Quote of the Day

Reagan decided that we should play some music on her stereo for Avery's party on Saturday so we went to the closet to look through some CD's. I handed her a Beach Boys Greatest Hits, a Jazz CD and a Disco CD that came as party favors over the years. She has asked what the purple on was. I told her it was from the 60's and 70's and was Disco music. Her response...

"Disco music. Great I can so square dance to this!"

Reagan Baskin, January 23, 2010

Avery Marie

Avery turns 6 in about an hour. Six. When I tucked her in tonight I asked for one more great hug from a 5 year old. She told me that she would still give good hugs even though she was going go turn six tomorrow. I am glad for that.

I love my Avery Marie. She is sweet, funny, caring, crazy, goofy, quiet and sometime even helpful at home. Her preschool teacher was so correct when she asked me if Avery added the pixie dust to our lives. She does add the magic. I was trying to think about who Avery is at the ripe old age of six and since its late, I decided to take the easy way out and just use the letters in her name. Again wishing I had name the girls something short like Ann and Eve.

A - amusing. When is she not? She most always brings laughter to any group. Even when she does not say a word.

V- valiant. This may be a strong word for someone who clocks in at only 41 pounds. But to be valiant means to be vigorous in body, powerful and strong. Courageous and brave. Most everyone talks about Avery and her great hugs. Strong hugs. She is usually up to try most anything and will take one for the team. I think that is valiant.

E - easy going. Most of the time, she is up for whatever with whomever. Except with Jason and her choice of clothing for any particular day. Oh and as long as she receives three separate meals within one twenty-four hour period then all is well.

R - radiant. At least I think so, dressed up for a day/night on the town or asleep with one corner of her pillow case held in her sweet little hand.

Y - youthful. She just is.

Happy Birthday Avery Marie. You are a joy to so very many and it is an honor to be able to call you mine. I love you. ~ Mom

Just to document the event

I picked up the girls tonight and Reagan informed me that she needed $5 to join the Chess Club, because she went to Chess Club today and loved it. I replied with something sarcastic of course since I have been trying to get her to just try the one club she can join as a First grader since September. September. Of course she tried it 2 weeks before winter break. And apparently she went today because a friend of hers decided to give it a try. I guess beggers can not be choosers. But I still used the event to remind of her of the words spoken in September by one very wise person about the fun that something like Chess Club could be on winter recess days when the highs are only in the mid-twenties.

So we may start to play Chess with the new found favorite game of Uno!

Just a quick note

Not sure that I have passed this on....

On Saturday when I was taking the girls to Stillwater we got behind a car with two ladies in the front seat. They were both wearing large red hats. I mentioned them to the girls and started to tell them about the red hat groups. We decided that they were on their way to a holiday party and eventually got the chance to pass them. As we did I saw that they were waring feather boas as well. Reagan decided that they had to be going to something fancy. I asked Avery what she thought, she replied with "probably so, they have on their glasses and their wrinkles".

I need to add that she does not want me to mention this to anyone...but I think it is too funny not to share.

What happens on a field trip....

Does not always stay on a field trip. Jason picked Reagan up from school today after her field trip. This is what she looked like when I got home and with half of it cleaned up. Most of the first grade class did their own face paint.

She was excited to go on her field trip to the Children's Science Museum, but even more excited when she found out that we were not able to go with her. I asked her how it was, she said it was great and throughout the evening she kept asking me if I wanted to hear about the rest of her day. I also asked her why it was more fun without a parent there....her response was that she was in control.

She does not know, I had a contact inside the school calling me with updates. She just thinks she had all of the control.

Taos trip Feb 09

Here is a little clip of our trip last year to ski in New Mexico. Mostly of Reagan, but you can see Avery in the first few seconds as well as most of the rest of us. This video makes me laugh, everytime, now only if we had video of Avery and her lack of control from the shoulders down.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35ymmf9f8yA&feature=youtube_gdata

First grade math

Just for your viewing pleasure.....take a glimpse at some 1st grade math. Reagan seems to know the answers. Now if I only understood the method.

#6. Which sentences with 5 and 10 tell about the model.

OOOOO
OO

a. 5+2 = 7 c. 3+2= 5
7+3= 10 5+2= 7

b. 5+2= 7 d. 5+0= 5
6+4= 10 2+0= 2


#8 Mel counts 8 ants. Zema counts 5 ants. Which tells how many ants in all?

a. 5+3 = 8
b. 8+2= 10
c. 10+3 = 13
d 10+5 = 15


So who loves first grade math??? Me, not so much. That would be shown by 1 minus the group total. I will work towards a model to show that.

What ever happened to one number plus or minus another is fill in the blank?

Happy Halloween

Here are some pictures of the girls that Mom took on Halloween before our annual trip to Haunt the Zoo. A sweet girl from Kansas and a crazy hippee full of attitude and joined us this year.

Avery's book buddie

Avery came home with a book buddie bag yesterday. This is a big step in the land of Kindergarten. Last week she went to the library and was allowed to actually check out a book and bring it home. So to start the nightly reading homework we witnesses during Reagan's Kindergarten year was a large step for our curly haired, blue eyed friend. She was rather excited. The book was titled "We Go Out." I was in their room working with Reagan on her clothes for today while Avery, who could not wait, started to read. I did not think much of it until I heard her read the following sentence. "We go out to the aquarium." What? Aquarium? I was not even sure how to spell aquarium.

I asked her to read the page again and then asked if she had read that book earlier in class or with Mrs. McRay. She had. Nice try. I chose a page in the middle, covered up the picture and asked her to read. After she guessed at every word of "We go to the pool" wrong, she asked me to let her see the pictures so that she could read it again. She was so proud of herself and so am I, even if she was looking at the pictures.

Rolling on into Tuesday

Our good news continued from Monday and rolled right into Tuesday. Today I picked up Reagan with a great big golden A taped to her shirt. Needless to say she was very excited. Jason and Reagan forgot to take a picture before she changed for bed but here she is with a picture and her A. Their trip to the dentist went well today too. They both came home with another dollar for being in the no cavity club. But we were told that braces are in our future. Whhooo hoooooo.

Whene're You Make a Promise

Reagan and Avery are learning the Girl Scout Law with the rest of the their Daisy friends by learning a story of a magic garden that has flower characters that each represent a part of the Law. Every now and then they surprise me by commenting on that story and set of characters and the morals and or values that they represent. So I know that they are getting it. Getting the story, loving the characters but at the same time absorbing a set of rules to live by. I like this set of rules, I like the Girl Scout Law as well as the Girl Scout Promise and what they stand for. I wish we all lived more like Girls Scouts, or Boy Scouts for that matter. But to my point....I sat through a training class on Saturday for Troop Leaders and during the award luncheon I heard a song that I believe was written in the 1940's that I really liked and will probably end up teaching my own troop. Just because making a promise is important and I think sometimes we all forget that. I think that sometimes I may forget and am thankful that I was able to be reminded. So now I am reminding you.

Whene're you make a promise,
Consider well its importance.
And when made
Engrave it upon your heart.

Not so bad for a Monday

We ended the school day with two, actually three very exciting accomplishments.

Avery was selected as Artist of the Day in her art class today. This honor, with its capital letter A cut in a bright shade of yellow is rather sought after by the Baskin girls who love their new art teacher as much as their art class. Reagan was excited to see the 'A' on Avery's shirt and then reminded me she has made E's on every assignment and is growing a bit impatient. Which is probably why she was not selected as the Terrific kid for last week since the life principle they were working on was Patience. Here is a picture of Avery with the piece that earned her the Golden A. Note the use of color, shapes, lines and apples. All part of the past weeks curriculum.

Reagan had her first spelling test on Friday and her second math test as well. She did great! She missed only one question on her math test, which she mentioned on the way home before I got to take a peek at it. And due to her deciding to go the extra mile on the spelling test and learn the bonus words she came home with a 102%. That is one hundred and two percent!! Spring Spelling Bee here we come!! She has already made her flash cards for this weeks words and was able to do them by herself....so we may be up for a repeat this Friday!

They are so smart and so very creative and I just love everything about them, including their new chic looks.

Your word is: Spelling Test

Well that is actually two words, but today we will enter the world of Spelling Tests. Whooo-hooooo! Reagan will have 10 words each week and 5 bonus words if she so chooses. She told me on Tuesday she would rather not choose the bonus, I informed her that she should to get ready for the spring spelling bee. She then asked if I had ever been in a spelling bee which I have not so I chose not to take this opportunity to tell her about wonderful things like spell check and calculators. I am saving that for another day and then steered the conversation back to how fun spelling can be. So in short we drove home, talked about her day and I lied. That Parent of the Year award is soooo mine.

On top of that she has a math test tomorrow.....she may need the force sent to her. We went over the information for both, she went straight to sleep and now I up with the butterflies.

Wish us all luck. For the tester and the test preper(just made a new word, I wonder if it will be in the spelling bee) oh and for Avery. She has a walkathon tomorrow and will be forced to wear her Nike's which she just hates with a passion. And we all know how particular she is about her wardrobe. We may need luck and a few dozen prayers....

My Bad

Less than 5 hours ago this little phrase entered our world. Thank you elementary school!
We are also living "ha ha, word" which is just as lovely and the word "seriously" thrown in a few hundred times each day. I can not wait for the word "no" to pop up at the end of questions. Like in "do you want to go with us or no?"
I guess these are the times we are living in. Not such bad times overall, seriously.....

Children 1 : parents 0

On the way home from school today I learned that Avery had been to the office with a headache. I asked her what had happened and was told that she went to the office and Jennie told her to take it easy for a while, lay down and then took her temperature. A while later she went back to class. So I asked her how she was feeling now that her school day was over and she said that her head still hurt and that she thought some chocolate cake would make it feel better.....or some Diet Dr Pepper....."just like you had for your headache the other day, remember". As they would say....I was busted.

Quote of the day

"You have to learn to read Avery, it is just part of being in Kindergarten" - Reagan on the way home this evening.

imaginations strike again....

We have been home for about 45 minutes, its cold, rainy and cloudy outside....but inside the girls are playing 'friends' and are going on an 'interview' are dressed up in way too much makeup, fancy up-do's and swimsuits and are having a picnic in the living room.

I wonder what types of jobs they are interviewing for??

One is the loneliest number

One is the loneliest number that you'll ever know.....

This time I took the tooth straight to the box and then straight to the night stand....plus its 9 and bedtime....I think the chances of the Tooth Fairy actually getting this tooth are looking good!

Reagan is going into picture day tomorrow with both of them missing. Let's hope for no retakes!

Why marketing works...

Today Jason went into town and picked up some pizzas from Domino's for us to have at lunch and dinner since we were going to be in a hurry to get to Back to School. A few hours later I went to get the girls from school. Avery got in and before we left the school told me that the car smelled like "a hot and ready". She is so funny. Or since we are talking Little Cesar's maybe I should say she is "funny funny".

Sisters will be sisters

Tonight Jason and I went to Back to School night at Deer Creek....loads of fun.

After the presentation in Reagan's class we stayed to visit with her teacher who had a funny story. She knows Reagan from last year but did not know that she had a sister at the school or who she was. Today both of their classes were out on the playground at the same time for a little while. They were both on some type of climbing toy and Reagan was apparently not going fast enough for Avery and from what we heard from both teachers was that Avery was telling her to move and to hurry up. I guess rather loudly and maybe not so politely. The two teachers were standing close together and Reagan's started to go and 'fix' the problem when Avery's teacher told her that they were sisters and would probably be just fine.

They do not really bicker at home but I guess the life on the playground is a whole other ballgame.

I told them they were "sooo busted". I wonder how many stories like this we will hear over the next nine months.