Dr Suess Day

The kids had Dr Suess day yesterday at school. We did crazy hair like the hoos from hooville. ( I have no idea if that is how it is spelled)

When I was in cara's class we made green eggs and ham. 

Mac enjoyed it as well. We tried to do his hair too. He wasn't a fan. 

And proof that I was there:

Purple

Every day in school the kids get a level based on their behavior. Purple is the best for kindergarten, then green, yellow, and red. Ryann always gets green, but Cara is all over the place. She had gotten red 2 times in the past week.in order to fix this I talked with her teacher so we could figure out how to encourage her to want to be good.

Turns out dessert is the key! Red is no dessert or tv. Yellow is no dessert but tv limited. Green is dessert and tv. Purple is take you out for dessert.

It is working! Purple yesterday and green today. We are off to a good start. We celebrated with dessert before dinner.

Jog a thon

The girls had their school jog a thon today. They had a blast. Cara is a good little runner, but after 20 laps she just walked slow for the next 7! (Each lap was 1/8 a mile so she did more than 3 miles)

Ryann on the other hand is having growing pains in her legs and has been "practicing" a lot for the jog a thon so get muscles were a little sore. She did 23 laps I think but she walked then ran then jogged then walked etc.

Both girls just proved to me that they will be able to do the 5k we signed up for in December. But we will continue to practice/ train of course.

After they ran they got popsicles. Jab was pretty upset when his popsicle fell to the ground.

First day of school

The girls had their first day of school at my old elementary school. Many of the teachers are still the same. Ryann was pretty lucky and got one of my old teachers for het second grade teacher. I was so excited to see that.

Rich missed their day because of a work trip, but they were able to talk to him about it. I was sad he wasn't here because I had to fill out all the crazy paperwork by myself! No fair.

I think these girls are going to have an awesome year... we'll just have to see how it unfolds!

Last Day of Kindergarten

Today was a hard day for me because it was Ryann's last day of Kindergarten.  She was pretty sad about it too because she thought that she wouldn't see her teacher, Mrs Lock, again.

We had to remind her that she was starting summer school in a week and a half and Mrs Lock is teaching one of her classes. (snack attack! where they learn how to make healthy snacks)

Here is my sweet baby girl. I can't believe how grown up she is. It is so much fun to see her reading and writing so well. Her report card said she "passed" everything except she was "developing" the ability to finish all of her tasks as assigned. Which I am assuming she jumps ahead because she thinks she knows what to do and then finishes her work fast so she can start coloring some more. 

 This girl sure loves to color. She brought home an awesome art folder with all of her drawings and paintings. She is already trying to decide which ones to put on her wall. 

Mother's Day Speech

I was able to go to a Mother's Day "SPA" at Ryann's class yesterday. 

I haven't ever been to one of her class parties because I have always been working. But she was so excited and I was able to rearrange my schedule to be able to be there with her. 

We ate cookies, drank water, she painted my nails, they sang, and she read a speech that she made about me. 

The speech was like 5 pages long, but Mrs Lock her teacher only let the kids read the first page. 

It was so sweet and you bet there were tears shed.

These hormones are awesome! 

(or maybe it is just the Wagner genes in me...probably a little of both)

Patriotic Performance

At Ryann's school the kindergartners put on a Patriotic performance for the other students and families. I couldn't make it, but Rich and Cara were there. He took a lot of videos, which I haven't looked through yet, but I will soon. 

She was hamming it up I hear, and from these pictures I believe it. They practiced long and hard and I was proud of her for all of her patriotic songs that she learned. 

Ryann's Song

Ryann does not swear in this video, she is saying, "Eyes shut"

I love the things they teach in kindergarten.

Fun Run

Thank you for all who sponsored Ryann with her Fun Run! Her school is trying to earn money to have a new shade structure put up at her school so they can play outside even when it is scorching hot!

 Thankfully Rich was able to go to the fun run. He said Ryann did awesome and we were so proud of her for running like she did. 

 She loved to give high fives and she waved at her daddy every time she passed by him. Smiles the entire time. 

 Her shirt shows that she did all 36 laps. Rich says she snuck in one extra lap for a total of 37!

 Way to go Ryann!

Letter from Ryann

When Ryann got home on Monday afternoon she wrote a letter to Rich and gave it to him while he was in his office working. I think we figured out what it said...

 "Dad
I have
to fun run
tomorrow"



 And I
have some
rules
and
they
are

 1. you have to eat and drink
2. I tell us to go to the fun run tomorrow for Ryann

Basically this girl is trying so hard to learn how to write and it just melts my heart. I love her!

Happy Thanksgiving

Here is Ryann singing a Thanksgiving Medley of songs. She was a little under the weather singing this (see yesterdays post), but she still did a great job.

The Tale of a Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Last night Ryann threw up. Like wake up from a dead sleep and start puking all over. 

.

We cleaned her up, changed her sheets, said a prayer, and she fell back asleep.

.

Awhile later she started puking again. She looked at me and said, 

.

"I don't understand why this is happening. I got a shot so I wouldn't throw up (flu shot). I also said a prayer that I wouldn't throw up anymore and I am still throwing up."

.

I look at her with a hole in my heart and I say gently, "Well Ryann, sometimes we still throw up because there is something in our body that needs to get out."

.

She looks at me and says, "like if you eat something bad? Like something off the ground?"

.

Pause... waiting for her to explain...

.

"Like today at school when I ate a ham and cheese sandwich that I found on the ground at school?"

.

(Um yes Ryann, that gross dirty sandwich you found on the ground probably gave you food poisoning! UGH. Seriously. Have I not taught her anything in 5 years???)

.

So we had a long talk about eating healthy food and that she should eat only the lunch mom or dad packs for her, after awhile her stomach settled down and she fell back asleep.

.

She has puked 3 more times since then, but puke free since like 7am. Now off I go to clean the carpet for the 4th time to get out all of the smell. 

Halloween Recap

Our Halloween went like this.  Cara woke up super early yelling "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!"

Then we hurried through the daily routine in the morning and got the girls off and off to work for a half day. I was dressed as a witch and it was so much fun to be in costume.

Then I ran a few errands, hurried home to Rich and Ryann and then Rich and I headed off to parent teacher conferences. 

Seriously, I was nervous. Big time. What would she say? What if Ryann wasn't smart enough? Or she was the naughty kid, or the one who picks her nose or farts all day long?

Turns out she is great. "Very respectful" is what our teacher kept saying over and over again. Phew. She never makes excuses and she is always aware of what she should be doing (even if she isn't doing it)  and she is easily redirected. She is learning how to solve conflict on her own and she is really fun to have in class. 

However, she is occasionally distracted and that usually makes the teacher laugh out loud, because her distractions are over butterflies or rainbows or feathers. Oh yeah, and she colors everything instead of doing her work sometimes. And everything she colors is a rainbow. 

Overall her reading is where it should be by the end of kindergarten :) (proud mommy moment) and her math is where it should be for right now, so hopefully we will just watch her grow and grow this year.  We are so proud and I am so happy that she isn't the nose picker either. 

After parent teacher conferences we decided to get dressed in our costumes and take some pictures. 

 Cara was not very happy about it. 

 Ryann had a lot more fun with it.  

Then we went trick or treating in our little neighborhood, daddy and Ryann then went back to our house to pass out candy and Cara and I went to visit the Bakers (a yearly tradition). Then we went home and went to bed. Very low key, very nice. 

Fall Break Book

Ryann spent some time this week in school writing her first book. It was her fall break book. 

One page said, "I sf u bfflu" which translates to "I saved a butterfly" (remember the ants really saved it, but Ryann was the one who told them to save it?)

 Another page said, "I go to the mofi" which translates to "I go to the movies" and it is a picture of Ryann and her dad (with facial hair) sitting on the chairs with their popcorn and drinks watching a movie. 

 The next one I am sure says I went on a walk. 

 "I go to swmn", which is a picture of us swimming at the Baker's house. I think the person on the side of the pool must be Lisa Baker. :)

 "I go to the prk" or I go to the park.

Basically Ryann needs to work on her vowels, she is getting good at her sight words, but the whole sounding out words thing is pretty tough still. We are getting there and we are spending a lot more time reading with her, so hopefully she gets it all soon.

She is also working on punctuation... so I am not sure if those are all commas or question marks?

It is really amazing to me how this mind works. I sure love her.

Class Shirt

Ryann got her class shirt this week. She wouldn't smile for the camera, but she sure likes her new shirt. We also LOVE her teacher. This week she was out for 2 days and our great friend Lisa substituted for her, which Ryann loved. 

We are so lucky to be in such a great school district and school. Way to go for Kindergarten!

Mud Bath

When I went to pick up Ryann from her after school program the leader kind of looked at me a half smiled. I was really confused when Ryann came walking out of the bathroom looking like this. 

Apparently 3 other kids and her decided it would be fun to play in a huge mud puddle. 

 I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to laugh or scold or do what... so I simply asked her if she had made a good decision and if she was ever going to do that again. We talked about it and she looked at me and said, "whew, after this happened I looked in the mirror and said to myself 'mom and dad are going to kill me!'"

She was very happy to tell me that she was happy that I didn't 'kill her.'

This child is watching too much TV.

On another note... today she said, "Suddenly" in an appropriate sentence and she also said she was eating her chicken dinner like an "herbivore" but then quickly changed it to "carnivore" because they eat only meat. She has also been using a lot of other big words that I can attribute to kindergarten and I found out that one little girl in her class can snap her fingers, but that is all. Maybe Ryann will be next, we are practicing a lot.

What We Learned

What we learned from Ryann's first week of Kindergarten: (most of these are straight from her mouth)
-Ryann heads straight for the playground when she gets off the bus.
-Her class doesn't line up by their number because it is too hot. They line up in the shade.
-When you get to class you put your backpack in your cubby.
-Don't forget an ice pack in your lunch box.
-Ryann doesn't like it when boys bite her hair (she doesn't know the name of the boy who did it, but she knows he is "crazy" and doesn't listen to the teacher).
-Ryann isn't a tattle tale (yet), she didn't tell the teacher when the boy bit her hair.
-There is a red wall in her classroom.
-Each morning you sit on your square with your legs "criss cross apple sauce" and your hands in your lap and don't touch the lines.
-Lunch for kindergarten is at like 10:20, so if we forget to feed her a snack after school then she eats 3 pieces of pizza and 2 breadsticks for dinner.
-She loves to play with Kennedy at recess.
-She learned a song about a frog, but sometimes she doesn't remember it so she will practice quietly for a minute or two before she will sing it out loud.
-This week they read a book called "It is hard to be 5" and that is a really funny book.
-Ryann has only tooted 1 time at school because she doesn't want kids to think she is stinky... she said when she tooted it wasn't stinky and the kids didn't know she did it.
-The bathrooms at the school are cool like at Aspen Grove.
-Ryann believes I haven't met her teacher yet, and she can't wait for me to meet her.
-The after school program finishes 15 minutes earlier than we thought, and apparently they charge $5 a minute that you are late.... except during the first week of school.... whew.
-Cheetos are the best item you can have in your lunch box.
-There is a boy named Eric in her class who colored on his eraser, he didn't listen to the teacher that time,  but most of the time he does.
-It is not a good idea to save a gogurt for later.
-Annie from her church class is in her class at school.
-Ryann is teaching herself how to do a cartwheel and I am not sure where she saw someone do it. I think we may need to get her into a tumbling class.
-Ryann is loving and kisses us all before getting onto the bus.
-Her favorite color is "rainbow".
-Every paper says RyannMomDadCara on it. It melts my heart every time I see it, we are her world and I love it... unless she just doesn't know how to write anything else... hmmmm... I will go with the first thought.
-She is happy

On the Bus

 I snapped these gems yesterday as well. Both girls running off to the bus stop.

 Ryann knew it was all about the pictures.  

 Mommy had to have pictures.  

 Here she is getting ready to get on the bus.

 Meeting the bus driver. He asked what grade she was in and she kept saying her teacher's name. 

I am not quite sure why the bus driver looked confused. Hehe. She finally figured it out. 

Seriously, who sends their kid on the bus on the very first day of school??  She rode it home without incident as well. Rich was so happy to see her get off all by herself. 

Kindergarten

Wow, the day finally came. I swear Ryann slept better than any other day in the past year. She went to be at 7:15 and didn't wake up until 6:45am. 

She wouldn't let me brush her hair before school.  

Great. Good thing it doesn't need much attention now that it is short.

 Here is a picture of her at the growth chart. She looks to be about 3 feet 9 1/2 inches. We will see how tall she is on her last day of school too. 

 She was so excited and so was Cara. They are both wearing their new clothes from Grandma Mingo. Very first day of schoolish. Right?

 There had to be a picture of me and Ryann before I got all weepy... and yes I did cry. Big time. 

Here is daddy with his sweet girls. He says he didn't cry, but he sure was anxious all day. During the morning I got a text that said, "Her teacher has our cell phone numbers just in case, right?"

Yes Rich, yes she does. 

That was probably one of the sweetest things I have ever had him text me. His concern for our sweet girl just fills my heart with more joy than I could ever have imagined. I am so thankful for this beautiful girl of ours and all she has done to enrich our lives.