Giggles

I'm thankful for many things. Giggles from my girls certainly top the list!

Reading Time

Keeley really, really loves to read. In fact, some days I'm not sure she does anything but read after she gets home from school. Before naps and before bed each night we read several books. Usually we go through little stints of reading the same 5 books each time before we cycle to another set of books. When she was younger and the books were simpler, reading the same books for several nights in a row was very tiresome. Now, however, it is tolerable until she fixates on something - having to show me the lady bug's eyes that are closed, or a butterfly, etc. on the same page EVERY time. We went through a phase recently where she kept saying "you skipped a page" when we turned past the title page without reading. Kelly taught her what that page was and now she will tell you "that's the title page, we don't have to read it." Very cute and very matter of fact.

Last night, she and I were reading "Bedtime for Button" for the millionth time this month. Toward the end, the line in the book said "he fell fast asleep." I was tired and I missed the word "fast" and simply said "he fell asleep." Keeley took her paci out, looked up at me and said "fast, it says fast". How did she remember that? And why did she care?!!!

I will readily admit that I used to skip pages in books to hurry things along and sometimes I would even paraphrase the pages if I didn't want to read the whole thing. That clearly doesn't work anymore!

Thanksgiving!

This year we went down to Houston for Thanksgiving. My Gramma and Grampa (Grossmama and Grosspapa to the girls) live there along with two of my mom's siblings and lots, and lots of cousins. The girls had so much fun at Nichole's house (thank you for hosting) and I loved getting to spend so much time with the family. Here are some highlights.

The Culhane girls and the Madison girls. I love the looks on the faces of the big sisters.
Why Keeley is licking her lips is beyond me since she didn't really eat any of her food.

Kayden giving a "what?" look at the picture taker (taking after her big sister I think!)

They were both saving room for dad's pie :-)
Cuddling with Oma in the best chair ever!
Playing outside with Grosspapa and the cousins. Grosspapa gave the best pushes on this roller coaster!
Taking care of the baby.
Grocery shopping with the babies
And, my favorite thing about this trip, Kayden adopted Ben.
This is Nichole's husband and Kayden decided that he needed to read to her. She plopped down next to him and just kept handing her books. You can tell he didn't mind too much! How cute are they! (and, yes, that is chocolate cake on Kayden's face. She is enthusiastic about everything in life)

Bike-a-Thon

Keeley's school has an annual bike-a-thon to raise funds. The kids collect pledges and then ride their bikes for the day. It is a hugely fun event. All the kids look forward to it, there are special shirts made for it, and tons of parents come out to cheer on their kiddo and help with the event. I was amazed at the parental turn-out!

Kelly volunteered to help out all morning. Keeley was so excited her dad was going to be there! Kayden and I picked up the snacks for the riders (bananas and water) and then I was going to help out as long as I could. Kayden wanted none of that and Keeley wanted me to hold her when she saw me. That meant I didn't stay long, but I did get to cheer for her for a minute at least! Because Kelly was volunteering on the course and I had to leave, we didn't get too many pictures. Here are a few:

Ms. Alva leading Keeley and some of the other toddlers out to their special toddler course.
Keeley checking out her feet.

Keeley checking out Owen.

There was some drama, of course. That is to be expected with a bunch of toddlers. When Keeley got off her bike to come see me, Owen got on her bike and that temporarily upset her. Apparently though, she then decided Chloe's bike was the one to ride and rode it the rest of the time!

Because the toddlers were in their own special area, they got to ride as long as they wanted. That ended up being 1.5 hours! Keeley came home so tired and slept until just past 4 - that's a 3.5 hour nap!!!

It was a big success and I look forward to having two little riders next year!

Parent /Teacher Conference

Keeley had her first parent/teacher conference today and all went well. Ms. Sutton told me that Keeley is an absolute joy to have in class and is exceptionally nurturing. Ms. Alva told me that Keeley really enjoys the transition room (where they learn works that they will do in primary) and has an amazing amount of concentration and focus. They both commented that she completes the circle well. I asked what that meant and they explained it refers to the circle of choosing a work, completing it appropriately, and then putting it back for the next child to use. Apparently, she even straightens other works she sees out of place (I need to figure out how to get that to work at home too!!). Ms. Alva was amazed at her skills with cutting and pasting - I didn't even know she had those skills!

I'm thrilled to see that Keeley is growing and learning so much at school. Hopefully all her parent/teacher conferences will go this smoothly!!