The Weather Bear

A preschooler has many important jobs. One of them would be to dress the weather bear:)

There are different jobs in Veronica's little angels preschool class. So far she has handed out napkins and put the apple up on the calendar. But the job she has been waiting for is to dress the weather bear. That person sticks the clothes on the weather bear that is appropriate for the day's weather and than moves the arrow to the appropriate picture on the weather chart.

Over the weekend Veronica whined a couple of times about the weather bear throwing a little diva fit..."Whhhhhhhhhhhyyyy don't I get to do the weather bear? Mrs. Hammond doesn't like me, she don't pick me for the weather bear. I wanna do the weather bear nooooooooooooowwwww. I don't wanna wait".

So imagine my shock this morning. Right about 7:00 a.m. Veronica comes walking in to our room and crawls into bed and snuggles up with me. She looks out the window and the following conversation ensues:

Veronica: Looks a little cloudy out today

Mom: Hmmm mmmm

Veronica: I wonder who is going to do the weather bear today?

Mom: I don't know honey

Veronica: (Said in a very quiet, matter of fact mature voice) I will just be patient while I wait to do the weather bear. Just gotta be patient.

OH my, cutest, sweetest little snuggle time moment:) She than told me about the person who did the weather bear the last day at preschool, the outfit they picked and how they put the arrow on 'windy'.

Today when I picked my little angel up....nope it wasn't her day for the weather bear, but she proudly told us how she handed out the graham crackers for snack:)

So we'll continue to be patient:)

The Preschool Princess in Pics:)

A look back in pics of Little Miss V's first days of preschool!

Pretty as a Preschool Princess!!!

My preschooler...sigh! She is precious, adorable, charming! I am quite certain that there has never been a cuter preschooler than Little Miss Veronica:)

The decision for Veronica to start preschool was a struggle for me, just as it was with Isabella. Bryan was adament that she would go, but I debated if she really 'needed' too. Or at least maybe she could wait until next year and than do just one year of preschool.

But ultimately, I listened to my little lady and thought about her perspective. About a year ago, the endless question of "When do I get to go to stool?" began and never really stopped. By the way...Miss V can't pronounce her c's so well:)
I also thought about the fact that Veronica is used to having her big sister around her. Having Isabella in full day kindergarten was not only going to be a big change for Momma, but for the little sister as well!
Plus, the benefits of Isabella's preschool experience were many! It was a great opportunity to learn and to see faith practiced and taught somewhere outside of the home and church.

After a lot of thought, prayer, and many discussions, we opted to have Veronica enroll in Sacred Heart Preschool. The preschool teacher, Mrs. Hammond, has a legendary reputation in this town and we had several friends who highly recommended the program. We met with Mr. Andrys, the principal and got to see Mrs Hammond in action in the classroom. We had a great, open and honest conversation with Mr. Andrys about our family's faith stance and felt that the school would be a good fit for us on all levels and we enrolled Veronica in the afternoon session of the Little Angels that meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

For many weeks after our visit last spring, Veronica begged and whined pitifully to go to school! She was very annoyed with the whole summer season that delayed her getting to start:)

A week before classes started, there was an open house for the Little Angels (V's group). We got there right away when it was quiet and were excited to have some good quality time with Mrs. Hammond and her helper, Teacher Lynda! Veronica found her locker in the hallway and we were excited to see that our neighbor, Will Zavoral would be the student from the morning session of Little Angels to use the locker! Will and Veronica were born a few days apart and we are good friends with his parents! Veronica went into the classroom and Mrs. Hammond invited her to find her cubby mailbox and we found her letter V on alphabet puzzles and the alphabet rug. Veronica really enjoyed chekcing out all the toys...so did Mom! What a fun room with many fun things to play with and try out!

In the days before the start of preschool, Veronica started to ask us, "Mommy, Daddy, was you a little nervous before you went to stool?". And she would say things like:
"I just feeling a little nervous about stool"
"But what if nobody wants to be my friend"
"What if Mrs. Hammond don't like me"
"But I don't want to go to school, Mama, I want to stay at home with you" (this was a direct quote from the Berenstain Bears episode of Sister going to school!!!!).

The night before her first day, Veronica told me, "But Mom I can't go to stool tomorrow, I too busy".
I asked her what she had to do and here is our conversation:
V - I need to play with my dolls
Me - You can do that before school
V - But I was going to play with my sister
Me - you can do that before school
V - But I was just going to do some puzzles
Me - you can do that before school
V - I was going to eat lunch
Me - you can do that before school
V - But I was going to color
ETC....
She was smiling during this exchange and really hamming it up. Oh that little girl, too cute for her own good!

The next day came and she was excited for school!!!! She work her Cinderella dress wit the ruffly skirt that she had picked out on a special shopping trip with Mommy to pick out her backpack and first day of school outfit. She let me curl her little ponytail and she was ADORABLE TO THE MAX!!!!
Veronica put her back pack on and oh boy, you could see how proud she was! Finally she was going to school like the big kids! She had an even bigger bounce to her step if that was possible!!!!

Yep, I choked up as we pulled up to the school...had the really contorted ugly cry face as I worked hard to push back the tears before V saw them:) The drop off happened pretty quickly. We entered the room and Teacher Lynda invited her to come over and play something. I was all prepared to hang out and watch but than Mrs. Hammond said, "Don't forget to give Mom and Dad hugs before you go play Veronica"...WHAT???????? We were going to leave already??????:) So we hugged our little lady and went out and watched her for a second from the viewing window...got a little teary...and off we went!

I arrived back early to peek on the classroom action. They were having free play and I just fell in love with Little Miss V, watching her sitting in her puffy pink dress playing so nicely! Than the clean-up song started and I don't think I've ever seen Veronica clean up so quickly before...it was adorable...she definitely wanted to please Mrs Hammond! She cleaned her toys up and scooted over to the rug and sat down and just looked precious! I could have watched her all day! When the kids went to get their backpacks from their lockers, I could hear Veronica saying, "Teacher, I can't get it open" and of course Mrs. Hammond helped:)

When she came out the door to me, her first words were, "Mom, I didn't even have an accident"!!!! Hilarious! Apparently our reminders to tell her teachers if she had to go potty had made some sort of impression:)
Than she told me that she didn't paint today or have recess because it was raining.
She showed me how Mrs. Hammond had them pray before snack, with their hands folded under their chin...CUTE! And she told me about the little boy that got made because he had to stop playing trains and clean up and the little girl who cried because she missed her mommy:)
She also told me, "And I didn't even touch my bun Mom":) Hilarious...apparently my reminders for her not to touch her hair before I got pictures of her had made an impression:)

Veronica's first few days as a Little Angel have been great! She was very excited the day she came home with a picture they had painted! She was very proud the day she told me, "And I was a good girl and handed out the straws for the milk at snack, Mom"! She proudly told me about how they all walk on the golden line with their hands behind their back when they go in or outside (I got to see this in action - amazing - 14 little ones following along). She loves handing me her school papers and will tell me, "This is the sheet I did with Mrs. Hammond and this is the sheet I did with Teacher Lynda".
She also sang the 'Goodbye Song' to us which was CUTE CUTE CUTE! "Goodbye little children, I will see you in 5 sleeps"...there's more to it, I can't remember it right now...again CUTE CUTE CUTE!

Veronica has really taken to a little girl in her class named Izzy (Izabella). I am Izzy's dance teacher and when I found out she was in Veronica's class, I predicted they would be fast friends. And I was right. When I ask V who she played with at school, she almost always answers Izzy. This weekend she told me, "Izzy is my best friend, Izzy said let's be best friends". Izzy is in her dance class too which she loves! Today when I dropped V off, I stayed and watched through the viewing window and saw her and Izzy playing...HOLY CUTENESS...BEYOND CUTE! Again, could have watched this for hours!

When I pick up V, I have already picked up Isabella and our buddy Bryn. You can tell that V gets a big kick out of them seeing her at her school and being just like them. As we headed out the doors today, she said, "What did you guys do at school today?". When I asked her what she did, she said, "Weeeeeelllllllllllllll, I put the apple up on the calendar and we did two art projects Mom"...the weeeeeeellllllll was hilarious.

I am so thankful for what a positive experience this has been so far! And I am so thankful for Mrs. Hammond! Isabella had such an amazing teacher in Mrs. Voeller during her preschool years and we know the same will be true for Veronica! Mrs. Hammond has a very calming presence about her and the second she speaks to Veronica, you can just feel the love and care in her voice! How blessed we are to have her spending time with such a strong woman of faith and love!

I think it's best to close out this entry with a quote from Isabella on Veronica's first day of preschool, "Oh my little preschooler, my little preschooler, I love you so much"!

Kindergarten Beauty

A look at our lovely lady's first week of kindergarten in photos! A fun note, she actually wanted me to curl her hair for the first day...I quickly figured it out...she wanted to be like Susan from the Ramona books and have someone 'boing' her curls:)

The Next Chapter!

...and so it is finished. The day that has been looming on the horizon. The day that brings dread, nervousness, jitterness, excitement, pride, and tears all in one.

Isabella had her first day of kindergarten on September 7th and it went great! Upon pickng her up, I asked her what the best part was and she said it all was great. Her teacher, Mrs. Bina, has Isabella's approval and Isabella particularly likes her curly hair, saying that her teacher looks like an angel. She chose to bring cold lunch for her first day and sat by the other little girl that brought cold lunch and observed that this girl had hair like Jasmine. She told us that she worked on the #1, was quiet during rest time, worked on her number page during snack time, went to the library, and of course eagerly reported on the boy who got in trouble and had to leave the room...Isabella thinks he might be a little too young for kindergarten. She really liked her gym teacher, saying he was silly and said he would bite them, but it was just teasing.
I got to the school a bit early to pick her up and was able to peek in on her. It was play time and she was playing with wood blocks with a couple of other kids...always a comfort to not see your child sitting in the corner looking lonely!

On our way out to the car she scolded me for not having her wear her gym shoes and thanked me for the note I'd left in her lunch box...smile! Isabella was excited to discover mini cupcakes for a special after school snack and her very favorite for dnner - Cheeseburger Soup!

The rest of her first week went as well as one could wish for! Each day when I picked her up she was excited about the day's happenings! She had hot lunch one day during the week and was very excited about it and that she enjoyed what they made! She exclaimed to me that it was 'the best day ever'!!! She did well memorizing her lunch code but did not need to use it this week...next week she will if she has hot lunch!

Isabella loves gym time and thinks Mr Potter is super fun! She has shown us different exercises they do and really enjoyed the parachute and playing with balls.
She also eagerly sang for us the song her music teacher used to welcome them:
Teacher: Good Morning Kindergarten
Isabella: than we sang 'Good Morning Mrs.....uh I can't remember her name. Than she sang 'How are you today'.
Isabella sang all of this to us as they did in class which was a hoot!

We heard all about Mary Jane having to sit out of recess because she did not line up when Mrs. Bina blew the whistle for two days. Our neighbor friend Becky also told us how Isabella sat by her daughter, Bryn on the playground when Bryn was crying because she had fallen and hurt herself...that made my heart happy. On Friday there was no recess because of rain, so she told us about how all of the kindergarten classes got to watch 'Clifford' instead.
We also heard all about the boy who had to have a time out in the hall and the girl who kept getting up during rest time. When we asked her if Mrs. Bina ever had to talk to her or remind her of the rules, she confidently said, "No"...hopefully that answer was accurate:)

Very quickly we started hearing the names of kids from her class in bedtime prayers and requests to have so and so over to play sometime. She also would quickly find a classmate to sit with at their dropoff spot in the morning. She would tell us about the kids she played with at free play and lots of different names came up - both boys and girls.

The days I picked her up, I would head down to the classroom to peek in, intending to head back to the doorway to wait for Isabella, but she would see me and her teacher would send her out to me. On Friday, Bryan picked her up and waited by the door. He said it was really cute because when her class came out and she went over to him, all the kids in her class were saying, "Bye Isabella" and waving at her! Including Al, a little boy who Bryan helped find the classroom the first day:) Isabella said Al is getting less shy:) I love her observations. It seems so silly, but it helps your heart...kids are saying goodbye to her, they must be getting along ok...it just helps! She is pretty social, so that helps:) But we talk a lot about looking for kids who seem lonely or sad or in need of a friend and being that friend for them.

So it seems the school days have gone well! But the nights...oh my! From what we have heard from fellow friends, all of us are in the same boat! Our little lady is EXHAUSTED after school and a jumble of emotions...one minute happily talkative, the next grumpily complaining the doesn't want to talk anymore, one minute extremely lethargic, the next minute on a crazy hyper out of control energy high! It is tough! She's gone all day and the little time you have together after school is not so enjoyable! But we know this shall pass...it's part of the transition, the adjustment to a new routine!

And speaking of routine, I put ones in place for morning, after school, and bedtime and held strictly to them all week, which really seemed to help us. Mornings are the same - get dressed, eat breakfeast, brush teeth and hair, than we can read a book or chill out til it is time to leave. We didn't have one morning where we felt like we were rushing...it was awesome. After school the backpack is emptied of papers on the landing, than put away along with shoes, than up to the kitchen where snack it waiting. Bedtime is pj's and pick out clothes for the next day (which cannot be changed in the morning:), snack, brush teeth, books, bible, and bedtime.

I'm looking forward to getting to know Isabella's teacher better in the coming weeks, along with hopefully becoming more familiar with her classmates, and come up with a way to get to know their parents better! Yep, I'm that annoying parent!:)