"Ewwwwwww!"

Pumpkin Carving, Josie Style:

Josie thoroughly enjoyed drawing the face on the pumpkin, helping light the candle, and blow it out at the end of the evening. Here's the part she didn't like:

Fiftieth Day of School

Normally, I'm pretty excited to have the school year under way and routines established in my classroom. This year, things seem to be flying by at top speed and I'm stunned that we are already into the 2nd quarter of the school year. Conferences will exhaust everyone this week but it will also be nice to meet all of our parents for some 1:1 conversations to let them hear how their children are doing in school.

Still, in the back of my mind I know/hope that this will be my last year of job sharing and working part time---financially, it's time. I'm enjoying having the opportunity to help in Josie's classroom and to get to know her classmates and delight in her excitement. Next year I won't have those opportunities if I'm finally working full time and teaching my own class.

So, this week when Josie celebrated her Fiftieth Day of School followed by her first loose tooth, I started to feel sad that time is slipping by too quickly. Whatever next year brings, I hope that Josie will have as much fun as she's having this year and remains enchanted by her teacher, classmates, and school.

Here are some photos from Josie's Sock Hop this week:

First Wiggly Tooth

Josie's been very happy for the few friends who have had wiggly teeth recently. She's heard stories of putting teeth under your pillow at night to find "shiny huge quarters" in the morning. She's been imagining loose teeth in her mouth for weeks but for the first time, she finally has a LEGITIMATE loose tooth! She squealed with delight after brushing her teeth on Thursday when she discovered that she could wiggle that little tooth with her finger. She ran to tell Marilyn, who was staying with us, and then had to call her daddy on the phone to share the excitement with him, too.

Once again, my video skills are worse than poor, but this is still a keeper clip:



Shortly after making the video, Josie began to wonder what it might feel like if she lost a tooth. She burst into tears and was inconsolable at the thought of a tooth falling out of her mouth. She pretty much cried herself to sleep even with all of my reassurance that it really won't hurt and it probably won't even bleed.

Fortunately, when she woke up Friday morning, the excitement had returned and she quickly looked under her pillow to see if the Tooth Fairy had delivered any of those "shiny huge quarters". I explained that she'd actually have to lose the tooth before the Tooth Fairy would visit. Stay tuned...hoping to get some photos of a gap-toothed Josie grin in the next few weeks!

Real Life Consequences

If you choose to send an email that bashes the presidential candidate that I admire without checking the facts, you will get a response from me.



If I sit at the computer typing my response and supporting it with examples and research, then Josie will have some free time on her hands.



If Josie gets 100's of Halloween stickers from her Grandma in the mail AND has free time on her hands while her mom is distracted at the computer, there will be stickers haphazardly placed.



If the large picture windows in the living room are available and already sporting Halloween decorations, they will acquire some haphazardly placed Halloween stickers.

If you're still paying off the large picture windows and don't want to view Halloween stickers for the next few decades, you will spend almost an hour picking stickers off the windows.

If you love your daughter and think she's pretty clever, you'll sweetly tell her that stickers should ONLY be placed on paper.

If you realize that there's humor in the morning's events, you'll take the time to capture it on film and write a blog about it.

Life does have Natural Consequences.

"Kinder" Wisdom

I'm realizing how quickly Josie is making connections to this new world of Kindergarten. She LOVES school and wishes she could erase Saturday & Sunday from the calendar so that she could spend all of her days with her beloved Mrs. Rodgers & friends. She is having the PERFECT first school experience, thanks to an amazing teacher. She's like a sponge soaking up all of the experiences and using the knowledge to help her world make sense.

Here are some samples of this week's Wisdom:

She woke up in the middle of the night Monday and told me that her throat had spider webs in it. When I offered a drink of water she quickly replied, "No, Mommy, it will just get stuck on those spider webs anyway. Maybe if I cough I can make them come out of my throat?"

On the way to school on Tuesday we were talking about eating healthy snacks and getting enough exercise to keep our bodies healthy. I told her I want to start walking more to help me lose weight and feel stronger. She offered this advice, "Yeah, I think if you would just eat some really teeny tiny food it would just make your stomach get smaller and smaller and it will shrink away." When I asked what kind of 'smaller food' she'd suggest she wrinkled her brow, pursed her lips, and looked out the window thoughtfully for a few minutes.

She finally answered, "Maybe you could eat a pea for dinner."

Josie obviously loves being a helper in the classroom. This week she has the stately job of
Chair Stacker. She gets to pick two helpers each day to assist with stacking the kindergarten chairs. Each morning on the way to school we've had to discuss WHO she will pick as her helpers for the day. This morning she realized that she will not be able to pick all of her classmates by the end of the week. This was pretty troubling for such a kind-hearted princess. Finally she said, "It will be okay. I like all of the kids in my class and they know it even if I can't let them all be my helpers."

We now have "jobs" at our house, too:

• Light Monitor~turns on/off the Halloween lights
• Mommy Helper~delivers important things to the mailbox or neighbors
• Weather Person~runs outside to see if we need jackets
• Dog Feeder~dumps dog food in bowls for Bentley & Casey
• Mommy Snuggler~cuddles her mom and helps her turn the pages of the bedtime books

I wonder how long before she realizes that these jobs won't be rotating?

Josie's Top Ten: Ways to Procrastinate Bed Time

10. "I forgot to say Goodnight to Bentley." (after ignoring him all evening)

9. "Look what I can do with my tongue." (stick it out?---Wow, that's talent.)

8. "I have to go to the bathroom one more time." (Please do.)

7. "I'm feeling lonely. I should call my daddy and tell him about my day."

6. "Let me tell you what I want to eat for my snack tomorrow."

5. "I picked a really long book. Let me find a shorter one with more pictures." (who cares if it takes 10 more minutes to find the perfect book)

4. "Did we feed the turtles today?" (right before you decided to say goodnight to Bentley)

3. "I have to go to the bathroom one more time." (yeah...right! How small is your bladder?)

2. "My eyelashes just don't want to close tonight." (good one!)

And the Number One Reason for Procrastinating Going to Bed:

1. "I need one more kiss & a snuggle and then I can fall asleep, Mommy."