Kindergarten Babies...

Kindergarten Babies

Stick their heads in gravy

Stick their heads in bubblegum

And send them to the Navy!

Why, oh WHY, was that even an insult when were were kids?  Do any of you remember that little chant?  I guess it was meant to be mean to the kindergarten babies.

I have news for you!  I HAVE a kindergarten baby now.  Yep.  And I can say with little doubt that if you chanted something like that at her, she'd punch you in the belly.  She'd show you!  Because believe it or not, those little munchkins are FEISTY!!  They don't take anything from anybody!  (I don't remember being like that when I was a kid, do you?)

For some reason this is the chant that popped into my head this morning as I dropped Thing 1 off for school.  I can't believe we're just 8 short school days from the end of her first semester of school!  She's a vibrant, dynamic, bright, funny, tempermental, emotional, independent, lovable 5 year old.  She's funny, she's naughty, she's bossy...she's FIVE!

We've been working on "respect" with her.  Did I mention she's tempermental and bossy?  So, yesterday she was having a fabulous day, despite the surprise flu shot in the afternoon, and I asked her why she had such a hard time being respectful EVERY day.  She said to me, "Mommy, I am so tired every day from trying my best at school and trying to be respectful THERE that I don't have any energy left to be good at home!"  Can you believe she has that much insight into what's going on in her own little body??  And I believe it. 

Her teacher does little contests.  Right now they've got a Christmas stocking contest going.  When they get an "E" on a paper, they get a sticker on a stocking.  Whoever has the most stickers at the end wins a great prize!  Hannah's been working her little heart out for the last week to try and earn the most stickers.  She missed the "Indian Chief" prize by just a few small feathers in her headdress.  She was not as disappointed as I expected (which was a good thing) but has been much more motivated by that experience and is knocking the socks off of this stocking competition.  So, I need to remember when she comes home from school today-and every day-that she's TIRED!  She maybe needs a hug, a snack, and a little rest.  She's super duper at getting her homework done, but she needs some down time, too.

I'm mostly writing about Thing 1 today because I realized last night that she's been sort of left out of blogworld.  You see, she's at school all day while we're busy at home doing the "fun stuff."  I'd like to show you a slice of her year in pictures:

First Day of Kindergarten!

This might be my favorite picture of the day:  

She sure loves her daddy!

At her desk on the first day.  She was too excited about doing her work to even look at us anymore!

In September, Thing 1 and sixteen...yes, SEVENTEEN kindgergarteners!...joined a Daisy Girl Scout troop!  They are a wild and crazy bunch, but they have a blast at each meeting!  (Cookie sales start January 8th...)

In October we carved pumpkins.  Our "tradition" is to do it the day before trick-or-treat night.

And then we went trick-or-treating...two nights in a row!  (That flower fairy costume is extra special!  My made the green flower bits for me when I was about Thing 1's age.  The garland on her head is from a date Michael and I went on to the Renaissance Festival when we were in college.  The wings?  Well...they're from the dress-up box...)

In November Thing 1 started basketball!  She loves it.  She said it's as fun as gymnastics!  She's...well, she plays like a 5 year old.  ;-)  But she'll get better!

Here she is in her basketball jersey.  :)  She's very proud of it!  She likes the gold side.  The flip side is white.  She told us she might not play on the days her team wears white.  #11 rules!



And finally, here she is in that Indian headdress I was talking about earlier.  She was super proud!  She planned to take it for Thanksgiving and forgot, so you'll have to view it here.  The headdress now hangs in a spot of honor above her bed.



As you can see, it's been a busy year already for our little lady!  She's read almost 100 books independently just at school, gets all Es on her report card (aside from citizenship.  remember that "respect" thing I told you we're working on?), loves her little brothers, cries when she can't go to church...all around a wonderful little person!  We can't wait to see what she's going to become!  (It'll be something amazing.  I can feel it.)