And so it begins....

A birthday gift that took her hours to make!

Gretchen had a spectacular luau with a bounce house, three different swimming pools, 30 kids and their parents in our back yard.  It was a hectic day so I didn't get many pictures this year.  Gretchen got a lot of craft things for her birthday.  Crowns, stencils, jewelry and magic wands even to make at home.  I know it we'll be able to finally give her something to do when she says "I'm bored, I want to make something....".

Fireworks

For the second year in a row, we spent the 4th of July at Six Flags.  The boys missed the fireworks at the end but we awake the rest of the time.  Gretchen watched the fireworks but did not stay awake for the short drive home from Great America.  All in all they had a great time.  They can ride so many things now that we have really gotten our money's worth.  A down side is eating at the park.  We have been getting away with bringing in food for the boys but it's not always easy.  The best deal is the popcorn bucket for $6 that you can refill all year long for a $1 each time.  We had to buy two buckets since all five of us kill the first bucket really quickly... 

First Time at the Taste!

I try to schedule some time for just me and Gretchen every summer.  Usually we hit Great America or the Children's Museum but this year we did something different...  I took her to the Taste of Chicago.  We parked in Skokie and took the train (CTA not Metra) into the city.  She was very excited... We got to the city too early for the taste so we hit Harold Washington's library.  Gretchen's eyes popped open at the size of it.  The children's wing/section was larger than the library in our town.  I think we could have spent more time there but she was hungry.  I didn't push her too hard on being adventurous but she did pretty good for a five year old.  She had Italian ice (duh...), egg rolls, pizza, pad thai, chocolate covered banana, cheesecake and ribs.  Steve was close by at a training so he joined us for lunch.  Between the three of us we had a good variety of food.  After that we headed over to the place I promised months ago we could revisit:  the water fountain/glass block sculptures on Michigan Ave by the Art Institute. 
I had to beg Gretchen not to get all wet but she still kind of did... Her and at least a dozen other kids....  She wanted to come back the next day but I had to say no....







Hee!

The end of Five

June has been a big month for Gretchen already and it's only the 6th day!  She graduated from Kindergarten last week with her friends at LECC.  I have posted many pictures of the big event.  This past weekend was her big dance show.  Even though she pouted and threw fits about how boring dance is (it's the same dance every week!!!), she looks fairly happy in the makeup and costumes.  She told me quite firmly on the way home she needed a break from dance.  To reward her hard work we let her be the first one to take the polar bear plunge in our unheated swimming pool.  She didn't seem to mind at all so joke's on us!  Tonight was her end of year scout ceremony.  She is still a Daisy with her friend Phoebe but she was proud to wear her uniform and proceed to ask the scout leader during the actual bridging if they were the only two Daisies left in her troop (there are as of now).  This weekend, at her request, she is starting karate.  Should be interesting.......

Aloha my friends

The school year is winding down and Gretchen is about to graduate from Kindergarten.  We are very excited for her and I'm of course scared since she won't be going to private school but our local public elementary so it will all be new for us as well. New teachers, new routines, etc. etc.  We have been working this winter to get Gretchen evaluated by the district for special education services since she has visual motor integration problems that really impact her current schoolwork and confidence.  She told her teachers that her eyes don't work like the other kids' eyes (that made me sad somehow).  I think she needs more help that we are currently getting (30 sessions a year of OT).   She is doing well in dance - her big recital is coming up June 5th!  Graduation is June 2nd so the next month will be a busy one.  I think we will be able to relax a bit around June 7th......

I started planning her birthday party and she has selected a Luau theme.  I let her pick out the decorations and goody bag things.  We have set the party for July 9th so mark it on the calendar.  It should be fun.  I bought her a Hawaiian dress on eBay and she is quite smitten.  She picked out a grass skirt too so she can be a hula girl!

Looking forward to summer and all the fun it brings!

The little Daisy

Since I was a girl scout, I have been patiently waiting for the time when I could get Gretchen into scouts.  I didn't start until I was 8 yrs old but then I stayed all through Senior scouts.  I remembered being a little embarrassed in high school because none of my friends were still in scouts.  It took some time to find a troop in our area but Gretchen finally started Daisy scouts in January.  Many of you dear readers were nice enough to purchase cookies from her and we thank you!  I don't know how long it will last but she enjoys the meetings, hanging out with her friend Phoebe (she's the only girl from her class that is in this troop) and she likes the arts and crafts projects they do.  Often she asks me if we can do an "arts and crafts project" usually at the most inopportune time like when the boys are screaming to eat or we're trying to get them down for a nap.  It's hard being the big sister sometimes....

I believe in him!

This was the year that Santa really sunk into Gretchen's psyche in my opinion.  She "got it" last year (at age four) but this year she seemed really sure.  More than once she said to me "I believe in him" and would point at the Santa snow globe on our table.  It was very, very busy five or six weeks.  Gretchen was in a school program, a dance recital and a church Christmas pageant.  We spent a lot of our holiday break doing Gretchen stuff - we went to the Museum of Science and Industry and the Art Institute.  We baked cookies and made ornaments for gifts.  We saw Santa at the Lions Pancake Breakfast.  We played in the snow.  We watched lots of holiday movies and cartoons.  We sang carols and took lots of pictures.  Not that previous years were bad but this was the first year I think she's really going to remember.  She is going to connect swedish meatballs and tamales to Christmas.  She knows Tres Leches cake is only for New Years.  She will expect to go to a museum or similar institution over the holiday break.  She'll know this time of years means fun!  The boys aren't quite there yet but when they are, Gretchen will be an old pro!  Hope everyone had a great holiday!  There are links to pictures and videos on the blog.

Gretchen's Dance Recital

We need a sailor!

Gretchen has gotten into the spirit of giving this year.  She told me that we have to have all of the sailors over because they have nowhere to go and nothing to eat.  I told her I would consider it but that we already had quite a few people coming for Thanksgiving.  She agreed to give food to the food pantry.  This has been a theme lately that I think comes from church and the Character Counts program at school.  It's nice to know that some of those things are sinking into her brain!  On the flipside of that however, her wish list for Santa is pretty long (I let her circle whatever she wanted in the toy catalog).  I am impressed that she has stuck to the same top two items that she will request from Santa - I keep trying to tempt her with other stuff but she never sways....  I posted some new videos - see this one of her choir singing at church and  her on Halloween.

Halloween and Other Scary Stories

We had a very busy October....  Gretchen's school has a parents group that hosts an annual Halloween party so almost every Tuesday we had a meeting about the party in October.  Then on Wednesday Gretchen has dance class and library story time back to back.  And.... we went to Fright Fest three times I think....  We were busy....  I'm still tired from October!  Anyhow, Gretchen was Hello Kitty for Halloween.  I found a cute winter hat and a sparkly pink jumper on eBay for the costume.  It was a step up from last year's purchased Wonder Woman costume.  Because of the school party, I also dressed up as a witch to appease the girl.  I'm not much into costumes but she really enjoyed the it so that made it fun.  We also hit the Milwaukee Zoo for their Halloween Spectacular - we didn't get much candy but Steve and I pushed the kids over the entire zoo looking for it!  Every year, Steve and I take turns trick-or-treating with Gretchen and every year, we cover a bit more ground.  This year we covered more houses than ever but our poor child was exhausted!  Steve took the boys out as well but they only made it for a few of our neighbors.  All in all, it was a lot of fun.  We are gearing up now for Thanksgiving!  Gobble, Gobble!  (of course, more pictures are here if you're interested plus a fun video of Evan and Gretchen).

Test Your Limits

Gretchen is doing okay in her new Kindergarten class.  The teachers have already noticed how hard it is to get her to write.  She is very stubborn and needs to be coached.  We are going to make her write more regularly at home but she is very stubborn.  She is also testing out the disciplinary limits at school.  They go "on deck" (which really means time out) for not listening, telling the teacher no, talking too much, etc.  For more serious infractions, they go from Green to Yellow to Red.  This week Gretchen has been on deck every day.  Last night I asked her why she can't be a good listener at school. She said "Mommy, I would but I have to do what my head tells me to." Later she told me "and sometimes, it tells me to do bad stuff". Sigh.....

1st Day of Kindergarten

Gretchen started Kindergarten today.  She's attending the same school that she has been going to for the last year since they have a full day private Kindergarten program.  It was very nice of the director to rent out a school bus today and pick up the kids at some stops in the neighborhood since they don't normally do pickup.  We waited with several other nervous young ladies but you can't tell in the picture what they might be worried about.  I have been reading books about kindergarten to Gretchen for the last month but none of them help the tears that swelled up in my eyes as I watched the bus drive away.  Sigh.....  Here are pictures from today!