Okay, look.  I know this might be the most BORING post you've ever read (or skimmed... or just closed altogether,) but this is for me.  This is me archiving the pieces of paper that have sat in my office for an entire year, collecting dust and fading.  This is only one one-thousandth of the papers that circulate around my car, house, and Evan's desk in one year.  These are my favorites that have now been put into a Tupperware container.  So, if you're a better friend than I deserve, humor me and let's enter the gallery-

This is the cast of The Little Mermaid, by Evan.  (I guess I should preface this by saying ALL of these were completely done on his own without prompting.  He spends much of his quiet times "creating.")

This is the cast of Peter Pan.  These were both done about a year ago, actually. 

This is a beach scene.  His babysitter drew something similar and he copied her really well.  He copied her over and over again, actually, until he had it perfectly matched.

Fruit Salad, by Evan

The United States, by Evan

Evan, Madalyn, and Jack, by Evan

And then it was really weird to start finding papers with writing on them all over the house:

Days of the week.

"Vanilla, Pink Ice Cream, Chocolate"

"Sun, Spider web, Grass, Sky."

Months of the Year.

Shapes of the states of our country.      

Clocks.  When he taught himself how to tell time.  I think he might be bored in K-5 as this is the lesson on page 90 in his math book... he gets this hunger to learn from his father, by the way.  I remember my dad taking the clock off the wall where we lived in Augusta, GA, and I wanted to run and hide under my bed.  I remember thinking, 'okay, I almost get this, I am close, I can feel it... but I ain't there yet...'       

Pictures of him with his siblings and how much they love each other is a favorite topic of his...

He even made a catechism book:

"God loves me.  God loves all of the people."

"Adam and Eve both..."  I can't make out the rest, I think it was something about listening (or not listening) to God.  Then the pink paper: "I love God, do you?"

"God made the whole world."

When we got back from Universal Studios last December, I found the following papers in his room.  Let's play a game, try to guess what they say.  I'll give you a hint- they are activities or rides we did at Universal, we'll start with the easier ones:

1 2 

3     4

5 6 

7 8

9

1) Shrek4D 2)ET 3)Lunch 4)Cat in the Hat 5)Barney and Evan (character sighting) 6) Carousel 7) Sponge Bob 8) Water Ride 9) Dinner

This explained to me why he pronounced things the way he did.

Now the papers I find around the house look more like this:

"Please, I really, really, really can cook!  Just trust me!"

And the drawings I find are lately of Spongebob characters like Patrick here:

And he draws a mean Sponge Bob, I can't believe I forgot to take a Sponge Bob picture.

He also makes lots of charts and maps and such (I'm not always sure what they are):

My best guess on this would be a map.  To church or school?  Or maybe Jerusalem... from the temple to the cross...

This is definitely a recipe.  Although I'm not sure what the color code is about, I will have to ask him.

This is most likely a board game.

This is a sequence of events of how he wants his day to unfold after school, he wants friends to get in the car and come over.

Okay, I know, you need an intermission if you're still with me... we're winding down now... I'm to the end of the year papers...

This is what Madalyn brought home the last day of Mom's Morning Out last year.

Evan's teachers made him a whole year book... these are the teachers from the post below.

Yep... somebody needed a haircut.  What?  It grows REALLY fast, don't look at me like that.

His teacher made that quilt and prayed over her students while she worked on it.  :(  So sweet.

All the kids had fun signing their autographs in each other's books. :)

This is a sample of what his homework assignments looked like.

This is what they looked like when we lost the official paper and I made my own lines for him.  I got an N in handwriting in first grade and thought I was going to die.  I haven't improved much since then, so why on earth would you think I could draw a straight line?

See how he wrote "bumblebee?"  I'm not sure if this means he's Dyslexic or just really bright?  Don't answer that.

His teacher gave his picture a caption after asking him what the dots were on this assignment.

He liked to make notes for all his classmates.  They all did this and left notes in cubbies.  They thought they were sooooo cool.

On the first day of school last year he told me about a boy who has lots of dots on his face.  I told him those were freckles.  You can imagine that I nearly died when I walked into his room after his quiet time and found pictures of every classmate... and Brett.  Complete with freckles.

We were also all forced to comply to a behavior chart at home, just as he was at school.  He made this completely by himself.

I had no idea he had become a redhead by the end of last school year.  He changes completely... goes from dark hair and light skin to light hair and dark skin every summer.  Don't worry, I didn't pay MONEY for these.  I just stole the proofs.  Wow, that is SO unethical of a photographer.  But, they didn't ask me for them, so whatever.  I'm KEEPING THEM.

And hers.

Her coloring has come a REALLY long way... even further this summer but I didn't take any pics of her recent stuff.  She is very into the details, and using many colors, and staying inside the lines now.  I LOVE watching her color, and her patience that has come with it.

Evan's coloring has come a long way, too.  But Madalyn about has him beat out now with staying inside the lines.  I'm just happy they can do that at all considering I am so fine-motor-challenged.

Madalyn would come home with a paper like this,

or this...

or this...

Or this.  And I would be all 'you know how to do this??'  Because she SO wouldn't act able if I were the one showing her.  That's why it's good someone else is.  Then we can just play and be silly together.  It's better that way.  (Don't you like her mini-pattern on the pattern... I was amused by that.)

This was my favorite thing she brought home all year.  I don't know why.  Maybe because she doesn't know any Joshua's and I have no idea where she got that name.  Or maybe it's her drawing of the giraffe.  Or that she said a giraffe was most decidedly her favorite animal.  I don't know.  I just like it.

She brought home this cross she had made during free coloring time.  I thought the sticker choice was very appropriate to the picture.

And she has her name down pretty well.  Sometimes she writes it perfectly, sometimes she leaves out the "l".  Why she leaves the easiest letter out, I have no idea.  I think it's cute she started writing it by herself next to the one she was asked to trace... she decided to go above and beyond, take the extra mile.  That's encouraging... considering a year ago she spent all of clean-up time in time-out for not cleaning.

But almost better than the actual work they brought home, were the cards and handmade gifts:

It kind of surprised me about myself to find out that I could tear up over something the teacher printed out that my child never actually thought or said... what in the ??? 

But even better than the ones that come home from school, are the ones that come from their bedroom, without prompting:

Evan drew this of Jack and wrote the words.  I found it later and said, "who is this a picture of?" 

"Jack."

A placemat Evan made me, all on his own.  He made one for everyone in the family.

Shew!  If you got this far, you are SOME kind of wonderful.  Thanks for hanging in there with me, doing life with me.  Thanks for visiting the McDonnell Art Gallery.  Now, take a few deep breaths and move along to another blog... and I assure you, you don't have to do the art work again for another year.

Labels: bittersweet, Evan, kids art, Madalyn, milestones, nostalgia, phases, pics, school, school work

It has been an emotional few days.  To say the least.  And I feel like I just wrote this yesterday.

It started with a letter from his teacher.  It was sweet and all, but nothing in it made me cry- it was just the sight of it.  The fact that I was opening a letter from his kindergarten teacher.  I had the same experience when I looked at the cafeteria menu.  The tension built on this night when we went to his Open House.  These were taken with my camera phone because I forgot my camera.  Thank goodness for technology or I might've missed these confused scowls and this balding parking lot.  Phew.

But the reason I took these are because of his backpack.  LOOK at that backpack on him.  That is nothing big or fancy, it's a standard sized backpack from Target.

He's the oldest in his class, and the smallest.  This is his fake smile at its best.

We had to clear up that he would not be teaching the class.  Just kidding.  He knew that.  He just liked the teacher's chair.  It gave him an ego trip.

This is his desk, front and center.  Actually, no.  Just center and center.  He is in the middle of the middle row.  Perfect for someone who has trouble paying attention and likes to make his own way.  I'm just saying.  If I knew a certain 5 year old who was like that.

His teacher told him his number should be easy to remember because it rhymed with his name.  He liked that.  He found that to be very thoughtful of her.

These are the frantic parents, desperately trying to figure out how to fit entire packs of pencils, markers, and crayons in one supply box as though they were being timed.

This is Shaun making a weird face and Jack laughing because Shaun's making a weird face.

This is what "Little Shaun" did.  That's a cookie in his hand.  He licked the icing out and handed us the rest- all done.  He did that with about 6 cookies.  What?  Who cares, it kept him quiet.

This is Madalyn on the way to get ice cream afterwards.  She is demonstrating how NOT to wear your seatbelt straps.  

So all was fine and we felt good about things.  Especially Evan.  He spent his weekend counting down the minutes until he would go.  This morning he woke up at about 5:45 and came in our room talking to himself, "today I get to go."  He was so excited reminding us of this that his whole body would clench and his voice would get shaky whenever he got to the name of his school... "today I get to go to..." shake, clench, voice cracks...      

It was funny to look back on my preschool post because he was excited about the playground then, and still excited about yet another new playground this morning.  This is what he looked like at about 7:20 this morning, when the whole family took him to school to walk him in and drop him off...

But let's back up a minute.  To last night, when I had a complete and total nervous breakdown.  And I didn't even see it comin'! 

I had had a nap Sunday afternoon, so I was wide awake when we were trying to fall asleep that night.  I feel sad.  I feel lonely.  I feel nostalgic.  Why can't I shake that feeling?  I said to Shaun.  I can usually pull myself out of the funk or ask Someone else to pull me out, but I can't seem to shake it.

Well, sending your firstborn to kindergarten is a big deal.

It hadn't even occurred to me that perhaps that was the trigger.  As soon as the sentence left his mouth, though, I was bawling.  Not tearing up, not sniffling, BAWLING. 

And that was the way I fell asleep; remembering that scene from Father of the Bride when he replays all his daughters milestones leading up to that day while Today I Met the Boy I'm Going to Marry serenades all his nostalgic emotions.  I mean, talk about NOT helping.  I was picturing his wedding day, I was re-living his birth and his toddlerhood.  I was a WRECK.  A complete and total MESS.  A mell of a hess, and seriously concerned about whether I would ever survive graduation... college... marriage... menopause... 

Because it's all about me.

Actually, that was what snapped me out of it this morning.  When I realized it wasn't about me and I was fixating on my emotions and not his. 

As I watched him in all his excitement, rush to his desk, go through his school supplies again, observe the other students and start following suit... I realized he would be just fine. 

Fake smile and all.

And if he was fine, I could be fine, too.

(Gosh, though.  I still can't look at these right here without tearing up again.) 

It's not that he's in school and I will miss him during the day, per say. 

It's that he's gotten SO BIG.  He is so big.

And he is so kind-hearted.  He is so naive and pure.  Not in a cheesy way, in a wholesome, refreshing way.  I know that sounds biased, but mother or not, I am insisting, he's just a good kid- a good person.  And I am better for knowing him.

So we left him, were the last parents in the room, (yes, my teacher-friends, we were those parents,) and went to a boo hoo brunch.  Then we said bye to daddy.  When we drove away from campus Madalyn said to me, "I'm sad, mommy.  I miss Evan."

"Me, too, baby," I said.

Then we pulled ourselves together and went to Target, where we ran into two other moms we had just seen.  Ahh, Target.  The meeting grounds for moms everywhere.  It's like the modern day choice prairie for hunting and gathering. 

Then we had Madalyn's preschool Open House- this is her in her spot at the table.

I can't believe I have to take her to Kindergarten next year!  AHHH.  One thing at a time.

This is her with Ms. Jan and Mrs. Larra.  Below is Mrs. Christine.  Jan and Christine were Evan's teachers last year and Larra is the director of the preschool.  I have come to really appreciate these people!  They have been true blessings. 

Evan told Madalyn earlier in the weekend, "Madalyn, you're really going to like Ms. Jan, you know why?  Because she has your favorite kind of hair.  It's light white and curly.  Like wavy.  Isn't that your favorite kind of hair?"

Madalyn nodded emphatically like she had certainly shared this preference with him before.

Now, Madalyn had seen them before, nearly every day when we picked up Evan.  She talked Mrs. Christine's EAR OFF.  Mrs. Christine was most charmed by her, and went out of her way to engage her.  She loved Madalyn's view on fashion and why she chose this particular outfit this particular day and all the things she was thinking about in that moment.  I'm sure they will enjoy each other this year, especially seeing as how the class dropped from like 12 students last year when Evan was in it, to FIVE this year, including Madalyn.  Which is awesome because they will get lots of one and one.  There are four girls- she knows them all from last year- and one boy.  Poor boy.

This is not him.  This is her first love (well, after her daddy and Evan and Jack.)  Meet Andrew.

I believe I wrote about him long ago, here.

Madalyn and Andrew have a special thing.  They get downright giddy and flirty around each other.  They dream about each other, actual dreams, yes.  And they have asked to go on dates.  Madalyn asked just this weekend, "Can I go to a restaurant sometime?  At night?  With Andrew?"  You should SEE the eyes she makes at this boy.  I am glad she picked a good one.  Yes, maybe we should be concerned... but his parents are golden, so instead we are taking pictures and planning their wedding slideshow.  Very appropriate of us, I think. 

Don't you just love what his shirt says?  HA!

So after she had a moment with the Big Man on Campus, we headed to Chuck E Cheese with her little girlfriends in her class.  It was really fun for her, and for me to get to know their moms better, even though I saw them all year last year.

Before we knew it we were headed back to get Evan.

When he got in the car he teased me and pretended like he wasn't going to tell me anything about his day.

But I already knew a little because we had arrived early enough to see him not come off the playground when his teacher called and she didn't notice and almost left him!  I bit my lip and waited to try and not interfere.  He finally realized and ran over to the gate and said, "hey!"  And she spun around and I could tell- felt terrible- KNOWING I was watching.  THEN she did a head count.  She won't make that mistake again.

Neither will Goofy Grin.  I hope.

So, when he finally quit teasing me, the first two things he told me- and everyone else who called him to chat about his day later that afternoon- were that his teacher almost left him on the playground, and that there was a girl in his class named, Charlie, and wasn't that ridiculous because that was a boys' name!

And then I tickle-tortured him till he told me more. 

And that was one therapeutic tickle session.  Boy, was I glad to see him.      

It was all pretty anti-climatic, though, as Hurricane Fey has put a big cancellation cloud over tomorrow.  It's like we're on a Monopoly board.  Stop, Go, stop! Can we just get these new changes going, already?  Because I think everyone is going to have a great year.

Labels: bittersweet, boys will be boys, dumbhead parenting, Evan, Madalyn, milestones, nostalgia, parenthood, parenting, pics, school, siblings

The kid Evan played Legos with is NOT named Fred. I repeat: no such "Fred" in the class. His name, in fact, is BRETT. Thank you, Stephanie, for helpign me figure that one out. I said, "Evan, I don't think there's a Fred in the class. Did you play blocks with BRETT?" "Yeah, Bread," he said again, like 'that's what I said already, deaf lady!'

Also! The objects projecting off of the shoes in the below illustration, I was recently informed, are in fact, the lights on their shoes and Madalyn would be the pale child in the purple dress and Evan the tan one to her right because- DUH- "I don't wear a dress, mommy, because I'm a boy."

Labels: Evan, parenting, school, siblings

Yesterday was Evan and Madalyn's Open House and it went fine; uneventful (which is always good.) He is in pre-school for four days a week, and Madalyn in Mom's Day Off for 2 days a week. But after the Open House, after Madalyn requested a peanut butter and honey sandwich, she refused to eat it. I knew something wasn't right. She sat and stared, then pouted and whimpered.

"What's wrong, sweetie," I asked.

"Mommy, I'm a little bit jealous."

She learned that word in association to Tinker Belle's feelings toward Wendy. "Jealous. Do you mean nervous?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm a little bit nervous."

"About school?"

She started crying at just the mention of it. We cuddled and rocked and Evan and I both assured her she would love school, but I wondered how it would pan out this morning...

Last night she even said she needed to be tucked into bed because she had to go to school in the morning and it seemed the anticipation was killing her and she wanted to get it over with already. All the way to school she asked how long it would take and if we were there yet and so on... she was the only one of the three that hated to be left in the nursery as a baby. The only way they got her to stay was by showing her sparkly things; jewels on a bracelet or sequins on a shoe...

But as soon as we arrived and she saw a bunch of kids running around outside, she was in her element and just fine. She almost ran in the classroom without kissing me, I said, "wait! Give me a kiss, be good."

"I will," she said with attitude, like 'aren't I always' and her teacher laughed and parroted her.

Evan ran right in... the day couldn't have come fast enough for him. He couldn't wait to play on the big playground this year. When I walked back past his door after dropping his sister off, he smirked at me like "I know, I'm so cool- totally in my comfort zone- you go on and have your day, mom..."

And so I did.

It was weird to get into the car with just Jack. Funny how your first rocks your world at the time, and yet now I'm a free woman with just one.

We attended a "Boo Hoo Brunch" at Stephanie's where Jack was both intrigued and traumatized by the dog, where Jack made sure to remind me just HOW overdue he was for a nap, just HOW cruel I was for making him skip it.

We went to Walmart where he pitched a screeching screaming fit until I quit talking to his father so he could play with my cellphone. We dropped off the groceries and he slept while I put him from the car, to the crib, back to the car again. Phew.

Mom's Day Off passes QUICKLY, let me tell you.

I got Madalyn first. She was short a red hairbow that I found tucked in her cubby and she immediately helped herself to the treasure box of candy after watching Evan do it for an entire year. Her teachers said she was BUSY. She was, apparently, into everything, wanted to "pet" the class fish who DID NOT want to be pet by the squawky toddler thumping his bowl. But the teacher laughed and assured me she was fine. She was Evan's teacher last year, so I didn't fuss on about it, I took her at her word and told her to keep her line. :)

We picked up Evan who was dismayed to find out that the preschool class no longer picks from a treasure box because they are too old and mature for such trifle rewards.

My personal favorite part of the day was listening to Evan and Madalyn chatter on about their days and ask each other questions the ENTIRE car ride home until we pulled into the driveway. What's in your lunch, Madalyn? What did you eat first, Madalyn? What was in your lunch, Evan? Did you go to the playground, Evan? Excuse me, Madalyn, um, did you get to pick out of the treasure box?

The following is the information I was able to obtain on the way home, which I have already emailed with friends and gotten their info... we figure exchanging it, we just may get a good idea of how their days really went:

From Evan:

Played Legos with a kid named Fred, colored a pic of himself, and Madalyn and Jack but didn’t have time to draw Jacks’ legs and would have to finish them at home. Played hide n seek on the playground with Ethan. Greyson was a night monster that Evan and Aubrey and Jacob were hiding from and also trying to put in jail for 20 years to break the spell (Evan created the game.) Matthew got a time-out, didn’t remember why. Ate all is lunch. First his sandwich, then his applesauce, then his Teddy Grahams. The day went very fast even though he did not get to move up to the bigger kid playground as hoped.

Jack with no legs, Evan and Madalyn :)

Madalyn: Played with Sydney. Sydney pee pee’ed in her pants and it got all over the slide. Played cars with Aaron. Nodded that yes there were, in fact, two Sydney’s and two Madalyn’s in her class. Went pee pee on potty but chose NOT to wipe… will try to choose TO wipe next time. Favorite thing was lunchtime. Did not watch a movie but listened to music about cleaning up.

Since then, this also in from Stephanie and Dana:

Stephanie:

Ethan said he played with the cars and that no one played with him. I told him that maybe next time he needs to go ask a friend to come play with him if wants to play with someone. He told me he couldn’t do that this time because he didn’t want anyone to play with the cars when he walked away…..

YES, Sydney pee pee’ed on the slide. I knew as soon as I went to pick her up and saw her in purple pants that I had never seen before. Ms. Sandy laughed since I actually had a ‘just in case’ bag for Sydney this morning and forgot to give it to her so now she has it….. I’m perplexed by how Sydney can stay dry all night and then have accidents during the day but I know she’ll get it soon…..very, VERY soon would be nice J Sydney said her favorite part was playing on the playground.

That’s pretty much all I got… with all the papers Ethan brought home, it looks like they kept them BUSY! What smart teachers.

Dana:

I love hearing the different perspectives kids have of the SAME classroom. Fun.

Aaron: I asked him if he read the note I put in his lunchbox, and he told me, yes, it said: "Thank you ms. Sandi for my gold fish snack". That is NOT what the note said....it said, have a great day at school Aaron. Love Mommy.

But, whatever.

Then he wanted to know why I didn't pack him applesauce in his lunchbox.....even though I told him THREE times this morning, that we didn't have any applesauce and I'd buy some at the store on Friday. He continued to reinforce, the importance of packing applesauce next time. Point taken.

Aubrey: said she learned about the letter "L" and about places in America...like "North" and the "North Pole"??? Her favorite part of her day was playing on the playground. And she said Ethan pulled her on the playground, and said "Common Aubrey", so she came.

Shannon: Was crying when I picked her up.....her teacher said she had a great day, but got upset when she saw the other moms picking up their kids. So she only cried the last 5 minutes....and she was clutching a chocolate chip cookie in her hand, that her teacher must have used to try to appease her. Then she had another meltdown in the hallway outside of Aarons room, because Aaron got to pick a candy out of the treasure box, and she wanted one. Three minutes, and one tootsie roll later, she was happy as could be. (Note to self: Pick up Aaron first next time, so Shannon doesn't see the treasure chest full of candy that is NOT for her).

-------------------------------------------------------

So, it will be interesting to find out what tomorrow holds... but for now I must go because I have homework to do with my almost five year old. :)

Labels: Evan, Jack, Madalyn, school