6 Weeks In

Somehow, 6 weeks has already passed since school started. I didn't think time could go any faster than it did this summer, but I was wrong. Devin is continuing to "love" school and has adjusted to the elementary program nicely. We're certainly seeing more traditional "work" coming home...spelling lists, math problems and science research. We still see some sewing work and she tells me about doing geography puzzles and working on "stories" with some of the older children. I think the influence of the older kids has been good for Dev. She's currently obsessed with cursive handwriting and doing handstands, both something her favorite 3rd grader in class can do.  She wrote this anagram for her friend, I love that the "a's" both equal "outstanding."

(d=delightful, i=I love her, n=Birthday in November)


Dev is still very connected to her "old" friends, who make up the 10 1st graders in class.  She wrote this "story" for them last night.




This week brought the first Field Trip for Dev's class.  Of course, I was happy to chaperone so I could take lots of pictures get an official tour of Huber's Farm.

I think she was most excited about the long bus ride.


I loved seeing the older children, take care of the younger ones.


There were white pumpkins.

We saw how they make Apple Cider.


Apples

Our school's apple!
 


Each student could pick 5 apples from the orchard.  Devin and her good friend "C" were the first done!



Then, it was time for Pumpkin picking!  They each could choose a small pumpkin to take home.


Picking pumpkins was tough!


And, this Bamboo Maze was even tougher.  I think Devin was lost in there for 30 minutes.


This was not a small course to pedal around.  By the end of the field trip, the kids were happy and exhausted.  We had a great day!

iPads and Piercings

Just a few weeks ago, we had our school's big back-to-school PTO picnic.  It's been awhile since I made my famous (or infamous Rainbow Cake).  It's SO much fun to make and even more fun to watch children discover what's inside that big, plain white cake.  Sure, it's full of sugar/chemicals/dyes and everything else we shouldn't eat.  But, it's RAINBOWS!  What's healthier than a good dose of rainbow?

   

The PTO picnic was a great success, especially for the local flies and bugs.  But, we shooed them off and ate anyway.  Dev thoroughly enjoyed running around the park with her friends from last year and a few new friends.  (I have lots of great pictures, but I do not post pictures of other children on the blog unless I have their parent's permission...and I'm too lazy/busy to bother right now)

 

Dev started group tennis lessons with some of her friends from school...this is one of her closest friends and they like to do everything together!  We're so glad we found this class available, with one of my favorite pros at the club, James.

  

Everyone was asking how I grew such amazing Eggplant.  Seriously, I completely ignored the plant.  It  was rarely watered, never fertilized and grew amongst plenty of weeds.  So, that's the secret to perfect Eggplants...

 

I scored twice with this thing.  One, it's a great new way to take my lunch places.  Two, I have a new Scrabble word to play, "Tiffin."  They are native to India and I had noticed many children with these at Devin's school.  Matt found one on Amazon for me:)

 


For our 16th wedding Anniversary, Matt bought me an iPad!  We've had so much fun playing around with it and learning the features.   

We let Devin play with it for a few minutes before bed and found these self-portraits the next morning.  Interesting view of the top bunk and her sleeping bonnet.  Yes, a bonnet.  She feels it helps her hair in the morning.  (Like Little House on the Prairie)



So, Devin has been asking to get her ears pierced for about a year now.  We said absolutely not, until she was able to help care for them and understand our "rules" about earrings.  Late in the summer, we thought it might be a good motivational tool for the start of school.  I HATE dangling rewards and/or punishments out there in order to control behavior, but we thought having something to look forward to might help with the return to school transition.  Well, that was a sucker bet.  She's 100% happy at school and comes home saying, "I love school."  So, it was earring time.  She talked about it for WEEKS.  She counted down to days, like it was Christmas morning.  Finally, the big afternoon arrived and she was....much less excited.

 

The piercer was SO good and explained every step to Devin.  After the first ear, she said "OUCH!"  The lady held up the mirror and Devin's smile was absolutely priceless.  The second ear was easy and we were on our way.

  

Back To School 1.0

On the last day of school, way back in May, I remember looking at my calendar for the summer. As I flipped through the pages, I wondered how we would ever fill that much time. Now as August comes to a close, I really can't believe I felt that way! I realize Dev won't remember specifics from our early summers together, but I hope she has as sense of the fun we had. I thoroughly enjoyed our relaxed mornings in pajamas, swimming in the afternoons and exploring our city. We took another trip to Holiday World, and somehow had even MORE fun than the first trip. Devin's love for water spans into water slides and wave pools. She rode every ride they had to offer...even Pilgrim's Plunge! 



We spent lots of time in my garden.  I really can't cut these sunflowers for bouquets, they're too tall!  For never watering, record heat and drought...the sunflowers, Zinnia and tomatoes are happy.
 

My favorite cleaning task: STEAM CLEANING CARPETS!!!  Now I can share the black water of death with the whole world!




When it wasn't 100 degrees or more, we went on lots of nature walks.

 Back to School Dinner

Devin's choice!  We were surprised she didn't go with her usual...Corbett's.





We enjoyed our dinner at the top of the building.  Devin ate 3 oz of filet mignon, caesar salad, fries and chocolate ice cream, I had the lobster!



So, then it was finally time to head back to school.  Except this time, Devin is a "big kid."  She is upstairs, in the school's elementary program.  We had one or two tears upon separation the first day.  But, I could already hear her giggling up the stairs when she saw her friends.  At car line that afternoon, she hopped in the car and said, "MOM!  Upstairs is wwwaaaaayyyyy funner than downstairs!!"

We are beyond thrilled with her first few days as an elementary student.  She seems calm, happy and centered.  Compared with last year, it's about a zillion times better.  At home, she talks pretty much NON-STOP about things that happened during the day.  In just 2 days we've heard:

     -Miss Marcia taught me to write my name in cursive!
     -Did you know there's going to be an election and we have TWO choices?
     -Two girls had their ear's pierced this summer at a derm-a-tol-a-gist.  Not the mall!

We're continuing with chess club this year, starting violin and she starts formal tennis lessons today.  Several of her friends from school are in a class at our club, so that is perfect.  She's always wanted to be in a group tennis class, but wanted some friends there too.  So, this should be perfect.

3 Weeks Left????

Somehow, we only have 3 weeks before school starts.  I don't know how that happened.  We have stayed completely busy, spending most days running errands, playing at home and swimming.  It's been a wonderful time and I'm so thankful for being able to stay home with Devin.  We're all very excited for the new school year, as Devin transitions to the Elementary program at Montessori.  To me, this is where the real fun begins.  At this point, Montessori starts to be quite different from traditional schools and what most of us remember as school.  I get so many questions from friends and family about Devin's school and why we're choosing this route.  As with many things, it's both easy and difficult to explain.

So, I think this clip bit is a bit cynical.  After all, Matt and I managed to get through the "traditional" system without too much damage.  I guess we both are left wondering, "What if?"  What if we had been able to pursue our own interests and do things in our own time during our 13 years in school?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALCM2LL2y7c

And, just one more link.  This Dr. talks about the science behind Montessori with a study done in Milwaukee, WI.  (Props to Milwaukee btw)  I love numbers and data, but a well-designed study (especially in children) is tough to come by.  He talks about a landmark study done in 2006 that showed numerous and significant benefits to a Montessori education.  And, not just test scores...clear differences in behavior, kindness and collaboration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcNvTPX4Q08

Ok.  I'll get off my Montessori soapbox now.  It's all very intriguing to me, as we make important decisions for our little one.


When Dev ordered a "Cotton Candy Shirley Temple" the other day, we had NO idea that actual cotton candy came with it. She squealed when the waitress rounded the corner. I guess sometimes I still forget she can read. So, now she actually reads the menu and decides what to order. As Judge Judy says, "The questions are going to get tougher!!!" And, they are. Take yesterday in the car. Mom, what does, "Abortion stops a beating heart mean?" Yeah. Good times.

 

We finally started getting some regular rain. The plants and grasses are much happier and my tomatoes are obscenely huge. The crazy hot weather, made for some unusual storms and clouds this summer.

I really don't care much for eggplant, but I wanted to try growing one: It worked!


It's been really fun having Dev with me for boring, routine things like grocery shopping and dentist visits. She (and most 6 year olds) have a way of making things...interesting. Although, she seemed to take a little too much delight in watching me suffer at the dentist. I had to get a filling repaired, no big deal.





My most FAVORITE thing is finally upon us: OLYMPICS 2012!!!! So, I had a little Opening Ceremonies party:) What's more American than ribs, corn on the cob, mac n' cheese and RW&B chocolate covered strawberries? (It was too hot to bake Apple Pie or I would have)


 

Summer Check-In

Yesterday, Dev and I were discussing that we are about 1/2 through our summer break.  That seems impossible, it's gone so fast.

This picture pretty much sums up our summer so far. My mermaid spends more time underwater, than on land it seems.  Take today, by 12 noon we had already been in the water for 2 hours.  Today's trip was particularly interesting as we watched a young couple juggle 3 children under 5 at the pool.  Holy crap.  Matt personally saved the middle child from drowning once, when both parents had turned for a second to help the other children.  The lifeguards were at the edge of their seats the whole morning.

At Devin's request, we started private swim lessons again with Miss Annie.  She really wants to learn the strokes, so they are working hard on freestyle.  It's a lot to coordinate, much like the tennis serve.  We've learned from experience, certain things are best taught by a professional the first time...less bad habits to work out later.

  She is determined to be on the swim team next summer We're still working on diving. But, she is getting the hang of it!  


We've also been working at my garden in the mornings.  The ridiculous, record-setting heat made this early summer garden season a challenge.  Sometimes, I had to water a couple of times a day to keep things alive, much less thriving.  But, the greens are happy.  So are the Zinnia and Sunflowers.  And, that's all I need to be happy anyway.

  



We spent the 4th of July holiday with family at Papa & Grandma's house.   It was such a fun trip, even though the 100+ degree days kept inside until the evenings.  The kids didn't mind at all and instantly started having a ball.  We ate delicious meals, played lots of games and learned that Devin will be getting a little GIRL cousin to play with soon!




It's fun to watch her natural connection and love for family.




They had a few good games of chess.

They were even super-cooperative for a group picture in the HOT weather:)  Such sweet children...

 




Devin was super-sad to leave, but held it together for the trip back home.  We've resumed our intense schedule of swimming, crafting, organizing, shopping and cooking.  Devin seems to enjoy being a part of the weekly and daily routine.  We talk about meal planning for the week and look through cookbook pages for ideas.  Then she helps make the lists and find the items at the store.  Best of all, she loves the self-checkout lanes and doing all the work herself.  I make sure we shop super-early and don't hold anyone up...cause we take our sweet time.

 

Next week, Devin goes to a Montessori camp about archaeology and digging up treasures.  She's going with a friend from last year and is looking forward to her time back at school.  I'm hoping these small doses of being at school, might help the transition back in 6 weeks.  Because, we're having a whole lotta fun so far.