Asia's Preschool Pictures

Birthday Part 2- Party With Friends

The invitation

The rainbow decor.

 
 Yesterday was Red Fish's birthday party.  It was quite a production.  She has been planning it for two years.  I tried to convince her to have a party someplace easy (for me) but she wouldn't hear of it.  She wanted a rainbow/unicorn party with art projects.  Unfortunately I couldn't find anyplace that hosted one of those.  She also has a ton of little friends and it was very important to her that nobody be left out.  The guest list was extensive. I had to convince her to skip the preschool crowd and stick to neighborhood friends and the cousins closest in age to her.

Red Fish was thrilled with the results of the party and making my kids dreams come true is always a lot of fun. I had help from Two Fish, his Mom (who always saves me when I plan kids parties), my Mom and some friends who stayed to help.

We started the party with fruit loop necklaces.  The kids were actually much more interested in making these than I thought they would be.  Some of them spent most of their time eating but that was fine too.  While Two Fish cleared the tables, we played duck duck goose and acted out some little stories.

 Next we decorated paper mache treasure boxes with do a dot markers and foam stickers.  These are the perfect art supplies for large groups of young children.  We had ages 1-8 at the party and everybody enjoyed this activity.  I thought briefly about doing air dry putty activities but thankfully decided against it.  Keep it simple and use only washable products.

Next we sang some songs and played with our parachute.  I love the parachute.  Kids always go crazy over it.  Red Fish's little friends and cousins are so adorable.

 We did a treasure hunt through the house.  (Originally I had hoped we could go outside but it was too snowy and cold.  The kids had to hunt down each color of the rainbow with a series of clues. When we found the end of the rainbow there was a rainbow poster painted by Red Fish and a treasure box of prizes for the guests to pick from.  Next we played pin the cloud on the rainbow.

 We opened presents.  I am always so overwhelmed by the generosity of the gifts given at children's birthday parties.

 Red Fish received so many sweet and thoughtful gifts.  It was fun to see how well people know her and how over the top generous everyone was.  She was spoiled.

 We managed to include a unicorn in the party with this darling cake made by my uber talented friend Nancy.  Let me know if you want her contact info.  She is amazing.  Red Fish LOVED this cake.  It was exactly what she wanted.

 Red Fish loved her party.  She said it was everything she imagined.  I'm so lucky to be her Mom.  I'm glad I could make her so happy.

The inside of the cake was a rainbow as well.

Here is what I learned from the party this time- An hour and a half is the perfect time for a kids party.  Two hours is too long.  I need at least 6-8 activities to keep them busy.  Nothing takes as long as I think it should in my head.  Simple activities are best.  I tried really hard to be organized with the activites and have everything sitting out and prepped ahead of time.  This party went better than the last one I planned.  Hopefully I am getting better at this.

First Snow

 When you wake up to 8 inches of snow in your yard, there is nothing to do but bundle up and head outside.  Santa was supposed to bring snow clothes this year thanks to a good pre-season ski sale.  I'm not sure what he was thinking.  There was little chance of making it to December without them.  Luckily he dropped them off during the night and left a note saying that he thought they might need these early.  Both of the girls claim to have seen him sneaking around the house last night.  Hopefully the girls will remember that Santa gave them some of their gifts early.  It really doesn't matter though because as long as he brings them something - they don't really care about quantity.

Slumber Party

Last night we had a girls sleepover for Red Fish's birthday.  My Mom and I planned it when Two Fish and my Dad were supposed to be out of town.  Their trip got canceled but Red Fish wouldn't hear of canceling the slumber party so Two Fish slept at my parents.  I think he appreciated the extra sleep anyway.  We went out for ice cream cones and rented a Tinkerbell movie.   We inflated mattresses and slept all together in the family room.  The girls loved it.  Thanks MeMine.

FIVE

Red Fish in the birthday crown I made her.

Four has been an awesome age for Red Fish. I can't believe she is already five.  Wasn't she just barely born? She is so smart and such fun to be around. I brag about her to the point of being annoying.  She is just such a fabulous kid.  How am I so lucky to be the mother to this beautiful, bright, enigmatic, little joy? I thank my Heavenly Father (and her birthmom) regularly.  A few things about Red Fish on her birthday-
• She is constantly asking for "projects."
• She loves to learn and asks for math workbooks, flashcards, practice sheets etc.  She has been learning about money and how to tell time.  She has also been learning how to write her letters and numbers correctly.
• She is obsessed with rhyming right now.  When we drive in the car she has me pick a word and then she thinks of as many rhyming words as she can.
• She loves to make complicated patterns out of blocks or drawings etc.  She will point out patterns everyplace we go.
• She is extra sweet to her little sister and lets her tag along everyplace.  She shares everything with her sister even when she isn't asked to.  If she gets two pieces of candy at school, she saves one for New Fish.
• She is turning into a great little reader.  She also loves being read to and could spend hours each day listening to stories or looking at her books.  She likes me to read her chapter books and art books.  She also loves the Curious George series and Clifford The Big Red Dog. 
• She is an animal lover.
• She loves giraffes, unicorns and rainbows.
• She loves color in general but is partial to purple if she must limit herself to one color.
• She adores creating.  She loves art and music.  She sings all day long.  I think she is going to start some official music lessons after Christmas.
• She loves school even though it is a struggle to get her out of the door in the morning.
• She cares deeply about her friends and adores her cousins.
• She loves her grandparents and great grandparents and talks about them all of the time.  All of her friends know all about them.
• She is extremely sensitive and empathetic.  She has a big heart.
• She gives wonderful hugs, often.  She expresses love easily.  She is very snuggly.
• She loves to be outdoors.  She loves camping, hiking, riding her bike and walking the dog.
• She figures out technology very easily.  More easily than her mother.
• She has the most darling freckles ever.
• Her hair is naturally curly. People always ask me if I have curled it.  It is wild hair and I'm not great at fixing it but she is so darn cut it doesn't matter.
• She knows when she is tired and will tuck herself into bed for a nap or an early bedtime.
• She still loves her two blankies "Petey" and "Teddy Bear."  Teddy Bear is most important.
• She likes adults.
• She is a fish.  She loves to be underwater.
• She likes rock and roll.
• She knows how to have a good time.
• She loves her Dad.  He is already training her to love Google.
• She loves the cartoon "Horseland."  It's her favorite show on Netflix right now.  She also loves Curious George and Busytown Mysteries.  She also likes He-man.
• She was recently in the Primary program in our church.  She had a speaking part and she did awesome.  She had it memorized and she wasn't afraid to get up in front of everyone and say her part.  She was adorable.
• She cracks herself up.
• Her imagination is incredible.  Her creative play has really developed over the last year.  It has been fun to watch.

I adore this little girl more than words can say.

F Is For Farmer

Our button turkeys I made last year

Our nursery rhyme this week was "The Farmer And The Dell."  We learned about the letter F and farms.  We read out of First Thousand Words and What People Do.  We also read all of our farm themed books.  It turns out we have a lot.  The favorite today was Fisher Price Let's Go To The Farm.  It has a lot of flaps that the kids liked lifting.  We discussed baby animal names, animal sounds, different kinds of produce, the shape of produce, etc.

 Blue Fish, our dog likes to be a part of all of our lessons.  It's ridiculous.  He especially loves circle time and wants to be a part of everything.  During our circle time we sang all of our turkey and pumpkin songs and also sang Old McDonald Had A Farm.  We also sang The Cows On The Farm Say Moo Moo Moo, Moo Moo Moo, Moo Moo Moo.  The Cows On The Farm Say Moo Moo Moo, all around the farm.  (Sang to the tune of the Wheels On The Bus.)  We had a set of farm animal flashcards the kids would hold up to change the animal and sound.  My kids love that song.  My Mother in law used to use it when she taught preschool.  For every song we sang we would either unbutton or button on a feather on our turkeys.  Learning to button was pretty tricky and we will definitely need more practice.

 We talked about planting and what it takes for farmers to grow food for us.  I had this little planting picture in my FHE kit.  I think it is from an old Friend magazine?  They pretended to plant the garden repeatedly.  It was cute.

 We did animal themed file folder games to help reinforce recognizing groups of 1-10. 

 The kids used plastic needles to sew together little turkey puppets.  It was really tricky for them but they did a great job.  It took some serious concentration.  Then I helped them glue on the faces and feathers with fabric glue.

 We did corn prints much like we did last year.  I forgot to buy corn so we tried using some old Indian corn I had.  It didn't work quite as well but the kids didn't care.  It's mostly a color mixing exercise anyway.  I loved when they started shouting that blue and yellow mix to make green.  They were so excited about their discovery.

I had visions of a harvest/farm themed sensory bin this month.  I even went to the store to get stuff but couldn't find anything cheap.  So I went with stuff we had on hand and made an aquatic bin.  The beans are not ideal but the kids had a fabulous time playing with it today.

Dance Recital

Tonight was the girls' first dance performance.  It was crazy and disorganized and they have only had six weeks of dance classes so the performance wasn't the pinacle of technique.  Who cares though.  It was hilarious and I'm proud of the girls for performing.  Red Fish did some of the dance (when she wasn't busy picking her nose.)  She just stood backwards the whole time.  New Fish did almost none but she got up on the stage in front of a fairly large crowd. Hopefully I will have better pictures later.

Birthday Part 1- Family Party

 Sunday we had a family party for all of the November birthdays.  Red Fish was of course the star.  (M.E. and I also have birthdays.)

Cute picture of the birthday girl and her Daddy.

Cousins

Great grandbabies

Great Grandbabies

All four of the grandkids

Two Fish holding Thing 2

Blurry pic of the cake.  Red Fish was trying to keep from blowing the candles out too early.

Opening presents

Building a little wooden car with Uncle Doo after every one was leaving.  She loved this.  Thanks Doo.

Duso

This week was Red Fish's turn for Duso.  The students at her preschool take turns wearing a little dolphin necklace and writing about Duso the dolphin's adventures with them for a week.  Red Fish was really into this activity.  She loved writing about Duso.  We may have to buy her a little journal so she can keep writing about herself.  I had to type up what Red Fish said about her week.

We went to the aviary.  It's a bird zoo.  There's birds there and there is a park.  We went with [Lee Lee, Thing 1] and our friends.  The flamingoes and the peacock were my favorite.  My favorite favorite bird was the owls and the states of America bird. (Bald eagle.) I loved all of the birds.  I went to swimming lessons first.  I really love to swim. I'm a good swimmer.

I carved pumpkins. I love all of the pumpkins we made.  I made them with my family.  We shared.  [New Fish] wanted to stay up all night.  I loved the color of the pumpkins.  I like birds and pumpkins.  I love making Halloween decorations.  I got my own little knives.

I went at dance.  We didn't be good.  [New Fish] fell asleep in the car after we left.  We bringed Duso and he got a rip.  I'm the line leader at school.  Mommy tried to help us on the stage.  I love my Mommy and [New Fish] and Daddy.

I went trick or treating.  Duso didn't wear a cosutme.  That silly dolphin.  Daddy was at our house for when every body came to say trick or treat at our house.  Mommy was helping us.  I was a giraffe.  Someone had a party at their garage with hot dogs and hot chocolate.  I love Duso. 

I went to Annie's house.  Duso liked baby C's room.  He has a big bed.  I went to Grandma and Bockum's house.  (great grandparents.)  I loved writing notes there.  [New Fish.] wore a Santa hat.  We played hide and seek.  Grandma played blocks with me. I love Grandma and Bockum.

I made little giraffes with Mommy.  Mine didn't go well so I squished him.  Mommy does a lot of art projects with me.  I like playdough.  We made green playdough.  Mommy cooks with me.

Today I made a weather vane with Mommy and [New Fish.]  We were talking about wind and sometimes air.  We took it outside but the wind didn't blow it.  We will try it later.  I have a swingset.  I can pump really high.  I can do silly tricks.

Mommy is teaching me reading lessons.  I love it.  I'm so good at it.  Duso is learning to read.  He's a dolphin.  I went to school without Duso yesterday.

We played in the leaves in our front yard.  I invited over T.  We invited over some friends.  We got burried and played.  We used little rakes.  I think it was fun.  I love Duso.  We played some math games together.

Daddy reads to us at night a lot of times.  We tickles us and brushes our teeth.  Duso slept downstairs.  My dog barked at Duso.  Dogs don't like dolphins very much.  [Thing 1] came over.  I babysat him.  We played mommy and honey dinosaurs.  I took Duso to speech.  I got a prize from the rainbow box.  My Mommy dropped me off and came to pick me up.

We went to the hospital.  Adalyn fell down and got a booboo.  She was on the floor.  She bonked her forehead and it bled in her eyes.  I love my baby sister.  I started to cry like my baby sister.  The doctor gave [New Fishy] stitches.  I watched a movie.  Duso was a lot scared.  He wasn't very brave.

We went to my party.  It's almost my birthday.  The party was for me, my Mommy and [M.E.]  It was at MeMine's house.  I got a unicorn box to put my jewelry in and a new Christmas dress.  I got a lot of presents.  Everyone in my family came.  We had cake.  [New Fish] did not get hurt at the party.  My two baby cousins came.  [Thing 2] is tiny.  Duso likes babies a little bit.  He likes [Thing 2] and the babies in our family but not other girl babies.  Mimi wanted to open presents when it wasn't present time yet.  She was too excited.

I am going to have a dance recital tomorrow for my ballet.  I have a beautiful yellow outfit.  I'm going to shake my bum in my dance.  My Mimi and my Grandma and my Pop Pops and my MeMine are going to come to my dance.  I love them.  I'm so happy they are coming to see me.  Duso likes to dance.  It makes him happy.  My birthday is on the nine.  It's really soon.

16 Stitches

We have had the inevitable first trip to the emergency room as a parent.  Yesterday, I went out to start my car and the battery was dead.  I called my Mom and asked her to come pick up the item I was dropping off at her house.  About thirty seconds after she got to my house, New Fish fell and hit her eyebrow on the corner of the banister.  I ran upstairs, found her covered in blood (darn head wounds!) and just picked her up and called down to my Mom to get back in her car because we needed to head to the ER.  After three hours, two bloody outfits, 16 stitches, one new ballerina princess Barbie- we headed home.  Good thing my Mom was at our house because I don't know how I would have driven to the hospital by myself while holding a screaming child or how I would have taken care of Red Fish at the ER.  It was completely embarrassing that we were all in our pajamas because we were having a very lazy Saturday.  Red Fish didn't even end up with socks or shoes on. I had to request some socks for her at the ER so she wouldn't be walking around on the gross floor.

New Fish was very brave as long as I was holding her the whole time. We sang a lot of songs while we were waiting and I rocked her the whole time. I had to lay on the hospital bed with her on top of me while they numbed her eyebrow (must they use such a hug needle?) and cleaned it and stitched her up in three layers.  I didn't panic or cry and kept telling myself I'd have a good cry later. (I actually didn't end up needing to cry later because she was fine.) It was pretty horrible to have to hold her down and listen to her scream.  I did bribe her with a new doll and a box of princess bandaids and she calmed down and was very sweet. (Remember when I didn't think I wanted my kids to have Barbies?  I've given up.)

After she calmed down and she was talking to me while they worked on her. She was saying the sweetest things.  She said: "I'm just going to close my eyes and imagine beautiful things like princesses and flowers and rainbows."  She requested several songs and asked the doctor if he liked princesses. Then she just kept repeating the names of all the Disney princesses and what color their dresses are.

We had a very rough night and I slept in her bed so I could comfort her the 20 times she woke up or bumped her eyebrow.  Now she is completely fine and bouncing off the walls.  I've spent most of the day trying to keep her from re-opening her stitches. She is happy that she and her Daddy are going to be "twins" with their matching scars.

Weather Vane

We've been talking about air at our house.  The latest experiment involved making our own weather vane.

Leaves

And yes, I let my kids dress themselves most of the time.  :)