Vivien - 3.5 years

Vivien Leigh, there really are no words to describe the force of nature that you are!  Being three has brought forth quite a bit more sass than we had ever seen in your twos but there is still a lot of sweetness in you as well.

• You are a champion zerberter and there is nothing you enjoy more than declaring a "Zerbert Party".  You really are quite good but we have had to ban zerberting at restaurants, the dinner table, prayer time in any context, and various other circumstances. 
• You are starting to write your name.  Your letters are still more lucky than planned and your Es have many extra lines but I love that you love making your mark.
• You still love Sucking Monkey and we are not sure how we are going to ever bid him goodbye.  He is usually relegated to your bed but you often make requests for special circumstances to bring him out.  He is still your best buddy and you do prefer him more than anything or anyone else, even Mom and Dad.
• Chores are NOT your favorite thing.  You are really good and very capable at doing them BUT you like to procrastinate as long as possible and can often be heard saying "There's just too much!"  I sympathize with the feeling but hope that someday you will learn that it is usually better to just get it done with as fast as possible!
• You love to watch Angelina Ballerina and Doc McStuffins.  You really love to watch just about anything on a screen.  If we did not limit it, you would be happy to watch something all day long.  Don't worry!  We don't let you! 
• You love to dress up and you love to pick out your own outfits as often as I'll let you.  I try to let you almost every day but Sunday.  You come up with some really interesting combinations and your favorite dress up outfit is Wonder Woman.  We think you're pretty wonderful too!
• You don't stutter anymore and you say all of your words pretty clearly with the exception of ones with r-controlled vowels (girl, squirrel, world).  We love it though and are happy to hear you talk about the gors (girls) for as long as you want! 
• You are quite the social butterfly and love to tell us about all the new friends you made at church, gymnastics, the playground, etc.  I love seeing others enjoy your fun personality as much as we do.

Amity - 5.25 years

Sweet Amity, at 5 years and a quarter, you are truly a jewel!  This is what I want to remember about you: 

• You love playing pretend, more so than when you were younger.  I love that you are not growing up too fast and still enjoy using your imagination to play mommy, teacher, big sister, etc.
• You are becoming such a good reader.  This is that magical time when you are reading street signs and store signs and pretty much everything you see.  So much fun and reminds me of when I first learned to read!
• At the library, you still pick out books based on whether the general color scheme is pink or purple OR if there is a ballerina or princess on the cover.  Fancy Nancy, Louise the Cheese, Princess Peepers, and Pinkalicous are your current favorites.
• You desperately want to do a cartwheel but you just can't get your feet more than three inches off the floor.  I look forward to the day I can write about you doing it!
• You are such a great and willing helper!  I just need to give you a task and you (typically) are more than happy to help:  dusting, vacuuming, emptying the dishwasher, cleaning your room, getting the newspaper/mail.  You really want to start helping wash the dishes so maybe we will work on that soon.
• Your favorite show right now is Wild Kratts and watching super hero shows with Daddy on Saturday mornings.  You have also enjoyed watching Little House on the Prairie episodes. 
• You can be heard singing throughout the day and you are really starting to remember the lyrics to songs.  I love singing next to you at church.  I can't wait for you to start Carol Choir with Mrs. Fray soon.
• You tend to get nervous about new situations but once you have experience something, you REALLY love it and love to tell everyone we meet about it.  You like to go up to adults and say, "Excuse me?" and then proceed to tell them about one of our latest adventures.  I love that you can carry on a conversation! :)

 

2013 Home School WEEK ONE

We had a wonderful first week of home school!  On Monday, Amity went to her first art class with Mrs. Kunkel.  Later that day, we went on a field trip to Frisco Safety Town with some friends and learned about calling 911 and Amity got to ride a bike around the miniature town.  We stayed close to home the rest of the week while we kept a friend's little girl and watched our new window get installed.   We are loving reading James Herriot's Treasury for Children at breakfast and lots of Carl books.  Amity started working on writing capital letters with Handwriting Without Tearsand representing numbers with tally marks in Right Start Math.  She also wrote about several special moments in Writing Workshop including the story about Uncle Dylan rescuing her this summer from the river in Colorado.

Visit from Papa Barr

We were so excited to return from Colorado just in time for a visit from Glendall on his way back from a motorcycle trip.  We all took rides with him in the evening and the girls asked for more rides the next morning.  The girls loved reading with him and talking his ear off.  We can't wait for him to come back again soon and bring Linda with him next time!

Preschool Logic

Amity:  Mama, I don't suck my fingers anymore!
Me:  That's great, Amity.  I'm really proud of you.
Amity:  Well, Vivien still sucks her Monkey.
Vivien:  And I'm still gonna suck my Sucking Monkey.
Amity:  That's disgusting.
Vivien:  Well, that what a Sucking Monkey is for.  For sucking!
Amity:  Oh...

If only every disagreement ended with such clarity.

It's Tornado Time

This is how we stayed entertained and calm (relatively) during the sirens and duck and cover last night in the hallway.  No tornadoes ended up touching down in our area but there were several very destructive and even fatal tornadoes in Granbury, Cleburne, and Ennis.  The DQ where we ate ice cream on our bluebonnet trip had its roof blown off.   We are grateful for our safety and praying for those that are recovering.

Friend of the Flag

April 17th was a big day at the Grover house.  Amity was the Friend of the Flag!  When Mrs. Kerlin began reading the clues, she really perked up at the first one.  Clue #3 isn't quite as true now that she isn't sleeping during rest time and usually falls asleep pretty quickly at night.  It's hard to write clues in August that will still be true in April!

Vivien had the unexpected opportunity to be Friend of the Flag a few weeks before and that is a RARE treat for a nursery kid.  The FOTF didn't show up and Mrs. Kerlin let her sub in.  She did a good job except I realized we need to brush up on our Pledge of Allegiance.  She was a little disappointed when I told her she didn't get to go up with Amity on her day.

Love fun Chapel School traditions!  Very simple but very big deals!