Beauty and the Beast

Clara and I enjoyed a night out at the theater last night. We saw Beauty and the Beast down at the Hobby Center. It was cute, but couldn't compete with The Lion King in my opinion. Clara said she liked Beauty and the Beast better though. I'm sure it had nothing to do with dressing like a princess for the occasion.

I surprised her with her dress right before we left. As you can imagine, it was a hit. I considered getting her a Belle costume, but liked the idea of this dress since it's Belle-ish and can be worn again. Plus, I found it at an amazing price that I couldn't pass up :)

We went to Zio's for dinner and Clara drew pictures of all of the characters on the tablecloth. At the top, it says "Belle (me)".

It was raining, so I wanted to be sure and get there early. Clara was pretty antsy as we waited for them to open the doors. She really enjoyed the show. It dragged in parts so she got a little squirmy at times, but she hung in there and almost made it to the end. She ended up falling asleep about 10 minutes before it ended, so I woke her up at the end when the Beast turns back into a human. I couldn't let her miss the climax.

After the show came the brutal half hour or so of slowly moving along with the crowd to the parking garage, walking up the stairs to the 5th floor and then sitting in the car until we could drive out of the garage. Throw in a very sleepy (and whiney) little beauty and another half hour driving home and I was glad to crawl into my bed. (After putting Robert back to bed three times and completing Sunday school preparations, that is.)

Walking to School

I started walking Clara to school a few weeks ago. We're all loving it (most of the time). We have to leave the house by 7:00 which is a feat sometimes, but we're pretty good about getting out the door in time. She sometimes rides her scooter and I've ridden my bike with Robert in the bike trailer too. It's a bit of a pain because there are no sidewalks once you're out of our subdivision and no shoulder, as you can see. We take a short detour to stay off the main road in the bottom picture since it's a rough ride for Robert through people's yards and over curbs and driveways.

People amaze me. It's crazy how fast they'll drive past a woman with a stroller and a young child. The best one was yesterday. As a car barreled toward us, (not slowing down or moving over a bit of course), I see the driver using both hands to put her hair in a ponytail.

We walk Clara to the crossing guard where I take her scooter and helmet, and then she walks the rest of the way on her own. The house on the corner here is right next to the school, so she gets a little independence (even if it is just a small taste).

Grade 1 Day 1

It was back to school time on Monday. Clara was ready for school to start, but when the moment arrived, she was a bit apprehensive. I was a little worried about how she would react because of how she reacted to promoting to the 1st grade class for Sunday school the day before. She held back, held on to me and didn't want to go into class, almost in tears. I don't know what was up with that.

Anyway, she did fine once we got inside on Monday. I was a bad mom and waited until the last minute to buy school supplies so I couldn't bring them up when we met her teacher last week. I had to go into school with her the first morning to help her carry it all in. Her school is not equipped to have that many cars up there at once. Traffic and parking were a nightmare! After school, I overheard other parents talking about all the idiot parents who went into the school that morning and didn't they get the memo about Meet the Teacher night? Oops. I guess some parents were parking in the drop off line and getting out of their cars to walk their kids to their classrooms. Ok, I agree; that wasn't cool.

Her teacher is Mr. B and he seems really nice. She was hoping to get him and so far she really likes him. Here's hoping for a great 1st grade experience!

Jr. Swim Meet

I don't guess I ever mentioned it, what with my blogging hiatus and all, but Clara was on the junior swim team this year. The junior swim team was made up of 4-6 year olds who weren't ready for the regular swim team. Thankfully, after the first couple of days, they made two separate groups because there were so many kids. The younger group had kids that were crying and hadn't really had any experience in the water. Clara was in the more advanced group.

It ran for 9 weeks (the same length as the swim team's season) and practice was every weekday for half an hour a day. She really improved and gained a lot of confidence during those two months. She can swim short distances but still needs a lot of practice.

As the season progressed, the swim coach would move kids up who she thought were ready to compete in the meets. She was about ready to move Clara up but then she had to miss a little over a week of practice because of a bout of swimmer's ear and our school district getting out of school a week later than the district the swim team was in. (They switched to morning practice when school let out.) So when she came back, she had lost a lot of ground and never really did get back to the same level she was at. Which was fine by me. I never really expected her to move up. I was happy with not having volunteer hours, not spending my Saturdays in the heat and not having to purchase a really expensive team swimsuit.

Clara on the other hand asked when she would get to move up almost daily. At the end of the season, they had a party and a junior swim meet so the kids got a small taste of what a swim meet was like. They swam two at a time and Clara got paired with the best kid on the team. He probably beat her by a minute. All of the kids on the swim team, along with all of the parents, stood by the side of the pool and cheered them all on. It was pretty sweet.

Go Clara go!!

At the end, they each got a ribbon.

Here she is with her sweet coach, Stephanie. She was so patient with all of the kids and helped ensure Clara had a great time learning to swim. Chris and I decided that chasing Robert around in that heat with a huge crowd did not sound like fun in the slightest. So in an attempt to make up for not staying for the party, I took Clara to get ice cream afterwards. I asked her if racing was fun and was overjoyed when she said, "No!" I asked her if she didn't want to be on the swim team after all and she said she did but she only wanted to go to practice, not do the swim meets. When I told her she had to go to swim meets, she decided she didn't want to be on the swim team after all. Score!

Sports Camp

Clara attended Sports Camp at church a couple of weeks ago. She was so excited to have Leah and Kate join in the fun. The older kids got to choose between soccer, football, basketball and cheerleading. Being the mean mom that I am, I conveniently forgot to tell Clara that cheerleading was available. Oopsie. So she and Leah chose soccer. I know cheerleading is big right now for little girls, but I think it just adds to the problem of little girls growing up too fast. No judgement. Just my opinion. I want it to be something that she looks forward to doing when she's in junior high (but I'm secretly crossing my fingers that she won't be interested when the time comes).

I didn't think Clara was going to make it all week. When I picked her up the first night, she looked exhausted. She was crying because she didn't know the memory verse and she had a mark on her face where she had gotten hit with a soccer ball. She got hit a couple of other spots too. It was eleventy million degrees outside and she was just a mess of emotions. She woke the next morning saying her legs hurt and she didn't want to go back. She was better by that night though, and thankfully it rained the next two nights so they played inside. She did much better the rest of the week. She learned the memory verse the next day and received a pin on Tuesday for knowing it. Becky and I traded off kids several times throughout the week so we were both able to have some free time and date nights. It was nice.

This picture was taken right after Leah won a cd. She wasn't excited or anything :)

Travis was on their soccer team too. Yay for friends! Clara had a sleepover with Leah on Thursday night. They swam all afternoon on Friday and didn't take a nap. That night at Sports Camp, they played a short game against their coaches and parents got to come cheer them on. I don't think 'game' is the right word for what we witnessed though; it was more like a free-for-all with every single kid on the field running amock. I'm just going to assume she learned some actual soccer skills at some point during the week. Clara and Leah were holding hands a good portion of the game and Travis couldn't seem to stay on his feet.

Clara ended up having an allergic reaction to the fresh cut grass. First her eyes started itching and it probably didn't help matters any when she started rubbing them with her hands. Then she started itching all over and ended up with a few hives as well. As the game came to a close, I gave her some benadryl and splashed some water on her to try and rinse her off. The benadryl hadn't stopped the itching yet, but I think it was starting to make her drowsy as we headed inside for the last few minutes of singing and prizes. She started crying, so I took her to the bathroom to try and rinse her off a little better. Then horror of horrors, Kate won a soccer ball. And then one of the older boys gave Travis the soccer ball he had just won. Clara. lost. it.

I mean, completely lost it. She was a blubbering, itchy, exhausted mess who was unable to contain her disappointment any longer. Oh, the humanity! Her coaches wanted to take pictures with her but she couldn't compose herself long enough to pose for a picture. I was able to convince Kate to let her hold her new soccer ball for a picture and she perked up long enough to snap this quick pic. All in all, Clara had fun at Sports Camp but I was soooooo glad when it was all over.

School's Out For Summer!

We were all soooo ready for summer around here.

 Especially this girl.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on here, but I started receiving phone calls from her teacher in January I think. Her problems all revolved around not listening and talking too much. I was sure the first incident was just because her ears were plugged completely and we had been experiencing the same behavior at home. I assumed she would be fine after we had them cleaned out, but nope. I probably got 5-6 calls the last few months of school.

To be fair, her teacher did say that her behavior issues were minor but thought we would want to know since it was out of character for her. The class social butterfly got moved right next to her at some point, so I'm sure that didn't help matters. Near the end of school I got a call that she had been disrespectful to the teacher so at that point I was counting down the days 'til summer vacation right along with her. One year down, twelve to go!

Let's Backtrack, Shall We?

Clara's class learned about oceans the last few weeks of school. They were tasked with choosing a sea creature and creating a shoebox biome telling all about their animal. Initially, Clara chose dolphins but when I reminded her about the sea turtle documentary she had just watched, her eyes lit up with excitement.

She had so much fun making this with me. We brainstormed ideas and she was very unhappy every time we put it away to work on later. If you can't see, there is a crab and sea gull that are trying to get two baby sea turtles on the beach, a momma sea turtle laying eggs, a raft of seaweed with babies floating on it and another sea turtle eating sea weed.

Now you may be looking at this and thinking I did it all myself, but that is not true. I got her to recall some things that were on the documentary and helped her brainstorm how she could illustrate them in her biome and then helped with the hard parts (the beach, hanging stuff and cutting out her drawings). She did the drawing, painting, making sea anemones, play doh, and gluing with minimal assistance. I thought about being almost completely hands off, but I'm not sure how she'll learn to do some really creative stuff unless I help her at this early age. It's not like a teacher can assign a project of this magnitude to a kindergartener and expect them to do it all by themselves. Right? Please tell me if I'm delusional and whether you would have made your kindergartener do the whole thing themselves. I really do want to know because I don't want to be one of those parents who does all their kids' projects for them. Now when she's in 3rd grade? Yeah, she's on her own for the most part.

Father/Daughter Tea

Chris and Clara attended the annual Father/Daughter tea at church this afternoon. A lovely time was had by all. I need to learn how to do braids. I made several attempts at "princess hair" and they all flopped. Between growing her bangs out and having really fine hair, nothing I do stays put. I'm an epic failure when it comes to doing my daughter's hair. She wore her special locket that was Grandma's and even got to put on a little makeup for the occasion. Robert and I napped.

Clara's Wisdom Literature

This is a special week for Clara. Every morning before school, the entire school meets for "Rise and Shine" and this week Clara's class is leading it. Clara is doing the "wisdom literature"; she had to memorize a poem. When she first brought it home, I actually thought it was asking a little much of a kindergartner to be expected to not only memorize something so long, but say it in front of the whole school.

Well, she showed me. I went up to watch her yesterday and was choking up a little when she started reciting it. I'm so proud of her! She spoke slowly and clearly and didn't need any help. When I picked her up from school, I asked her if she was nervous at all. She said, "Nope", and I said, "not even a little?" "Nope." Several teachers that recognized me from the car pick up line have stopped me to tell me what a great job she's doing. Proud mom moment for sure.

She told me, "I love to be on stage in front of people. I also love to be on stage when I'm not in front of people." So apparently we don't need to work on confidence. There was something very reassuring about watching her up on stage. Something tells me that if she can do this well in front of this many people at this age and not have a bit of nervousness, she'll be just fine :)

I was fumbling with my camera when she started and didn't get the first line, but here is the poem if you can't hear her:

Today I.....

Today I smiled, and all at once things didn't look so bad.

Today I shared with someone else, a bit of hope I had.

Today I sang a little song, and felt my heart grow light, 

And walked a happy little mile, with not a cloud in sight.

Today I worked with what I had and longed for nothing more, 

And what had seemed like only weeds, were flowers at my door.

Today I loved a little more and complained a little less,

And in the giving of myself, I forgot my weariness.

-Poet Unknown

During the assembly, the principal got up to make announcements and was standing right next to Clara. (She announced Spirit Night at Chick-fil-a, where a portion of sales go to the school. They have one every month or so but we never go because Chris is allergic to chicken. Clara always asks though.) So while the principal is making the announcement, Clara is looking at me, doing the hands-together-like-she's-praying-bobbing-up-and-down-furrowing-her-brow-while-mouthing-PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE.

How could I say no? Daddy was a good sport and did dinner on his own tonight so that the rest of us could go up with people from Clara's school. And the cow. And she had a blast.

Sisterly Love

I just found this note on a little slip of paper:

To: RoBert
Be Qwiet!
Love Clara

She was also taking the time to compile a list of all of the bad things that Robert was doing. It has mysteriously disappeared after asking her if she would like us to start compiling a list of her wrongdoings.

Dr. Seuss Had One Too

A birthday, that is. We share our big day, actually. Us and Sam Houston. And Texas.

Anyway, Clara got to dress up as a Dr. Seuss character at school. I put together a Max costume (the Grinch's dog) and she loved it. I just attached a cardboard antler and felt ears to a headband. To my surprise, it actually made it to the end of the school day and she was wearing it when I picked her up in the car line.

Hanging Book Display

I just have to tell you all about this awesome little project that I just did. I wanted to figure out a way to organize the books that Clara takes onto her top bunk. They were constantly strewn all over the end of her bed or being thrown off onto the floor; never did they make it back onto the shelf.

I perused Pinterest for a while and came upon this perfect solution. It turned out soooo cute. I just love it. All it takes is a couple of double curtain rod holders, dowels (in whatever length you want), and fabric. I also painted the dowels and added ends to them to give it a more finished look.

It's worked perfectly and Clara loves it. I made hers fairly short because there wasn't a whole lot of room up there, but on the website there were plenty of examples and most of them were a much longer length.

This is Clara's new bedding by the way. It was her gift from us for Christmas. She had picked out the set back in November not long after her sleepover with Leah. The minute she saw the paisley print, she was set on this set. (The shrinky dink jewelry they made at the sleepover was a groovy theme and there was lots of paisley.) It's not what I would have chosen, but it's not my room now is it? I'm learning to let her have a little more say in things like this and I think she chose very well.

Ok, now go make your kids a book display and report back.

Official Braider

Clara has been itching to learn how to braid for quite some time now; she's been so frustrated with herself. I kept explaining that it was like snapping your fingers and tying your shoes. It's really hard to learn but just keep trying and you'll figure it out eventually. I figured it would be a long time before she would be able to do it. Well, she showed me. She taught herself and now she can do perfect braids.

Clara's Class Party

Clara's last day of school before the Christmas holiday was on Friday the 16th and her class had a little party at the end of the day. I wasn't able to find someone to watch Robert, so I brought him with me having no idea how he would do since it was right in the middle of naptime. I was hesitant because he was a tornado of destruction at her birthday party the week before and that was with a short nap.

Well, I needn't worry because he acted pretty good. He got to sit next to Clara and got all the same treats she did. Oh my goodness, they just kept pumping all of the kids full of sweets. When I got there, they were just finishing M&M cookies. Then they each got a sugar cookie with some icing and sprinkles to decorate themselves. Then came another cookie/icing/sprinkles combo. And then a cupcake. Not to mention two capri suns each and a treat bag with several sweets. Oh well, they were all so excited and I guess a little holiday sugar overload never hurt anyone.

Just as an aside, I feel the need to explain Clara's bangs. She's decided to grow them back out. Sigh. They're not long enough to really hold back with barrettes and no matter what I do with her hair in the morning, by the time I pick her up from school it's usually falling in her face. This is after two months of growth so we've got a long road ahead of us.

Christmas-y Things

Blogger likes me tonight, so we're back in business! Here's a few more pictures from December. Chris' grandmother sent the kids this neat advent calendar. It came with a cardboard Christmas tree and each day you got to put an ornament on the tree. Clara loved it.

We watched all of our Christmas movies and even a few new ones that were available on Netflix. On this particular night, we watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and had hot cocoa before we started the movie. Hot cocoa is just better when it's served in a snowman, wouldn't you agree?

I tried getting a picture of both kids in their Christmas pajamas and of course got only a picture of Clara. In this picture, you'll notice the gift in the background that stayed half-wrapped until right before Christmas. Also, Clara's antlers used to have many Christmas lights hanging off of them. That is until Robert got ahold of them and ate most of the lights off.

Here's the little angel now. I guess I did get one picture of him that night.

This is just a small sampling of what we've been up to these last couple of weeks. I'm really quite bad at creating fun things for the kids to do around holidays. I get really frustrated when I try to do things with them and they're uncooperative or Robert is getting into stuff or five minutes in they're tired of whatever it is we're doing. Not to mention that stuff requires forethought, you know, figuring out what to do and then buying the stuff and carving out a chunk of time and all. As much fun as that stuff is, I'm not the creative type and it really stresses me out, so I've decided to forego most of the creative stuff. I don't know if I'd be better at it if I didn't just get through planning two birthdays or what, but whatever the reason, I can't seem to get my act together at Christmas time.

We took the kids to Starbucks on Sunday night for hot cocoa and Christmas treats. Chris took a big swig of my hot chocolate on accident and made a pretty big mess when he tried to spit it out in Robert's cup; it ended up all over the table and floor. He started downing the water but still felt yucky afterwards. We drove around for a few minutes to look at lights but Clara got bored pretty quickly and wanted to head home. On Monday Clara got to make birdseed ornaments for the trees. (That's sunflower butter for those that are concerned about her touching peanut butter.) I already had everything on hand and we waited til Robert's naptime to make them. Easy peasy.

And today I let her wrap the last few gifts to put under the tree and watch a Christmas cartoon while Robert napped.

I've got several other pictures to post, so I'll try to come back and edit this post if blogger will stop being so ornery.

Christmas Program

Our church Christmas program was Sunday night. The kindergarten and 1st grade acted out the Christmas story and Clara was an angel. I didn't realize she was going to be THE angel that told the shepherds that Jesus had been born. I just thought she was one of the many angels. The kids didn't have any lines, just hand movements as someone read the story (in case you were wondering why on earth I didn't help her practice). She did great and looked so sweet up there on stage. Almost angelic actually :)

And here she is in her acting debut announcing the good news to the shepherds and their sheep. I love this picture because a certain shepherd, who shall remain nameless, has got a finger up the nose. Hahahaha.

Afterwards they sang Away in a Manger.

After the program, there were a few crafts, Santa, and soup for everyone to enjoy. The line for Santa was reallllly long, so we stayed in line for a few minutes before giving up because Robert isn't the most patient two year old on the planet. Also, we don't eat food at church because of Chris' allergies so we went ahead and left early and grabbed a bite before heading home.

Pump it Up

I caved this year and had Clara's birthday party at Pump it Up, an inflatable party place. I wanted to do a big party for her this year and invite all of her classmates so we couldn't very well host that many people at our house. We made sure and had the just-because-you-get-a-big-party-this-year-does-not-mean-you-get-one-every-year talk just to be clear. She wanted a Princess Leia party but I think that's more of a home party theme where you can do all kinds of cool stuff, so I asked if she would like a Hello Kitty party instead and she got super excited. She got a Hello Kitty t-shirt and socks for her birthday to wear to her party. I present to you the cake.

And the mess that was created in the icing making process. I think that's my least favorite part of making cakes. That and the icing clean up. It's totally worth it in the end though. I think.


Clara's party was on Friday night. She ended up having about 10 friends and about as many siblings attend. Robert headed straight for the big slide. That booger was able to climb up by himself with no problem and slide down without hesitation over and over and over. And over.


Of course, he wasn't the only one that enjoyed the slide.