Number badges and Book Club

In senior kindergarten at Harding, the students earn number badges by writing the numbers leading up to that number. For example, writing from 1 to 100 earns the student the 100 number badge. Anna's teacher helped the students earn 100-500 together as a class. Then, the students were on their own to earn up to 3,500. At first, it was an all out competition for Anna. She would wear home two or three badges a day and it was fun for her. Well, then a classmate surpassed her and she lost some of the fever!! She slowed a bit but was very driven to finish and earn all the badges up to 3,500. She did complete her goal and we were super proud. This week the kindergarten students got to wear ALL of their badges to school. I pinned all 35 badges on a t-shirt and it was so cute. Below are front and back views of her badges.

Also, to prepare the students for their kindergarten readiness tests, the students were challenged to read 100 books. They earned "gumballs" to fill their gumball machines on the bulletin boards. Anna was super excited about this challenge because she LOVES to read. Each book read by the students was recorded on a log. A book with over 20 pages counted twice. Of course she was always picking 80 page Dr. Seuss books, but we were so super proud. She was the second student in her class to reach the 100 book milestone. She earned a medal for reaching her goal which she got to wear home from school.

Anna is almost finished with senior kindergarten and we could not be more proud of her success and all that she has learned. We can't believe in a few short months she will be starting first grade!!! She is a smart girl and know that she will end up being something special when she "grows up"!

The panties experiment

So, Caroline has been literally begging me for "big-girl" panties. She even stopped me on the way out of the door last Thursday morning and we had the following conversation:

CEZ: Mommy, while you are at work today, can you buy me some big girl panties?

Me: Caroline, I'm not sure I can do that during the day today.

CEZ: I want Sleeping Booty and Cindewella.

Me: We can go and look for them this weekend.

CEZ: They need to be pink.

Me: We'll see, Caroline.

CEZ: Can I wear them tonight?

You can tell I was really getting through to her.....I ended up buying her a 3 pack of Sleeping Beauty panties and Dora the Explorer panties on Monday at Target. She was thrilled when I showed them to her. We let her wear them on Monday night between arriving at home after school and bedtime. Here is how the evening went:

5:45: Caroline first puts on her Sleeping Beauty panties. She runs outside to show Gary in the garage and refuses to put back on her skirt from school.

5:55: Successful trip to the potty.

6:05: Successful trip to the potty. (We set a timer on the microwave for every 10 minutes).

6:15, 6:25, 6:35: Sucessful trips to the potty, including in the middle of dinner!!

6:45: Sits on the potty but no action.

6:55, Timer goes off, but I am busy pinning Anna's number badges on her shirt and figure I have a minute or two to spare....not so much. Caroline brings in a second pair of panties to switch to since she had an accident.

6:58: Gary figures out that she has had another accident and we are now on pair #3 for the evening.

7:10, 7:20, 7:30, & 7:40: All successful trips to the potty.

7:45 Dressed for bed with a pullup.

All in all, not too bad. I really thought it was going to be awful. She is getting used to going to the potty on her own and thinks it is kind of like a game. She can't stand when we interrupt her to use the potty but as 6:55 proved above, we have to stick to the schedule until we feel we can stretch it out more. We will keep trying!! Oh, I long for the days of no diapers!!!!

Let's Go Swimming

Caroline's class had their spring program this week and her class performed Laurie Berkner's Let's Go Swimming. For their costumes, they wore Nemo shirts and hats which were adorable. Caroline did a great job and actually knew the words and the motions most of the time!! She was hamming it up afterwards in her room with her friends as well. She's a natural on stage!!

the rainbows entered the stage and are getting in their places. caroline is fourth from the left.

after the program....caroline was full of energy

caroline and mya

anna was so proud of caroline!

Cinderella

Today I took Anna to the Ballet Memphis production of Cinderella. The Orpheum Theatre was packed with little girls and Anna was in heaven. She takes ballet at Ballet Memphis so she was familiar with many of the dancers. The production was BEAUTIFUL and even though it was 3 acts and ended up being longer than expected, we had a very good time. The set was borrowed from the Royal London Ballet Company and the costumes were extraordinary. It was a great time at the matinee and glad that we could enjoy it together. Next season is Wizard of Oz, Nutrcracker and Sleeping Beauty. I think season tickets are in order.

Before the ballet...Anna decided to wear a blue dress in honor of Cinderella.

Fun times at the park

Anna had a parents' night out at school tonight so Gary and I decided to hang out with Caroline and let her have some one on one time with us, which it seems like is rare for the second born. We enjoyed dinner outside and then a fun time at the park. This was a great night at the park and Caroline wore herself out!! She is at such a fun age....can't wait to see how much she can accomplish by the end of the summer. As much of a climber as she is, I'm frightened to see!

pure joy.....

only the beginning for my little climber

Anna turns 6!!

My firstborn daughter Anna turned 6 today. It's made me a bit nostalgic for some reason. She really is growing up so fast and into such a big girl. I can't believe it!!! She was so excited for her birthday. She requested an American Girl doll months ago and circled the one in the catalog that she wanted. She kept asking if she was going to get it and then told me that she thought that the wrapped box on the dining room table was the right size for the doll. She was very thrilled this morning to open it and it has not left her side all day. She had another friend's party to go to tonight and had her first slumber party at Mckayla's house. She was having a great time and really having fun on her big day. Gary's mom arrives tomorrow for more fun. Should be a nice visit. Mary's had feet and feet of snow this winter in South Dakota even getting 6 inches on Wednesday!! She will be glad to escape the snow and we hope for decent weather for the weekend. I've included a newborn picture of Anna as well as some from today. Found out this week when she went to the pediatrician's office for a sinus infection that she is 50 inches tall...not too many more inches and she will be as tall as her maternal and paternal grandmothers!! Happy Birthday to Anna Katherine!!

Anna Katherine Zyriek a few hours old.

Anna after her first bath, during which she cried the entire time, hence the calm demeanor afterwards.

This morning after opening her first American Girl Doll.
The birthday girl showing some sass.

Anna in her matching pajamas with her doll headed to Mckayla's pajama party.

Crazy Weimeraner turns 9

Ally, our very crazy and very allergic, weimaraner turned 9 today. Gary and I picked her out at a mere 3 or 4 weeks of age. She was so innocent then....and look how crazy she is today. I blame Gary because he "picked her" out of the litter and was drawn to her. She's awesome and has been a constant companion. Our girls don't like little "yippy" dogs because they have grown accumstomed to our large animal. We celebrated Ally's birthday with a celebration cake from Three Dog Bakery. She consumed it in just a few minutes and let out a huge burp at the end. We all think she enjoyed it thoroughly. We all sang to Ally and she was drooling the entire time...happy 9th Ally!

the celebration cake just for ally

ally loving her cake

licking the floor after the cake was gone...that's it for another year, ally!