School Is Cool

This week marks the 4th week of school for my kids, so I thought it would be a good time for a quick update on how it's been going.

 

For me: It's going surprisingly well. This mama shed no tears at all when the littlest ones went off for their first day in the big, scary school. This was a relief, after spending all summer in a tizzy about the "to separate, or not to separate" internal tug-of-war concerning the twins. I discussed it so much with them, that when drop off day finally came, I hardly even  got a wave from either of them. I comforted myself knowing that they could play together at recess every day to soothe their lonely, broken, separated hearts. HA! That lasted all of ONE DAY. For real, I've asked them every single day if they play together at recess--and every single day the answer is "No." So, what shall I worry about now?

 

For Boy Twin: After the 3rd day of school, he retreated to the couch to cry every morning because he didn't want to go to school. His complaint: "School is too long. Why do we have to go EVERY day?" That pity party didn't last long when I told him that's the rules and I don't make the rules. Why else would I go to work every day? For fun?  By the 3rd week of school he was excited to tell us about all the new words that he'd learned to spell in kindergarten; words like "P.E." and "D.J." (his new friend in class). 'Atta boy!  Also, not to brag or anything, but he's been blowing me kisses every morning as he walks up the sidewalk to school. I'm sure the other moms understand and are not mad at all that we hold up the drop off line every day.

 

For Girl Twin: This girl is like a steel vault; she won't give us any information about what she's doing or learning in class. Either she's really bored, or she is running the show and doesn't want us to know it. (I think I know which.)  Either way, we are thrilled that she has the same teacher that Big Sis had in Kindergarten! It's a little different, though, because she is teaching a K/1st split class this year due to enrollment being high in both grades. Yes, the class is half kindergarten and half first grade. Girl Twin is doing great in there and we're excited to see her learning. I guess hanging out with the first graders is really advancing her skills because last week she told me: "2 + y = 30" in a very factual manner. I had no idea they were learning algebra already! She also instructed me to stop putting "love notes" in her lunch box, which nearly broke my heart.

 

Big Sis:  This girl is loving 3rd grade. She's in the class with some of her favorite kids, and seems to be doing great. This year, they have to read five chapter books per quarter and be tested on each one for a reading grade. Challenge accepted! The kid just finished her 3rd book last night. Now, if we can get her that fired up about math...

 

We are in a great place right now. We love our school, love all of our teachers and love learning all the new things. There is a strange peaceful feeling in our home that I haven't felt before. Is this what it feels like to not have babies anymore? Big kids rock!

 

 

 

Holy Bike Riders, Batman!

I just need to take a minute to brag on my kids. Over the past few months, they have all upgraded a size on their bikes and really gotten good at handling them.

Back in the fall, when we knew Boy Twin was ready, I found a used 12" bike at the Goodwill store for $5.00. This was his first move to a real bike with pedals and he mastered it in no time at all...at just over age 4. That little red bike was the best five bucks I've spent ever. Girl Twin was still using her balance bike but didn't like it at all that brother had one-upped her. It didn't take her long to catch up, when he would give her a chance to practice on his bike.

Also in the fall, Big Sis decided she wanted to move up a size. I found a used 20" bike for $15 at the Rhea Lana sale and she was all set! By spring time, Boy Twin was ready to move up to Big Sister's old 16" princess bike and Girl Twin was riding the Goodwill bike.

I'm so proud of the little ones riding big bikes before age 5; it took Big Sis until almost age seven to ride without her training wheels. With the little ones, we skipped training wheels altogether. And I'm so glad we did!

At Lee's insistence, we bought both little kids a Strider balance bike when they turned two. He did a lot of research that led us to the purchase. The bikes have no pedals--kids just push with their feet. The concept is that they learn to balance quicker and not rely on training wheels. Thus, we were able to skip training wheels and just go to a big kid bike. Now, I'm not getting anything from Strider for this post. I just want my friends to know that the price tag of a balance bike is WELL WORTH IT! I was hesitant mostly because of the cost (of course, we were buying two), but we found a great closeout sale on them and saved a few bucks. The bikes are durable and they rode them for over two years. Overall, it was a great investment for our family and a great learning tool for the kids. I never dreamed they would be riding bikes in preschool with such ease!

  

Now we are at another crossroads. We are shopping for Boy Twin his own 16" bike so Girl Twin can have the princess bike. We have to get something "for boys" he says. 

I got my first bike for Mother's Day and I'm ready to hit the trails with my family this summer!

Conversation With My Kids

A recent trip to the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks on a warm February weekend.

Last week's Razorback basketball game gave us the opportunity to introduce our kids to one of the best and most popular players in U of A history, Corliss Williamson. During halftime of the game, the school honored Corliss by hanging a banner in the arena. I have a particularly fond place in my heart for Big Nasty because we were in school at the same time; I spent many, many hours waiting in the cold just to get into the building to watch him play.

As Lee and I explained to the kids his nickname, "Big Nasty," there was a lot of giggling going on. I suppose it does sound like a funny name to a bunch of little kids who talk about poop and farts all the time. I could tell they were really not impressed. 

The next day, Lee and the twins picked me up for lunch. I took Boy Twin into the bathroom to wash up before lunch. As he jammed his paper towel into the trashcan, he jubilantly declared, "I slam dunked it, just like Big Stinky!" 

I'm so glad they enjoyed our history lesson. 

Twin Tuesday: Who Pooped in the Pool?

The face of trouble.

This is a story about our dear, sweet little Boy Twin.  Today's lesson:  do not turn your back on him.  We spent this past weekend at a condo in Branson enjoying the beautiful fall weather.  Saturday morning, my sister and I took the kids to the indoor pool to play before heading to Steal Your Dollar City.  My kids are like little fish; they love the water!  We went back and forth between the pool and hot tub, and played a mean game of beach ball toss.

As we were gathering up our things to leave, I caught Mr. Mischievous throwing a handful of the landscaping rocks into the shallow end of the pool.  I was already dressed, so I couldn't go in and get them.  I tried to get Big Sis to do it, but she couldn't figure out how to stay under water long enough to retrieve them.  I figured it was not a big deal, scolded the kid and sent the little ones out to the playground with Aunt TP.  Meanwhile, I took Big Sis into the locker room to dry off and change.

As we came back into the pool area, I noticed that the other families who had been in the pool were about to leave.  I guess the pool was not fun without us.....yep.  As I walked over to our table, all 10 people in their group start yelling at me, "Don't get in the water! There's poop in the pool!"  It took me all of a second to realize that those brown rocks Boy Twin threw into the water looked like perfectly formed poop logs on the bottom of the pool.  I quickly explained to the parents what Boy Twin had done.  The mom gave me the "I understand because I have four kids" look, and they all jumped right back in with a big joyful splash.  I, however, grabbed our bags and got the heck out of there.