Kindergarten

I registered my Kimmie for Kindergarten last week. They have 2 classes and after talking to quite a few parents and teachers who have had interactions with both teachers I decided it best to try and request one of the teachers and not the other one. Reports of things that have gone on in the one class room with how the teacher talks to the kids and handles behaviors in her class are really not where I want Kimmie to be. It seems there is a lot of yelling and screaming from the teacher to the kids. Well I found out yesterday that even after my request she was placed in that class. Now I'm having really mixed feelings about the whole thing. Do I call the school and be one of those demanding moms and throw a fit (if needed) and have her moved to the other class? Or do I sit back and see what happens? Do I wait and see how Kimmie responds to this teacher? Do I just wait and see if maybe there is an opportunity to share with this teacher how we hold the preciousness of others to heart and how we speak to each other? And how we don't allow Kimmie to speak to others? And how by her speaking to her class in that manner she's diminishing how valuable God sees each and every one of those children? I can't imagine it would go over very well to have Kimmie stand up in class and inform her teacher that saying something like "Shut Up" are stinky words and we don't speak to people that way. And maybe having a harsher teacher will be good for Kimmie. She does seem to do better when there are stronger boundaries (give this kid an inch and she'll run over you to get the whole mile).

This is definitely going to be something to pray about a lot. What do you think? What would you do?

Memorial Day Weekend and Kindergarten

Tuesday we registered Kimmie for Kindergarten. She's so excited about going to the new school. All she's been talking about is going to her "high school" and riding the bus. I really hope the actually school year meets her excitement and expectations and more.

We had a wonderful weekend here. 3 wonderful days of warmth and sunshine. It was a great kick off to summer for us. We had some nice relaxation and still got a lot accomplished.

I worked my rear end off and got the garden completely planted. Now I just have weeding and watering and eventually harvesting to do. We planted lettuce, spinach, turnips, carrots, peas, beans, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkins, cabbage, strawberries, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash and corn. I think that's everything. I did end up with a bit of sunburn on my lower back from being bent over but it'll be OK.

Kimmie and I were able to get in a couple of good bike rides too. She's doing so good and is such a trooper. Saturday we road 6 miles to my sister's house and back. Then today we did 8 miles. We road to Grandma's, went to lunch and then back home again. On our bike ride today we got to see a couple of quail and a snake on the trail. The snake kind of startled me a little bit but we stopped to check him out. Kimmie wanted to stomp on him because as she put it "he was like Satan". I think she has taken the story of Adam and Eve very much to heart. But of course I wouldn't let her and we nudge him on his way across the trail and back in to the protection of the bushes.

It's a short week for us here. We only have 3 more days of school/work. Then Friday we have her bike-a-thon and school picnic. Then summer will officially be here.

Bronchitis Again

Kimmie has been coughing up a storm for the 2nd time is less then 6 weeks. So this afternoon I took her back to the doctor just to find out that she again has bronchitis. This is so frustrating. My poor little girl has this awful hacking cough. Her voice is about gone. And now we are back again on a round of antibiotic. Our doc seems to think that this is just where the cold that is going around at any given time is settling in with her. Some people it's in there head, my sweet girl gets bronchitis.


Yesterday on our walk she got a flat tire on her bike. She was so upset about it because she's worried that it won't be fixed and she won't be able to ride in her bike-a-thon. Larry promised that he would fix it tonight when he got home. Unfortunately he got the tire apart and found that she needs a whole new tire. From her riding and skidding on the breaks she has worn a hole in the tire itself. So tomorrow I will be on the hunt for a new white tire with pink walls. Hopefully I'll be able to find it so she doesn't have to have 1 white and 1 black tire on her bike.

Is your heart sick?

Last week a friend of ours had to have bypass surgery. A triple bypass and he's only 54. Guess all those years of working out of town, being single and not eating right have caught up with him. Thankfully the surgery went well and he was home on Monday. Now for the long recovery.

On to my question, is your heart sick? Saturday Larry was telling Kimmie that Kevin was at the doctor because his heart was sick. I wasn't privy to the conversation so I'm not sure what brought the subject up or what exactly was said. I just know what I was told later.

When he told her that Kevin's heart was sick, her response was "Daddy, you mean Kevin doesn't have Jesus in his heart?" What an amazing way of looking at it. Without Jesus in your heart your heart is sick. I swear this little girl puts a new perspective on things for me every day. She's only 4 1/2 and she already seems to get it. Understanding that you have to have Jesus in your heart and in your life.

I really have no idea if Kevin's heart is "sick" without Jesus. I've known him now for 17 years but never in a way that I would feel comfortable asking him that question. That's one issue that I have to really work on better and start stepping out of my comfort zone more on. And now I'm wondering how many people do I know that really have a "sick" heart. But I've never taken the time to ask them. Do you have a sick heart?

Changes in my girl

I'm happy to say that I am definately seeing some changes in my little girl's behavior. Twice this week we have had to run to the store and normally she would be running off and thinking it's a funny game to run away from me trying to get me to play a game of chase that in turn just makes me angry and a fight insues. Well she started to run ahead of me and I just said "Kimberly" and she stopped and turned around. I said "you need to come back here and stay with me". And much to my amazement she walked back to my side and held my hand all the way through the store. I was totally shocked and wanted to know who this strange kid was.

Tonight she was laying on the floor in my room kicking the door. Her dad told her to stop and a while later she started in again. So I took her by the hand and led her to her room. Told her to sit on her bed until the timer went off. There was no fit. She sat on her bed and when the timer went off we talked about what she had done and then she apologized for not obeying (to both of us).

I'm in no way thinking that this sudden Stepford child is here to stay but I'll certainly enjoy it and hope that the good behavior continues.

On another bragging note. I was so proud of her today. At her school they have been having "Spirit Fridays" this past month. I think they have been looking for things to get the cabin fever and dullness of the end of winter. So today was King/Queen day. The kids got to dress up and wear their "royal attire" to school today. Of course my girl went as a Princess. She had been telling me this week that she was going to take two extra tiaras to school with her incase someone didn't have one to wear. Sure enough 2 little girls in her class didn't have tiaras today and she shared. I was so proud of her thinking ahead and making sure that no one in her class was left unable to dress up like a Princess. I surely hope I can continue to cultivate that in her. The ability to think of others and share what we can when we can.

It was a very nice Sunday

I got to sing at church today as part of the worship team and I really enjoyed it. It was so nice to be able to get up on the stage and hold that mic in my hand and sing for HIM. There is something about singing in public that really lifts me up and to be able to sing for His glory makes it all that much better.

Then we got the priviledge of sharing some wonderful fellowship time and great food with a potluck this evening.

And now it's back to another work week. I can't believe there is only a week left of February and March will be here. Spring is around the corner and will be here before we know it. Thank heaven for that. When I brought Kim home from school on Friday the tree in our front yard had a load of robins in it. A wonderful sign of warm weather to come.

Tuesday I get another wondeful day to myself. Hopefully this week will be better then last week. My poor sweet girl is still having to deal with the bully problem at school and last week she spent the entire morning in tears. Her teacher finally called me and I went and got her.

Quite frankly I think that the children who are the problem should be sent home but I went and got her and took her out of the situation. I did get some good advice from my Pastor though. She suggested that I talk to Kim about it and explain to her that the reason these 2 kids are so mean is because they don't have Jesus in their hearts and they don't know how much He loves them and how much He loves her.

So she and I talked about it and she understands all those points. And I asked her if there was something really special she could pray to Jesus and ask him to give to the kids that are being mean to her, what would she ask Him to give them. My sweet girl said "I would ask Jesus to give them a great big hug like I give you momma". I couldn't be more proud of her. Even with these 2 kids making her feel sad she understands (atleast a little bit) that they need His love. I'm going to keep reinforcing that with her and helping her to pray for these 2 kids. If at the very least she will have a different perspective on them and hopefully she will be able to move forward and not be so sensitive to the taunting.

I think it's just appauling that in Preschool we have to deal with the issue of bullying but we will deal with it the best we can. I keep asking myself what ever happened to parents teaching their children how to treat others and how to be kind and conciderate of others.

I've been tagged

I was tagged the other day by Blessed Frugalness Times Two With Twins
and finally got a chance to post my pic. So here it is.



My silly girl playing with her panties on her head.

So here are the rules:

1. Go to the fourth folder where you keep your photos.

2. Post the fourth picture in that folder.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag four fellow bloggers to join in the fun.



So I'm going to have to tag

1. MCA Designs

2. Silver Valley Girl

3. Connie's Corner

4. I'll have to come back to this one.

2009 Calender

Every year I make a new calendar for Kimmie's Grandmas for Christmas. I usually take each month and put in my favorite picture from that month. This year I really had a struggle getting my creativity flowing so thanks to the help of my wonderfully creative friend we got it done. Actually I have to admit that she did most of it and I am so grateful to her for it.

She did it.

This morning I got up and got ready for church. Kim said she wasn't going with me so I didn't bother trying to get her to get dressed. I was getting ready to leave and I asked our nephew (who spent the weekend with us) if he would like to go with me. He said he would and suddenly Kim wanted to go. She said she would go but she was just watching the program. Fine with me.

We got to church and settled in our seats, Pastor Carey came over to say good morning and asked if Kim was going to be part of the program and to my suprise she said YES. So we hurried down stairs to her classroom where she got her angel costume on with the rest of her class.

She did it. She sang her song and did everything she was supposed to do and had fun. I was so proud of her. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera with me because I didn't expect her to do it. So no pictures to share but atleast I have the memory of it.

Tonight she's supposed to go spend the night at my mom's and make ginger bread houses with her cousin and my Grandma. So I'm going to take advantage of the free evening to get the household chores caught up and the rest of my wrapping finished up.

Only 2 more days of work and then I get a 12 day vacation. I'm so looking forward to sleeping in on Wednesday and spending the day kicking back watching movies, baking Santa cookies and going to the library for story hour. We will have a friend of Kimmie's over for the day as both her mom and dad have to work and they needed somewhere for her to go, so that will be nice.

Well atleast the day wasn't a total loss

We got up this morning and we were supposed to go to dress rehearsal for the Christmas program. Kim was all for going and being an angel until she got out of the shower. Then I had to do some bribing and begging to get her to go. We got to the church and then she decided that she wanted nothing to do with it again. Not only did she not want to be in the program she didn't want to behave either. So we left and came home. I'm so disappointed in her. In her behavior and that she is refusing to be part of the program.

So I needed a break from her and my sister wanted to take the kids to get pics with Santa today. I told her that it was probably a lost cause but if she wanted to try to go ahead. So off they went. She took my mom with her to help with the kids and they got dressed up at the mall.

They were gone for a while when I got a phone call. Much to our suprise Kim jumped right up on Santa's lap and happily told him what she wanted for Christmas....A Cinderella Polly Pocket...and they took the picture. It's not the most perfect picture but getting 3 kids to sit, smile and look at the camera all at the same time is most impossible.



So I guess the day wasn't a complete loss. We'll just have to see how things go tomorrow. Maybe she'll be part of the program but I'm not holding my breath on it.

Dealing with a bully

It breaks my heart to think that at 4 I have already had to have the talk with Kimmie about how to deal with a bully. But I did this morning. There is a little boy in her class at school who is farely new to the class. Every day when I pick her up she tells me about how he hit her or pushed her or pulled her hair. Wednesday when I picked her up from school he hit her and she was upset about it I told her to tell her teacher (thinking that she would do something about it). All she said was "Tell Kimmie you're sorry". Last night in the middle of her program he hit her in the forhead. Ruining her show in the middle of it for herself. I sat down with her this morning and talked to her about it. I'm just furious that this little boy is bullying my sweet girl and nothing is being done about it, really. Obviously "tell Kimmie you're sorry" isn't working to get him to leave her alone. So I told her that it's not ok to fight with someone or to hit them just to be mean BUT and I mean that as a big BUT if he doesn't leave her alone she has every right to defend herself and if she feels like she needs to punch the little punk in the nose then she better do it. I told her that I'm sure she'll probably get in trouble with her teacher but she won't be in trouble with me because he has it coming. Today when I pick her up I'm going to have to tell her teacher about our talk. I do want her to have fair warning that Kimmie may take it upon herself to tromp that little brats butt if he doesn't leave her alone. I do hope that she doesn't have to resort to that but if it comes down to it he may need it. I would hate for him to think that it's ok to treat others like that and in preschool he certainly shouldn't be getting away with it. That's just setting him up for more trouble later and more kids to be hurt by him as well.

The Big Story

Tonight was my little girl's first Christmas program. The performed "The Big Story". The whole school was involved. That sounds like it was a BIG production but really there is only 35 kids in her school. I had a battery panic attack before the show started. I took one picture of her and the battery light flashed on my camera. I had to make a 911 call to my sister who was on her way to stop and grab a package fore me. We had a few melt downs prior to the performance starting but once the kids filed in and got on stage she settled in and did great. She was really focused on that microphone. In the end she was very tired and very ready to go home but she did great. I am so proud of her and was so excited for her. It was a great night and we topped it off with dinner at McDonald's and then story time at home.

Birthday Parties

My little girl seems to be a very popular kid. I think she's invited to a party atleast once a month. Last night she went to her friend E's party. They are friends from Kim's old daycare and have said they were best friends since they were 2 and could talk good. They are so funny together. It makes me a little sad that they don't get to see each other very often since we changed Kim's daycare and schools.

So this was the 2nd party that I've just dropped her off at. She's so excited about me leaving her at a party to be by herself. And suprisingly when it's time to go home and I get there to pick her up she's happy to leave too. No battles about her wanting to stay longer. I think she's enjoying her new found freedom as well. She actually thanked me for leaving her at the party by herself.

I guess the new indepences is always a little bittersweet. I love that I'm getting back more time for myself but it's also a little sad that she doesn't need me so much anymore. I'm sure that every other mom I know feels the same way.

My sweet little girl

I'm in such awe at the tenderness caring my sweet little girl shares with the world. My Grandma was telling me yesterday after church about a moment last week when that sweet little 4 year old offered to share what she had with her. My Grandmother has arthritis and has been having some trouble with a knee bothering her. So she went to the doctor and was given a couple of different prescriptions. One of them was for this new "athletic" tape that has some medicine on it. Must be some kind of anti-inflamatory. When she went to fill the prescriptions the pharmicist told her that the tape would be over $200. Well of course she said "No thank you" she didn't have that kind of money to fill that one. My darling little girl over heard the conversation and pulled a $1 she had been saving in her pocket to get herself a treat and handed it to my Grandma saying "Here Grandma you can have my money so you can get your medicine."

It really made my heart swell to know that this sweet little girl who had her heart set on spending her money on something she wanted was willing to give it to make sure that someone else got what they needed. One of the things that I have always felt was important for her to learn is that no matter how much or how little we have there is always someone out there who has less. And we help those in need with what we can. It's nice to know that those lessons are getting in there. Of course my Grandma didn't get that prescription filled but it made her proud to know that her Great Granddaughter was willing to give what she could. I will say it over and over I just love that little angel and I thank God everyday for the blessing and opportunity he gave me when he chose me to be her Momma.

My little girl is growing up

Kim seems to get an invite to a birthday party atleast once a month. Well maybe not quite that often but she is a popular girl. So tonight she had a party to go to and for the first time I dropped her off and left her there for the party. The party is actually supposed to be a slumber party but we aren't quite ready to let her be that big. The party is actually only a few houses down the street so I'll head back down there in a bit to bring her home.

I took advantage of a few free hours this evening and started working on a project that I had planned for Christmas for my mom and my sister. Both gifts are ready for paint, which I'll have to pick up this weekend. Maybe if all goes well I can get those both done this weekend. Then I'll just need to get boxes for them and get them wrapped up.

My sister asked if I wanted to hit the Black Friday Sales with her. Not sure if I want to attack those crowds and craziness but it would be nice to have all my shopping done and ready for Christmas by next weekend. We'll have to see how it goes.