Not one, but TWO Students of the Month!

Shorty after I posted last, we found out that Grace was named Proactive Student of the Month for her class as well. They finally posted her photo on the bulletin board. Check it out!

School News

We've got 9 weeks of school in the record books. We've had our first report cards. We've done our first real "project". We are getting in to this whole school routine -- and let me tell you ... it's BUSY. I'm not talking busy every now and again. We are BUSY all the time!

Some days I feel like I've been standing in one place, spinning around and around and around. I'm dizzy with busy! My head spins daily! But, we are having a blast with our girls!

Chris and I make an awesome team with this. We occasionally high five each other while we're racing through the house getting whatever's next ready to go -- be it kid, project, dinner -- we've become some kind of well oiled machine. The down side is, when we finally fall on the couch at about 10 o'clock at night, we just look at each other and say -- "oh yeah, you live here too!". Note to self: find an occasional date night in the midst of all the chaos that is our lives right now.

In spite of busy, the girls are exceptional students! Both report cards prove it. We are so proud of them!

We had our first real classrooom work project to do (see photo). Maggie had to get her family together to decorate a turkey. It had to be a family project. Everyone needed to participate. We all had fun doing it. Maggie wanted to make the belly red felt with Cheerio feathers and wanted green construction paper feathers in the plume. Grace wanted orange construction paper feathers and wanted the bottom feathers to be little pom poms. I wanted fall leaves scattered on the construction paper feathers so that it had some fluff to it. Chris wanted to handle the head and the wings -- and he picked the pink eye -- since it seems to run in the family. Lots. Grace had the idea for the pipe cleaner feet and I made those. Maggie wanted a pipe cleaner beak. I made that as well. The girls glued everything on. And Maggie added a hat with a flower. A true family effort!

Maggie was also featured on the school bulletin board for being her class' Proactive Kid (see photo).

Grace and I are going to be hitting up the craft store soon. Since I was homeroom parent for Maggie's class Harvest Celebration, I'm going to be a guest in Grace's class to do a Thanksgiving craft with all the kids. She is very excited about this -- and so am I. It's such a blessing to be able to do these things with and for my kids.

Halloween 2010

We had a great Halloween with the girls! Grace was Strawberry Shortcake, while Mags called up her inner superhero and was the all hot pink Supergirl!

They had a great time trick-or-treating! For the first year, I had trouble keeping up with them. They RAN from house to house -- not skipping anyone. They scored so much candy that Grace's bucket handle broke! It was so much fun watching them.

Gearing up for Trick or Treat, it was a busy day. The school's Harvest Festival was that day as well -- and I'm a homeroom parent. So, the early part of the day was spent at the school setting up for games and crafts. The whole school had a costume parade through our neighborhood. I made sure I was home for that. But as soon as the girls passed by the house, I ran back to the school to finish up, so the party would be ready to roll once they all got back from the parade.

Our little goblins had a great day, so all the hard work was worth it!

Enjoy these pictures!

Rockin' Kindergarten

The girls rocked kindergarten today with (one of their many) KISS t-shirts. Now those HTE folks can see how the Dickerson girls roll ... :)

Both Grace and Maggie are LOVING kindergarten. They both love their teachers, they are both making lots of new friends. And, they are learning so much!

Hurricane Town Elementary is a Go Global school. This means they embrace another culture, teach it and teach its language. The school's culture is Japanese. So, in kindergarten, the girls are learning about Japanese culture and, yes, can already speak a little Japanese! Boy, has elementary school changed in the 35 years since I've been there!

As far as English-based learning goes, the girls are reading sentences now! And, they are doing some math. I am amazed at how far they've come in just a month of school.

Also, extracurricular activities have started again. Dance officially started last week. Maggie has decided she really wants to be a Daisy with the Girl Scouts. Grace is undecided on that, but wants to take guitar lessons. And, Maggie is still in speech at Marshall University one time a week. Needless to say, we stay super busy. But, we love every minute of this time with our girls!

Enjoy these photos!

First Day of Kindergarten

Well, it's official. The girls are officially school-aged kids. *sigh*

They seem to like it. Maggie seems slightly more excited about it than Grace at the moment. They are in separate classes and Grace wishes she were in with Maggie.

Maggie has perceivably the more fun teacher, better classroom and friends from the neighborhood and t-ball in her class. Grace has a classroom that's maybe not quite as colorful -- and there is not a child in the class she knows. I thought that if it had to go down that way, Grace in the all-new-kids class would be the way to go. She's never had a problem making friends! But, she is having a problem this time around. She talks about a couple kids in her class, but at recess all she wants to do is go find Maggie and play with the friends she already knows or new friends Maggie has made. And, her little eyes seem a little sad every day when Maggie excitedly talks about her day. Grace will tell us a couple things, but she is not bursting with the excitement that Maggie is showing. It makes a mom's heart hurt! I want her to come home, super-happy with her day and tell me she made the best friend ever and she loves her class. But so far, that's not happening.

There were four sets of twins that started Hurricane Town Elementary this year. The administration decided to split them all up, citing reports of better end results. I understand this and was totally okay with it since they split them all up. However, recently, I learned that they kept one set together. I am hoping it's temporary, because they are bringing a 4th kindergarten teacher in for overflow kids. Grace is only accepting it because "that's the way it is with twins". But, if she figures out there's a set together, she's going to really be upset.

For now I'm just hoping that each day I see more and more excitement on her face. She IS very focused on learning. And, she does LOVE her teacher.

Both girls are starting to read a few more words. This is so exciting for them. Both teachers follow the same curriculum using the same books (but a little different teaching styles) so they can talk about the things they learned together. They have special words each week to concentrate on -- these words are sent home on Friday and they use them excessively in the classroom and ask you to use them at home daily. We are doing that. I also tuck a little post-it note or cute, simple picture I draw for them in their lunchbox every day along with a Hershey's kiss. This week is the first week for these "popcorn words", so I've been using them. They are easing them in to it with just two words this week. The words are I and AM. They can already read the words LOVE and MOMMY -- so I just add one or two words to the note and they try to sound it out or let their teacher read it to them. Yesterday's note was I AM THINKING OF YOU! LOVE MOMMY. Today's note was I AM PROUD OF YOU! LOVE MOMMY. It's fun to hear them read the note back to me when they get home from school! ;)

Look at my very grown up looking girls heading out to kindergarten!

Newport Aquarium & Kings Island

We recently took a fun little trip to Newport Aquarium in Kentucky and then hopped on over to Kings Island and Boomerang Bay for more fun.

On the walk to the Aquarium entrance, the girls met a real mermaid who gave them a magic stone! Then they enjoyed seeing all the big fish displays and petting a few starfish and crabs. They also enjoyed trying to get a bird to land on their arms in the rainforest -- and playing in the rainforest themed indoor playground. After the aquarium, we got a fun bite to eat at Johnny Rockets -- and then a clown on stilts made some balloon animals for them. It was a fun afternoon!

Of course a big highlight for them, always, is checking in to the hotel and checking out the pool. For hours. So, we swam until late -- then crashed in preparation for our day at Kings Island.

Our day started out early with breakfast with Snoopy and his friends. Then we spent the rest of our morning at Planet Snoopy on all the fun rides. The hot afternoon was spent at Boomerang Bay at a few of the kid themed water areas and pools. Then, back to Planet Snoopy and International Street for the rest of the evening. We did catch a Snoopy on Ice show while there and the girls absolutely LOVED how that dog can ice skate!

We left around 8 o'clock, stuffed Snoopy and Lucy in hand, and two tiny girls were asleep shortly after. They slept most of the way home, which always makes for a faster trip.

Enjoy these photos!

Creek

This past Sunday morning, we decided to take the girls to Ritter Park (Maggie calls it Critter Park). The girls wanted to picnic with doughnuts and fruit and play on the awesome Alice and Wonderland themed children's playground they have there. After our picnic and much playing, we decided to take a walk to a bridge we could see in the distance.

It was so pretty -- creek babbling, ducks swimming, nice flat rocks for skipping... I remember playing in the creek for HOURS when I was a little girl. So, when my girls asked if we could make our trek down to the creek and play around, I was very excited to say, "of course!" We discovered a crawdad, saw little fish, watched the ducks and skipped some rocks. That was all fun, but the one thing they really wanted to do was GET IN! So, clothes, shoes and all, I told them to go for it. After all, that's what being a kid in the summertime is all about, right?!

Above are some photos we snapped of the girls creek excursion. Enjoy!

And the Back Swim

They are also starting to learn how to swim on their backs!

Even more swim ...

Here are two new videos that show just how far the girls can swim. It's more than half the length of the pool!

Swim Lessons 2010

It's that time of year again. Time for screaming, crying, kicking and throwing up -- all because my girls don't want to go to swim lessons. For two years, they have a pool in the backyard that they can easily stay in from morning until nighttime. They can't wait to come home and get in the pool on school days. It's the first thing they think about when they get up in the mornings. And, when they are in it, they swim under water the entire length of the pool AND use the ladder as a diving board to cannonball into 4 feet of water. Yet swim lessons is something that TERRIFIES them. Well, until this year.

This year, I'm unfamiliar with the two little beings who show up for swim lessons, all smiles. There are no tears, no threats to throw up. The first day, midway through, two heads pop up from the side of the pool and shout, "Hey mom, do we get to do this again tomorrow! It's so much fun!" These strangers gladly jump off the diving board and say that THAT is their favorite part! They willingly jump in 10-12 feet of water and happily swim to the side -- on their own!

Even the swim instructors can't believe the turn-around. Charles (who Maggie seems to be crushing on) says they are GREAT little swimmers. I couldn't agree more!

Enjoy these videos from Day 2 of swim lessons!

Izzy has a twin!

Izzy has a twin! We noticed that she looks a whole lot like Donkey on Shrek! We had saltine crackers and we were sticking them in her mouth to try to make it look like she had a waffle in her mouth -- just like the Donkey toy sitting on her crate. But, she was eating them way to fast to snap a photo!

Look at those ears! LOL!

A Day with Daddy

We decided to officially move the girls to part time daycare for the summer, taking them out completely beginning August 2. However, at about the same time, I decided to change my work schedule to the new school schedule I'd planned to start once the girls started kindergarten. The girls go to daycare Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I work Monday-Thursday, but only until 1:30 or 2. This means Monday mornings are Daddy mornings -- and Daddy works once I get home!

Chris was optimistic that he'd get, at least, a little bit done work-wise with me not there. But I think he seriously underestimated our girls. He popped a movie in for them, sat in the floor and started to work. Next thing he knew, they were spraying weird stuff in his hair, pretending to cut it and giving him just the right hair clip accessory!

Something tells me Chris will be working mostly evenings on Mondays through the summer! ;)

Princess Pirate

This is so Maggie. :)

Graduation Day

Grace and Maggie graduated from Kings Way Christian Educare last night! Look at our big girls! The preschool had a cap and gown ceremony. It was very well done.

The kids got actual diplomas -- a BA in Nursery Rhymes. The stage was set with art all representing Mother Goose nursery rhymes. The kids recited about a dozen in all. I remember talking with Miss Barb early on when they started her class and nursery rhymes are very near and dear to her. She's read many reports stating that if a child knows at least 7 before kindergarten, they perform so much better in reading and spelling, etc. Well, they know way more than 7 and we are thrilled!

The teachers led the group in -- Even Miss Barb and Miss Cathy had their commencement robes on. All the kids were paired up and two by two they walked down the walkway in the auditorium and on to the stage while Pomp and Circumstance played, stopping for photo ops along the way. Once on stage, they led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, recited their nursery rhymes and then, one by one, came to the microphone to say what they wanted to be when they grew up.

One little girl wanted to be the Tooth Fairy. Another wanted to be Ariel. Then there was a princess and a fighter. The boys wanted to be race car drivers and soldiers. My two little girls, always different, said a doctor (Grace) and a vet (Maggie) respectively. I guess we should start saving for college now!

Next came a slide show set to music by Billy Dean "Let them be Little". I will post the lyrics at the end of this entry. Needless to say, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. The slideshow featured baby pictures and now pictures. The kids all sat in the audience and while the parents cried, they laughed and pointed at each other, getting very excited when it was their turn to be on the big screen.

After the slideshow, each student was called back on stage, one at a time, to be presented with their diploma. After the last student was called, the whole group was back on the risers and ready for their photo op -- but not before Grace said her closing line. "We've been standing still for a long, long time and we've gone about our limit. But if you'd like to take some pictures, we'll be still for one more minute!" She did so well saying her line!

After the ceremony, we were invited to the Worship Center for cake and punch. Along the walk down the hall to get there, they had a gallery of artwork set up that the kids had done. Everything was so cute. In the reception room, there was more art and birth certificates that the children had made. These were hilarious! On Grace's, she said she was 23lbs and 7 inches long at birth. Mommy was 14 and Daddy was 16 when we had her! Maggie was 7 lbs and 8 feet long on her birth certificate. And she filled in that Mommy was 14 and Daddy was 40 when we had her!

It was all so well done. The girls got to keep their tassles. Kings Way had framed photos of each child in their cap and gown and presented the parents with this gift.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a preschool graduation. This one was short and sweet -- but very well done. Perfectly done, actually. The kids were very proud to be there. With every event we share with Kings Way, we are reminded how lucky we are that our kids are a part of such a loving daycare and preschool family. We couldn't have made a better decision for them 5 years ago.

Enjoy the photos of the new grads!

Let Them Be Little lyrics

I can remember when you fit in the palm of my hand.

You felt so good in it; no bigger than a minute.

How it amazes me you're changin' with every blink.

Faster than a flower blooms, they grow up all too soon.

So let them be little,'Cause they're only that way for a while.

Give 'em hope, give them praise,Give them love every day.

Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,Let 'em sleep in the middle,Oh, but let them be little.

I never felt so much in one little tender touch.

I live for those kisses, your prayers an' your wishes.

An' now you're teachin' me how only a child can see.

Tonight, while we're on our knees, all I ask is:

Please, let them be little,'Cause they're only that way for a while.

Give them hope, give them praise,Give them love every day.

Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,Let 'em sleep in the middle,Oh, but let them be little.

The so innocent, precious soul:You turn around, an' it's time to let them go.

So let them be little,'Cause they're only that way for a while.

Give them hope, give 'em praise,Give them love every day.

Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,Let them sleep in the middle,Oh, but let them be little.

Let them be little.

Graduation Day

How can it be possible that my little girls are graduating preschool today? Wasn't it just yesterday that they came into this world and turned my life upside down? One look at those faces, and I knew I was in trouble. Next thing I knew, I up and quit the job I'd known for 15 years, just to be with them more. Sleep became a novelty, not a necessity. And people started running from me, the crazy woman who talks about her twin girls nonstop!

It does not seem possible that these teenie, tiny baby girls are ready for kindergarten. Because I'm not ready for them to grow up. But then again, have I told you about how pretty and smart my girls are? They're really gonna knock 'em dead in kindergarten!

Happy Graduation Day baby girls!

Cheese Dip, Salsa, Guacamole, Blueberry?

Really, you never can predict what your children may come up with next!

On the way to school the other morning, the girls were laughing and giggling -- occasionally and somewhat randomly shouting out, "Cheese Dip!" or "Salsa!". Or "Cheese Dip, Cheese Dip!" After a few minutes of this, their Dad asked them why they were shouting those things out.

Their response, "It's a new game we just came up with Daddy! When we see a white car, we shout "Cheese Dip!" and when we see a red car we shout, "Salsa!" They thought this was the greatest game ever invented. And, it IS pretty clever for a couple of newly turned 5 year olds!

Shortly after their explanation, a green car passed them. Without missing a beat, their Dad shouted, "Guacamole!" The girls about peed their pants laughing at that one.

Apparently, the game has been extended to other colors of cars now -- and other types of foods. Just last night I heard "Blueberry!" Cue hysterical giggles ...

The Twins Turn 5 at Disney World!

Since it will take me a very long time to sort through the 950 photos and 2 tapes worth of video that we took (yes, we are THOSE parents), I thought I'd give folks a sneak preview of the fun we had at Disney World the week of the girls' 5th birthday!

What 5 year old wouldn't like 5 days at Mickey Mouse's main stomping ground for their birthday celebration? For that matter, what 39 year old wouldn't love it?? We all had an awesome time! We visited all the biggies -- Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Disney Hollywood and Epcot. We danced and sang with new, giant friends (and one tiny one, Tinkerbell) witnessed an awesome night parade and fireworks show and rode so many fun rides!

Every day we had a character meet and greet over lunch, dinner or breakfast. On the day of the girls actual birthday, we had breakfast at the Royal Table in Cinderella's castle! It was beautiful! The girls dressed in their princess gear and got to meet all the princesses -- even the Fairy Godmother! That evening, we had dinner at Chef Mickey's with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Pluto! They even delivered a birthday cake to each girl, presented in a pink treasure chest to take home! Tinkerbell personally serenaded them with "Happy Arrival Day".

It was all truly an experience to remember. How special for them -- for all of us. The girls even took their first airplane ride for the experience!

Here are a few photos to share. I'm working as fast as I can to manage all the photos down to a more reasonable amount to share with everyone. In the meantime, look at the faces in these photos and you'll see just how magical our celebration was!