To remember...

Nothing extraordinary here. Just a moment I want to remember. She might be reading Little Miss Naughty (and that might be a book she can relate to well at times), but I always want to remember her still chubby cheeks and fingers, her tiny little toes, her stick-straight hair, how much she loves her red blanket and ugly pink bear. Some days can crawl by and she knows how to push my buttons, but she brings light and joy and life to my days and I'm ever so grateful for her. 

Especially during naptime. 

Wonderfully Wintry W day

Today's preschool lesson was brought to you by the letter W and the number 12. We learned about Winter, working out, ate watermelon, drank water and so much more. And, because Valentine's Day is coming up, they also got to decorate a little bag and exchange cards and treats with one another. 

It was a fun-filled, busy, quick day of learning. I always have so much fun with these kids!  

pjs

It's pajama day at preschool today. 

Otherwise known as the best day of her life. 

An irregular Shirley Temple

Kate has been mildly obsessed with Shirley Temple lately. She loves Shirley's music, yes. But mostly, Kate covets Shirley's hair. There's just one problem: Kate's hair is straight. Bone straight. A curling iron does nothing to it, so we tried our hand at sponge curlers. 

When I was a little girl, sponge curlers were a right of passage. And they made my hair curl as tight as a spring for days. We bathed. We sprayed. We rolled. We waited. 

And in the morning...ta da! 

We were a little disappointed, but not deterred. 

That night, we tried again. We bathed. We MOUSSED. We rolled (in smaller rollers). We waited. 

And this morning, I think the smile speaks for itself, but...we were rewarded. 

We believe!

Our girls had a few opportunities to meet with the man in the red suit this year and I'm confident in saying that at least one of them is a believer! 

Leah went on a school field trip to the Festival of Trees. Santa happened to be in attendance and he signed Leah's hand. She couldn't have been more pleased!

Her second run in with Santa was at a restaurant in the neighboring city of LeClaire. We brought along little sister. Leah giggled with glee as she told St. Nick what she wanted via her switch. Kate decided she likes the idea of Santa more than the real deal. 

Our church congregation had a Christmas party a few days later, giving Kate one final chance to sit on Santa's lap. We helped the girls fill out their letters (which they answered on their own...at least Kate was honest???). Leah was, once again, thrilled to meet her jolly match. Kate's visit started out a little unsure, but in the end she was a fan. Success! 

We also listened to some great music and decorated some gingerbread houses - Kate's first. She was pleased with the outcome. She was also pleased with the pieces of candy that didn't quite make it onto the house, as shown by the remains left on her face. 

Also, plaid is where it's at. 

Mommy school x2

This month, I got the chance to teach our preschool co-op group twice and it just gets better every time! I'm getting the hang of knowing what kinds of activities to plan, how long I'll be able to keep their attention for various activities, what they will/won't eat and what kinds of art projects to tackle. 

The kids are doing so much better with their routine and, for the most part, really get along well. 

On November 4, I taught the letter K and did a "K is for King" craft (though I realize later, this might be confusing because it was a crown and K is not for crown. We played with play dough using objects that start with K (a "K" cookie cutter, keys, etc.) on a letter K mat. I also taught about circles and we played a few fun activities to recognize them. The monthly theme is Thanksgiving, so we talked about what we were thankful for and wrote about those things on red, yellow and orange circles then glued them onto thankful trees.  

On November 25, we learned about the letter N and did a craft about "N is for Night." I'm loving the stickers for craft time. Not too messy and all of the kids can figure them out! Perfect. We made "nine noodle necklaces" and played Elefun with "nets." We learned about rectangles and then made rectangle placemats for our upcoming Thanksgiving feast. 

We learned about the first Thanksgiving and the kids dressed up with hats. We made our own pumpkin and raspberry pies and then ate our Thanksgiving feast (turkey lunch meat, mashed potatoes, rolls, corn, pies). Holidays are so much fun with kids and this was a great day to teach preschool. They loved it! 

And I love that I have a break until January! 

a very happy unbirthday

Kate seems to have caught my enthusiasm for birthdays - most importantly, hers. After the celebrations from my birthday wore off, she started to get excited for her own. The only problem is, her birthday is in May. "May firteenf" to be precise. And May 13th is half a year away. 

The poor girl was so excited and so incessant with her outbursts of enthusiasm for her big day, that we decided to celebrate her half birthday. We grabbed a donut, lit a candle and sang the (un)birthday song to all in attendance and that was that. 

It curbed her enthusiasm, gave me a chance to tell her there were a few other birthdays and holidays before her big day, and gave us all an excuse to eat a donut. Win-win. 

A very happy unbirthday indeed. 

crime scene

Once a week, I get to watch the youngest two kids of one of my good friends. I look forward to it every week. Usually our mornings are filled with play dough and snacks. Often a good fight with countless shouts of "Mine! NO MINE!" is involved. There is imaginative play, dance parties, book reading and dress ups. Laughter, tears and every emotion inbetween, which is expected when two two-year-old girls play together, right? 

But today was the best yet. After the aforementioned snacks, play dough and fighting, I rolled out my trusty IKEA paper and traced the outline of the girls' bodies for them to color. I imagined they would be interested for about three minutes and then wander off to another activity. I'm happy to report I was wrong. 

Both girls took their job of coloring their self portraits very seriously. Kate spent a long time coloring her toenails, fingernails and eye "browns". And Abby was meticulous down to (telling me how to color) the tiara-turned-necklace, beloved (giant) pumpkin rink and solo-jeweled shoes (the jewel on one shoe was tragically lost). They were so proud of their final creations. 

My house usually looks like a crime scene after these girls play together, and often it sounds like one. But today, the only evidence were two petite body outlines. And that is a line too cute to not cross. 

my turn to teach

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous for my turn to teach the preschool co-op I'm doing with 4 of my friends. Even though they're only 2 and 3 years old, I was nervous and intimidated! 

For the literacy segment, I had been assigned the letter D. We have the kids to a craft for each letter so when preschool is over, they will have a complete alphabet book. Our craft was a Dog (a Dalmation with Dots, to be exact). I loved the Picasso-eque interpretations. We also talked about Dads, Drawing, Dots, Donuts, Donkeys, Dolphisn, Ducks, Dough and Dolls, among other things. 

We played with play Dough for awhile. Some kids were more interested than others. I tried to close my eyes as they squished all the colors together. 

For math, I was assigned the number 4. Lucky for me, I couldn't think of a single song or ditty that had to do with the number 4. Why do numbers 3 and 5 get all the love? We compromised and did 4 little Ducks (4 AND D, bonus!). We went on a scavenger hunt to find four of something (we found four dolls, four blankets, four bowls, four books and four blocks). We also learned that animals have four legs, and the table had four sides. 

For the monthly theme, each child was given a week to themselves. I got to teach the kids all about cute Scarlett. 

The kids got to run around outside for a bit because it was a gorgeous day. They play really well together! 

For lunch, we ate hot Dogs (don't judge), veggies and Dip (Kate refused the dip), vitamin D milk and Donut holes for Dessert. Abby refused to eat. Except the donuts. She filled up on those. Sorry, Haley. 

For our closing circle, we Danced like D animals (Dogs, Ducks, Dolphins, Donkeys, Dragonflys, Deer), some kids Drew and some played with more play Dough. 

And at 11:45, they all Departed. I loaded my colorful Dishwasher and I Dropped to the ground from exhaustion. 

They are definitely not all used to preschool at this point, but hopefully our routine will kick in soon. Kate was a rascal and had to go to her room a few times to chill out. Two of the kids had very selective hearing. One refused to eat. And another only wanted to play with the toys the whole time. So, it was an adventure, but a lot of fun. I'm excited to do it again! But I'm also excited that I get a 4 week break until that time!

Pre-Pre-Preschool

Kate and I are venturing into new territory over here, as I joined a co-op preschool with a few of my friends. There are 5 kids total, so once every 5 weeks, I teach Kate and 4 of her cute friends all about the alphabet, numbers, patterns, senses, seasons and other themes. 

So far, so good. Though, I haven't had to teach yet. 

Kate was so excited for her first day. She packed her new backpack very carefully (mostly her own personal diaper bag) and was very serious about making sure Leah didn't take the pink bows to school with her. 

She put on her best game face for her photo op (or she at least tried to narrow it down to a few of her best faces), complete with shouting hooray for the garbage truck driving down the road and picking her little button nose. 

And just like that, this two year old is off to her first of three years of preschool (hence the pre-pre-preschool sign). She's going to do great things, this little one. Of that I am sure. And I'm glad I get to come along for the ride.