Happy Birthday SuSu!

Happy 31st Birthday SuSu! We hope you got the card Ellie made in time for your birthday.



The kiddos had fun chatting via FaceTime, despite the fact that Calvin tried to stab you with his fork. He really just wanted to share his spaghetti.












And just so you know, I didn't feel old until today when my little sister became over thirty.

Anyway, happy birthday!!

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Climber

Cal is a climber. He wants to try to climb everything. He is tenacious as well...doesn't stop until someone makes him or he is successful.

Today at pickup his teacher said he had mastered the rope ladder so now he can get to the top of a slide. Ellie and I watched him do it, pretty graceful actually,















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Spring fling

Today Ellie had two concerts one during the school day with her classmates produced and directed by the school music teacher. The second was early evening with her after school program. So she took three outfits to school (one for the afternoon concert, a uniform, and a dressy dress for the concert during school...it was unclear what they were supposed to wear, she was prepared), a hair brush, and multiple hair accessories, and a sweater. Complicated life of a kindergartener.

We will do a big post with photos and videos eventually, but not tonight.

Sorry. But here are a couple teaser photos. We also got to see and pick up all the after school program work product from this half of the year. the bottom is R with her after school teacher.
















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Long weekend

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. Nicks parents are in town so there were some adventures including space shuttles, baseball in the backyard, hanging out with friends, birthday party with an awesome cake, salsa, head bruises, new shoes, and an absolutely filthy little boy.


















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Dips

Lately Calvin has been into dipping things. Yep, another step into toddlerhood. Or he's just like his dad.

Ellie on the other hand has taken to not wanted to mix foods (he fork covered in red sauce could not be used to eat salad). Which I have to admit is 100% me.













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Dips

Lately Calvin has been into dipping things. Yep, another step into toddlerhood. Or he's just like his dad.

Ellie on the other hand has taken to not wanted to mix foods (he fork covered in red sauce could not be used to eat salad). Which I have to admit is 100% me.













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Restaurant

Once a month Ellies school has a restaurant night fundraiser. A local restaurant gives a portion of their proceeds from that night to E school. It's actually a great deal for the school. Typically they get about $300; Chuck E Cheese nights take in close to $500.

Whatever the teachers tell the kids really sinks in for E. She insists that we participate with the fundraiser for school. And we always do, usually getting take out as restaurant nights are in the middle of the week.

Tonight Domincos was the restaurant (our local italian restaurant commonly referred to as the gnocchi restaurant). Everyone was excited. I think Calvin the most!












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Chicken dance

He may not be standing but this is what I got this morning. I had three teachers his morning alone how adorable him dancing is!

So I was just going to post the video above. But then when I got to daycare to pick him up he insisted the teachers turn on the music because he wanted to dance!

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Chicken dance

I think he is for sure a toddler now. He has dance moves to the chicken dance. We have video, but it's on Nicks phone and he's asleep (despite the 3rd OT for the 'Hawks playoff game). So just use your imagination and visualize how adorable Calvin doing the chicken dance is...yep, it's just like that.

And enjoy this gem:



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Zoo

Saturday afternoon we went to the zoo with friends. It was funny watching Cal react to animals in the reptile house that were right at his level. He would back away if the animal moved towards him, but upon realizing that it couldn't get him he was intrigued.










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I had to choose today...

Today I decided to walk Ellie into school because she needed a few more dollars on her lunch account and it's easier to just write a check and take it in. So we did. But because it was a rain day the kids couldn't go to the playground, they all went to the auditorium to wait until school started. So I went with E and we hung out (I was carrying Cal). Then another mom mentioned that she knew Ellies teacher would be out today and that they had a sub, and that maybe the sub didn't know to come get the from the auditorium. About this time other teachers were coming and starting to gather their students. So this other mom and I herded Ellies classmates and walked them to their classroom.






Once we got to the classroom we noticed the door was closed and locked. No sign of a sub. So I stayed with the kids and the other mom went to the office. Turns out there was some miscommunication somewhere and there wasn't a sub scheduled for Es class. But someone from the office came and unlocked the classroom. By this time a few other parents had started to congregate with the kids. So it was 20 kindergarteners, 4 moms, and two babies. Eventually the school psychologist came to the class and tried to create some order. Anyway, they took attendance and broke up the class to go to other classrooms for the day. Happy rainy Friday!!






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Theory

On Saturday mornings Ellie has music theory with her teacher and two other beginning piano students. She loves it and always comes out happy and smiling. During class they work on reading music, rhythm, ear training, and they all perform for each other at the end.

Last week her teacher sent a little video of Ellie putting markers on all the notes she asked her on bothe the bass and treble clef (Cs, G and F).

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Exhaustion

Now that things appear to be getting back to normal my adrenaline appears to be running low. This means my body is finally succumbing to exhaustion. I sat down on the couch for a minute and fell asleep. I intended to go back to work today, but that didn't happen because I am tired and my entire body aches (I think those nights in the hospital fold out with a bad pillow have caught up with me as well).

Calvin has an inhaler at school. Ellie has an inhaler at school. And both kids get nebulizing treatments at morning and night. I'm buying stock in albuterol.

But little Calvin was outside playing with the balls when I went to pick him up today. He was loving life! He also helped clean up when he sat someone's art project that had blown off of the drying rack. His teacher said he is their helper with cleaning up.



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Exhaustion

Now that things appear to be getting back to normal my adrenaline appears to be running low. This means my body is finally succumbing to exhaustion. I sat down on the couch for a minute and fell asleep. I intended to go back to work today, but that didn't happen because I am tired and my entire body aches (I think those nights in the hospital fold out with a bad pillow have caught up with me as well).

Calvin has an inhaler at school. Ellie has an inhaler at school. And both kids get nebulizing treatments at morning and night. I'm buying stock in albuterol.



But little Calvin was outside playing with the balls when I went to pick him up today. He was loving life! He also helped clean up when he sat someone's art project that had blown off of the drying rack. His teacher said he is their helper with cleaning up.


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Double Jeopardy

I get that if one kid gets sick my other kid will get sick, likely, as well. But come on...does the timing have to be so that one is 95-100% before the other really gets sick?

So yeah, E has what C had last week that sent him to the hospital. Fortunately E is older, stronger, and doesn't appear to have asthmatic lungs and so it doesn't appear to be hitting her as hard. But she spent quite a bit of time at the doctors today and had a few rounds of breathing treatments and steroids to knock it out of her lungs. But it's still close monitoring and multiple treatments overnight for her.

And she has an ear infection.

But as a positive, when I stopped by my office this morning to get my computer Ellie got to draw on my giant whiteboard. She was quite creative. She even did some block lettering...I don't think I could do block lettering until I was 10 and I'm sure her lettering is better than I could do now without grid paper and a straightedge!






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Some kind of normal

Today is almost normal. Calvin has an appointment with his doctor and hopefully he has the all clear to go to school this afternoon. He is a different kid that he was last week. So curious and climbing and all over the place...normal behavior for a 14 mo boy. This morning he got into the pantry and after I told him that no, he could not eat the pork rinds his dad has because they are on his "diet", he got them out and dumped them on the floor. See normal little boy behavior.










Yesterday Ellie got a new pair of shoes.






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