Last day of kindergarten!

Miss Lu finished kindergarten with a special Kindergarten Star celebration. 

Her class performed the play of the "Very Hungry Kindergartner" (a la "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"), which included various dances and songs. Each child also read a short (2-3 sentences) story they wrote about their home.

Next her teacher Mrs. Whitaker called each child up to receive a special certificate and trophy. As the certificates were presented, she read something special about that child. Miss Lu's said "Thank you for the many creative ideas you gave to your stories in your journal. Thank you for your excitement about learning and your special smile you shared with everyone." 

Afterwards we all stayed to celebrate with a giant potluck picnic! All in all, it was a fabulous way to end kindergarten. Nick and I feel so lucky to have had such a wonderful, caring, patient, and creative teacher for our little Lucy!

Calvin goes a courtin'

Ok, not really courting anyone at this age, but these pics of Calvin Jesse with my friends' daughters were too cute not to put up here.

First off, my friend Angie adopted an adorable baby girl they named Keira just a few weeks before Calvin was born. 

They're both about the same length, but Calvin definitely had bigger feet. 

It was pretty funny watching them together. They kept on holding hands, staring at each other, that kind of thing. And drool. There was plenty of drool.

And then while we were in Seattle over spring break, I finally got to meet Tom and Alicia's "baby" (she's over a year now) Trixie. Such a doll! 

Calvin couldn't really keep up with her, but Alicia and I figured they had to weigh about the same. 

Performing bug

Miss Lu has appeared in a flurry of performances over the past few weeks.

First off, we had her dance recital. Dress rehearsal, two performances, the works. She was in the Beginning Ballet class at the New Mexico Dance Theater. This year the recital theme was "Around the World": Lucy's dance was entitled "Persia." She was, of course, very enthusiastic in her dancing.

Next, she sang a solo (all three verses of "I am a Child of God") at her friend's baptism. They moved the baptism service to the chapel as the primary room was too full. She really did a great job—on key, remembered the words, and didn't even get nervous!

And finally today her music class held its end of the year recital. All the kids sang songs and had individual parts they played on the bells. Lucy played the "do-mi-mi, mi-sol-sol, re-fa-fa, la-ti-ti" bells in the "Do Re Mi" song. Miss Annie is a great teacher and Lu is really enjoying the program.

Sunday

Today I looked down as we walked in to church and realized I was still wearing my slippers. Lucy thought it was hysterical.

At least I was really comfy.

Feeding time at the zoo (with giggles)

Happy half birthday!

Miss Lu has a summer birthday. But she did not want to miss out on a chance to celebrate her birthday with her kindergarten class. So I made the cupcakes, Mrs. Whitaker provided the crown and a cute little gift, and we partied. Calvin Jesse even made a guest appearance, much to everyone's delight.

Now Miss Lu thinks she should get extra TV time, since she's "really almost six already."

PS I'm really happy with how the cupcakes (from scratch!) turned out. Prettiest cupcakes I've ever made :)

 

Best Mother's Day ever

They gave me love:

And a one-of-a-kind tile trivet:

It doesn't get any better than that!

My apologies, Calvin

Tonight, Miss Lucy discovered that dressing Calvin Jesse up in her princess crowns, headbands, and wigs is, apparently, utterly hysterical. 

Love and sharks

Lucy came home from kindergarten with this lovely drawing yesterday (click on the images for the full effect):

It's a home on a hill with music coming out of it. In the window sits a family of four around a table with a book (the scriptures?) on it.

She wrote the words to the song below: "I see my mother kneeling with her family each day, I hear the words she whispers as she bows her head to pray. The sum of the kingdom quiets her fear. And I'm thankful, Love is spoken here." The words are a little inventive in places, but you get the gist of what's going on. 

I felt like a great mom to know that my daughter was drawing such lovely pictures at school. Obviously it reflected well upon my mothering that she feels her home is safe, secure, full of music and love.

Then I turned the paper over.

What's that? A shark crying out "oh no" as he's speared in the head with a giant harpoon? And a sad octopus cowering in fear in his cave as another shark with many sharp teeth approaches (and has that shark just vomited? Or is he about to eat tiny fish?). 

Oh. Oh I see.

Calvin Jesse: 6 at 6 months

1. Calvin has found his feet during the past week. He now grabs on tightly every time he's on his back.

2. He continues to become more vocal, growling and loudly sighing for no apparent reason.

3. Foods consumed with gusto to date: sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, applesauce, prunes, carrots, rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, barley cereal, greek yogurt, blueberries, pears, bananas, peaches, and veggie mixes. He can hold his spoon and stick it in his mouth. 

4. Calvin now rolls over when playing by himself on his playmat.

5. He no longer uses his binky (only rarely when falling asleep for about 60 seconds); instead, he prefers to gnaw on his thumb.

6. He adores his sissy! Miss Lu gets the best smiles when she comes home from school.

Alone time

I love my family. But after a weekend in which we all passed around various iterations of the stomach flu I must admit that I also relish any alone time that might come my way. And that made me remember that I love this haunting poem/video by Tanya Davis and Andrea Dorfman.

Something to chew on

I saw these online months ago, and I keep on thinking about them. We don't need blocks for Calvin Jesse, but if we did, these Young Mad Scientist's First Alphabet Blocks from Xylocopa would be on the top of my list.