Daylight Robbery

When I told my mom this story, she immediately laughed and called it "daylight robbery". This is referring to Caleb.

We had all the trims around the house painted, some wood replaced around the garage door and back door and John bought some nice maroon window shades (to replace the beige ones), which really brightens up the house. Anyway, Caleb has been intrigued with the painters working outside and they let him play with some of their tools - which he thought was a real treat. On the first day, he tried to climb up the ladder and imitate the painters who were trying to get to the roof. Then he would get into their paint and see if he could have a go at painting. Two nights ago, Sydney came to me and handed me a tool, (that looked like it was for scraping old paint off or something) and said she found it in Caleb's room behind the rocking chair. He obviously found it interesting enough to take it for himself. Thankfully he didn't hurt himself with it. Who knows what he's been doing using that tool. Sigh.

My mom tells us the story of my brother who once "stole" a box of matches from a contractor (who smoked) and who was working on our home and tried to strike a match in his room. But my brother was a few years older than Caleb, though. This gives me very little hope that this sort of mischievousness is going to go away anytime soon.

Sydney News Station

Sydney's Kindergarten had a Curriculum Night tonight and I got to meet the teacher again and learn more about what they will be learning in the school year. It was also fun meeting the other parents and having a chance to connect. It was good having a babysitter/friend at home to watch the kids so that I could have some productive conversations. What I learned from the teacher, is that Sydney loves to talk. I told the teacher that Sydney comes home with lots of stories about what she did in school and about the other kids. Two other moms overheard me and said that their sons don't tell them anything ,even when they ask all sorts of questions. So, we exchanged phone numbers and if they need to know what's going on at school, they can tune in to the "Sydney News".

Apparently, Sydney also told some kids in her class that she has an uncle named Grant, because there is a kid in her class with the same name. Then she said that another kid that sits next to her at the Red rectangle table, has the same skin color as her, and she told him that she thought that was pretty cool. And before she went off to bed tonight, she said that some kid (I'll refrain from using names) was running around the gym and wouldn't stop to listen to the teacher and she thought that, that made the teacher sad. Then she ended like this : " and I imagined that my teacher sent a letter home to tell you that I wasn't being good either". I assured her that the teacher thought she was doing great in class and she had nothing to worry about. Her reply was "well, I know mom, that's why I said I was imagining".

Kids Sudoku

Sydney loves doing maze puzzles and crossword puzzles, so I thought she might enjoy a bit of Sudoku as well. It's fun to find these puzzles online but it's more fun to watch her doing it.

http://funschool.kaboose.com/images/printables/sum_sud.pdf

Stories of Kindergarten

Since Sydney started Kindergarten on the 8th, and it's been nothing but sheer fun and loaded with stories every day. She is someone who comes home with details. I love it. I know not every child is a talker, so I'm grateful I get to enjoy this stage. Who knows if maybe someday she stops telling me things, right? So, here it is:

Day 1: She comes home on the school bus - is the last one to be dropped off because of a drop-off location miscommunication - but is very happy because she gets to ride home with her neighbor buddies, Lily and Teagan (and gets to sit next to them every day). She says that the best thing about Kindergarten is riding the school bus.

Day 2: She comes home and tells us that she thought of a word at school (Fantastic) and spelled it "fantstik".

Day 3: The teacher read the same book twice and she helped another boy in class open his snack bag.

Day 5: She is tickled pink that she gets to bring home a book from the school library every Monday. She gives me careful instruction that she needs to return it the following Monday.

Day 6: The teacher asks her to be the helper of the day and take some papers to the school office. She gets to pick a friend to go with her. The girl she picked out to go with apparently thanked Sydney, for choosing her. How nice!

Day 7: oh , i can't remember, but i know there's a story in there somewhere.

Day 8: Came home with a backpack full of leaves that she picked at the playground during recess.

Day 9: As soon as she got off the bus and gave me a hug, she started off like this: "Something sad happened today. A boy hit his head on the bar, going down the slide. So the teacher told me to go get an ice pack from the school office and help put it on his head. I was a good helper today". Oh, and she also asked me if Oklahoma has 3 'O's in it. (Her mind is constantly thinking. ) I had to stop and think before I answered her, because I wasn't sure if I knew how to spell Oklahoma correctly. Quite embarrassing.

And so on and on....she tells me about which kid says what in class and how others react and what she likes to do at the different centers. Sometimes, I wish I was a fly on her classroom wall, because it must be very interesting to watch her grow to be this little ms. independent.

Cucumbers

Did I ever say that I've been addicted to cucumbers these last 2 months? Nice, cool cucumber slices make me go crazy. I never had a strong craving with the other two pregnancies, but I have to say, I'm going nuts with cucumbers. I go through a cucumber a day sometimes. I end up cutting a few slices for the kids at lunch time too, and Sydney is starting to complain about them. I can't blame her for it, but I can't help to think of how good they are for her. So so yummy, ....I could grab a cucumber right now! Thank goodness they are low in calories and a loaded with goodness.

Chess is back on the table

I never thought that a five year would be interested in a game of Chess. But guess what?! My daughter is! A few days ago, we brought out my wooden chess set that John gave me for my birthday some years ago. I have not played the game in ages and had lost interest in it. I first started out with the names of the pieces and then where they should be placed on the board. That was easy. Teaching her the movements of each piece was tricky. I didn't feel confident in teaching her and wondered if this was way too early. Even John said I should start with Checkers. We're talking about a 5 year old here. Even I've forgotten to play Checkers.

Anyway, I am just impressed with this five year old's mind. We've played it twice and she remembers where all the pieces start on the board and how they move. The knight's "L" shaped movement is the hardest for her to understand and of course there's no understanding of strategy quite yet. What's amazing is this: In playing the game only the second time around with me, she spotted (several times) of a good move she could make, that I had totally missed! How is this possible?

Now she talks about playing Chess every evening and I'm starting to wonder if it won't be long before she masters this game and starts beating me at it. I never learned to play chess till I was 13 and it's hard to believe that my 5 year old is interested in this game.

Is it Christmas?

The kids have been playing the "Polar Express" soundtrack in our home almost everyday and I hear Christmas songs while I work in the kitchen. It's bad enough that I think the year is quickly coming to an end, that listening to Christmas music this early only makes it feel like it's speeding up the process! Then yesterday, I took the kids to get their winter gear and school clothes for Sydney so that I don't have to run around after the baby arrives. Caleb now wants to wear his boots and mittens and keeps asking if we're getting snow today. I'm not quite ready for cold weather yet, but I guess in the words of Sydney "ready or not, here it comes". (or, it will come) Let's just enjoy Fall weather - is what I keep saying.