Last Day!

Yesterday was the last day of second grade for Cameron! I don't know all of what they did this week, but I do know that Tuesday was a "read-in" where they were asked to bring a pillow, stuffed animal, and a book. (Hm.. sounds more like nap time.) They did "daily work" in the morning, watched the cartoon movie "Charlotte's Web," ate lunch, had an awards ceremony and THEN read books. At least I think I have it in the right order. Cameron was very proud to receive a Citizenship Award and the Honor Roll (all A's, 1 B).

Wednesday they had "Free Dress", sat through Fifth grade graduation and awards, ate a sack lunch picnic outside, and had early dismissal at noon. She came home with a backpack crammed full of two workbooks, papers, report card, pencil box, etc. What a jumbled, slightly-stinky mess. I think that backpack is ready for the trash bin. She wore it out!

Here's a reminder of the first day of school. You don't realize how much she changes in just one year. I've noticed a lot of growing up, and I'm not just talking about growing out of her clothes into the next size.

Summer plans are to spend each day at the same place we've been at for the past five years, where she's been going after-school. She'll have field trips twice a week, swimming lessons, and either golf or tennis. I think she's leaning toward golf - she really enjoyed it last year. Though as a 3rd grader, she's starting to "out-grow" this preschool/after-school location.

Prydain & Westmark

Lloyd Alexander, author of two of my favorite book series, died a few days ago, May 17, in hospice care. He was 83 years old. To be quite honest, I didn't realize he was still alive, but hearing the news that he has now passed, brings back a swirl of memories of the first time I read his books.

I believe it was in the 5th grade that I was introduced to The Book of Three, and the fast-to-act, sometimes slow-to-think, Assistant Pig Keeper, Taran, an orphan, who lived with Dallben, the ancient wizard, at Caer Dallben. How can I describe the feeling of being captivated by the story and the characters. Even today, reading their names brings back a flood of images and feelings. Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi, Fflewddur Fflam, and Gwydion. If you haven't read his books, the names will mean very little, but they bring up vivid images in my mind. Eilonwy, a red-haired girl, living with her "aunt" Achron, and her bauble... her mouth always speaking rapidly about everything; stubborn, headstrong, fiesty. Even the spelling of the names, with the Welsh influence, was fascinating to me.

The librarian (or was it our 5th grade teacher) read the book aloud. Then the next - The Black Cauldron. Then she read the last book in the 5-book series, The High King. Meanwhile, my dad took me to Waldenbooks where we purchased all five books in a handsome cardbord slipcase. I would read along, read ahead, read constantly from all five books. While the teacher read from The Black Cauldron, I was already finished and reading The Castle of Llyr or Taran Wanderer.

It was an awakening. I read other fantasy book series, though not as many of some of my peers. It wasn't until much later that I realized the commonalities between Tolkien, Alexander, and Robert Jordan. The same "characters," the same patterns, the same emotions they brought forth.

Perhaps I'll take a little extra time this week to read some of Lloyd Alexander's other books, re-read the Westmark books, or uncover some biographical material. (For example, I always thought he was from Wales, but turns out he's from an area near Philadelphia.) And now, I'm off to see if my original set of Prydain books have survived... I know where they used to be, but they were in such poor, worn condition, did I save them? Or are then in a box somewhere. Regardless, I know the library will have them. Maybe I'll go visit with some old friends to honor the memory of their creator.

Chores

Cameron wanted a WebKinz, which apparently are all the rage among 2nd grade girls right now. They are a stuffed animal (similar to a Beanie Baby) that comes with a "secret code" to access the website, where you basically have a "Virtual Pet." The little ones cost $10. I said she would have to buy it for herself. (Note: I often say that and she weighs the item in her mind and chooses against buying it. She is saving up $200 so that PaPa will buy her a horse.)

She asked me if I would buy it and she would pay me back, and after some little discussion, I agreed. She paid me $5 in cash from her piggy bank and we came up with a list of chores, above her regular daily/weekly chores, and assigned a value to them. Things like do the dishes for $ .50 or fold and put away her and her sister's clothes for $1. The most she can earn on one chore is $1 and the least is a quarter. So far she's worked off half of her remaining $2.50. She also has a deadline - she must pay me back by Sunday evening or I will begin to charge interest.

Well, someone has been watching and listening very intently. She knows exactly what that list on the refrigerator is for, and has asked if SHE can do extra chores for money also. PaPa had better get ready for a horse. (GRIN)

Spaghetti, spaghetti...

Despite having strep throat last week, Cameron participated in her grade level talent show at school. Since this was our first year here, we weren't sure what sort of "talent" we were supposed to do. We decided that she could do a poem and we had loads of fun reading Runny Babbit and other Shel Silverstein poems to find an appropriate one. I didn't attend the grade-level show, but she told me that the mom's especially laughed at the right place, at the end. To our surprise, she was chosen among the second grade to perform at the All-School Talent Show.

Okay, I definitely went to this one. And she asked me in advance for some spaghetti to use as a prop. The rest of the acts were primarily girls singing along with music (lots of kareoke machines out there...), piano playing, one dancing duo, one violin (prodigy), several martial art demonstrations, and an older brother/kindy brother duo singing a cowboy song in full regalia that was adorable.

She was #11 out of 21 and just before her turn, she confessed she was really nervous. I think every kid in school was in that cafeteria. It was an appropriate time to be nervous.





I have to tell you that while she is deadpan in the video (nerves? first time using a prop?) she was MUCH more animated and cute doing it at home with the family. I wish she'd been able to remember the facial expressions and hand gestures she had used all last week. But I'm so proud of her for getting out there. She was the only "dramatic reading".

Spaghetti, spaghetti, all over the place,
Up to my elbows--up to my face,
Over the carpet and under the chairs,
Into the hammock and wound round the stairs,
Filling the bathtub and covering the desk,
Making the sofa a mad mushy mess.

The party is ruined, I'm terribly worried,
The guests have all left (unless they're all buried).
I told them, "Bring presents." I said, "Throw confetti."
I guess they heard wrong 'Cause they all threw spaghetti!

More dancing

By the time the girls actually have their dance recital, no one will care one whit - because I'll have posted all these sneak peeks at their costumes, etc. Don't worry, I will not be posting videos of their entire routines (well, aside from Brenna's below - that was an exception - I had to post it on YouTube for the other mothers to snag it, so why not link to it?)

Today was Picture Day at the studio. I left work two hours early to pick up the girls and get them home to do their hair (Got2BGlued) and makeup. Wouldn't you know we had a sudden summer storm with those big fat raindrops that flood the street in about 5 minutes and huge claps of thunder.

I have to give the studio owner/instructor credit for being extremely well organized. Overall, it is a very smooth process to line up, pay for your photo package, give the form to your child and send them into the larger studio. Then mom waits.... while Amy & her staff manage the children through individual and group photos. Door opens and out comes the dancer all done.

I sort of suspect she does Picture Day before the recital in order to force the parents to get out the costumes and figure out how it all assembles together before the actual dress rehearsal. When we tried on Cameron's costume last night, we discovered that it was a size too small. Oh no! This afternoon we asked around if anyone had a costume that was a size too big, and thankfully we were able to swap out with another dancer.

One mother commented to me, why do we do it early, and upon hearing my theory says, "Well, what is the dress rehearsal for then?" I told her about my previous experiences of organizing the girls, knowing where to go, where to wait, how the union theater lighting workers have very specific demands, how Amy will have the class come on, find places, check lighting, go back into the wings, then cue the music, and let the class run through it at least once, sometimes twice. Then off they go and up comes the next class. Like I said - this woman is O.R.G.A.N.I.Z.E.D.

You should know that the sleeves are supposed to be up on her shoulders, not down. Watch for another post about Cameron later in the week. I won't give away the secret just yet.

Brenna reading

I know I post photos of the girls reading in bed often, but this one cracked me up last night. Brenna was "reading" Junie B. Jones as plain as anything. She IS reading real words now - books like "Berenstein Bears Go Up and Down" and "Berenstein Bears and the Spooky Old Tree." She has been bringing home books from school for about 6 weeks now. "The Big Hat" and so forth.

If you haven't read the blog since Cameron's First Communion post, scroll down. I've added two other quick posts below this one during my break this mid-morning.

If you can dream...

On Monday the girls received their dance recital costumes and performed for the parents. Both my girls attend class at the same time in different rooms. Brenna's class started first and when it was over, Cameron's class was already performing. But I have photos and video of Brenna.

The video is LONG - 2 minutes long. But, you will be able to see Brenna just stop - because she made a mistake and you can see her thinking about it until she finally picks up the dance again with an arabesque. If you watch the whole video, you might be exempted from attending the actual recital on June 3 (ha ha). Brenna performs in the first half of the recital, and Cameron is in the second half, after intermission. I'm going to be a helper for Brenna's class, so I won't see the recital. I've never actually seen one of Amy's recitals - I was a helper for Cameron's class three years ago.

Fair and Equal Classes

It's hard to believe that Brenna will be five this August, and start Kindergarten. You might remember that Cameron missed the state cut-off by about 18 hours and had to attend a private K and first grade. Brenna makes the cut-off by 48 hours so we won't have to go through the same troubles.

We went up to the school and waited around until the tour began in the cafeteria about 9 a.m. Brenna must have been pretty anxious, because she alternated between hyper-energy to extremely shy and clingy. I said hello and asked names around our table. We met Noah and T.J. and Teagan. The princpal started with a powerpoint showing what to expect in Kindergarten. The assistant principal, when speaking about standardized dress, had the gall to say that his son goes to a private school. (WHERE IS MY VOUCHER SO I CAN SEND THEM BACK TO ST. CLAIRE?)

One mother, whose child is going into first grade, asked how they select students for classes. The principal was very proud to say that it is completely "fair and equal". They have an equal number of boys vs. girls (11 of each per class) and have an equal mix of GT (gifted/talented), regular, and needs help students per class. Now, I'm not a professional educator, but it seems a bit backward to me. Why not take the advanced kids and place them together to be challenged appropriately. (In high school it's called "honors classes".) All of the regular kids can be together to teach to them effectively, and all of the kids who need a little more help can be together so they can be taught the state objectives with the extra attention they require. Instead, our children will be either completely bored and disrupting the class OR completely lost and taking all of the teacher's attention.

We toured the classrooms (they all look the same) and Brenna hung back and would not go in and speak with the teacher. The scary thing is that by Christmas, she will most likely be little Miss Queen Bee of the classroom. About halfway through the tour, all of a sudden, we hear, "Hi Brenna!" She turns and it's Kavin, a little boy from her current PreK class. Talk about a mood swing! Now she's perfectly content to walk around, go into the gym and watch 4th graders scoot on their behinds on little wheeled squares, go into the science lab and be amazed with the plastic skeleton, and run down the halls.

We go back to meet her teachers Friday, Aug. 24 and school begins Monday, Aug 27. I can't believe I'll be able to drop them both off at the same place at the same time!! Maybe I'll actually make it to work *gasp* on time?

First Holy Communion

Cameron received her first Holy Communion today at St. B. church. There's not much to tell, so I'll just post the photos. We had quite a crowd, all our family, including Bryan's Aunt Debbie, cousin James, "Almost Aunt Amanda" (Uncle Brad had to work), and some family friends Anna & Claire.

Praying with St. Bernadette before Mass.

Cameron was beautiful, of course.

All lined up (Father Adrian on left, Deacon Rubio on right.)

Cameron receiving Communion from Father J.J. (our Pastor.)