A.C.E.S. Day

Our school had their annual A.C.E.S. day on Thursday (all children exercise simultaneously) -- it was the perfect day weatherwise, full of blue skies and sunshine and warm temperatures.  The girls had been talking about the event for a couple of weeks, discussing the songs (half of which Millie found inappropriate ... that's a discussion for another day) and some fears of standing up in front of everyone dancing (Merrill).  Clearly this isn't their favorite activity of the year, but as a parent it's fun to watch :).  Our school chooses dancing as the exercise they do together and the 5th graders get to choose songs to dance to and choreograph the dances with the help of a teacher.  Of course they pick from current popular songs.  This years picks were 'Uptown Funk', 'Shake It Off', 'Timber', and 'All About the Bass' (Millie didn't like the songs about butts -- and there were a few...).  They use the "kidbopz" version of the songs (which is good, because some really wouldn't be appropriate in their original form!), so they are just fun songs to sing and dance to.  They also did "Jump!" this year to honor the teacher of the year (her choice in song) -- I don't think the kids were as into that one, but I also don't think they practiced it as much.  It's nice to see the school community come together like it does for these kinds of activities and see the kinds of things the school puts a value on.  We're really happy that this is the school we've landed in.

The fifth graders getting ready

All smiles as she lines up with her class

excited to dance

JUMP!

focusing...

still hanging in there, looking a little nervous

not so sure...

... and there it is ... done with A.C.E.S. day

Millie was still happy to be dancing

Better now that she's by her teacher

Having fun, but maybe a step behind ;)

finishing up, but not smiling

One of the videos I took -- it was hard to get very good video this year, it also seemed like the music wasn't as loud this year which made it a little less festive.  But, fun nonetheless!  

More Spring

Back to the March and early April posts that I missed....

Mid-March we enjoyed celebrating my mom's birthday with a family party at our house.  Family gatherings aren't so small any more!

So glad we are here to be a part of all the family moments

We made a trip to the zoo with my sister and her kids on the girls' last day of spring break.  Lucky for us, most of the districts in the area went back to school that day, so we didn't have to fight off any crowds.

The elephants were the big attraction that day.

We also got to spend a fun Saturday afternoon playing in my parents' backyard.  My dad has put so much into this yard and he loves it so much, that it is really fun to see him get to share that with his grandchildren -- who also really love it! It's so fun to see it in the spring as everything is coming back to life. 

The yard is a great place for playing hide-and-seek as well as imagination play -- here Teddy is driving a boat :)

Have I mentioned I really like spring?

Kindergarten Party

As part of our school's trivia night, parents are able to buy slots to grade-level parties (adult parties are offered too).  These parties are coordinated and hosted by parent volunteers who have children in that grade.  As things are gearing up for trivia night, the committee sends out pleas for parties via notes home, e-mails, etc.  This year, Kindergarten kept popping up as a grade that didn't have a party yet.  Guilt got the best of me and I texted a friend who has a daughter in Merrill's class and asked her if she would be interested in hosting a party with me.  As soon as I hit 'send' I secretly hoped she would say 'no'.  But, she's a good person and accepted the challenge.  I have been nervous about this event ever since.  Trivia night came and went back in January and slots to our party were sold.  After talking to our girls, we settled on a nature-science party at Powder Valley and we scheduled it for yesterday so we could tie it into Earth Day.  That gave us plenty of time to put it off ;).  We got together a few weeks ago and came up with our plan (we were expecting 15 kids total) and then met again on Friday to pull everything together, make our materials, etc.  Yesterday was the day.  We were both a little nervous, as we both like the planning stage but neither of us particularly likes the 'leading 15 Kindergarteners stage' even though she is a teacher (currently at home with her children) and I have worked extensively with children ...  But, I think we pulled it off :).  We ended up with 9 kids there as some didn't show up for unknown reasons.  This ended up being a blessing.  We were split equally between boys and girls and they all had LOTS of energy.  One kind dad stuck around, which was also a blessing.  That extra set of eyes and hands was very much appreciated!

We filled two hours with craft projects using recycled materials, nature related experiments, a hike to search for nature, snack, and a story.  No one whined or cried, we didn't lose anyone, no one got hurt, there were lots of smiles and laughs, as well as fierce concentration while we were doing some of the activities ... I'm calling it a successful afternoon!  I'm not sure this has convinced me to host another party again next year, but we'll see ;).

painting cardboard shapes for a later project

Millie got to come as a helper :)

learning about clouds and rain 

making rain -- it took 100 plus drops of colored water to make the 'rain'.  I was amazed at how focused and patient they all were -- no one gave up!

... and then they started making 'tornados' :)

on a short nature hike

missing one little guy who didn't want to be in the picture

reading a book about taking care of the earth -- and eating trail mix (I think that was key...)

Making art by pounding flower petals

cardboard sculpture made with our painted cardboard pieces

finished petal art