An Awesome Day

We had a pretty busy day around here.  Evan and I went to toddler time at the pottery place.  I got a plate big enough to squeeze all 3 handprints on . . . so the plan was to do Evan's and then take the girls back later in the afternoon to add theirs.  All the handprints will turn into turkeys and the plate will say "We are thankful for our family".  Evan did not agree with this plan . . . he was less than thrilled with the idea of me putting paint on his hands.  Now, after 3 kids I have long let go the idea of any "perfect" piece of art . . . however, after 3 kids, I refuse to let a little screaming interfere with a plan!  With the help of some friends and Teddy Grahams, Evan lived through the terror and his handprint got on the damn platter.  Needless to say, the girls art session was a much easier task later in the day!

 

While we were out and about doing that, Jayson chaperoned the first grade field trip to the farm.  Can you tell that someone was a little more than thrilled to have hers be the only Daddy there?

They learned about apples and chickens, went on a hay ride, and had fun just running around the farm and climbing rocks!

After the field trip, Jayson and I met up at the school to attend a meeting with some of the teachers and administrators . . . because we got some pretty awesome news about this little girl . . .

Marlie was tested for the PASS program (program for academically superior students) - needless to say, she was accepted.  Even scoring a 0 on parts of the test that are designed for older kids (the normal testing age is 3rd-4th grade), she still scored high enough in all of the areas to get into the program.  And in scoring on another area of the test they consider 100 the average score, with the wide range being 85-115.  Anything over 130 is labeled "significantly gifted" and the scale tops out at 160 (I am guessing Einstein).  Miss Marlie scored a 144.  So basically she's awesome . . . but I think we kinda knew that anyway. Seriously don't think we could be any more proud of her and what she's achieving - and she is pretty excited to start her program next week.

 

And because she will in no way be following her sister's footsteps, rather blazing her own trail, Samantha is doing pretty freaking great in PreK right now!  I think I forgot to document it, but when we went for her conference we found out her score at the start of the year on the Brigance testing was a 67 (2nd in the class - and average starting point is around 30-40) . . . which means that by the start of kindergarten she will be sporting the same 95/100 that Marlie did (ending score for the finish of kindergarten is expected to be a 90).  She is writing her name like a champ, and the whole thing to, not her nickname - she can already count to 100 - and now she is asking how to spell things and wanting to write stories (that all naturally start with "once upon a time a princess").  I will say school is wearing her out.  For a few days last week she slept an hour or two later than Marlie and Monday night she decided she was ready for bed at 5:15pm and passed out until 7am the next morning!  Can we say not ready to give up her nap?  So she still sleeps for 3 hours on the weekends at naptime.

 

Not to be left behind, Evan is springing words all over the place!  The hot word right now is "open" - as in "open everything I put in front of your face immediately Mom, and use haste when I am talking about the fridge or playdoh!".  He is also just a tiny bit obsessed with Elmo, but terrified of Barney - I can totally live with this.  Oh, and did I mention that he has mastered the skill of opening doors . . . for example, if Mom is occupied with something that is the perfect time to use said skill and get into the pantry and open the container of granola (I once loved you Oxo containers, now you may be the death of me because you are in no way childproof!) and dump it all over the floor.  And just in case that wasn't enough fun, wait until Mom turns around to reach for the dustpan and splatter the freshly swept pile to even greater lengths of the kitchen than you made it to on the first dump! Also, we keep a little potty in the downstairs bathroom because Evan likes to follow me into the bathroom.  Rather than sitting on the stool, I figured, why not sit on the potty?  It was really that easy to train Marlie, or let her train herself as it was. So he sat on the potty last night and knowing that his diaper was just changed, I figured I would take it off and let him sit and show him how to aim it down.  He sat, we sang a song about going pee (do not be jealous, my life is just that glamorous) and then he promptly stood up and immediately peed on the floor.  I guess the upside is the pee song works . . . and maybe that's a sign that we should teach him standing up . . . I haven't figured this one out yet.

 

I think it's just beyond amazing to see these three little people develop.  They are each so different - but they are all so smart and funny in their own ways.  It's really great . . . and there really are no amount of words to express how grateful I am to be here and watch it all . . . and to have the best Dad ever by my side to watch it with!