Homework

Funny story.  This picture was taken the first week of school.  Sarah Jane came home from school and announced very proudly that she had homework.  Great I said, what is it?  Where are the instructions?  Oh, said she, there are no instructions.  I'm supposed to take this paper and write circles on it.  (So she did.)  And then, I'm supposed to turn it over and draw straight lines. (So she did.) And then I'm supposed to open it up and write "P's". (So she did.)

I meanwhile rushed to get my phone to take a picture and document this important moment.  I then uploaded it to Instagram with the caption "first homework ever" and even got a little teary.

The instructions went on for a few more steps.  She finished up and put her stuff away and went out to play leaving me feeling very overwhelmed.  Was this what kindergarten was going to be like?  How was I supposed to help her if I didn't know what she was supposed to be doing?  How on earth did she remember all that?

That night as I was putting her to bed I said, Sarah Jane, I'm really proud of you for doing your homework all on your own.  She looked straight at me, laughed and said, Mommy!  Haaaa! I fooled you.  I didn't have homework!

Funny.  Well the joke is on her because every week since, she's had homework and the novelty has definitely worn off.

Sarah Jane's first day of Kindergarten!

Our kindergartner!

Being goofy with her number one fan

With the birthday girl - who did loads to lighten the moment

The full entourage

Today was Sarah Jane's first day of Kindergarten.  She is going to Cragmont, which is also the school I went to, as well as her Aunts and Uncle AND her grandfather.  Familiar territory but feels pretty different to be doing the drop off vs. being dropped off!  Much worse I think.  

At the drop off - I'm wearing sunglasses for a reason

Despite my nerves, Sarah Jane did well.  She was happy and excited all the way until we walked into the school and saw all the big kids and then she got very quiet and held my hand very tightly.  When the bell rang, Ms. Johnson came outside to collect her class.  I pointed her out to SJ.  Sarah Jane assessed, judged all was well, and visibly relaxed.  Her shoulders descended from her ears and she marched inside and helped me find her name tag on her desk.  She sat right down and silently commenced coloring the teddy bear worksheet which was waiting for her.

At that point, I pretty much lost it and realized I needed to go.  Gripping Anna's hand as tightly as I could without totally freaking her out, Aunt Whitney (who had kindly, on her birthday, accompanied us) escorted me out.  When I made it outside I looked down and saw that in addition to squeezing Anna's hand into an unrecognizable shape, I had apparently been unable to let go of Sarah Jane's lunch box, so back into the classroom I had to go.

Not an easy morning.

At 2:15, Aunt Ellie, Anna and I rushed back to school to find Sarah Jane.  There she was, sitting with her lunch box on the rug waiting for us.  Apparently all went well but all I've been able to get out of her is that she colored a teddy bear.  YES, I know that!!! What else did you do???? Shrug.

Finally, right before bedtime tonight she told me they had quiet time and took turns doing things.  She also told me tongues grow.  Is that part of the first day of school kindergarten curriculum or did she just notice it?  Very mysterious.

Below is a set of Sarah Jane firsts.  Time flies!

Kindergarten, Sept 2012

Second year of preschool, Sept 2011

First year of preschool, Sept 2010

Headed off to teacher Bari's, Sept 2009 - this was right after Anna arrived and temper tantrum mode was standard

Practicing with a bag, Dave's birthday in our SF apartment, Sept 2008

Headed home from the hospital, her first trip, Aug 2007

We have a five year old

Sarah Jane turned five today.  This feels like a big one.  Thankfully this birthday was much easier than Anna's.  Everyone seems to have adjusted to the altitude and everyone had the same toys.  All is well.  We started out the day with French Toast, SJ's request.  PLAIN french toast, NOT colored.  She was not a fan of Anna's pink pancakes.  

 She was the queen of funny looks today.  Here she is pointing out her presents.  So excited to jump in!

Some sister love while she waited for the rest of us to finish cleaning the kitchen.  I'm not sure who was more excited, Sarah Jane or Anna.

She started out with Aunt Ellie's.  Anna was a willing helper.

 Eli was more interested in causing trouble.  Roby not pictured because he WAS causing trouble.

 Finally we got Eli to relax.  Roby was still off causing trouble.

 Here Sarah Jane is with her big present.  She was pretty excited. But not excited enough to try it.

 Roby however was pumped.  Those pedal things go around!

After opening presents and playing with presents, Sarah Jane, Grandma and Anna baked the cake.  Our second of three Joy of Cooking High Altitude cakes of the week.  Highly recommend it for Tahoe birthday parties.

 Here Grandma is with the result.

Four kids: do-it-yourself-birthday-party.  No need for invitations.

 It took Eli a while to figure out the party popper, he kept biting off the wrong end.

 Sarah Jane enjoyed her cake.

 Still working on the popper.

Sarah Jane enjoyed her birthday.  She enjoyed her presents, especially the camera/video recorder from Nana and Papa but also the new clothes, stickers, fairies, paper dolls, puzzles and doll clothes.  She made sure she played with everything.

Also, for the record, Sarah Jane announced about three months ago that when she was five she wouldn't be scared of dogs anymore.  She woke up today not scared of Pickle.  I even caught her petting Pickle at the beach.  She shrugged off my surprise like it was no big thing.  Duh mom, of course I'm not scared of dogs anymore.  I'm five.

Birthday party

The girls, who were born Aug 19 (Anna) and Aug 22 (SJ)  asked to share their birthday party this year.  I happily obliged.  They requested a bouncy house, WITH A SLIDE, and cupcakes that were blue and pink and purple and green and yellow.  Other than that, they were pretty vague on the details.  For guests, Sarah Jane wanted "all her kids", Anna requested "Greta and Violet and Teacher Alison."  Greta and Violet are Teacher Alison's daughters age 7 and 9.

The bouncy house arrived at 9am sharp and we could have stopped there. The joy was intense.  The girls plunged in immediately, the boys were not so sure.  The girls looked like they were having so much fun that I joined them. So did Dave, Aunt Whitney AND Grandma.  Unfortunately we have no pictures.  We were too busy jumping.

 The guests arrived and were subsumed by the giant fun factory.

We had some dress-up.  Chloe, SJ's friend (far left) is wearing my prom dress.  Next to her is Violet wearing my 8th grade dress.  Then Emma wearing Anna's birthday dress from GG.  Then Anna wearing a Turkish harem hat delivered by Aunt Whitney, all the way from Turkey!

 Inside the bouncy house. 

 The boys never warmed up to the jumping but enjoyed the sugar.

 We had some soothing piano music

Then the cupcakes. I delivered on the multi-colored request.  These tasted less toxic than they appear.  We sang one at a time...

 First Anna

 Then Sarah Jane

 More sugar for the boys

 Anna with the guest of honor, Teacher Alison

 Sarah Jane was there too but she was running so fast I got hardly any pictures

 Anna and Sienna

 In case you are wondering, this is what 7 cupcakes, 3 pieces of pizza, 2 juice boxes, 18 kids, 6 hours of jumpy house and no nap looks like.

Sarah Jane fared slightly better.

Despite the aftermath which lasted well into the next day, the bouncy house was a success.  Would do it again but glad I can wait at least a year!

Shout out to Sarah Jane

Today we were at Brady Chun's fifth birthday at their new house in Larkspur.  Or more accurately, Sarah Jane ditched school and hung out with Brady and her other two special friends at the Marin County fair all day.  A very brave thing to do for someone who is not always brave. 

I picked up Anna after school and drove over the bridge to pick SJ up. Erin saved some of the festivities for us - pinata, presents, cupcakes, running in the sprinklers, etc.  Anyway, Anna fell asleep in the car and when we got there she was not feeling 100% her usual Anna-the-party-starter self. 

We did the pinata first and all the kids took a turn but Anna.  After several rounds, Andy took over (why do they make pinatas so indestrucable?) and when the candy finally spilled, the 4 and 5 year olds jumped in but Anna hung back.  Sarah Jane gathered two or three pieces of candy for herself, chucked it in her bag and grabbed two or three more and said, "Anna, Anna, here", threw them in Anna's bag and then went back for more for herself, alternating until in the end, both girls ended up with enough candy to fuel them all the way past bed time. 

Sarah Jane gets the best big sister ever medal in my book.

Disneyland with the ladies!

The girls and I left Dave and the boys home this weekend and headed off to Disneyland for a ladies weekend.  Exciting times!  Erin and Brady Chun joined us for the fun.  Grandma dropped us off at the airport on Friday afternoon.  She took this photo.  I'm pretty sure it's the only record we have that I was there too.

Poor Sarah Jane had a 102 degree fever when we left.  She had her five year old shots on Tuesday which were a doozy.  Two shots in each arm!  Followed immediately by a fever which last four full days.  We kept her home from school but didn't let it get in the way of our time with Mickey.  She was a very good sport.

We hit the pool as soon as we got there.

Anna didn't hesitate a second but headed straight for the HUGE waterslide.  I walked her up to the top thinking she'd chicken out when she saw how high it was (this is just a tiny portion, it was all twisty and loopy) instead she jumped right on.  I raced down to see her pulled from the water by the life guard sputtering and spitting, no idea what was up and down.  I thought we were going to need some major damage control but as soon as she got her feet under her, she headed right back for the stairs.  Pretty impressive for two.

 The moms enjoyed the pool too.

 Saturday morning Erin arranged for us to have breakfast with the characters.  Micky, Minnie, Goofy, Daisy and Pluto were there.  SJ was not a fan until I revealed that there were people inside the costumes.  At that point she relaxed enough to agree to a picture. 

 Anna thought it was pretty magical.  Here she is seeing Goofy for the first time.

 One happy kid.

Once we got in the park we bought autograph books and waited in a LONG line to meet the princesses.  It was SO worth it.

 First the girls met Arial, Belle and Tiana.  We got our books signed and took pictures. 

Then we went to the princess show and learned how to do a princess dance, curtsey and dance around a May Pole.  At the end of the show the mommies in the know knew to wait around for about 10 mintues for a meet and greet with the Princesses who had been in the show.  I am not a mommy in the know but I was traveling with one.

Cinderella was the highlight.  As far as these ladies can tell they are taking a picture with the real thing. The actual lady who lost her slipper.  You are witnessing an actual magic moment.  Disneyland - the happiest place on earth.  For real.  Disney Princesses are not really my cup of tea.  I'd rather not have my little girls think the secret to life is looking beautiful and waiting for some handsome stranger to come rescue them with a kiss.  That said, I wouldn't have traded this joy for anything.

After the princesses, we did the usual things - waiting in line, a ride, waiting in line, a ride, etc.  Brady who loves Starwars, got her Jedi training and battled Darth Vadar on stage.  That was pretty cool.  We got hats, we watched the parade (my favorite!) and we pushed it way too long, returning to the hotel with three very tired and fully sugared little girls at 9:30.  Worth every minute.   Next time I'll bring a double stroller but other than that, full success.  Added bonus: Both girls seemed to have kicked their four-bottle-a-day habit.  I would have flown to Cincinnati and sat in a Motel 6 if I knew I could get that done in a weekend!