snow day Feb 20

This was a Monday. By the Friday it was in the 70's!

E school work

Honestly, I did rotate this photo when I saved it, but not sure what happened. Maybe I'll fix it later. Anyway, what made me burst with pride today was finding out that this delightful piece of paper was not dictated nor sentences copied from the board, but all sentences that E made up and wrote on her own. She sounded out and spelled the words, applied punctuation, and illustrated them. The teacher told me this morning that it's "awesome". I've seen some of these sheets (much duller ones) and thought they were all copied from the board. I noticed spelling errors in this one (because I'm learning Spanish too!) and that E was more excited than usual to show it to me, so I asked where these sentences came from. The teacher smiled and tapped the side of her head.



Translation: Today it is my mommy's happy birthday. Today it is Merry Christmas. Today it is my happy birthday!

You can tell which picture is her and which is me, I'm sure. The smaller person gets the bigger cake. But we're both wearing high heels.

fashion experiments

E is branching out, fashion-wise. She wore jeans last week for the first time since she she's been able to choose her own clothes. Today she ventured to layer a top under a jumper, something she refused to do for years. Yesterday she called her striped shirt and striped top a "complete outfit" (you be the judge). Tomorrow she's wearing a blousy peasant dress she used to hate, with a lavender t-shirt over it. Each day is a new fashion experiment, carefully planned the night before. I figure, let her express herself while she can, before her peers stomp her down.
You can't tell from this how bright the colors are!


(4 ponytails, if you can't tell)

kindergarten thanksgiving

On Friday, parents were invited to the classroom to have a "feast" and hear the students sing all the Spanish songs they've learned. David was out of town and couldn't make it, but I enjoyed it immensely. E was clearly nervous but didn't act out as she would have when she was younger. She soldiered through it and was clearly relieved at the end.

While waiting to start she was wringing her skirt quietly.
She spent a lot of time fiddling with the yarn on her pilgrim bonnet ("it's NOT a bonnet, it's a sombrero!")

Showed a little liveliness on her favorite songs. This one required a partner.


Happy to see me and that the performance was over.

Goofing around with friends at her table

another birthday pic

Went to an indoor playground with a new school friend on Veterans Day, which was a school holiday.

more birthday pics

birthday pictures

E's birthday

Family picture at one of our frequent haunts...



E's dinner request for her birthday dinner was to redeem a coupon she earned for participating in a reading program, for a free personal cheese pizza at Pizza Hut. David's parents joined us, and we all had cake at home after.

good picture

I was surprised this turned out so well - I stuck the camera down without looking and snapped it.

halloween event at my work

E is a bride this year. She's been planning the costume since Christmas last year. Luckily she has a new hand me down sweater that was deemed appropriate for a bride to wear, because it was cold out. On the way to and home from Trunk or Treat at my workplace, she asked me several times, "Do I look like a real bride?"

alligator head

David's friend Dave gave E this real alligator head. She took it to school for Show & Tell yesterday. I thought she might have had some memorable reactions from kids or teachers, but no, she remembers nothing about it. No stories to tell. Rarely get those anyway.