The blog has fallen by the wayside in favor of facebook, but there are still some things to keep here, I guess.
For example, this year (2010) Aidan informed her kinder prep class that Christmas was not about presents or family, it was about giving. She said, "you all are silly. Christmas is about giving." Her class brainstormed community service projects and organized a canned food drive for Christmas. It seems that the kids were supposed to ask their parents if they could do chores to earn cans of food to bring to school. Aidan conveniently forgot that part of the plan.
Aidan has music in her bones. She can pick up songs and choreography from watching videos, skips in time to the music (with great ballone) and sings all the time. Her improvisational dances are great.
Her comment today, "Mama thinks my ears taste good, but I don't think so."
Her absolute love of everything and anything princess.
That she loves hearing about the union service Christianne and I did and has drawn pictures of it for me to put up in my office.
That she draws pictures of princesses with eyelashes and high heeled shoes.
At her October 2010 assessment, she knew all 11 colors, can count to 20, do simple addition, write her name, say her ABCs, knows at least half of the sounds that the letters make, do basic dressing skills, and her teacher said she is a joy to teach.
That she has started lying - and she's really bad at it (a developmentally appropriate stage).
She is so loving and a snuggle bug.
She loves to take off her clothes and then she complains that she is cold.
That she says she has hair of "Spun Gold."
She is super-excited about our Christmas tree - but isn't crazy about Santa Claus except for the present part.
Santa Claus drives around Ellensburg in a convertible and hands out presents. Aidan saw him and got a parrot puppet.
She is swimming like a fish, including being able to swim on her stomach, roll on to her back to catch a breath, and roll back over and swim on her stomach again. She also uses her arms and can get them out of the water. She does prefer to swim with only her arms or her legs, however.
She's doing gymnastics like a champ too.
Aidan would like to have a medal in both gymnastics and swimming. Actually, I think she wants a big trophy.
She can color inside the lines most of the time.
She uses such big girl sentences.
She is so excited about being a kindergartner next year. (We can hardly believe it!)
She poses like a fashion model.
She is really good at school except for every once in a while when her listening ears fall off. This usually happens for a week at a time. Poor teachers.
Aidan still hates to sleep and has yet to sleep through the night on a regular basis.
She is super cute in her snowsuit.
This September, Aidan and I spent 6 hours at the county fair. Mostly going down slides and through fun houses and eating junk food. Good times!
Aidan moved up to her booster seat this fall.
One day when I was talking to someone named "Robin" on the phone, Aidan overheard me and asked if I was talking to her brother Robbie. It was so sweet and a little heartbreaking too, especially when she said that she misses Robbie.
When I asked Aidan what she thought about God she replied, "Pretty fine."
Sometimes Aidan sounds like she is from Boston and other times like she is from Texas. And other times like a Westcoaster.
She misses the house we lived in when we first moved to Ellensburg.
Her great sense of justice - for herself and others.
That she always wants to bring her friends presents and gifts.
Tonight she says to me, "Do you know how to make chicken fingers and french fries?" I said, "I know how to call for them." She said, "Great!"
That Aidan loves kale chips and will eat by the handful.
She calls her villians "mean ones."
She regularly says in the course of imaginary play, "When a woman says, 'no': NO!" and then has her princess beat up the mean one.
Her favorite knock-knock joke to tell is:
Knock-knock.
Whose there?
Banana.
Banana who?
House! (or whatever other object she sees)
She is an awesome daughter!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Happy Holidays 2010
Happy Snowflakes Christmas
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View the entire collection of cards.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Aidan's First Gymnastics Demonstration Event
Aidan's gymnastic class had an demonstration meet for the preschool-aged classes prior to the intra-squad competition for the older kids. This is Aidan's performance.
Home production of the Nutcracker
Aidan and I danced to the Nutcracker on TV. What a lot of fun! Oh...I forgot to say that I took Aidan to see the Nutcracker in Yakima in December. It was the same company that I danced with many moons ago. It was a lot of fun and she was so excited! We went backstage after it was over and Aidan got to see the sugarplum fairy. She thought that was pretty cool! It was a great mommy-Aidan date while Christianne was visiting back in Dallas.
I'm finally getting around to at least putting some pictures of Aidan up. I'm sorry to be so bad. Things are just so busy!
Aidan is growing by leaps and bounds. She continues to amaze us and those around us. She is being included in the older class during reading lessons at preschool now and her own teacher is working to catch her fine motor skills up to her cognitive skills so Aidan can move up full-time to the older class. She is starting to be able to recognize some sight words. "Is" is her favorite word to read. She can also do "she," "and," and "in" on a pretty consistent basis. Aidan has made some good friends at school and we have, through her, made friends with some great people in their parents. Life in Ellensburg continues to be very good. My job is keeping me way too busy at times but I'm enjoying it most days. Christianne is enjoying having time to get outdoors and do some things, but suffers some cabin fever from working at home all the time. Here are some pictures from various events from the summer and fall.
As the following sampling of pictures shows, Aidan continues to be fiercely fashion forward. She often dresses herself now and enjoys picking out her own clothing. We figure as long as it is warm enough and meets standards of decency, we aren't going to quash her creative side. She LOVES wearing dresses and has finally accepted that in Ellensburg in the winter, this means one has to wear pants under her dresses. At least this means we get longer wear out of those dresses that are beloved, but getting too short!
Aidan loves to Seattle Science Museum. They have a butterfly room, along with many other fun things. Christianne caught this great picture of Aidan and a butterfly there.
Living in an agricultural community means that there are a lot of great festivals in the fall, especially close to Halloween. Here's Aidan picking out a pumpkin. Good thing she is strong! She also participated in her first potato sack race (super cute!) and summersault race - she won that one because she resolutely stuck to doing summersaults while other kids cheated. She was great!
Aidan has discovered a love of cooking. Christianne and Aidan made cookies one night when I had to work late. She was so proud of them! Christianne went to Aidan's school and helped a classroom of 20 preschoolers (ages 3-5) make pumpkin pies from scratch (including the crust) for Thanksgiving. Every child got to take one home. It was yummy!
There is a gym in Yakima that has a subsection called "Kids' Castle" that has a human habitrail for kids to climb around in and slide and all sorts of things. On the weekends, they open up the gymnastic side as well to the kids. Aidan loves to jump in the foam pit! Aidan is taking gymnastic classes here in Ellensburg. She really enjoys them. In October or November, she was moved up from the parent assisted class to the independent class. She is really strong and has some good balance - when she's not checking herself out in the mirror. She is the queen of straddle jumps on the trampoline!
Ellensburg is the county seat so the county fair and rodeo is here every Labor Day weekend. Aidan had quite a bit of fun, especially looking at the horses and other animals. She road the kiddie roller coaster with a friend and loved it for the first 3 times around and then freaked out. Unfortunately, the operator didn't hear her or us asking to stop the ride and she was stuck for another 3 times around, at which point she was quite hysterical. After that experience, she developed a fear of driving over hills. This is a problem when one lives in a mountain valley. It is only this week that she finally seems to have worked it through and understand that the car and the roller coaster are two different things. Poor little girl!
Aidan started ballet classes this fall. They are really creative movement classes with a little introduction to ballet terminology. She really enjoys them. We continue to dance at home and I'm giving her some ideas about steps and skills. She has a great sense of music. Aidan enjoys dancing in the aisle at church and it seems most of the congregation loves it too. Christianne is working on getting licensed in the diocese as well as received into the diocese. She does a bit of supply work at our church here in Ellensburg, which is good for her.
Just a picture of Aidan jumping. The summers here can be hot, but are generally pretty nice. It is great to be able to get outside on a regular basis! We currently have snow, but even it is fun to play in and doesn't shut down the town.
We took Aidan to see The Wiggles when they came to Spokane. She danced in her seat the whole time. This is us playing in the park by the theater. We are practicing our arabesques.
Aidan's school does various special events throughout the year. They had a Hawaiian day this summer. This is Aidan posing for the occasion.
In the summer, we have a great farmer's market. Our local face painter, Len, does amazing work. Aidan would go every week to have her face painted in some new way. This is one of his tamer pictures.
This is just another picture of Aidan jumping 'cause I think it is cute.
We love and miss everyone! I'll try to be better about getting out updates!
Aidan is growing by leaps and bounds. She continues to amaze us and those around us. She is being included in the older class during reading lessons at preschool now and her own teacher is working to catch her fine motor skills up to her cognitive skills so Aidan can move up full-time to the older class. She is starting to be able to recognize some sight words. "Is" is her favorite word to read. She can also do "she," "and," and "in" on a pretty consistent basis. Aidan has made some good friends at school and we have, through her, made friends with some great people in their parents. Life in Ellensburg continues to be very good. My job is keeping me way too busy at times but I'm enjoying it most days. Christianne is enjoying having time to get outdoors and do some things, but suffers some cabin fever from working at home all the time. Here are some pictures from various events from the summer and fall.
As the following sampling of pictures shows, Aidan continues to be fiercely fashion forward. She often dresses herself now and enjoys picking out her own clothing. We figure as long as it is warm enough and meets standards of decency, we aren't going to quash her creative side. She LOVES wearing dresses and has finally accepted that in Ellensburg in the winter, this means one has to wear pants under her dresses. At least this means we get longer wear out of those dresses that are beloved, but getting too short!
Aidan loves to Seattle Science Museum. They have a butterfly room, along with many other fun things. Christianne caught this great picture of Aidan and a butterfly there.
Living in an agricultural community means that there are a lot of great festivals in the fall, especially close to Halloween. Here's Aidan picking out a pumpkin. Good thing she is strong! She also participated in her first potato sack race (super cute!) and summersault race - she won that one because she resolutely stuck to doing summersaults while other kids cheated. She was great!
Aidan has discovered a love of cooking. Christianne and Aidan made cookies one night when I had to work late. She was so proud of them! Christianne went to Aidan's school and helped a classroom of 20 preschoolers (ages 3-5) make pumpkin pies from scratch (including the crust) for Thanksgiving. Every child got to take one home. It was yummy!
There is a gym in Yakima that has a subsection called "Kids' Castle" that has a human habitrail for kids to climb around in and slide and all sorts of things. On the weekends, they open up the gymnastic side as well to the kids. Aidan loves to jump in the foam pit! Aidan is taking gymnastic classes here in Ellensburg. She really enjoys them. In October or November, she was moved up from the parent assisted class to the independent class. She is really strong and has some good balance - when she's not checking herself out in the mirror. She is the queen of straddle jumps on the trampoline!
Ellensburg is the county seat so the county fair and rodeo is here every Labor Day weekend. Aidan had quite a bit of fun, especially looking at the horses and other animals. She road the kiddie roller coaster with a friend and loved it for the first 3 times around and then freaked out. Unfortunately, the operator didn't hear her or us asking to stop the ride and she was stuck for another 3 times around, at which point she was quite hysterical. After that experience, she developed a fear of driving over hills. This is a problem when one lives in a mountain valley. It is only this week that she finally seems to have worked it through and understand that the car and the roller coaster are two different things. Poor little girl!
Aidan started ballet classes this fall. They are really creative movement classes with a little introduction to ballet terminology. She really enjoys them. We continue to dance at home and I'm giving her some ideas about steps and skills. She has a great sense of music. Aidan enjoys dancing in the aisle at church and it seems most of the congregation loves it too. Christianne is working on getting licensed in the diocese as well as received into the diocese. She does a bit of supply work at our church here in Ellensburg, which is good for her.
Just a picture of Aidan jumping. The summers here can be hot, but are generally pretty nice. It is great to be able to get outside on a regular basis! We currently have snow, but even it is fun to play in and doesn't shut down the town.
We took Aidan to see The Wiggles when they came to Spokane. She danced in her seat the whole time. This is us playing in the park by the theater. We are practicing our arabesques.
Aidan's school does various special events throughout the year. They had a Hawaiian day this summer. This is Aidan posing for the occasion.
In the summer, we have a great farmer's market. Our local face painter, Len, does amazing work. Aidan would go every week to have her face painted in some new way. This is one of his tamer pictures.
This is just another picture of Aidan jumping 'cause I think it is cute.
We love and miss everyone! I'll try to be better about getting out updates!
Monday, August 24, 2009
blog slacker
Yes, I am a blog slacker. I've mostly been updating on Facebook lately and neglecting the blog. I'm sorry!
We have settled into life in Ellensburg. We have our routines and things we do, which are great. We love the Farmers Market each Saturday. We often go to the Children's Museum on Saturday's as well. We hit the local swimming pool most weeks so Aidan can work on her swimming - and we hope to wear her out enough that she'll go to sleep without too much fuss. (She still hates to sleep, but only gets up once in the night now). We have gotten rid of the pull-ups entirely and she now sleeps all night in big girl panties. We've only had a couple of accidents since we started this 3 or so weeks ago. She just passed her 3-year check-up with flying colors and also had her first eye exam, complete with dilation. She did great! There are glasses in her future, most likely, but for now, she's seeing as she should. We are excited that she will get to try out ballet classes this fall. It is a trial basis because we are trying her in the 4 year old class instead of the 3 year old class (which meets at a time that only parents who work from home can do). Hopefully, Aidan will not feel frustrated in it and it will work. If not, we'll stop for a year and try again. Aidan also requested to do gymnastics again this fall. We did it for a while in the spring, but the evening classes stop over the summer because it is too hot here (and there is no A/C in the gym). Here are the pictures you were hoping for:
Aidan exploring some career options:
Gymnast
Chef (That's fresh okra in her mouth)
Ballerina
Artist (This is a picture of Christianne. We gave Aidan some clues about what to include, but she drew it herself.)
Some pictures from our trip to Spokane to see The Wiggles:
Playing in the park after the show
Practice her arabesque
Ice cream cupcake after the show
Speaking of cupcakes...Aidan wanted to make "Ming-Ming Cupcakes" (a character from the "Wonder Pets." (Ming-Ming is a duckling that wears a flight helmet.) Here are some pictues of the process:
Working on frosting
Concentrating really hard
Happy with her work
The finished product
The chef
Aidan's school had a talent show last week. For the younger children, they did a fashion show for which each child got to pick their favorite dress-up costume. Aidan was Snow White.
Opening number
Snow white
We have settled into life in Ellensburg. We have our routines and things we do, which are great. We love the Farmers Market each Saturday. We often go to the Children's Museum on Saturday's as well. We hit the local swimming pool most weeks so Aidan can work on her swimming - and we hope to wear her out enough that she'll go to sleep without too much fuss. (She still hates to sleep, but only gets up once in the night now). We have gotten rid of the pull-ups entirely and she now sleeps all night in big girl panties. We've only had a couple of accidents since we started this 3 or so weeks ago. She just passed her 3-year check-up with flying colors and also had her first eye exam, complete with dilation. She did great! There are glasses in her future, most likely, but for now, she's seeing as she should. We are excited that she will get to try out ballet classes this fall. It is a trial basis because we are trying her in the 4 year old class instead of the 3 year old class (which meets at a time that only parents who work from home can do). Hopefully, Aidan will not feel frustrated in it and it will work. If not, we'll stop for a year and try again. Aidan also requested to do gymnastics again this fall. We did it for a while in the spring, but the evening classes stop over the summer because it is too hot here (and there is no A/C in the gym). Here are the pictures you were hoping for:
Aidan exploring some career options:
Gymnast
Chef (That's fresh okra in her mouth)
Ballerina
Artist (This is a picture of Christianne. We gave Aidan some clues about what to include, but she drew it herself.)
Some pictures from our trip to Spokane to see The Wiggles:
Playing in the park after the show
Practice her arabesque
Ice cream cupcake after the show
Speaking of cupcakes...Aidan wanted to make "Ming-Ming Cupcakes" (a character from the "Wonder Pets." (Ming-Ming is a duckling that wears a flight helmet.) Here are some pictues of the process:
Working on frosting
Concentrating really hard
Happy with her work
The finished product
The chef
Aidan's school had a talent show last week. For the younger children, they did a fashion show for which each child got to pick their favorite dress-up costume. Aidan was Snow White.
Opening number
Snow white
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