My Follower

Adilyn has been best friends with a little girl named Abby since she started at daycare. She used to love to pretend that I was Abby. Adilyn started coming home saying "poo poo head" and "pee pee head", of course, she would say, "Abby said that." One day when I went to get her from school, the teacher told me that she wasn't listening in class very well. They said that she didn't like to do her work, and then she showed me her name tracing activity from that day. It was just a bunch of crazy scribbles! The teacher said that she never works when she is with Abby. She also said that she follows Abby around all the time. Yikes! I wonder what's worse, to be the follower that gets in trouble, or to be the leader that starts the trouble! :)

Some recent funny things Adilyn has done:

*We were outside, and she started screaming, "I have a snake! I have a snake!" I looked over at her and she had stepped on a worm.

*She busted out laughing at the dinner table, and she said, "Kacy has bean face and bean hands!" When I looked at Kacy, she did have beans everywhere!

*I was reading her a book, and I guess she didn't like the way that I said "mountain goat". She said, "No mommy, it's like this...mount-in-go-at." She emphasized each syllable exactly the way I do when I am trying to get her to say a word right.

*All of a sudden, she has decided that she can pick up Kacy. The other day she was trying to pick her up from the ground. I asked her what she was doing, and she said, "I am taking her to Daddy."

*Whenever I get back from running, she stretches with me. She tries to copy me exactly, but when she can't do it, she'll say, "That's my new stretch."

*She loves dancing and she always wants me to "announce her". I have to say, "Announcing Adilyn Kade Henderson, from Katy, Texas." Then she will dance out of the bedroom.

*She still doesn't like to nap, and the other day during her rest time she pulled the curtain rod right out of the wall. It hit her on the head, so needless to say, rest time was over that way. I hope she didn't do it on purpose to get out of her rest time...who knows what she'll try next!

*She made cookies with Cory the other day to take to school for show and tell (Letter C). She was so proud, and her teacher said that she passed them out to all the kids telling everyone that she made them with her daddy. So sweet! (The picture at the top is the proud baker!)

Lake Travis for Dad's 60th B-day

Oh what an amazing weekend! We had been planning to go to Lake Travis for Dad's 60th birthday for many months now, and it was so much fun. Dad and Kris rented a house on Lake Travis for all of us to stay in. It was a 5 bedroom house, just perfect for the whole family. We all got there on Friday night, and we got settled in. All the grandkids were there - Maren - 9, Adilyn - 3, Kacy - 1, Taylor - 2, and little Terilyn - 1 month. We ate dinner that night, and the kids, of course, had to go swimming that night. We tried out the lake, but everyone (dads included) decided that the pool would be better especially since it was getting dark outside. There were deer everywhere, and the animal lover, Maren, had to feed them. They almost came right up and ate out of her hand! We had a great nights sleep, and Saturday was a full day of fun. We swam, played in the gameroom, made up silly games, swam some more, watched some tv, and played some more. Taylor and Adilyn got along pretty well. We only had a few moments of sharing issues, and it was Adilyn not sharing with Taylor. Maren helped them make up silly games. One that she was doing was pretending to be a bridge, and when Taylor and Adilyn walked by they had to answer a question to get by. She was telling them to make a sad face or tell her their favorite color. It was hilarious to see them making silly faces or telling her that their favorite shape is an octagon! What fun times and great memories!
The weekend was amazing, and I am so glad that we have such great family to spend time with. It was great to get away together! We had never done that before, but I think we definitely should do it more often!

My Silly Little Ones

As usual, my girls are making me laugh every day. Sometimes I laugh because they are legitimately funny, and sometimes I think that I laugh because life can get so crazy around here sometimes! Most days, they are being silly, and I love that. I am so happy that I have kids that like to be funny and like to laugh. There are so many "serious" kids out there, but I am glad I don't have one of those!

Kacy's newest things:
*She loves to make silly faces and noises. Her favorite is to squish up her nose and blow air out (which is usually air and snot - not so funny), Her other is to make this "scared" face. She makes a silly face with her mouth so she looks nervous. I keep trying to get a picture of it. She also loves to blink her eyes really fast.

*Anytime I change her diaper, she has to get a wipe and she cleans her face. She will wipe her face and her nose obsessively until I take it away.

*All of a sudden, she has become a little dancer. Anytime music comes on she starts to bust a move. Her favorite move is to shake her arms from side to side. That can be dangerous at times because she still isn't very stable on her feet, so she can knock herself over sometimes.

*Every time she sees Cory she screams, "DaDa!" She emphasizes it very sweetly. She yells, "Mama" too, but usually only when she is whining. :(

*Whenever I tell her not to touch something or not to do something she will shake her head along with me. I haven't decided if she is agreeing with me or disagreeing...With her little attitude I tend to lean to the disagreeing option!

Adilyn's new things:

*When we see people out and about she likes to say, "There is a girl and her boy." If we see them later and one person is missing she'll say, "Where's her boy?"

*I was reading a book to her that my mom had gotten her. I said one of the names differently and she said, "That's not how you say it! Nammie says it like this..."

*She always makes sure that Kacy is not getting into things. She'll always tell me if Kacy is going to the stairs, playing in the dog water, or going into the bathroom.

*She loves this stupid Carebear movie that I got a long time ago. It's so annoying, but she loves it. I kept telling her that I didn't want to watch it anymore, so one day she asked Cory if she could watch it. Cory said that she needed to ask me, and she said, "Mama will say no, she doesn't like it."

*She loves to dance, and she will make up these little routines. She asks me to do it with her, but when I try she will tell me that I am not doing it right.

*We go outside almost every night after dinner, and Adilyn likes to either practice her running and exercising as she calls it, or she likes to walk on the curbs.

*After going to the dentist, she got obsessed with flossing. It's great, but it's a little annoying! Every night we have to floss, and floss, and floss.

*Yesterday she said to me, "Mom, it's a beautiful day today. The sun is shining. The birds are singing." Then she told me that the Carebears say that in their movie.

*I was leaving her room the other night and she said, "Goodnight, Sweetheart." We blow kisses each night before I walk out the door, and even when she doesn't want me to leave, even when she is mad at me she still blows me kisses. When she is mad at me, her kisses are much angrier.

*She loves walking Kacy to her class at school in the mornings. She holds her hand and tells her goodbye when she gets her there.

*She still loves holding Kacy's hand while she walks, even though Kacy doesn't need the help anymore. Sometimes Kacy loves it, but other times she gets really mad. When she gets mad, Adilyn gets her feelings hurt and says, "Mama, I just trying to help her."

A Day at the Zoo

A long weekend, very little humidity, and cooler temperatures led to decide to go to the zoo today. We had a great time! Adilyn really liked seeing the animals, and she got excited when she found one. Although it was cooler, most of the animals were still hiding in the shade. Kacy liked it when we got her out of the stroller to look for animals. She wasn't really interested in watching them; she was just excited enough to get out of the stroller. We did see some pretty cool active monkeys jumping around from tree to tree and swinging around. We also saw baby elephants and baby giraffes, which is always cute. Every time we saw an exhibit Adilyn had to decide who the mama was, who the daddy was, and who the babies were. Kacy was walking and face planted on the concrete, but there were no major injuries just a couple red marks. Adilyn loved the orangatuan who was just being fat and lazy, she thought he was really funny. She also really liked watching the elephants, and she kept asking me all kinds of questions about what they were doing and why they were doing it. We had such a great time! I love spending family time together!

Reflections on my 2nd Week...

I will say that things have gotten better this week. Overall, my biggest issue is just that the kids don't like health class. The 4th and 5th graders seemed so pissed off just to be there, and I couldn't figure out why. Finally, on Tuesday I had enough. I told them that we needed to figure things out, and I needed to know why they hated health so much. Thankfully, they were honest as only kids can be. Their first complaint was that they hated the old teacher. I told them, "Well, that problem is solved - she's not here anymore!" Then they admitted that they loved all their other "specials" like art, music, and PE because they got to be creative, move around, and have fun. They said that in health it just felt like another class, and they hated to sit and learn more "stuff." I completely understand where they are coming from, so I am going to do my best to try to make it enjoyable. Because I am so laid back, I have always been a teacher that most kids liked, so it's very hard for me to have to try to win them over. I will not give up, though! =)
Some more differences that I have learned this week...
*Kids cry WAY too much! Kids have cried because I took a marker away from them, because I wrote marked in their behavior folder, because they couldn't put their shoe back on, because somebody wouldn't be their partner, because they were being good and I didn't give them a sticker, because they missed their mommy, and because they couldn't be the line leader...and that is just in ONE week! Enough with the tears!
*Most kids under the age of 7 physically can't sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time.
*If you let an elementary kids use a pen, they think it's the coolest thing in the world.
*Even if you repeat directions 101 times, 50% of the kids will not do it correctly.
*I know nothing about the mind of an elementary kid. I knew what went on in the head of those crazy junior high kids, but these little ones - I've got no clue!
*It really annoys me that kids can't say their "R's", and so many of them can't! One girl loves telling me about her "hamstw" that "scwatches herw" all the time. Oh, Sawah...(her name is Sarah)
*I can't stand talking to a kid that has a loose and dangling tooth, hanging on by a thread. It's even worse when they wiggle it for you!

On a more positive note:
*One girl drew a picture of a stick figure with a huge circle in the middle. She said it was her mommy's big belly. I thought she meant her mom was chubby, but then she said, "Her has a baby living in her baby. It is coming out very soon."
*When these little munchkins hug me, they grab right at butt level. I don' think I've had my butt grabbed this much since my junior high days.
*A mom told me today that her girls were so excited for health this year, and that they already like it way more than last year.
*It is hilarious to watch kids dance. They have no rhythm, but they don't care one bit. They just get in their own little world and bust a move.
*Kids compliment you all the time. Everyday I have someone tell me that they like my shirt, or my hair, or my shoes. It is very good for the self esteem.

I am still undecided about how I feel about this job, but it seems to be getting better. We shall see how it all plays out. :)