Saturday, October 31, 2009

They're VERY Different!



Friday was 60s day at school. The kids danced to 60s music in the gym and everyone dressed up. I love that S&A picked such different outfits. Sarah was a hippie chick, which totally fits her personality. Abby found a shirt in my closet, and we made a few adjustments so she could wear it as a dress with her go-go boots.





Thursday, October 29, 2009

It's THAT Week Again

Red Ribbon Week.

Drug Awareness Week.

My least favorite week of the school year!

Sarah told me that she wasn't going to drink tea anymore because it's a drug. After lots of probing, I figured out that caffeine is one of the drugs they learn about in counseling. But, since I make decaffeinated tea, she doesn't need to worry.

Later she asked if she could have some Skittles, or if they were a drug; somehow I think 6 is too young for drug education. I remember her crying last year when Perry drank a beer on Halloween night, because he was doing drugs. I guess the idea is to start the dialogue now, so it won't be a taboo topic when they get older, but I really think third grade would be early enough. I mean, I know that some kids are drinking and experimenting with drugs in middle school, but even Drew Barrymore didn't drink until she was 10!

At least it's a fun week for the kids. Every day has a different theme - today was team spirit day. You could wear your team colors or wear a uniform or other outfit from your favorite sport. Abby was a USA cheerleader and Sarah wore her tennis outfit.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

NOT Hannah Montana

Many months ago, we got tickets to the Miley Cyrus concert. I had concerns about it even then, because I think she is much too "old" for S&A. I rarely even let them watch her TV show. But the girls love her music, and Perry & I thought it would be a great concert for them.

In the past few weeks, however, my concerns grew. I saw reviews and video clips of her new tour, and saw how she is trying to change her image. Hannah Montana is gone, although she still sings a few HM songs. Her wardrobe consists mostly of too short shorts and leather. And her new music is much harder and edgier. I seriously considered telling the girls that we couldn't go. But, we had friends coming to town to go with us, and so ultimately we decided to go. We figured we would have many "teachable moments" to discuss with the girls when it was over, but at least we were prepared.

Last night was the big event. We went to dinner before the concert and saw all the Miley Cyrus tour buses at the Galleria, which was thrilling for the girls. We intentionally arrived at the concert an hour late in order to miss the warm up band (Miley's older, rocker brother). As we walked in the doors, Miley took the stage. Our seats were far from ideal- we were one row from the very top , on the far side of the stage, almost at the back. I thought this would be disappointing, but it really turned out to be a blessing. We had friends with great seats, and they were appalled by Miley's skimpy outfits and suggestive dancing. We couldn't see any of that from our seats, and instead just enjoyed the music and special effects. The highlight was definitely the flying motorcycle, as Miley rode above the audience while singing "I Love Rock n Roll." We also enjoyed our back-stage view, as we watched Miley fall backwards onto a mat and rush under the stage to change outfits (about 7 times). Both S&A said they really had fun and enjoyed the concert, but I definitely think that Abby liked it more. She sang and danced all night. Sarah was very serious throughout the whole show and never danced or sang. I think she was a bit overwhelmed.
It was a much better night than either Perry or I expected, and I hope it's a night they'll remember for a long time.
A note on the pictures. Abby insisted on wearing her Hannah Montana wig (she's going to be HM for Halloween). Fortunately, she took it off at the restaurant because it itched, and she didn't put it back on. As for the signs, all three girls worked on their signs for a long time, but then didn't want to carry them into the concert, so we put them back in the car after we took the picture.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Charades

S&A love to play Charades. Unfortunately (or fortunately, since laughing is good for everyone), they're not very good at it. Abby is VERY literal - even her teachers have noticed it and mentioned it to me. So when she sees something on the paper, she can't think about acting it out in any way other than what she sees on the paper. She won't see the word "table" and think about setting something on a table; she'll just BE the table. Sarah's pretty funny too, although not quite as literal.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

New Vocabulary Word

I can't believe I forgot to post this!

A couple of weeks ago, we had teacher conferences. At Abby's conference, her teacher said she had a funny story to tell us. She begged us not to be upset or mad at Abby and suggested that we probably shouldn't even mention it to her. Of course by this point we were starting to get very concerned about what she might be about to tell us...
She said that she had the whole class on the rug, and they were playing a word game, where you start with one three-letter word, then change one letter at a time until you get to another, completely different 3-letter word. The beginning word was "bit," and they were trying to get to "dog." So they'd changed some letters, and were making progress, so she told them they were getting close, but they needed to start thinking about words that were kind of like "dog." She asked, "Can anyone think of a word that's kind of like dog?", and Abby raised her hand. When she called on Abby, Abby said, "I know a word that's like dog." "Great! What is it?" asked the teacher. With a sweet voice and an innocent smile, Abby said, "bitch." Seriously. Fortunately Abby's teacher is a quick-thinker, so she just said "that's great, but we're looking for 3-letter words. Can anyone think of a 3-letter word that's like dog?", and they moved on without any conversation about Abby's new word!
Where did she learn such a word, you ask? Well, all I can think is that it came from a book. For two straight weeks she brought home non-fiction books about dogs from the school library. We didn't read them together, but she must have read them by herself. And she obviously has great comprehension!
This story has entertained most of the faculty and administration at school. The following day I saw the Assistant Principal, and he said "oh, there's the mom of that first grader with a foul mouth." Yeah, ha ha.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Field Trip to the Zoo

Fall Ball


Friday night, the kindergarten teachers hosted "Fall Ball" for K-3rd grade students. The kids dressed in costumes and ate, danced, and watched movies. Sarah and Abby had a big debate about what to wear, and both decided to save their Halloween costumes for Halloween night. Instead, they dug through the dress-up closet and pulled out their favorite things. Unfortunately, it's very cold here right now, and their choices were sleeveless recital costumes. After a bit of serious negotiating, I managed to get some long-sleeved shirts on them. And then Abby found some colorful tights, and paired them with her pink cowboy boots to complete her ensemble. A little spray-on color in the hair, and they were ready to go!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Fire Station

I forgot to blog about the girl's trip to the fire station a couple of weekends ago. Their Daisy troop went on a field trip to the local station and had an awesome tour. The guys really did a great job showing us everything in the station (even the Murphy beds!). They put the big ladder up on the truck, and showed us how they put on all their fire safety clothes and equipment, and opened up all the compartments on the truck so we could see how much equipment they have. It was as informative for the parents as it was for the girls, and we all had a great time. Here's our sweet little Daisy troop (minus one):

Saturday, October 3, 2009

My Serious Student

Sarah has a project due next Friday. When she got home from school yesterday, she immediately asked me to Google "Australian animals" so that she could decide which animal to write about. She finally chose the wombat, and then she did her entire report. She answered all the questions, drew a picture, printed pictures from the internet, and then put everything on a poster board and decorated it. I told her that she had all weekend and most of next week to get it done, but she was determined to do it immediately. It turned out very cute!


Teenagers?


It's been a little cool in the mornings this week, so we've pulled out some winter clothes. Friday morning, the girls came down in jeans and long-sleeved shirts. That would have been fine, except that I took one look at them and realized how big they've gotten. Seriously, don't they look like teenagers?!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

A Dog and 2 Gerbils: A Love Story

Bailey really really loves Miley and Sasha.