Giddy as a school girl

More than two months later, I'm finally getting around to blogging about school. What a slacker! Ada started preschool in September and she absolutely loves it. It took a little getting used to at first, but now she can't wait to go. The first day didn't turn out exactly like I had pictured it. I had a new outfit picked out for her to wear. She refused to wear it. Time was running out (school starts at 9:00 and she usually sleeps past 8:00), and despite having multiple fits, she finally decided on an old dress with shoes that didn't match. I had no choice since we were going to be late! What a struggle. After only a few times of attending, she learned the Pledge of Allegiance. Often she comes home singing songs that I've never heard. She has such a great memory. She LOVES going to Miss Missy's house to learn and play with her friends. One day they went on a field trip to Wheeler Farm. Ada had such a great time. She even has a carpool buddy. I'm so glad she loves school. Ada's teacher told me that she is the "it" girl that everybody loves. People fight to sit by her. I've had several parents tell me that their kids love to talk about Ada. I used to say that it was because her name was easy to say, but I like to think that it's because she's fun and nice.

In front of Miss Missy's house on the first day.

Ready to start!


In front of our house with her giant Hello Kitty backpack. I think this will be a yearly tradition


After pajama day with her circus hat on

After getting her face painted


Preschool is on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on Tuesdays we do Joy School with two other kids. We actually don't follow any particular curriculum (even though we still call it Joy School). We take turns teaching at our houses and the kids love it. Each day we start with circle time and talk about the weather, calendar, time, Pledge of Allegiance, and numbers. They practice tracing their names, numbers, and letters and then practice writing them in notebooks. We introduce a 'letter of the day' and practice writing that. Then we teach a theme, play games, make a craft, eat a snack, and have play time. It's been fun for me to branch out and find different things to teach my daughter and her friends.

Ada, Keaton, and Millie enjoying their snack

Play time!


In their costumes at their Halloween party. Super Why is pretty lucky to be between two beautiful fairies!

Painting with watercolors

Tasting different things during our Five Senses lesson

Birthday party for Keaton!

True colors

I promise I didn't put this on her.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

I'm still not certain, but it seems that Kate is finally getting at least one of her two front teeth. Nothing has poked through yet, but it seems to be swollen and she has been cranky the last few days. What a lovely Christmas present. Maybe we'll be able to see it by Friday.

Besides little bouts of crankiness here and there, Kate has been such a joy lately. She is now 17 months old (and yes, still only has two teeth), and the last three or so weeks have been way too much fun.

*Though she's been in a front-facing car seat for over two months (she's still not 20 pounds), she still says, "WHEEEEE!" when we take off anywhere.
*Some switch went off in her head and she can talk. She can speak in sentences, most of which start with "I want". She frequently says things like, "I want some", "I want a bite", " I want candy", "I want juice", "I want Mommy", and "I want cookie". Though she refuses to drink anything but juice, she saw a drinking fountain last week and said, "I want water." I didn't even know she knew that word! When she asks for something, I always ask her what she says. Her reply is, "Please!" She also says, "Here!" every time she hands me something. Other things that have surprised me:
-She climbed onto the toilet seat and said, "Up high." I don't recall ever saying that to her.
-One day she was walking around the house looking for me, saying, "Mommy, ARE you?"
-She is still so clingy to me, but the other day as I was trying to sneak out to go to book club, she said, "Bye, Mommy!" and didn't cry at all.
-I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day and after I hung up, Kate said, "Bye, gama!" How did she know who I was talking to?
-Over a month ago I figured out how to get her to say words: just ask her what ____ says, and she'll repeat the word back to you (except if you say an animal. Then she'll tell you what that animal says). She is pretty good at repeating words and continues to get better.
-She can identify (meaning point to and say their names) all of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters (I think she likes it better than her sister does), most of the Sesame Street characters, some of the princesses (Ariel, Belle, and 'White'), her grandmas and grandpas, and many of her cousins, aunts, and uncles.
*She got pretty sick a few weeks ago (as did I). All she wanted to do was sit on Mommy's lap all day. It was no fun having her sick, but I enjoyed snuggling with her all day long. Ada was very good during all of this, until she got sick. One night they took turns waking up crying, and Ada threw up in her bed. I took them to the doctor, and luckily it was not the wrath of the swine. I thought it was inevitable.
*She loves to throw things, especially down the stairs, and especially after she has grabbed them away from Ada.
*She has many nicknames. To me and other family members, she's still Baby Kate. To Ada, she's Katie, Katie Stinky, Kay, and Cake. To my mom, she's Katie Scarlett. I'm sure the list will continue to grow.

This picture was taken months ago, but it is a picture of Kate's first modeling job! Her aunt Alysia made the adorable tutu and she sells those and the leg warmers at a boutique in Ogden.

She loves to climb onto and into things

In her Tinkerbell costume on Halloween

She loves to walk around in Ada's princess shoes. She may turn out to be just as girly as her sister is

Happy Christmas

Christmas is two weeks away! Since Christmas music on the radio is hit-and-miss, I thought I'd create a list of music I like to listen to and include it on my sidebar. I couldn't find everything I was looking for, but this will do for a while.

Also, check out this video: http://vimeo.com/8088486 It made me laugh out loud.

Happy Christmas!

Thoughts on college football

1. I'm glad Alabama beat Florida. I don't like Nick Saban (I don't like Meyer either), but it's nice to see a different team in the national championship game.
2. Texas doesn't stand a chance against Alabama. Last year, though, I didn't think Utah did, so hopefully we'll see a good game.
3. I hope Oregon can beat Ohio State. I think they will. Ohio State is always overrated.
4. As my brother stated, it's a "slap in the face" that TCU and Boise State have to play either other. Now neither team can have a chance to show that they can play with "the big boys". Apparently the director of the Fiesta Bowl doesn't agree, but I still don't like it. TCU will win, just like last year. They should have an easier time than last year too. I wish Texas would have lost so TCU could have played 'bama for the title game. They're better than Utah was last year.
5. Utah should beat Cal. Cal is also overrated every year.
6. I don't think BYU can beat Oregon State, unless OSU doesn't have their hearts in it after missing out on the Rose Bowl again. I hope the Cougs can make a good game of it. Despite not quite living up to expectations again, it was a fun season. The Oklahoma victory was awesome, and they beat Utah in another nail-biter.