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Andrew is reading! [video]

Last winter and spring, Andrew was smitten…obsessed one might even say…with learning his letters.  He spent lots of time writing letters and copying words on his easel.  He went through workbooks at a furious pace. Then over the summer, the passion faded, and nary a letter has been seen.  It’s all fine with me! Whatever interests a youngster at the moment is a good thing to explore.

While he hasn’t been writing, Andrew has been working on reading.  When we were at Carleton for my 10th reunion in June, we picked up a book by Mo Willems called Are You Ready to Play Outside?

Thanks to my friend Mandee for introducing me to the world of Mo Willems, we are now good friends with Knuffle Bunny and the Pigeon.  The Elephant and Piggy books are a series of early reader book, and Andrew loves them.  He devours them.  And I think they’re pretty great too.

It’s really amazing for me to watch Andrew’s reading skills growing as he learns more vocabulary and increases his confidence.

Here’s a video I took of Andrew a couple weeks ago.  We’re in the library parking lot.  Andrew wanted to start reading a book right away (but he wanted me there to help when he gets stuck.  Sometimes he gets a little panicky when he gets stuck on a word).  So I video taped him.  Enjoy!

[flickr video=3907675256]

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First day of preschool and first full day of daycare

Sylvia and Andrew both have exciting days today.  Maybe the one who is the most excited is me!

Andrew’s at preschool for his first day today.  It’s a shortened day (only 2 hours), but I waved goodbye to him at the classroom door and watched him head in to play with his new teachers and classmates.  He was wearing a slightly stained shirt along with shamrock socks (that would probably fit Sylvia) and his flip flops.  Flip flops and socks are an odd combo.  He wouldn’t budge.  Other kids came in looking quite dapper and “first day of schoolish.”  Andrew’s not one to let the prevailing winds of decorum guide his fashion sense.  Heck, he still wears his undies backwards to be silly!  At least he mostly now wears his shirts and pants forwards!

Sylvia is at Donna’s (an in-home daycare) for her first full day today.  She’s been going to Donna’s on Wednesday mornings since March, and today (and Wednesdays in the future) she will stay all the way until 4pm.  Yayyy!  I think she’ll do well.  She waved and talked to me through the window as I left.  She’s a sweet girl.

layoutI’m the new treasurer on the Monona Grove Nursery School’s board of directors, and that’s taken up quite a bit of time.  I’ve been going through paperwork, getting signed up with the banks, learning Quickbooks, meeting with people to go over procedures, and writing lots of checks.

Now I feel like I have two jobs – photography and treasurer – to keep me busy with any free time that comes my way!

Hope your day is a good one!  I’ll look forward to hearing how Andrew likes his new class!

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Raspberry cake

When Maretta and Kyle were visiting last weekend, we took an outing to Blue Skies Farm.  I had miss-read their website and didn’t realize that they were actually closed on Saturday (they sell at the Farmer’s Market that morning).  However, the owners were amazingly sweet, and they let us go ahead and roam the fields and pick what was available.  We came home with three brimming pints of berries.

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That afternoon, Maretta and I made a raspberry cake from her new William Sonoma cake cookbook.  We made a genoise cake with a rasberry and whipping cream filling.  It was good.

Cooking and spending time with my sister was even better than the cake, though.  Thanks for coming down to visit, guys!

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Andrew’s orientation day at preschool [Video]

Andrew had a 15 minute orientation at his preschool today.  He rode his bike to school, where he met his new teachers, Gail and Debbie.  He’ll be in the same classroom where he was in Sue and Emily’s classroom last year.  There are a handful of children in his class that he knows, and he’s really excited about the whole thing!

Here’s a quick video of the budderoo as he heads off.

[flickr video=3901416430]

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Sunflowers

Did you know that I love sunflowers?  I really do.  And this year, I’ve got a big mess of them growing in my back yard.  Here are some pictures to brighten your day.

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The sunflowers – yellow and brown – are full of American Goldfinches – yellow and black – and of bumble bees – yellow and black.  It’s like a moving, chirping, buzzing work of art.  In the picture below, there are actually four or five birds but all abut two are hiding.

IMG_1793 Continue reading “Sunflowers”

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Owls

In the past few years, we’ve had Great Horned owls nesting in our neighborhood.  They’re amazing birds, and I feel so grateful that they’re hooting near our home.  This past month, we’ve seen lots of the adults and lots of the juveniles.  The babies still screech instead of hoot, but other than that, they look a lot like their parents.

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This guy here spread his wings out wide as if to intimidate me.

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We have lots of owl feathers on the ground in the neighborhood.  You can tell they are from owls because they’re so fluffy.  The downy-ness of their feathers helps make their flight silent – the easier to eat you, my dear!

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This one is jumping off his perch and flying away.  I don’t think he liked me taking his picture very much!

Last spring, the owlets fell out of the tree.  You can read about that saga here.  I wonder if one of the parents this year is little Hooter!

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Sylvia dresses up

Sylvia just walked in the room.  She’s wearing a long blue dress, her yellow petal-filled tutu, a pink sun hat, a red ladybug boot on one foot, a purple croc on the other foot, and a yellow basting brush waving in her hand.  And she’s quite proud.

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Shopping with my sister

Maretta and Kyle are in town for the weekend! It’s been such fun to spend the last couple days with them. We haven’t seen much of them in the last year it feel like. They live up in St. Paul, and compared to when Maretta, say, lived at home, I don’t get to spend as much time in her company!

So this spur-of-the-moment visit was most welcome. I’m glad we had no Labor Day weekend plans!

Bryan went golfing this morning, and Maretta and I got to take off for the afternoon – heading to Hilldale for some therapy sister-shopping. I love shopping with my sister! It’s kind of like shopping with my mom. Maretta and I had a leisurely three hours to spend hanging out together. For most of the trip, we didn’t purchase anything. But I found a couple items I love and need to share.

The first are these beautiful shoes.  Love. I love them.  Love love love.  I tried them on and gazed upon them.  I love their stitching and their redness and their spunk. mmmm

A while later, as I was looking for a new non-diaper bag purse, I ran across this beauty.  I love all the pockets and the size and the stitching.  I think I’m in to stitching on red leather today.

So I restrained myself, which is a good thing, because these would be ridiculous purchases.  But I know that some of my readers are lovers of shoes and bags, so enjoy!  And let me know if there are items that you’ve been coveting!

We don’t have plans for tomorrow.  I’m looking forward to having Bryan home.  It’s kind of the last day of summer. We’ll be enjoying this beautiful weather, I think!

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Roald Dahl and E.B. White

Andrew and I have been enjoying reading some lovely chapter books together recently.  We just finished James and the Giant Peach, which was great fun.  What a silly story!  This morning, we started reading The Trumpet of the Swan, and we’re both really enjoying it.

I looked for Stewart Little at the library, but it was out.  I think we’ll read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and maybe Danny, Champion of the World soon.  We read Farmer Boy last winter, and that was quite a hit.

Do you have any suggestions for good books to read aloud to a four-year-old?