Star of the Day!

On the 16th, Emerson was the star of the day at preschool!  Reese and I stayed in the classroom for around 20 minutes, so I could see what star of the day is all about!  I'm so glad I stayed, it was so cute to watch Emerson in her star role!!  She had a special seat next to Mrs. York, was line leader, did the weather and the date.  And then, the letters of her name were scrambled on the board and she had to name each letter and together with a helper she chose, unscramble the letters to spell her name!  She did an awesome job, knew each letter in her name and almost got the correct order of letters!  I should maybe be ashamed to admit that I was surprised, but I was!!!  I now know, we have been underestimating Emerson!  We never really thought she paid that much attention when we were doing learning-type activities but apparently she was/is!  And I'm sure preschool this year has helped, too.

Em & I on the John Janzen Centre field trip!

Once again, Emerson surprised me on the field trip I accompanied her on to John Janzen Nature Centre, yesterday.  I was very excited to go on Em's 1st field trip and Emerson was also very excited to have me along!!  The bus ride was a big highlight for all the kids!  I think they could take a short bus ride around the neighbourhood and call it a field trip and the kids wouldn't mind at all ;) But we did go to the nature centre, which was our first visit.  I've heard of the centre but have never looked into going.  The field trip was awesome!  Our leader was so great - very good with the kids, and very fun and knowledgeable.  Emerson had a blast, I enjoyed watching her complete the activities, answer many of the questions (and correctly, too!) and was very surprised by her eagerness!  She was nearly always the first to follow the directions of our leader, often at the front of the group and always raised her hand to answer the questions.  And like I said, most often she was correct!  Not enjoying being the centre of attention, at times I almost wanted to shrink into the woods so as to avoid the looks from some of the other parents!  At snack time I was chatting with two of the other parent volunteers and they both remarked at how smart Em was ;)  And I had to admit, again, I was a bit surprised!  I said she obviously pays more attention then I realized and I do believe she learns a lot from her older brother and some of the t.v. shows he watches!!!  I was very proud of her :)  But she put a dent in that when at snack time and then again during a group photo her and another girl got into a bit of a pushing match!!  LOL!!  These two girls just seem to butt heads, I've seen this a few times!  I haven't asked the other girls Mom, but I wonder if she doesn't have an older brother, too?!  It's actually kind of funny, but not at the same time.  What I've witnessed is Emerson and this girl standing very close to one another and what has happened is one or the other gives the other a light push so as to create some more space and the other retaliates with a harder push!!  It doesn't go on or escalate but regardless, they shouldn't push!!  They few times I've seen this happen, I've always reminded Emerson to keep her hands to herself, move to another spot, etc, etc.  Like I said, funny but not funny!!  I hope Em keeps this feistyness (but controlled) as at this point in time, no one is going to push her around and I'd like that to continue into jr/sr high school!!!

The same day Em and I were on a field trip, Blake and Cal attended a pumpkin party at Ecole Bishop Savaryn!  Thank goodness for my Mom, who babysat Reese so Cal and I could take Blake and Em to their school events.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom!!!  The boys had a great time, Blake came home with some really cute crafts, had fun singing songs, listening to stories and having a special snack!  It was nice for Cal to accompany him and I am also very thankful that Cal can change his work schedule to attend these types of events in the kids lives :)  Blake is very excited to wear his Halloween costume to school on Halloween day and I am looking forward to volunteering in his classroom on that day!

Reese, not being in school, has not had any special events in her life or stars of the day, other then the usual day to day 'stuff' and her usual starring role in our family ;)  She is getting close to her 2 yr birthday, which we find hard to believe.  I feel like she should only just be turning 1 and still our baby.  However, she is growing up so fast and so much each and every day and is very obviously, nearly 2!!  Along with Blake and Em, Reese visited Beaners this week and got her 2nd haircut.  She barely had any hair trimmed but somehow the hair cut made her look a little bit older.  Each day, she speaks clearer and says more and more words and sentences that often surprise us.  She loves playing with her new bath tub doll (in and out of the tub!).  Her and Emerson play so well together, it is heart warming :)  Emerson is so great with Reese and it melts my heart to hear Em call Reese 'Hun, Hunny, Sweetie' ... so adorable, the terms of endearment and the sweetness of her voice.  Blake is also absolutely fantastic with Reese but she definitely plays better with Em.  Reese is so, so cute and has a very strong mind and will!  She is stubborn and knows how to play her "I'm the youngest of 3 card!!!"  Or she'll say, "I'm sorry Momma."  And *poof* I've forgotten what she's just done!  Blake and Em may argue once against something she has said or done or asked for but before long, Reese wins.  Reese seems to always win!  Makes me wish I was the youngest instead of the oldest, in my own family ;)  lol!!

Tomorrow morning, in just a few short hours actually, Cal and I are leaving on vacation!  We have never left all 3 kids before but are actually quite relaxed about the whole thing!  They are all getting older now and Mom and Dad will be watching the kids.  I have typed out a few pages of instructions and our usual routines and feel very confident ;)  Hopefully Mom and Dad feel as confident!!  I'm sure 1 or 2 or maybe 3 of them may act a bit out of sorts but overall, I think they'll have a nice time and enjoy each other's undivided attention without interruption from Mom and Dad!!!  I am SO looking forward to some down time!  Sleeping in, wandering around, eating and drinking what we want, when we want, and mostly going to a Bronco's game!!  Can not wait!  So excited!!!  We don't have any plans other then the Bronco's game on Sunday.  I don't care what we do to be honest, I just don't want to be rushed around sight seeing or having to be up at a certain time, etc.  We really just need to relax and take it easy.  We need this :)  Thank you so much to Grandma and Grandpa D for taking on this 'job'!  We appreciate it greatly and hope everything goes smoothly!

When we are back I'm sure I'll blog about the trip!  In the meantime, enjoy yourselves and have fun preparing for Halloween!  We are back at midnight on the 29th and have an extremely busy few days ahead of us, with Halloween activities at KG and PS and then of course, Halloween night!  But I can't wait, I love Halloween :)  Chat with you soon!

xo
Tracy