Parental pride

There are several things that I've been meaning to post about Dominic.

He's doing so well in school. And he absolutely loves it. 

Our little school made the paper several times. The last time was when they won an award for Superior float or something like that. So we had to take the kids down to the Chamber to get their picture taken. Not all of the kids were able to make it because of the short notice, but the ones that came were so cute.

Today the younger grades got up front in church and read what they had written about why their class was awesome. Then at the end each one said "Welcome to the Amazing Classroom!" There was a picture of them and the words to their little speech on the screen. It was adorable.

Here is what Dominic said -

On Fridays we do lots of fun stuff with lots and lots of people.

They come in to do different activities with us. 

Sometimes we do yummy activities.

They bring lots of stuff.

One time we got to color with crayons when we learned about the primary colors.

Welcome to the Amazing Classroom!

He actually read each word. I was a little curious to see if he knew each word or had it all memorized, so Jon and I quizzed him. Seems he knows each word. I'm sure memorization plays a small part, but he read other words that weren't on the paper. This kid never ceases to amaze me.

Last night and this morning I passed by Dominic's room to see him playing on his "laptop". He's rather creative and has pulled his sister into it as well. He even made his own mouse.

 

Just a random picture I thought was cute.

It doesn't really fit into the whole My kid is smart! bit, but I thought I'd add it. =)

He got a couple of Caitlin's hair clips and put them on his puppy.

Style

My daughter has her own unique sense of style. I asked her if she wanted to pick out her clothes today. She doesn't always want to get out of her pjs in the morning. But she ALWAYS wants to pick out her own clothes. So this is my way of motivating her to change.

This is what she picked out to wear today. 

Although probably not something I would have picked, I must say she rocks it!

 

 Even the hair clips go.

Spirit Week Day 6

I completely forgot to post about the rest of spirit week.

On Friday Dominic wore pjs to school. It was a little weird to send him to school that way. I think it weirded me out more than the other outfits. But he loved it. Sadly I didn't get a picture because we were running late. I figured we could get one later. But later never materialized.

Due to the snow day, we had Twin Day the next week. Dominic was so excited. I took this picture as we were leaving.

 But I went into the school to get a picture of him with his "twin". Aren't they cute?!

NOT sleepy

A couple of days ago when I picked Caitlin up from gymnastics her teacher told me that Caitlin had been having a bad morning. She was crying about insignificant things. She continued to act tired and when we got home after lunch I asked her if she wanted a nap. She rarely takes them now. But I thought she might be tired enough to go for it.

Her response - "I'm NOT sleepy!"

So I didn't push it. I told her to go into the library to get some books and I would read to her. I sat down at the computer to wait (since sometimes she takes a while to make a decision). After about 10 minutes I decided to check on her since it was very, very quiet.

I didn't find her in the library. I found her in her bedroom - UNDER the bed. She was sound asleep.

 

I left her there until it was time to get Dominic from school. When I tried to pull her out I bumped her head and pulled her pants half off. Baby girl is getting a bit too big to fit under the bed.

Strangely enough she didn't wake up. She slept through my putting her in the car seat, slept through her energetic brother bouncing into the car and continued to sleep when I carried her back into the house and put her in her bed. She woke up about 45 minutes later a very happy little girl.

Freedom

Yesterday was Caitlin's first day in the Kindergarten class at church. Last week she had her promotion.

Jon and I were really looking forward to being in an adult class together after 5 1/2 years of taking turns or both being in the children's classes.

Since Dominic is still in there for a little bit I was fairly certain that she would do okay.

But it's always nice to have it confirmed.

I received this message from the teacher this morning. -

Hi Tima,
I wanted to send you a message in case I don't get to talk to you soon & I don't want to forget to tell you...

I thought Caitlin did great yesterday. Dominic very much embraced the role of big brother. It was so sweet because when I asked who wanted to pray, Dominic said that Caitlin did. She didn't seem convinced but he was and he told her he would help her. So when her turn came, he said a prayer and she repeated the phrases after him. It was very sweet. =)

 I'm so proud of my kids. And Jon and I are enjoying the freedom of having "older" kids.

Spirit Week Day 4

Today was Old Fashioned Day.

The note from school said that "old fashioned" was anything from a previous decade. Imagine my dismay when I realized that my childhood styles were now old fashioned. Since Jon and I grew up in the 80s, we chose something familiar for "old fashioned" day. 

 He had his hair "feathered", but it's just too short to really work well.

 Any of you guys from the 80s remember the tons of watches and rolled up wind breakers?

 How about the pegged pants with penny loafers and no socks?

 The up-turned collars, bright colors and glasses on the top of his head along with that look seemed to scream 80s. But maybe I've just been "gone" too long. =)

He took an extra pair of shoes for recess and came home with most of the accessories in his back pack. Guess the the 80s weren't comfortable.

Spirit Week Day 2 & 3

Day 2 of Spirit week was Twin Day. I had purchased a shirt so Dominic could match one of his friends. But school was closed due to icy roads. Dominic was crushed. But he has a very understanding teacher. So next week on Tuesday they will have twin day.

Yesterday was day 3 and sports day.
Bet you can't guess what Dominic chose.

 

 

Spirit Week Day 1

This week is Spirit week at school. At least that's what one of the moms called it. All I know is that Dominic and I are having so much fun picking out things to do and wear.

Today is day 1 and it's Crazy Hair Day.

Dominic wouldn't be still. He was so excited. So we could have gotten his hair much more yellow/green. But he was happy with the result and that's what counts.

 

 You can really tell it's greenish yellow in this picture.

 Aren't they so cute?!

 Everyone really went all out for today. So I'm sharing pictures of a few of the other kids.

 

 

I wish I was in school! =)

Can't wait to see what everyone picks for tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

2011 has been a really good year for us. In looking back through the blog posts I kept noticing how many times I mentioned how fun, precious and awesome my kids were. The words were probably a bit different each time, but the sentiment was the same. I love and enjoy my children.

It's so easy sometimes to get caught up in the moment of chores, discipline and stress. But almost every post is about how wonderful my kids are. Since most months I average a post about every other day I think I can safely say that there are more good than bad or even average days.

We've had some major highlights. If you are a regular reader than these might bore you. But I think they are worth mentioning.

*Dominic broke his wrist, but handled it like a trouper. He is now back to swinging wildly from high places.

*Caitlin's language skills are improving greatly which leads to some pretty funny things.

*Dominic started school in August and is LOVING it.

*Both of the kids had fun birthdays and alternately made me happy and sad that they are growing up so quickly.

*We've visited quite a bit with our extended family. And while some of them have left us this year, we are very grateful for the time we got to spend with them. We cherish each moment and are thankful that God has blessed us so much. We truly have an awesome family.

There are many more things I could mention. But I just wanted to write a post saying how thankful I was for this past year. It was amazing, but I know that 2012 will be even better!