Beatrice turns 4 take 2!

last sunday Beatrice turned 4. she is very 4 now. we had her party at a local gym that is set up well for young kids. somewhat intimate and great activities planned for the kids to do. they did a disappearing island game. (musical chairs where no one looses you just have to cram more & more kids in hula hoop/ islands as they become less and less in number until finally you have all the kids trying to stand inside one hoop) they had an obstacle course and a balance beam course.

B had a great time. she got to hang and swing and there was even a harness to hook into and jump doing backflips on the trampoline. B went home and immediately figured out how to hang from her trapeze bar on the swing set. "look mom. no hands" she also decided this week that she would write her name. she has to look at it written out but she does an acceptable copy job.

At her parent/teacher conference i found out that she is practically ready for kindergarden. she is reportedly very advanced emotionally.

below is B with the infamous coca cola cake. before it was demolished. this did not stay around a week!

here she is flying like tinkerbell!

while i'm posting video...

Phoebe is our singer of songs.

wonder when we can start the voice lessons...

today you girls stayed with John and Alida while we went to a parent/teacher conference.

They reported to me that Phoebe loves to sing and dance. she had John dancing to show tunes and reported that she had to have an apple to "keep her energy up" Beatrice is quite a puzzler. they have great old wooden puzzles that Beatrice just seems to know how to put them together. not a picture to go by or any guide at all. (B is also writing her whole name now and can copy what others write.)

Viv just started writing and drawing. and without asking for spelling wrote out their names. quite impressive.

speaking of impressive. Ms. Bliss says V is so good with her math skills and with language stuff. often in the afternoon when they are doing projects of their own choosing, V likes to sit at the story table and write. we have also noticed a big interest in that area at home. it is so much fun to watch them figure things out.

our little dancer

Beatrice is quite the entertainer. she is very martha graham i've decided.

a special message

V wrote a lovely message on the magnadoodle.

translation:

l love my sisters mom dad.

(she writes this or some form of it quite a bit)

birthday take one

We celebrated Beatrice with her preschool class yesterday. they had cupcakes which B helped to make and V helped frost/decorate. (mostly ate frosting but did a wicked good job putting the flowers on top.)

we showed up with the cupcakes as the kids were getting up from their nap. the cupcakes helped motivate a bit but there were still grumpy ones. then they had to wait, yes wait, for the treat while they ate their healthy snack- which as one of the preschoolers pointed out, wasn't exactly healthy. (cheetos and the like) then after V and B passed out the plates and cupcakes, the song was sung and no prisoners were left behind. (except for one for Will, my waistline is saved for another day)

decorating eggs

i had to make a special trip saturday to the store to get white eggs. i forgot to plan ahead and only had brown ones in the house. don't think the brown ones dye very well. you girls were very patient while waiting for the eggs to cool down. who knew you had to have cool eggs to decorate. at some point in my motherhood, i will actually plan ahead.

Viv, you are becoming very competent assistant and helpful especially when it comes to a special project. thank you. this year at school has done wonders in many ways for you. you follow direction better and like to teach your sisters. you also have become pretty good at writing stories. you really like to write stuff. the words are not spelled perfectly and it takes quite a bit of guesswork sometimes but the "stories" are fun and i like them. the illustrations always rock.

Beatrice you are becoming very good with your drawing. I have the best collection of mama portraits ever. and i'm evolving in the drawings every day. i finally have arms and a body. it's the best.

Phoebe you are very good at coloring and drawing. you make great straight lines and seem to like the color blue at the moment.

here are my little artists in action. it's a bit lengthy so you can get the whole process. after all, art is all about the process. scratch that. apparently the video is too long so i can't load it. i'll try to edit it and then add later... here's the short story.

easter egg "hunt"

we met up with the Easter bunny in the park yesterday. Viv, you and Sophie ran right up to him. Beatrice had to be coaxed just to stand in the picture frame and Phoebe needed to be bolstered -by mom.

words cannot describe the ridiculousness of what i did with you girls yesterday. we had fun. the video speaks for itself. (as you can see, Sophie joined us for the momentous event) please excuse the video quality. at times i forgot i was holding a camera. obviously, i am not a film maker, i'm an historian/hysterian at best. it does, however, capture the feel of the event...