Odds and Ends

Favorite funny from last Sunday. We were at church and Patsy the instructor was talking about Jesus and his disciples. We were explaining that Jesus's disciples were like his helpers. Lily exclaimed, "Just like Santa's elves". That's my girl!

We had our first conference with Lily's teacher on Monday. Ms. Oland said Lily is doing fabulous. She has already completed most of the objectives for Pre-K. She is likely to begin bringing home one-word reading books! Very exciting. Ms. Oland showed us the test results and we learned something new and interesting about our beautiful princess. When given an oral/auditory test she doesn't always comprehend and know how to answer the questions. But given a visual cue and something to manipulate, she rocks the answer every time! So obvious she is a visual/kinesthetic learner.

Ms. Oland said overall she is a good listener. She occasionally needs reminders to follow directions and is sometimes silly, but once re-directed she follows directions. Socially she is doing well, she is hanging out with both boys and girls. She spends a lot of time with two other little girls in her "reading group". Her teacher reported that she sometimes can be bossy and doesn't like to share, but of course, that was no surprise here!

That's our girl!

Yesterday Lily received her first Pre-K report card. She is doing great. Looks like she is developing right on track. There were two items of interest though that take me back to the core of who she is. Mostly she received satisfactory marks for most behaviors and efforts, but she received two outstanding marks for her willingness to try new things and her ability to adapt to new situations. I thought doesn't that typify her. She has truly been an amazing little person. In her young little life, she bounced to 3 different foster homes, changed countries, learned a new language, makes friends with everyone. Truly amazing! I wish we all could be as flexible and adaptable as her!

Also before I forget Lily has a new vocabulary word for nightmares. She calls them sleep stories.

Gussied Up

Today I told Lily that we had to leave the house to vote. She replied, "Wait I have to go put my lipstick on!"

Later on, we were in Kohl's in the bathroom and there was a full-length mirror...she of course had to appraise herself before we left the bathroom!

Too funny!

Lily world

Lily has been super fun lately...truly the light of our lives.

A few weeks ago she came home from school and told Daddy, that she couldn't marry him anymore because she was going to marry Hunter (a boy in her class)

The other day she told me she was no longer going to marry Hunter because she was going to marry Neil (another boy in her class) Apparently Neil asked her to play with him...that made him marriage material!

I shared with her that she might want to consider the single life for a while!

Her teacher tested her in school and said she was a "smarty" pants in a good way. I am very excited for her parent-teacher conference to hear how she is doing.

She seems like school. She has come home with lots of new songs, and talks about her friends and her favorite centers.

Tales from School

So have begun the tales from school.

1. Lily reported that she fell asleep on the school bus earlier this week

2. Last week, Lily reported that she had a bad day at school because she had to put her head down on her desk. Apparently, she screamed at Cain because he took a toy from her.

3. Lastly, yesterday Lily reported that Makayla was calling her mean things and throwing (pretend) sticks at her.

Oh such is life in Pre-K

First day of school!

Riding the school bus home!

A teary mommy!

Arriving to school

Getting ready to go!

Today Lily began her first day of "real" school at Liberty Elementary Pre-K. The teachers came to our home earlier in the week and today we dropped her off with 1/2 of her class and she rode the school bus home. Before school, she said she didn't want to go, later we asked her why and she said she thought there would be monsters there. Happily, by the end of the day, she exclaimed, that she liked school. I took the morning off work so I could "experience" Lily's first day with her. I am really glad I did...however, I did not expect to feel so emotional about it all! I guess it is a big milestone in life!

Creciendo

Hay muchas cosas que crecen crecen crecen...

This has been Lily's summer of growth. Up until now, she has been pretty consistent with her sizes and her age. When she was 2 she wore 2T, when she was 3, she wore 3T, etc...but this summer...man...she has sprouted....some of her 4T has gotten too small:) Yet in my mind, she is too little for either 5T or little girls 4/5 clothes. She grew out of her footwear in a blink! Her little toes are hanging out of her shoes that were way too big when the summer started!

Of course, mama is a little sad...who would think her changing clothing sizes would invoke an emotional response:)

Exciting for the fall...Lily got accepted into the public school pre-K program. We are all very excited. She gets to ride the school bus like a big girl....oh man....letting go...