Jena's First Christmas Photo Shoot

I just wanted to share some pics from a short (5 min.) photo shoot I did with Jena this morning for her scrapbook. She has been very smiley and happy lately despite having a sinus infection so bad it was coming out of her eyes! How she is able to maintain her happy mood while being sick I don't know but I thought these turned out super cute anyway.

Jena can stand with assistance now!

Jane's day in Kindergarten

As a special treat for the last day of school this year (and also to try out Jane to see how she would do in a school setting with Mommy around) Jane came with me on Friday to kindergarten! The plan was for her to go just until Santa arrived in the helicopter and then Jay was going to pick her up but she ended up staying the whole day from start to finish and she did AWESOME! Below are some pics from Santa's visit. By the way, it was pajama day which is why she's in pajamas in case you could tell.

 She is slightly excited! Dancing around!

 This elf told Jane, "Santa told me you have been a good girl." She nodded yes and looked in amazement at how this elf could know who she was!

 And here he comes!

It's Santa!!!

After the Santa visit the kids went to the music room to watch How The Grinch Stole Christmas and I thought Jane would come back to my room and hang out with me during the movie but she wanted to stay with the kids. After that she ate lunch at the students tables and then came back to my room to listen to me read The Polar Express and make jingle bell necklaces and play in centers, then off to recess and then a Christmas party! Pretty much she had fun all day. And she made good friends with one little girl in my class that was stuck to her all day long. She told me, "Mommy, I am ready for kindergarten I think, I don't want to wait until I am five" It was great!!! I am so proud of how well she did. I was nervous about her being clingy or too shy but she just blended right in.

Caught Red Handed

Literally!

Very shortly after this question, "Where's Jill?" Jay and I found Jill in my bathroom with nailpolish and what she calls, "Big mess!" That is what she said when we walked in; "Big mess, mommy!" "Yes, Jill that is a big mess!" That second picture is of her pointing to the big mess on the floor which is covered in red nail polish. I of course had to run and get the camera to document Miss Jill caught red handed!

What Sound?

Just a funny story:

Tonight while doing flashcards with the girls Jane was supposed to tell me the sound of the letter and Jill was telling me the picturel on the card. When we got to the "C" card Jill quickly said, "cat" and then Jane said /s/ (s sound) and I said, "no, what other sound?" Again she says /s/. At this point Jill is looking at Jane like she is crazy. Again, I say, "what sound?" then before Jane can answer again Jill jumps in front of her and very purposefully says, "MEOW!" and then smiles like she knew something Jane didn't. So funny!!

Pumpkin Painting

Halloween morning I let the girls paint pumpkins. Jane got her pumpkin from her field trip to the pumpkin patch with her Pre-K class and we bought Jill's at the store a few days ago. I also took some video of them talking about painting their pumpkins and about their costumes tonight.

Fall Festival

 Sunday night my mom and I took Jane and Jill to a Fall Festival at a local church. First we started with, you guessed it, a bounce house!

 Then it was on to the pony rides. This was Jill's first time on a real pony. She was yelling, "Yeehaw!" and "MY pony!" Needless to say she LOVED it!

 Jane waited an extra turn so she could ride THIS particular pony. I guess you can see why. She got off and said, "Mom, that unicorn really likes me, she licked me!"

 Yes, this was Jill as Jane was riding the pony. She was screaming, "That's MY pony!" and "I want it!"

 Next, Jane made a pumpkin.

 It turned out pretty darn cute!

 This guy was there. He motioned for Jill to come see him and she walked right over to him like she had known this sock monkey her whole life and climbed up in his lap for a picture. I told my mom, "well, there you go, if you want to take a kid all you have to do is dress up like a sock monkey" SCARY!

They put on a little show about Jesus that Jane watched while Jill and I waited in line for the train.

 Here's a pic from the train ride and you can't tell by the look on Jill's face but she was in heaven on that train. During the ride she was yelling, "Wheee" and saying, "I ride the train!" Jane was chowing down on her trunk or treat candy and pointing out the wishing star.

There were some other activities as well like a live band and face painting (neither of my girls are in to face painting) and carnival games. I'd say a fun time was had by all!

Jane the Ballerina

Do you think Jane liked the ballet?

This is what she put on when we got home from the show...

All night she insisted I call her Cinderella.

Cinderella Ballet

Today Jane went to her first ballet. My mom bought tickets to Cinderella. Jane had a great time!

After the show the dancers come out and sign the program. Jane was very excited to meet them!

This one is Cinderella! Cinderella told Jane she had a pretty dress!

This is a picture of all of us before it started. Notice we're drenched from the rain. We actually were wondering if we were going to get to go because the tornado sirens were going off just an hour before. But come tornado or high water we were going to make it to the ballet! Seriously though, I am glad we made it. I think it was a great experience for Jane.

Planetarium

Last Saturday Laura and I took the kids to the Science museum to see a Sesame Street show at the planetarium. It was right up our kids alley! We really lucked out in that there weren't that many people at the museum so the kids pretty much got to do any exhibit they wanted without having to compete with a crowd. Here's a pic of all the kids before the show started.

After the planetarium show we visited the cowboy exhibit where the kids got to ride virtual horses to corral the cows into the fenced area. Here's cowboy Ben...

The girls rode a horse together. This pic pretty much sums up my girls personalities...

After the cowboy exhibit it was off to some science experiments about wind. There was a tornado simulator.

This one really shows the tornado...

This is a momentum spinner. It can really get going fast. It simulates what an ice skater might feel in a spin.

Jill really enjoyed it even though I was BARELY spinning it for her. She kept trying to go back and do it again.

Then we tried spinning plates. First Laura...

Then me...

Then Jill!

Meanwhile... Jane, Elizabeth and Ben were busy creating flyers for the wind tunnel and trying them out.

We couldn't leave the science museum without a trip to see the dinosaur bones! Here's one of the kids inside a dinosaur footprint which we did on the last visit as well. I guess kids just can't get enough of dinosaurs. Side note: Jill saw the dinosaur footprint and was saying, "bath!"

All in all a GREAT day at the science museum! And, it was all FREE with our museum passes. Gotta love that!Thank you to Laura and your awesome kiddos for such a fun day!