Happy Graduation Lizzy!

Wow, today was a big day! It started out this morning in Frankie's 1st grade class, with a slide show of their year, popcorn and awards for each child. Of course it was set to music, which always makes me tear up. What a great year he has had with Mrs. G., especially learning to read!! For the awards, Frankie got "best listener"; he is such a good, easy going kid! In the afternoon, we attended Lizzy's moving up ceremony from 5th grade to middle school!! Time flies so fast! They sang some beautiful songs, each of the 3 5th grade teachers spoke and the certificates were given out. A slide show capped off the event, more tears for me. : ) To see the pics of them in kindergarten and now, how much they have grown. Lizzy has grown into a young lady who is smart, kind and loving! It was a wonderful ceremony and day, topped off soon with dinner out to celebrate!

The Beauty of the Vioiln

The bow gliding over the violin, producing a melodious sound, reminds me of my childhood. My grandfather, "Pa", played the violin since he was a boy, and I remember hearing him play when I was young. It was always so mesmerising and brought me a feeling of contentment. He didn't bring it out too often, so it was a special treat.

Friday, Elizabeth had her violin recital at the Westwood High School, where she and the other students each played a solo. She played "Bingo", and did very well. All the children were impressive in their skills, some playing a solo for the first time. Others songs included, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" and "Snake Charmer". The finale, which included all the students, was "Frere Jacques". I was impressed, as always, with how well each student does, and how much hard work takes place to prepare.

Elizabeth's violin teacher puts in a lot of hard work all year, as well. I could see her routing for each student and willing them to hit each note! After the recital, everyone brought snacks and enjoyed the food and the good company!

As I was sitting listening to all these young students play, I was taken back to my childhood and thought of Pa playing his violin all those years ago. Since he has passed away, it is comforting to have Elizabeth playing to remind me of those wonderful memories.

If you get a chance to see a Westwood musical performance, please do. I have been impressed with all the concerts I have attended. There will be an "All Strings" concert on Wednesday, June 1st at 7 p.m. at Westwood High School.

Lizzy's Synchro!

Lizzy had her first synchronized skating competition yesterday!! Her team came in 4th place and got medals too, they were very happy for their first competition of the season!
I was impressed with their speed and difficulty of some of the maneuvers. I think they will only get better with time. I could see Lizzy doing very well as part of the team with her strong stroking and attention to detail, as far as foot position, edges, etc. Great Job!

Lizzy sings in the Church Chorus

Lizzy started rehearsing with our church's children's chorus last month, she loves it! She really enjoys singing. She sang at her first Mass last weekend! There were only 4 girls up there, she did great! It makes me so glad that she wants to sing in church and get up there and do it! She is full of spunk and is also so loving to others!

Happy 2010!!

Wow, it has been SO long!! 2009 was a HARD year, so I am looking forward to 2010 being better! With Frankie's surgery last year, his recovery, IEP stuff, Aunt Fran's brain tumor, and the passing of Grandma, is was a sad year. I pretty much forgot about blogging. But I am going to try very hard to get back into it this year!

Frankie loves his preschool! He is in the same school he started at the end of last year, with the same teachers! They are talking about pets now. They were supposed to bring in a stuffed pet to play in the classroom with; dog, cat, etc. Since he likes Curious George so much, mostly all of his animals are monkeys! : ) So he wound up bringing in a meerkat!

Lizzy loves school too! She is in second grade and skates, does ballet, plays the violin and basketball!

Motto Lotto

I am always proud of the kids, but I was especially proud of Lizzy today. Her school has a special motto, "Work hard, do the right thing and be your best self". They sometimes have assemblies with the whole school called "Motto Lotto", where they talk about examples of the motto, etc.
Lizzy planned, with some of her classmates, a Motto Team and they came up with a motto challenge in the lunch room. Tables that are living the motto for the week, will get a special privilege on the last day. It will start out with just first grade next week, and then the whole school. She came home with what she will say to the whole school on Monday, to present the idea. Her and 5 classmates will get up and get to use the microphone too! She has been practicing her part all evening, she is so proud and she seems soooooooo grown up! : )

Lizzy and Frankie

I am always so happy to see Lizzy and Frankie together and the bond that they have! We were talking about college with Lizzy and we were saying how Frankie would be in high school when's she's in college and would miss her. She said she would go somewhere close by so she could come home and drive him to Vellos (his favorite restaurant)! So cute and caring!! : )
She has been helping me get him to eat too. She tells hm to launch his food up in the air and then put it in his mouth! Seems to do the trick!

"Hammah Ontana"

This is just too cute! Lizzy, being 7, loves Hannah Montana. So she talks about her, sings her songs and has a poster. Frankie, of course, picks up on this and now says, "hammah ontana" when he sees her. : ) It makes me laugh.

Homework for First Graders

Lizzy has started her homework this week for first grade. Today she had a math game, which we played together this afternoon. She also has a reading log, where she needs to read or be read to for 15 minutes each day. While she is participating and doing the homework, I feel the reminding her to do it and keeping track of it falls to me. Which is just funny, how much of the younger grades' homework contains a lot of parent participation. I think it is beneficial for the students, but the parents are an integral part. It does help us to be diligent to read each day. We have always read a lot, yet this makes sure we read each for 15 minutes or more. Frankie gets involved because he loves to listen to Lizzy read each day!

Happy 7th Birthday, Lizzy!!

Lizzy turned 7 today! It was a great day, and it is hard to believe how big she is getting and how much older. She seems so much more independent lately.
She got an America girl doll that looks like her, complete with glasses, she loves the doll named Lizzy. : )
Things that made me happy today:
Lizzy turning 7
Lizzy loving her doll
Apple picking on a beautiful fall day
Teaching Lizzy to ride her 2 wheeler
Apple dumplings with ice cream
Frankie singing "Happy Birthday" to Lizzy.

Counting to Three

I was impressed today, Frankie counted the 3 stickers he had put on his baby. He pointed to each one and said the number, using one to one correspondence. I was surprised that he could point to each one and count it, it made me happy!
He is always surprising me! As is Lizzy, she takes her own shower now, puts herself to bed and mostly gets herself all ready in the morning. It seems as if she grew up overnight!
Today's happy list:
Lizzy reading to Frankie
Lizzy setting up her cradle, with blanket and pillow, in Frankie's room for his baby. : )
Playing outside
Eating with the kids at Vello's
Booking some Discovery Toys parties.

The Best of Days, The Worst of Days

Today was Lizzy's first day of first grade and she loved it! She came home a bit tired and hot, so we went out to dinner to the Red Robin, and she lost her tooth. She was so excited and the waitress gave her a Red Robin pin! The restaurant has good food (burgers) and is very kid friendly, complete with a balloon as you leave.
When we got home, Lizzy asked me if the tooth fairy was real or if I took the teeth. I asked her what she thought and she said that I was the tooth fairy. I said yes and she is so upset!! I feel so bad!! Since she asked outright, I wanted to tell her the truth, but it would have been more fun to keep pretending and she would have been happy. I hope I did the right thing!
I don't know what's going to happen with Santa this year!

Back to School

Lizzy and Frankie have been playing together so nicely lately. He is actually at an age where he can play with her more and they entertain each other! It is nice!
Tomorrow is Lizzy's first day of first grade! He is going to miss her a lot. It is always an adjustmet for me too, when she goes back to school. I miss having her to talk to! But first grade should be an exciting year! I keep telling her that I learned to read in first grade, and she says, "I already know how to read!" I know she will do well.

Growing Up

Lizzy left with my parents today to spend the week at their house. She has done this for the past 2 summers. She was so excited! I was a little concerned that Frankie would be quite upset to see her go. He was OK till they were pulling out of the driveway, then he said he wanted to go in the car. He has been asking for her and Ghee and Pa all day. I made him a photo album of all of them to look at in the morning.
So he is doing pretty well, but I miss her already. I know she will have a great time, have fun and get to do lots of cool stuff! But it is funny to tuck Frankie in at night and not her. I guess it's part of her growing up!!

Reflections on Lizzy

It is amazing how fast time goes. Lizzy will be 7 in September and starting first grade! Some days I cannot believe how big and grown up she is. She helps around the house and is a great helper with Frankie, making sure he does not get into mischief around the house. She can jump in the deep end and swim all the way across the pool.
I was looking at pictures of when we went to Disney World when she was 3, and she looked sooo little, it was amazing. I'm sure I'll have more to say when she does turn 7, and starts first grade. But I will enjoy the summer in the meantime. : )

Siblings

I was in my EI parent group today, while Frankie was at his class; and a mom was talking about her twins and asking about potty training one at a time. The facilitator of the class mentioned that she was also a twin and how close she is to here sister.
It just got me thinking about how close Lizzy and Frankie are. I am amazed some days by their love for one another. While she is away at school, or now camp, he asks for her many times. They almost always want to play together when we are at home. She said that it was so great to have Frankie around because then she always has a playdate that does not have to go home! During the school year, she went to the children's mass at church and on topic was about loving God more than anyone else. She said to me, "It is hard to love God more than Frankie". I was so touched and felt that summed up how she feels about him, and vice versa. I told her that loving Frankie was part of loving God, and that is was nice of her to love Frankie so much.
Every day now before his nap and before bed, he will go find her and say, "Night, Lizzy". It is precious. They are always hugging each other and feel bad if one gets hurt.
They do have times where they argue over a toy or something, but I feel so happy with the bond that they have! They enjoy each others company.

A Vivid Imagination

Where does our depth of imagination come from? What helps it to develop?
When we were at Lizzy's parent/teacher conference the other night, her teacher said she has the most vivid imagination she has ever seen in all her years teaching!! I know she loves to imagine and pretend. From a young age, she could entertain herself with making up stories and acting them out with dolls, stuffed animals, etc. She will sit with 2 dolls and make them talk to each other for a long time. She enjoys making up stories, and playing make believe. She has been into leprechauns lately. It was interesting to listen to her teacher and say to myself, "that's Lizzy". : ) She loves reading and listening to stories we read, maybe that has something to do with it.
I wonder how much of an imagination Frankie will have?

Dancing up a Storm

Lizzy brought home a bag with a CD, books and items to dance with; scarf, balls, etc. We had to listen to the CD together as a family and dance! It was quite fun. Lizzy was doing a lot of her ballet moves. Frankie was running around with her and really got into it too. I had to write about it in the parent journal to bring back to school. I wrote about our favorites, what Lizzy and Frankie did and the books we read to go along with it. It got me to thinking about how fun it is just to do simple things together. Kids don't need expensive activites to keep them happy. Dancing up a storm in the living room or climbing the slide in the back yard is great fun and great family bonding!

Random Thoughts on Lizzy

Everyone loves
Lizzy!
Into reading and writing, she is.
Zoos, parks, skating, ballet and soccer she enjoys.
A wonderful daughter and friend to all.
Best big sister to Frankie!
Eats strawberries,
They are her favorite!
Happy is she!

Lizzy is a very happy kindergarten student. She enjoys all kinds of things and likes watching "Hannah Montana" on TV now. She lets Frankie play with most of her toys. She is getting to be a good swimmer and can jump into the deep end and swim to the side! She loves to help around the house and with Frankie. : ) She is well loved!

Lizzy's Eye Appointment

Lizzy had an eye doctor appointment yesterday. She has worn glasses since she was 3 (she is now 6) to correct near sightedness. When she was 3 her eye started to cross outward. Her vision in one eye was about 20/40, while the other was 20/500! (amblyopia). So she wore glasses and then we patched her good eye to make the bad one stronger. We patched most of the day for close to a year and her "bad" eye improved a lot. She still was not using both eyes together (strabismus) and underwent eye muscle surgery. This also helped and she now uses both eyes together and is not cross-eyed.
This past summer, her worse eye slipped to 20/40, so we began patching again. At this last appointment, her eyes were pretty much equal. So we can stop patching for now!
Lizzy loves going to the eye doctor. Dr. Reese is one of the kindest doctors I know. He is never in a rush and answers all your questions. He talks to Lizzy while he is examining her eyes and makes her feel so comfortable. She does not like getting eye drops in her eyes, so he first put them on her hands for her to see them. Now every time we go, even if she does not need drops, she asks for them on her hands. He patiently gives her a variety of colors! They would both still be there if I did not tell her it was time to go!