world!" They kept referring to each other as "Batman" and "Superman" instead of each other's names and it was cracking me up.
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| Batman and Superman saving the day |
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| Jonas building a fort one day |
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| Jonas in another pillow fort |
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| Emma reading with Jared |
Emma has made some fun milestones in the past month. She has learned how to say "uh-oh", learned how to knock on doors, and make a few new animal sounds (she practices these especially while reading with Dad). She can "moo" like a cow, bark like a dog, Sss like a snake, act like a fish, etc. But most important in her world right now are wipes and balloons. She has emptied two different containers off wipes about half way before I caught her and made many other attempts that I have thwarted. A simple balloon from the dollar store can occupy her for hours! She'll pull it down, scream with glee, push it, run with it, etc. It's so fun to watch excitement for the simple.
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| Emma with balloon |
Lillian the other day was telling me "I can train things really well." So I naturally responded: "Wow! What have you been training?" She told me "I can train the baby! Watch!" she then turns to Emma and says in a stern voice "Emma, Sit!" Wouldn't you know it, Emma sat right on the floor. We are all looking forward to more amazing feats with the performing duo of Lillian and Emma!
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