Making Memories with Grandma & Grandpa

Danielle got back tonight from spending 2 nights with Grandma & Grandpa R. No brother, no Mom or Dad, nobody else - just quality time with Grandma, & Grandpa. Bits and pieces of their time together are still falling into place, but I can tell she had a wonderful time.

It sounds like they packed a lot of activity into 3 days. The highlight, though, was attending The Nutcracker Ballet. Grandma said Danielle was captivated for the entire 2 hours (past her bedtime, even!). Her face lit up as she told me more about it when I tucked her in tonight.

Here are some pictures from Danielle's visit:

Story Time

We went to visit my grandma today. The visit was too short and the kids too loud, but there was a wonderful, memorable moment I'm thankful I got to experience. While we were there, Tyler read a couple books to his great grandma.


Here is a little clip of Tyler reading I Like Bugs. I think they both enjoyed their moment together. (Years from now I know I will look back and cherish this moment. )

The Feast

The kindergarten classes had a Thanksgiving feast for lunch today. I helped serve the food. It was a fun change for them. I forgot my camera, so once again my cell phone saved the day. Tyler chose to wear his pilgrim hat but brought his Indian headband in case Danielle was there. She stayed home with Ron, but I thought that was pretty thoughtful of him! The little boy that likes Danielle wanted to know where she was. When I told him she was at home, he said "Aw shucks!" :)

Tyler took in a book to read to his teacher today, but instead of having him read it to her, she sat him in a chair in front of the class and had him read it to his entire class! He was so proud of himself when he told me about it! Shortly after he told me about it, I was going through his papers and found a note from his teacher. She wanted to let me know what a great job Tyler did reading the entire book and how impressed the class was because Tyler could read. Ron wanted to know if he got beat up after school (ha ha) but I thought it was really neat that the teacher would encourage him like that. He was so proud of himself and can't wait to find another book to take in.

Another Conference & Other Pictures

We attended Tyler's conferences on Friday. We were so happy with all the positive things his teacher had to say. She reviewed several of his papers with us - all of them excellent. Just to see how the kids would do, she decided to give them an impromptu spelling test one day. Tyler sounded out all the words and got 9 out of 10 right! His teacher talked about things she was going to do to try to challenge him even more since he's ready to learn more. As I've mentioned to my parents, it's the first time I've left a conference for Tyler feeling like I wanted to hug him rather than wring his neck.

One of the things his teacher wants to do is to challenge him to read more. As I mentioned in an earlier post, his reading vocabulary is exploding. His teacher is going to give him books to bring home & read to us, and we're going to send in books he can read to her. (He was really excited about this idea!) Tonight he practiced by reading a book to Danielle. She was thrilled! (By the way, she's scratching, not picking.) So the first 9 weeks (only 20 days of classes) are now under his belt. I'd say we're off to a good start.

These pictures are totally unrelated, but they were too funny not to share. We went to the Christmas light preview at the zoo with Uncle Ron the other night. They handed out special glasses to view the lights with. The glasses either created a snowflake or snowman around each light bulb. It was actually pretty cool. (BTW, aren't they suddenly looking so much older??!!)

Gift Requests Santa Will Never See

I have been amazed at the Christmas sales the stores are having already. I'm used to seeing Christmas decorations filling store shelves by mid-afternoon on Halloween, but the good bargains are usually saved for the day after Thanksgiving...which is when I typically start my shopping. Thanksgiving is over a week away and I've already made several purchases for fear the items I really want to buy will be sold-out by Thanksgiving.


I think it will be difficult to buy for Tyler this year since he plays with Legos almost exclusively. He's not offering many good ideas. Danielle has circled almost every girly item in The Big Toy Book. Here are some actual items from their wish lists that Santa will never see (or will choose to ignore if he does):

Aquadots - recently recalled because they metabolize into the date rape drug if ingested

Baby Alive Wet & Wiggles - not only does this doll pee, but both genders of the doll are anatomically correct

34" Talking Friendship Adventure Dora - this top heavy, humongous doll has a head as wide as Danielle's torso is long. One reviewer wrote it's ok that the doll is unstable and heavy because "luckily my daughter is strong".

FurReal Friends Squawkers McCaw Parrot - we have enough mimicking and mocking of the human variety. Besides, have you seen this thing?! That's a lot of money for a toy whose batteries would never be replaced!

Moon shoes - once we can master walking without tripping in regular shoes, maybe we can consider the out-of-this-world variety

Illnesses, Conferences, & Grades

Just when I thought we were on the upward swing with illnesses, Danielle was pretty sick last night. No need to go into all the details, but after a long night and trip to the doctor today, it turns out she has croup AND strep. So, she has an illness that makes her cough a lot and another that makes her throat very sore (in addition to causing high fever, headache, and vomiting). Not really a good combination. Needless to say, she's pretty miserable.

On a brighter note, we had our very first school (preschool) conference for Danielle last night. In addition to doing well academically, her teacher said "she's a joy to have in class" and is "a role model for the other children because she enjoys learning so much"! I don't think I've ever heard those words at a conference before. :) It was nice.

Tyler brought home his first grade card today. They grade S (satisfactory), U (unsatisfactory), and N (needs improvement). He did very well! He got one U for not knowing the days of the week in order (which I would consider my fault), and an N on "shows respect". I guess it's kind of ironic that I would have to address that issue with my son since I was told something similar once (or twice). Otherwise, he got a bunch of Ss and some nice comments about his academic achievements.

Spelling Lesson

After being up several times throughout the night with a 103+ fever, Tyler had his first sick day today.

When he heard the school bus go by this afternoon, it reminded him of something that happened another day on the bus. He said, "The other day one of the kids I sit with on the bus asked me how to spell 'kitten'. Me!" He sounded incredulous that they would think he could answer a question like that. I said, "So what did you tell them?" He smiled and said, "I told them c-a-t."

Learning to Read

When Tyler was little and learning to talk, it seemed like his vocabulary would multiply over night. I remember being amazed many times at how many new words he just seemed to absorb over the course of a day. I feel the same way now that he is learning to read. The words he can spell, or even just recognize, are multiplying by the day.

He has been able to read this book (The Hat) for a couple months, but it's even easier for him now. Although this book uses rebuses, at this point he knows how to spell and read the actual words the images represent! Here are a couple videos I took of him reading yesterday (before he got sick). You can tell he wasn't feeling too bad yet because he's being a smarty pants (dracula=bat). And yes, the "oww" is because I poked him.