More stories

Briana came home from school yesterday with this story in her backpack.

I'm sorry, but she does write the best stories.

This morning, Sydney showed me this book that she made all on her own:

Look at all those words she is sounding out! And is it just me or is her handwriting really, really good? Better than most kindergarteners.

The joys of kindergarten

I found out last week that Sydney's kindergarten teacher is taking a six week medical leave from school. Why? Who knows. Briana heard she has to have surgery on her foot, but I have not gotten a confirmation on that rumor yet. Everyone is being very secretive about it. So, they have called in a replacement for her until she is back. Her replacement is Cruella DeVille. She is pretty nice, but she has a very loud personality. Loud clothes, lots of jewelry, and she wears a cape for a winter coat. And she has a very loud, booming voice. So, when I found out she was going to be Sydney's teacher for six weeks, I was a little concerned. Even though she seems nice enough, her loud voice could be confused for yelling at times. Last week, I went up to help at school and became more concerned by her teaching style. If she's going to be there for six weeks, is she going to be able to teach the kids what they need to be learning? Is that class going to fall behind? Sydney seems comfortable with her, so that's good. Anyway, last night, Mike put Sydney to bed and she was reading all kinds of words in her book! All on her own! And they weren't even her sight words! Then, a little while later, she brought me down this piece of paper:

It says, Mommy I love evwbtd

Translation: Mommy, I love everybody. She sounded out the word everybody! So maybe Cruella won't be so bad after all.

Trick Or Treat!

Happy Halloween! We had a great day at our house. We went to Michaels this morning and the kids made a very cute spider and spider web craft and they got all kinds of goodies. Then we came home and carved our pumpkins. I should say we watched Mike carve all the pumpkins. He did have his power tools out to help him. The girl were both grossed out by the yucky pumpkin guts.

But, they all turned out great.

The costumes all looked good tonight. Briana got to go out in full makeup, and Mike decided to dress up as a rocker. And I got to put makeup on him!

Halloween Eve

The girls had their Halloween parade and parties at school today. I think they both had a really good time.

Here's Sydney's class in their costumes:

And here are the girls in the parade:

For Briana's class party, they got to make a giant spiderweb with yarn:

In Sydney's classroom, they made tissue paper bats:

Here is Sydney's friend, Sloane, with paint all over her hand:

And Sydney making a hand print spider:

Briana's class made these awesome black pumpkin bats, which I really loved:

After school, we got to go to Terracon for trick or treating there. The girls went around about three times and their bags were bursting with candy.

The girls now have 20 pounds of candy! And after our fun filled day, we are all completely exhausted.

Let the fun begin!

Today, the girls got to wear their Halloween costumes to dance class. They have been anticipating this all week, and today could not get here fast enough. So, we raced home from school, got them into their costumes and raced off to dance class. I did get this picture of them real quick before we left the house.

Briana is dressed as a vampire, and Sydney is Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

Briana's class starts first, and here they all are in their costumes.

Briana is in the front row, all the way to the left. Her teacher dressed up as a mustard bottle.

And here's the whole class together.

Here's Sydney's class dancing around.

Sydney is on the left.

In this one, she's third from the left.

And here's her whole class.

They made it really fun for all the kids. They all got to trick or treat, and pick a toy from a giant cauldron as a treat. And they got to dance to Halloween music, and Sydney's class got to dance to Wizard of Oz music, which she thinks was inspired by her costume.

And if that doesn't get you in the Halloween spirit, I think this story written by Briana will.

It said:

The Mean Vampire

There was a vampire that was so mean. If you touch her she will get so angry. That's why I never ever will touch her. She has brown hair like me too. I wonder what her name is? I always wanted to be a vampire. She can be really angry. She also gets mad if you say "ha ha" to her. I've seen someone do it so I moved yesterday. So I'm safe here. I never get to be something mean till 2nd grade wait I am in 2nd grade. So she is a mean vampire. Wait... I AM THE VAMPIRE!

I can scan!!!

Guess what I got for my bday!! A photo printer/scanner/copier/printer/etc!!!!! It rocks! My parents gave it to me today. We came home, Mike set it all up for me, and I have been scanning ever since.

So.....here is what I have so far:

Kids report cards from last week at conferences.

This one is Briana's.

And here's Sydney's. I know. They are geniuses.

Here are there school pictures.

Briana grade 2

Sydney kindergarten

Every year at school, they do an art project called Original Art, where they make a special painting or drawing and send it home with a brochure of all the things you can have your art made into, like a t-shirt, or a magnet or a keychain. Normally, I order away, and try to get something small to give out as Christmas presents. But, this year, it cost too much, so I am keeping their art with the intention of framing it and having some kid art somewhere in the house. Here is what Briana made:

And here is what Sydney made:

And lastly, here is a cute (semi-fictional) story that Briana came home from school with.

Gobble, Gobble

Briana was invited to a birthday party the other day. We received the invitation in the mail on Wednesday, and promptly went to Build A Bear on Thursday morning to make a birthday present. Briana chose to make her friend a turkey and named the turkey Thanksgiving. I thought the turkey was pretty cute to begin with, but once I saw the awesome box he comes in, I realized it is the best present, ever.