The Last "Friday Folder"

I got a little choked up when I took Matthew's "Friday Folder" out of his backpack this weekend. All year long, his teacher has sent this red folder home twice a week. On Wednesdays, it came home with district announcements, flyers for events, or offers for classes or sports. On Fridays, it came home with a note from his teacher, his homework, and all of his worksheets and art projects for the week.

This week - No homework. No worksheets. Just a note from the teacher.

This is the last "Friday Folder".

On Wednesday June 8th, Matthew will graduate from kindergarten. I can't even believe it! I can't believe how much he has learned and matured this year. Reading? Writing? Subtraction? In kindergarten? I swear we didn't do some of that stuff until first or second grade!

This year has been such a learning experience for all of us. It was a much harder transition than we anticipated. Matthew is our first child to go to school, so we really didn't know what to expect. On top of that, we had a brand new teacher, and a new principal. For a while, I think we all felt like we had a whole lot of new going on!

Our primary goal for the year was for Matthew to enjoy going to school. That was all we needed for kindergarten. We just wanted him to be excited to go to school every day. Of course, we wanted him to make new friends, and to learn lots of new things - but most of all - we wanted him to like it.

Mission accomplished - He loves it!

So, goodbye red folder. We will definitely miss you, ... but I have a feeling there will be a new folder to take your place next year in first grade!

The Little Tumbler

As if the weekly music and Dancercise programs were not enough - the wee one is now tumbling! We just signed Amy up for a 6 week tumbling class at the park down the street. There were 12 kids there the first night. She really seemed to like it. It is for kids ages 3 to 6. She is one of the youngest kids, and is probably the smallest.

However, don't let her size fool you. I call her Mighty Mouse all the time for a reason - that kid is strong! Her little legs are all muscle!

Lately I have noticed that Amy is really good at just watching something ... internalizing it ... and then doing it. She was second or third in line for each of the tumbling activities. After watching a couple of kids do it - she totally had it down! They did handstands against the wall, forward rolls, and even got to pretend to be different animals for a while.

Her teacher, Alexis, was really cute. She appears to be a college gymnast or something - young and fun! I can't wait to see what they do next week!

Kindergarten Music Program

To my dismay, Matthew's first year of school is coming to an end. The annual music program was a great way for his class to show off some of the things they have learned this year. Had I known it was such a big deal, I would have invited the grandparents to join in the fun! Next year - I promise.

There are four kindergarten classes at Hale, but the stage is so small that they could only accommodate two at a time.

You will laugh if you spy Matthew in the pictures. As you can imagine, if I didn't know that the program was a big deal ... I also didn't even think to dress him in anything other than his usual attire. Um ... when I walked him into school that morning, most of the girls were in dresses, and maybe half of the boys were wearing a dress shirt. One of his little friends was even wearing a SUIT!

Yep .... my child is the one in the front row (far right side - second from end) in the shark t-shirt and shorts. Oops.

Despite the informal clothing, the music program was a success! I was so impressed! The kids were up on stage for about an hour, and they sang 12 songs! There was a student that introduced each song, and some of the numbers even involved props and instruments.

They did a fantastic job!

I have been hearing those songs around our house all year. Matthew loves to sing. You wouldn't know it from the behavior reports I get from his music teacher ... but he is always belting something out around the house! Perhaps he takes after his Grandpa Hanson or his Uncle Rocco?

After the program, Matthew's teacher invited the parents to stay for snack and recess. It was really fun. Matthew greeted me at his classroom with this adorable card.

I just can't believe how much he has learned in this past year! Way to go Matthew! We are so proud of you!

Dancercise

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of kid activities. I thought I would take some time tonight to catch up the blog! Sooo ... we enrolled Amy in Dancercise earlier this year. They actually bring the class onsite to her daycare, so it is really convenient. She goes once a week for about a half hour. I haven't had a chance to go and watch her class, so their little "performance" was my first chance to see my $38 a month in action!

The teacher, Mariah, is ADORABLE! The kids were pretty shy with all of the extra eyes on them, but I bet they have a blast when nobody is around. She incorporates all kinds of learning into the dance routines - counting, colors, sign language, and all sorts of fancy dance shoes! Now I know why Amy puts on different shoes every time she starts to boogie!

Here are a couple of pictures from the event!

T-Ball 5.24.11

Greetings from the ball field! Check out our toothless t-ball star! Matthew has officially lost 4 teeth, and is well into his first t-ball season at Pearl Park. He can really hit the ball, and his fielding skills are really improving this year. It probably helps that half of his team is made up of kids from his kindergarten class :)

Enjoy a few photos from the sidelines tonight!

Derek & Katie Get Married!

This past weekend, my cousin Derek and his lovely Katie tied the knot. Their celebration kicked off a whole weekend of fun catching up with family we haven't seen in a really long time. Enjoy the photos!

Mother's Day 2011

It's been a while since I have posted on this blog. There is a part of me that feels like a bad mother for not staying on top of it ... but I can't type that on Mother's Day!!

Today was great! Sunday is my day to get up with the kids, so we did our usual oatmeal feast at the dining room table, and then headed out on a walk down to Lake Nokomis. It was so beautiful this morning, and the kids were so good. We stopped to play at the beach park for a while, and came home to donuts and coffee with Daddy!

The three of them had picked out a great necklace and matching earrings from Banana Republic for me. I can't wait to wear them!

We hosted an early dinner for my Mom and Arik's Mom and then the six of us headed out for a Children's Theater production of "Annie"! It was awesome. Such a talented cast!

Overall, it was a great day. It was fun to celebrate being a mother, but also to celebrate being with my mother.

Happy Mother's Day!