Parent/Teacher Conference

A few weeks ago, the preschool teachers asked us to each sign up for a meeting with the teachers to discuss our child's year. I was a little apprehensive, as this would be my first P/T conference ever. I chose a day in which Phil would be home, as I couldn't bring Jeremy with me. It was on a Tuesday after class, and the minute I sat down with her teacher -- who is by far the sweetest and nicest woman ever -- the first thing she says is that Phil and I better start saving for the wedding between her and the little boy in the class.

The teachers had each put together a portfolio of every child's progress for the year, and she thoughtfully went through each page, explaining what Riley did or was doing. One example she gave is that at the beginning of the year, each child was asked to identify upper and lowercase letters, and Riley was the only one in the class who was able to complete that task. She was also the only one who could identify numbers 0-9. During the year, they re-evaluate the students to see how they've progressed. With Riley, she already knew her letters and numbers, so they asked her to mark down how many Xs per number, to see if she actually understood what the numbers meant. So Ms. Betty (her teacher) said that Riley was working on Number 9 and got distracted. She looked at the teacher, looked at her paper, then counted the Xs. She realized she did one too many and smiled.

Ms. Betty said Riley will have no problem with kindergarten in the fall -- she asked if I wanted to keep Riley behind so they could enjoy her another year. It's what every parent wants to hear, that their child does well. She mentioned that Riley talks about her brother all the time and how much she loves playing with him. And then we talked about Riley's love for hockey.

Turns out Ms. Betty's family is big into hockey. The conference happened to fall when the NHL playoffs were going on, so it was of great discussion every time Riley would come to class, to see if the Blackhawks won. After the conference ended, Ms. Betty and I continued our hockey talk, and I confided that I was named after a Blackhawk, as was Jeremy. She was thrilled and couldn't wait to tell her husband. And she got a kick out of the fact that we call the Red Wings the "Yuckies."

Overall, it was wonderful to hear how well Riley did during her last year of preschool. And I'm happy to say that her portfolio is a prized possession. Ms. Betty is a great teacher, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Jeremy is blessed with her for a teacher in two years.

Ah June!

Feeling....so...behind!

Ever have one of those days (or weeks) where you just can't seem to catch up? I'm having that problem. I blame the warm weather. Don't get me wrong--I love nice weather more than anyone I know. And as a result, I insist that the kids spend almost every waking moment (when they're not eating or resting) outside. My poor house is neglected. I think I saw a tumbleweed roll across my floor today. The basement hasn't been vacuumed, since, well, I don't even really want to think about it.

On the bright side the kids are worn out from all the playing outside. I commented to one of my neighbors yesterday that yesterday was the perfect summery-type day. There were three moms and all of our kids (there were 7 total) were all playing together, whether it was digging in the dirt, riding bikes, playing ball or drawing with chalk. And the moms just sat and soaked it all in. I could get used to that.

So sorry for the updating delay. I have so much to comment on, from Memorial Day to Riley's parent/teacher conference, to her last official day yesterday! It was a bittersweet day. So for now, you'll just have to see for yourself what a happy little girl we have:

Nevermind that it was June 3
when this was taken and she's wearing a coat!

Now do me a favor and get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. I'll get around to posting one of these days....

Shopping with a Boy

I took Jeremy out with me on Friday to look through Old Navy's awesome sale. They were having 50% off their clearance, and we all know how much I love a good deal, right Dawn? Anyway, I found some cute shirts, and Jeremy and I headed into the changing room. I'm beginning to get undressed to try on the shirts, and what does Jeremy proclaim for the whole store to hear?

"BOOBIES!"

Yeah, that's life with a boy. I have no idea where he gets this stuff from....

Jeremy's Favorite Cars' Quote

No matter what kind of day I'm having, if I can get Jeremy to utter this* line from the Cars movie, it will make me smile.

This is just a snippet of a day in the life.

* In case you can't decipher what he's saying, it's Mater's line that says: She loves me for my body.

Sprinkling

During Memorial Day weekend, the weather was warm enough on Saturday to bust out the sprinkler. Even Phil got in on the action, and I enjoyed the view from the deck. We were also able to water the garden while the kids played. They had an absolute blast!

Running through the sprinkler.

Jeremy attempts to drink the water.

Riley shows him how it's done.

Middle Name

Riley came home from school today and said she was taking to one of her friends about middle names. She said her friend's middle name is Alice. I asked Riley if she told her friend what her middle name was. She looked at me all confused. I asked if she knew what her middle name was. She looked at me with all seriousness and said:

"Sassafras."

Close, but not quite.

My Mother's Day

As I downloaded pictures off the camera, I realized I never commented about my Mother's Day...two weeks after the fact!

It started off wonderfully--everyone let me sleep in. We had a delicious breakfast made by Dad and then opened presents. (Please ignore the fact that I'm still in pajamas--or that I'm wearing flannel pjs in May!)

Opening the present.

I have to give Phil tons of credit this year.
I didn't want him to spend a lot of money,
so he made a photo album with my favorite pictures of the kids.
And it's a recordable album, so he got the kids to say:
"Happy Mother's Day. We love you."

Which made me start crying!

After enjoying the newspaper and spending time with the family, we got in the car to meet up with my parents' at my favorite hot dog place. And yes, I wanted a hot dog on Mother's Day! My parents just got back from a road trip out East to Toronto, Boston and other parts of New England, so it was nice to catch up. Everyone had a wonderful time and ate rather well.

Nana and the kids.

The moms on Mother's Day.

We headed back on the road and decided to stop at the plant nursery. We were there with probably everyone else in the surrounding suburbs! The kids melted down a bit, so we gathered up our plants, waited in line for close to 20 minutes and headed home! I was able to spend a good 2 hours working in the garden, which made my day. Everything is planted and sprouting, so now we just wait for the crops to produce!

The evening was capped off with some DQ, because really, what doesn't say Mother's Day than a Blizzard? All in all, it was a wonderful Mother's Day, even if it was so long ago!