Last Day

Somehow, Amelia's last day of 1st grade is tomorrow. Let's see if she can make it through it without crying.  So far, the last week has been tough for her. She's a loving person with a genuinely kind heart. She's already missing her friends, her teachers, and her school...and it isn't quite over yet.

Complimentary

As I have grown tired of the beans falling out of Amelia's bean bag, I decided today was the day to take action. With that in mind, I grabbed a sewing kit and began to work.  Amelia was so appreciative that she paid me two compliments....


"I'll always remember this because you don't know how to sew, but you tried your best to fix it for me."

and

"Daddy, I don't know how else to say this, but sometimes you act like a girl. You're calm, and you draw, and girls are smarter than boys, but you're pretty smart."

The first compliment made me feel great. The second one started out rough, but I know it was a compliment from the heart and of the highest honor coming from her.

Worker Bees

With Amelia feeling under the weather today, I had to turn to this guy for help in the yard. He did outstanding work if any of you need help...

Like any good work crew - one guy working, one guy watching...

Tough jobs require Mickey Mouse work gloves...

Field Day

Standing in the middle of enemy territory (the blue team that she said was "going down" this morning) while paying respect to the National Anthem...what a great way to start off field day...

Big Boy

There's nothing like school pictures to make you realize how fast your baby boy is growing...

...way too fast.

So Sweet, So Accurate

Poetry in Motion

Tomorrow is Amelia's poetry celebration.  We don't know what this means.  However, she is beside herself with excitement and says she's written 3 poems that "didn't exist in history before she created them". So, whatever it is, it's got that going for it.

The Little Things

While Amelia and Meggan were at a birthday party, I taught Everett an important lesson.... it's the little things in life, like drinking straight from the milk jug, that bring the most joy...

Nap

Does this look like the kind of ninja turtle kid who would refuse to sleep at nap time, jump up and down on his cot, and crawl across the floor waking up his friends?

Yeah, I thought so.

Practice

I'm not sure what makes actors great at what they do. That said, I'd bet if you look back to their childhood, many of them sat around making faces in the mirror....or in this case, leaving them in their dad's phone for him to find later....

Left Out

Well, all good things must come to an end.  Amelia's weekend streak of winning at life came screeching to a halt today.  Apparently, she had an issue on the playground with two of her best friends.  You can see the illustrated drama here in the piece she titled "Leftout".... That is her on the left....

Namaste

Last night, Amelia was tickling the ivories on stage in a big theater.  Today, she was  part of a small group demonstrating the virtues of yoga to a crowd of onlookers.  To say I'm proud of her would be an understatement...

Jazzy

Our first recital is in the books....

License?

How young is too young to have your son start mowing your lawn?

Everyone's a Comedian

As part of her unit on finches, Amelia had to make a fake newspaper all about the tiny birds. One of the pages of her newspaper was a comic.  So, here is a look into the comedic mind of a 7-year old...

Finch 1 - "Hey, I love to yell."

Finch 2 - "Why?"

Finch 1 - "Cause I am yellow!"

She Gets It

For Mother's Day, I picked out this card from the kids. Normally, they pick out the card which almost always consists of either a cat or a dog. I just happened to come across this one and thought it was funny. That said, I didn't think they would get the joke.


Here is the outside....

 This is the inside, including what they wrote.... looks like Amelia got the joke and carried it further at my expense...

Farmers pt.2

The trip to the horse farm was a huge success.  I'm not sure our "volunteer" efforts were of any help to the farm, but the kids had a blast...

Feeding the horses....

Learning about "Big Ben" from the resident expert...

Watching a mama duck with her babies...

Brushing the horses...

Farmers

We had to make a quick carrot run tonight because we are volunteering at horse stables in the morning.  We have no idea what we're doing and we hope it doesn't revolve around scooping anything smelly, but we're looking forward to it....especially Little Iron Man...

Honest Face

Does this look like the face of a man who would be lying when he claimed he "only tried one little bit of his cupcake"? Naaah, I didn't think so either. Now, if I could just figure out who ate the rest of it when I wasn't looking...

It's Not Easy Being Big

Amelia and Everett enjoy a good sibling quarrel. In fact, they have one basically every night at bath time. Last night, after Everett got to have his bath first, Amelia put her feelings to paper...

"Sometimes it is hard to be big. It sometimes makes you feel like the other one is very, very rude! - Your very sad daughter, Amelia" . Yes, that is a picture of her with a sad face and a single tear. 

0 Little Words

Sometimes,  you don't even need 3 little words to let someone (or some dog) know you love them....it may just take a soft couch, a shared blanket, and some early morning snuggles...

Ready!

Is there any better way to show the world you are ready for a party than to continually walk around with a backpack full of toys? I didn't think so....