Author's Tea

I know that I promised vacation posts, but I need to backtrack a little bit first....

Jaiden's first-grade class hosted an "Author's Tea" a few weeks ago in which parents came to get "autographs," pick up hand-made bookmarks, eat snacks and listen to each child (or each "famous author") read his or her book to the audience. It was VERY cute.


All of the books looked very professional -- like real books! They were all large, bound, hard cover books with beautifully illustrated covers. (When I was a kid, our class books were completely hand made.... with decorative contact paper, crayons, markers, pencils and plain, old white paper...stapled together!)

Many of the kid's books were about dogs, tigers, lizards, cars, princesses and shopping malls. So I was surprised to see that Jaiden's book was a story about her mommy, entitled, "My Mom"! (Awwww!)
(My story, on the other hand, was about a family of bunny rabbits...going for ride on a roller coaster. Hmmm....)


A few tears escaped as I listened to Jaiden's little voice read about some of the fun and silly things that we do together.


Here are a few pages to enjoy!

This one shows Jaiden playing basketball (she's shooting the ball at a very colorful basketball goal)... and Mommy is cheering for her!


This page is just darn cute. But I am not sure why Jaiden colored me green. Maybe I was sick in this photo... or I just got back from mowing lawns, so I'm covered in grass clippings. Or maybe it's just green spraypaint.


On this page, Jaiden is talking about us playing a game called Looney Laundry. It's a real game. A board game. It's not some crazy thing I made up just to get her to help wash, dry, fold or put away clothes! ;)

Field Day fun

I wasn't actually there for the festivities, but Jaiden recently had field day at school.... so, here are a few shots of the fun!

This is Jaiden with her very good friend, Rachel. (The two of them have the same birthday!)

Here are some of the first grade girls being cute and posing for photo opps.

Here are some of the first grade boys being weird and making the girls laugh, scream, run, cry.... whatever gets a reaction! ;)

And here is lunch time. I believe Jaiden is talking animatedly with an imaginary friend. Either that, or she's playing charades by herself... because no one else seems to be in on whatever she's doing!

The McWane Experience

I recently volunteered to be a chaperon. That, in and of itself, is dangerous enough. But this particular school filed trip was to the McWane Science Center.
Now, Jaiden and I have been there before, and we had a really nice time. But this was a completely different experience.
Just imagine a multi-story building packed with hundreds of loud, bright, hands-on exhibits with thousands of 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade boys and girls -- runny noses, dirty hands and all -- racing around, screaming, crying, tripping, laughing, hitting, coughing, burping, etc., etc.
I guess the kids had a good time.
Me? I should have stayed home.... ;)
At any rate, the photos show Jaiden and her classmates having lots of fun!

Amazing how exciting blocks are when they are not at your own house.

This was pretty cool, but the little boys weren't as patient as the little girls.

Ah, yes, it's not a visit to McWane without playing the giant piano. (Did I say playing? I meant banging out dissonant chords and auditory mush.)

Hmmm... broken escalators on the day the place is completely overrun with little, sugar-hyped people? How convenient.

Fun with sand art on a spinning wheel.

Jaiden made a circle. Ooooohhh! ;)

The Da Vinci exhibit was really cool, but the kids raced from piece to piece in a fuzzy blur of yellow shirts.

Believe it or not, this fish was the favorite of most of the kids. (I think we just need to build a giant indoor playground, lock 'em all in and let them climb, jump, swing and run around until they pass out.)

Fun Run Funnies

Jaiden's school recently held a fundraiser that included a "fun run." She was so excited about raising money and winning little trinkets and prizes. She called and spoke to several people (neighbors and family, really) about sponsoring her... Then she ran 31 laps and raised about $225!
I thought I'd include a few pictures, just 'cause they are funny. The kids are doing all sorts of things: making faces, talking to each other, running, walking, giving high fives.... Well, I'll just let these shots speak for themselves!
(NOTE: Jaiden has on purple pants... makes her easier to spot in the blur of colors!)

Following in Mommy's... basketball shoes!

You have no idea how thrilled I am that my little girl is playing basketball! This is her very first time to play the game, so it's been a very... uh, interesting experience thus far! Not only has she had to learn all the rules -- from scratch -- she is the only girl on her team (and one of the few girls in the whole league)! But she gets to play with our neighbor, Colt. And she's having a great time. And she's really good! If only she would toughen up a bit and go after the ball! While she excels at home and does quite well in practice, she gets a bit distracted on the court. Of course, so do most of the kids! They're only 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds, after all! But I guarantee that my little Jaiden is the only one out there swinging her ponytail from side to side and doing ballerina twirls between throwing those hands up on defense and hustling down the court! And so far, she's the only one who's run out to Mommy to give her a hug... during the middle of a game! :)
Go, Number 22!

(For the record, I did play basketball as #22 for a bit, but, ultimately, I ended up with #44. So, Jaiden is about half of me right now!)

Christmas -- first grade style

Jaiden's class performed last week in their annual Christmas program. She was just about the only child wearing GREEN instead of RED, so it's pretty easy to spot her!
And MUCH thanks go to my very sweet neighbor for letting us borrow all that GREEN stuff!
It was on my way home the night of the program -- while fighting a migraine -- when I realized that Jaiden's Christmas clothes were either too small, too dirty, too absent from our house (AKA: MIA) or too "busy." (They could not wear anything with pictures, images or other "stuff" on it!) So, I shared my pathetic story with my neighbor... who graciously let us borrow a very nice GREEN sweater and bow!
Of course, in my haste to get to the program in time, I did not realize that the way I positioned the big GREEN bow on Jaiden's head very much resembled a Christmas package. Oopsie! Was my face RED!?!
Hey -- I guess it was just one more way to find my child in the sea of first graders....
Just look for the little girl who's wrapped up like a gift!

Twirly Girl

Jaiden has been taking baton this year with some of her friends and has had a really good time learning to twirl! Recently, her little group of twirlers (or should I say group of little twirlers?!?) were asked to be in a Christmas lighting parade. Jaiden did a very good job! Of course, we never actually saw her twirl -- nor did we witness the twirlers do the routine they have been practicing for MONTHS now -- but Jaiden waved as she walked by. And she was quite the waver. Ha-ha! At any rate, it was a fun time for all... and the fireworks afterward were the icing on the cake!

Fall party fun

Jaiden's class had their "fall party" not too long ago, and I stopped by to take a few photos... and eat a few snacks. The class had painted pumpkins, and they passed out lots of goodies, which is just what every child needs when he/she has a load of Halloween candy waiting at home!

I'm a TERRIBLE mom!

Yeah... so... it's the first week of November, and my little J has been in school for nearly half the year... And I am just now getting around to posting about her first day of first grade! AGH!
I had to use Mom's camera to take these first-day photos, so I do have a legitimate excuse. The pictures were on her camera. At her house. And I only just yesterday loaded them on my laptop! *sigh... I guess I am still a bad mom. (Or, at the very least, I am a very untimely blogger.)
So. Jaiden is a big first grader now, and she was VERY excited to head out for the first day of school. Since this is year 2, she was very prepared. No fear. Just walked me right to her classroom, waltzed in, found her desk, said "hi" to the other kids and hung up her backpack. I don't recall being quite that self-assured! (And I know I wasn't that well dressed! The early 80s were NOT that kind!)