Fun with iPhoto

Typical Saturdays involve some craft time, a little iPad time and the requisite time spent making funny faces on iPhoto.

Friday's Quote

Take your pleasure seriously.

-Charles Eames

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When William George had strep last week, he kept himself occupied with several episodes of Little Einsteins.  

Brainstorming the Summer Schedule

Our first order of business for summer break is to put together a summer schedule. Grace is spearheading this effort and just conducted a brainstorm session outlining anything/everything they may want to do over the next 9 weeks.  She concluded with an extensive and exhaustive list that we are currently trying to put into some kind of order.

My girl loves a good list

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A couple of weeks ago William George and I went to school to eat lunch with the duo. After a lengthy discussion of what to do and what NOT to do, George was a perfect gentleman at lunch. It's good to not preview his many idiosyncrasies for his future teachers.

Last Day of School, 2014

First grade is officially "in the books".  The duo's school has been working a year-end taper since last week... Kindergarten graduation was last Thursday... Fifth grade celebration was Tuesday... finally (to lure everyone back), class parties were held Wednesday morning.

Tuesday after school, we sat down for a pow-wow.  Three decisions were to be made. First, the duo needed to decide whether or not they wanted to check out after their class party on Wednesday. Second, they needed to decide whether or not they wanted to attend Thursday. Finally, if so, they needed to decide whether or not to stay all day. They were in it to win it, confirming they wanted to attend all day every day.  We did a "GO TEAM LINDSEY!" and broke out of our huddle.

Except once the party was winding down and they heard their friends' names being called out over the intercom for check-out, they wavered a little. Grace mentioned that she wanted to leave if Lauren was leaving, and Lauren felt the same way. After shuffling back and forth between their classrooms, we had a consensus. They were heading home with Grammie who had attended the party (more on the party later).

William George's school's last day was officially today as well. I knew there was trouble when I heard him shouting, "I do NOT want to go!!!!" We talked him into it because we believe in closure around here and wanted him to say good-bye to his teacher who has been wonderful this year.

So the trio lined up for the obligatory last-day-of-school pose.

The duo were definitely up for it and even said they didn't want the year to end. They love their teachers and are a little sad about the prospect of having new ones next year.  They did opt to leave early and were sprung by lunch.

As for William George, we missed a great deal due to his being out for strep last week. They moved the last day up from today (as scheduled) to Tuesday. He was pleased as punch that his wish not to go was being granted from above.  We picked up his things, and he accompanied me to Target... just like old times.

PS: First day of school, 2013.  Also, last day of school, 2013 (Kindergarten).

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Forgive the quality on this (our deck is shaded in the afternoon) and the attire (the girls had already put on their pajamas)(William George is sans pants, per usual), but this is what after school/pre-dinner reading looks like these days.

Consultations

William George has completely taken over Gracie's old doctor kit, and he performs examinations of Snoopy several times throughout the day. I would like to report that Snoopy is in excellent health, but the truth is his nose has seen better days and is in dire need of surgical repair to be secured back onto the end of his snout. Sometimes his exams extend to fellow family members, and we must always refer to him as Dr. George during that time.

Last week when George went to the doctor he had some lengthy discussions with our longstanding pediatrician. "Dr. W----, let me ask you a question," he would start.  Then he had many questions about the airport, all of the visible supplies in the exam room and questions about Dr. W's clothing. He also corrected Dr. W when he called him "George" without the proper title by saying, "My name is 'Dr. George.'"

Piano Recital 2014

Last weekend (weekend before last actually) the duo's last softball game was scheduled at noon, and their piano recital was scheduled at 2:00. Since rain had poured down for most of the morning, William George and I reluctantly missed the game. One of the prime activities for George is playing in the mulch, and there simply wasn't an option for playing in what would have then been mud and then heading to the church for the recital. Therefore, we divided and conquered. Skip took the duo to their last game, and William George and I packed their clothes, music, etc., in a bag. After a quick change in the restroom, the duo quickly transitioned from softball to piano. 

They pulled it off nicely.

Here are the long awaited performances:


Grace's Piano Recital, 2014 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.




Lauren's Piano Recital, 2014 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

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Santa Claus, after years of saving for a big Christmas, brought Lauren and Gracie iPads for Christmas this year. The question we often get is (understandably, I think), "Can they use them?"

We are huge fans of technology, as is no surprise to anyone. Additionally, the duo began using iPads in K3 and have wanted one since they were 4. Their textbooks are available via application, and there are many, many applications they use at school that are available on their iPads. They are excited that they can complete their school work on their devices.

To answer the question simply, see above. William George was able to use an iPad as early as 2 so yes, the duo were completely iPad fluent at 7 for sure.

Santa is broke, but I suppose he had better begin saving for a third iPad.

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William George has an ever expanding Snoopy collection (including an exact version of the above stuffed animal), but he insists on dragging around the original Snoopy -- now battered, dingy and not really that fresh smelling.

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Poppa's Birthday

For us, the March calendar is loaded with birthdays, making it an especially fun month for the trio. After Grammie's party, they were ready to celebrate again with Poppa! Gracie and George continue to be our party leaders, whereas every day is a party for Lauren.

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Grammie's Birthday

Again, several weeks ago (I really am trying to catch up!:), we celebrated Grammie's birthday. Next year is a milestone birthday so I'm sure Grammie will be squeezing all of the fun possible out of this year.

Her posse stands ready to  help her.

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Possible captions escape me. 

Bring On the Weekend

Softball season has wrapped up (our Upward program doesn't do all stars:), and therefore, we are enjoying our first free weekend in weeks. Not that we didn't enjoy our season, because we very much did. (More on that later, but the girls are genuinely sad to tell their teammates goodbye. Spoiler alert for the future softball post: we LOVED the sweet girls on their team!)

William George currently has a 104 degree fever, forcing him to visit his pediatrician this morning AND miss his K2 end-of-year, carnival themed party - the party he has been excited about for two weeks! He is both miserable and very disappointed. We are hoping to get George on the mend so that we can pack our unstructured weekend with enough fun to make up for missing his party.

We hope you're having a nice, long weekend as well.

Outtakes

The weekend we took dance photos was hectic. We had a softball game Saturday morning, and then inspiration struck and we spent the entire weekend completing some much needed yard work. My ticket to an early dismissal from yard labor was that we needed to have dance photos completed because the duo's tap costume would need to be turned in to the studio after recital. (For those who know me well, that meant I could not wait until mid-June to have photos taken, as is my way.) Clearly, leaving for photos was an imperative.  In our race to get everything ready to go, I forgot to pack tights. Of course, something  is always left behind so this was the tiniest blip to overcome, and we just did head shots. After all those serious poses (posted previously), the duo were ready to play. These are the outtakes - bare legs and all.

Finally, Lauren is going through a major Scooby Doo phase at the moment, and she spent much of the day channeling Shaggy, meaning that "ZOINKS!" and "Ho-HO!" could be heard from our little photo session.