5 and a Half

Sydney just had her latest half birthday.  We planned a full day, doing pretty much exactly what she wanted for the Saturday after her official half birthday on May 2nd.  The day included the Nature Center, the Children's Museum, Olive Garden, Kaleidoscope Toys, and then the indoor pool.

My sweet baby girl is 5 and a half!

Seeing how big she is getting and thinking about Elementary school starting in the fall has gotten me thinking.  Having a public blog about preschoolers doesn't seem the least bit problematic to me.  Keeping up with two blogs while the kids were little and doing such different things was also not problematic.  As they get older, I expect more and more activities and less and less time to record them.  I also can't see putting pictures of any of Sydney's school activities or the friends she makes there on a public blog space.

So this is the last "More Than a City in Australia" post.  A new, private, family blog is coming in time for the summer activities.  John's blog will stay active, with letters from his mama to him as long as it feels necessary or until he, too, is no longer a preschooler.  "More Than a City in Australia" will stay open for a while, maybe as long as Blogger will let me.  I'm just not going to be adding anything new here.

Sydney's preschool years have been so fun.  I am looking forward to this summer, the summer before she starts Kindergarten, as a real bonding time.  I am also looking forward to all of the school milestones that next year, and the years to come will bring.

 

Thanks for following our Sydney adventures!  We look forward to many more adventures in the years to come!

Red Poppy Festival 2012

This past weekend was the Red Poppy Festival.  I love, love, love being in Georgetown for so many reasons.  The downtown events just really remind me of how blessed we are to be living in this community.

We got there just in time for the last half of the car parade.

Then we walked around the square, looking at all of the booths, getting food, taking pictures.

We stopped at one of the stages and Sydney became really entranced by the ballet and tap performances.  She sat and watched from start to finish, about five dances.  John joined her at the end.

After the performances, the Fords joined us.  It was very exciting to get to see Mrs. Ford, Mr. Ford, Sabrina AND the puppies.

We walked around some more and then took our requisite group picture.

Soon it was getting a little hot for John and Sabrina.  We took a water break and then headed home.

The only thing we didn't do was the kids' section.  The lines for the bounce houses and train were just too long.  Sydney was okay with it, but John was so very disappointed.  We realized driving to church, though, that the festival was still open on Sunday, so after church we walked over and did the bounce houses and train.

 We weren't prepared for picture taking, but Jeremy's phone did a fine job.

I was glad we went back and think we may make a point to go after church next year.

Notes on the Sermon

We have had Sydney in church with us since the Sunday she was baptized, November 19, 2006... at two weeks old.

It hasn't always been easy.  Some Sundays I question whether we are making the right choice.  One Sunday a lady was quite rude to us.  Most Sundays I have had to redirect many, many times to get the behavior I want.

But when my five year old stands on the pew to sing the Doxology and the Gloria Patri, when she can say the Lord's Prayer, when I hear "Our Father Who Art in Heaven" in her sweet voice, I see the fruits of this labor.

On Sunday, I was taking notes on the sermon and Sydney whispered to me, asking what I was doing.  I explained and then told her that she, too could take notes.

I directed her to listen for words and phrases that she understood and then to draw them.  I suggested that she circle recurring themes.

These are her first sermon notes, taken at the age of five, four months before she will start Kindergarten.  I am so very proud of her.

The sermon was primarily about prayer and she did catch that the word "prayer" kept being said, so she circled it three times.

I also thought she should know how to spell God, so I told her that one.  I thought it was interesting to see what she drew when she drew God.  It looks like a little girl to me, but on the page you can see that God is bigger than the other figures.  She also drew a rectangle body for both God and the older woman that a little girl is helping while the rest of the figures are children and have triangle bodies.

She also drew a soccer ball and cookies because there was an anecdote about some boys playing soccer being offered cookies.

I love that she did this and cannot wait to see how her notes grow and change as she does.

Raccoon is not the boss.

Sydney is looking for her stuffed raccoon.

Daddy comes in and says, "Where are you raccoon?"

Sydney, in a raccoon voice, "Don't worry about it.  Sydney will find me."

Sydney, in her own voice, "Just keep searching Daddy.  Raccoon's not the boss."

The Earning Potential of Ivory

Over a month ago, Sydney first noticed that she had a loose tooth.  She was very sensitive about the idea of pulling it, so we had a lot of time to decide some things.

We knew we weren't going to do the whole Tooth Fairy thing, but even as Sydney admitted that she thought the Tooth Fairy probably wasn't real, she did ask if she would still get money like her friends.

Would she, indeed?

I remember the excitement of the dollar and the calculated earning potential of a mouthful of baby teeth and I wanted to give her the dollar, but with what intention?

Why does the Tooth Fairy hand out money anyway?

What does it mean to lose teeth?

Well, it means growing up.

So I thought about our current system of rewards verses responsibilities.  We have toys in the china cabinet that Sydney and John can earn through a sticker chart.  All of Sydney's toys cost 8 stickers and currently, John's cost 2 but will soon be going up in price.  Some of those toys are $5 toys and some of them are $9 toys.

Jeremy and I decided that losing baby teeth meant being old enough for an allowance.  We decided on a dollar a week based on nothing more than our desire to teach her monetary responsibility.  She still has to clean the playroom and her own room when asked.  The dollar isn't really for doing those tasks... those are just the things she is responsible for in the family.  Additional tasks, though, like mopping the floors, can earn additional dollars.

And she can buy whatever she wants... including Barbies.


If she wants them badly enough to spend her own money, then she can have them.

We gave her $5 for the first tooth and $1 for the second and all subsequent teeth.

The original loose tooth.  Right in front on the bottom.

Painting her own piggie bank... which is shaped like a peace sign.

Sydney did all of the first coats and I went over all of it for the second and third coats.

1st Lost Tooth -- Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012

2nd Lost Tooth -- right next to the first one -- April 11, 2012

Sydney and her Tooth Money Bank

I'm glad to have linked the losing of teeth to the acquiring of more responsibility and independence.  I'm glad to have decided that her allowance is based on wanting her to learn financial responsibility, not that she is paid for expected chores or paid to do her part for the family.

She still has her original piggy bank that is the piggy bank equivalent of savings.  I want to teach her to look at her money monthly to decide how much to put into savings.  I also want to teach her to decide each week how much to take for the offering plate at church.  It's the five year old equivalent to how Jeremy manages our money.

Jeremy is such a good steward and I want our kids to learn that from him.

He is Risen

He is Risen, Indeed!

I love Easter.  I love sharing the message of the risen Christ with my kids.  I love sharing the fellowship of the holiday with my friends.

We started Easter Sunday at the 8:30 service.  I had taken the kids up to St. John's for Eater pictures over Spring Break so I wouldn't have to worry about it on Easter Sunday.

I thought the pictures came out really well and was very proud of both children.

I really enjoyed the choir at the Easter service... one of the drawbacks of attending the 8:30 service is only have the chancel choir singing on special Sundays.  The message of Christ coming for all and our responsibility to be witnesses to the Easter story, either directly or indirectly, was a good one.

After church, we went to have brunch at Wildfire, on the square at then on to the house to do Easter baskets.  This year, I had the idea of doing Ladybug Girl themed baskets... Ladybug Girl for Sydney and Bumblebee Boy for John.

 The kids loved them!

 

 

I loved how adorable my own Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy turned out to be!

By the time we were done with our Easter baskets, our friends had arrived for the third annual egg hunt.

This year, in addition to Abigail, Emelia and Sean and their parents and Ava and her brother and parents, we also invited the Edmistons, Elizabeth and Jeff and their adult son Jake, who often works in the church nursery. 

The adults alternated between following the kids around with cameras and helpful suggestions about egg hunting and sitting around chatting amongst themselves.

Sydney found the golden egg this year, with the prize sticker and grand five dollar cash prize.

The prizes this year were lego sets, which Abigail, Emelia and Sydney immediately set about putting together, once inside.

Ava, John and Sean continued playing outside while the adults sat around visiting.  Jake and Ava's brother, Andrew, played video games.  Mostly, it was the perfect, relaxed, kids having fun, adults having fun kind of holiday experience that I was wanting.

Easter is a holiday that I remember sharing with my family as a child growing up and I am so grateful for my friends who are like a family to me, to share it with, three years running.  I know my own family in Houston wonders sometimes what I expect to do about giving my kids traditions and the sense of family living so far away from blood relatives.  It's hard to overcome distance from family, but with friends like the ones I have here in Georgetown, I feel that my kids can enjoy the people with whom they share genetics as often as we are able and they still get to have family for all of the important holidays.

Red Poppy Pictures