last day of school. 2013.

Last day of school! Last day of school!

We would have taken some pictures of Laithe too, but he was still sleeping. And then the day just got away from us. It always cracks me up how there is so much fanciness on the first day and then we can barely manage to put on yoga pants and flip flops, let alone brush hair, by the last day.

Here's to a great Kindergarten year and first year of homeschooling. 

Somebody is officially a 1st Grader!

a look back - 

2011-2012

2010-2011

2009-2010

cross that off

Today has been circled on our calendar for awhile.

A kid and parent Rite of Passage.

First kid surgery.

{pre-op, d-r-u-n-k, recovery, new smile}

We discovered Guthrie had some pretty severe tooth problems back in March and today was the day of them getting fixed. We didn't tell a lot of people about this. Both because I'm getting more and more private and whoo boy you would not believe the amount of opinions there are out there about kid's dental hygiene. I mean you probably would if you have been on the receiving end of said opinions. Dental problems have always been associated with neglect, lower socio-economic class, poor diet; it's always someone's fault. It is unfortunate that those stereotypes are still thriving even if rarely accurate. Anyways.

It went well and we could not have been more proud of Guthrie and her courage. She was so nervous. We were so nervous. We are all so very thankful today is over and the circle can become an X.

Right now I'm listening to her recount the surgery to the neighbor kids through the window. It's a funny kind of bragging. First kid on the block to have surgery. Third kid on the block to lose teeth.

Negotiating the pecking order.

There were lots of funny and sweet things that happened today. Some sad and scary things too. I'm hoping the funny and sweet will outweigh the other stuff in Guthrie's memory.

I think it will, she's already told me a couple times that surgery isn't so bad.

Once we were checked in the nurse gave Guthrie some versed to start the sort of amnesiac qualities that they want - so she wouldn't remember leaving us, or getting the nitrous, etc.

The anesthesiologist kept spelling drunk which was funny because given that Guthrie was already acting d-r-u-n-k I don't think she would have even batted an eye let alone asked any questions had she actually used the word.

When the dentist was in the room giving us the final plan Guthrie gigglingly wobbled over to me, clearly ignoring the pamphlet we'd been given on preventing falls, and whisper-yelled "I HAVE TO GO POTTY!" John picked her up to take her to the restroom and they were almost out of the room when she veered out of John's arms, cracks up and yells "I ALMOST PEED ON DADDY! HAHAHA!!"

Oh Guthrie. You will have fun in college! Remind me to tell you about the time I had to pee by a tree during a midnight cross-campus trek. I'm pretty sure I thought my whisper-yelling was stealthy too.

Less fun were the fearful tears - on all our parts - in the hallway as we parted ways, the almost 4 hours of surgery, and the vomiting up blood (I told her it was red from red medicine). But, I think I can safely say Guthrie, you're the first person in our family to vomit in an elevator. Let's hope next time that happens it's because you are actually d-r-u-n-k in the elevator. Ok? That will be more fun, I promise.

We're home, albeit a few hours later than anticipated, and after a 2 hour nap Guthrie is doing well. Shifting between hyper and crying and exhausted and happy. A good night's sleep will do wonders I think. For all of us.

One surprise was that the dentist pulled her two loose bottom teeth - so she wouldn't aspirate on them. He saved them for us so that the tooth fairy could come. Important rites of passage all around.

I was unprepared for how old she would look with missing teeth! Like that time a couple years ago when she got her hair cut and lost what was left of her preschool/toddlerness, this has catapulted her firmly into the realm of grade-schooler. Her tiny lisp is so pronounced now and it is so cute!

We were worried she would be upset at the loss of teeth but she is instead thrilled. She feels super lucky.

Probably because she's already figured out how to push jello out the space where her teeth once were.

self-portraits

Guthrie is a big fan of the remote for my camera.

thank goodness we live in a digital age and I don't even have to bat an eye at the amount of photos she takes!

little house series

We're on our last chapter of By the Shores of Silver Lake in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series; it's all set for bedtime. The last chapter is only about 4 pages, so I'm betting we start the next one before the kids will go to bed willingly. Laithe really wants to read Farmer Boy, but Guthrie is loathe to not hear about Laura. I think the only reason Laithe is keeps asking for it is because there's a boy on the cover. Which, if you must know is the exact reason I never read that one as a child. We did read Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, and On the Banks of Plum Creek though.

We started the series in late October and I'm surprised Guthrie is as in love with it as she is. I tried it about a year ago, maybe right before Guthrie turned 5, and she was not at all interested. I'm so glad I tried again! I'll be super curious to see if she likes the next few - as Laura gets older.

I've been very cautious to not show her too much of Laura's "real life" via the internet or heaven forbid the show. I have nothing against the show at all - in fact I think I've seen every episode. I just really want these characters and the locations to hold a strong space in her imagination for awhile. We did get out the atlas though and trace their journeys. Our trip across the great prairie this fall certainly helped with our imaginations. Having seen that wide open, somewhat barren space in person really set the stage.

I didn't really give the kids any background information about the Ingalls' life - just that they were a family that lived a long time ago. It wasn't until On the Banks of Plum Creek that Guthrie figured out they had no tv or "electrics." I'm not sure what tipped her off. We do frequent an Amish community outside of Iowa City - they have a great grocery store - so I guess it wasn't completely jarring when I talked about lighting lamps and having to use a wood stove to keep warm and traveling by horse and wagon or buggy. Or maybe it just didn't occur to her at all. I didn't question her too much about it.

I have edited out some of the content. I figure my kids have their whole homeschooling career to be taught about massacres and we don't need to start just yet. The racism has been interesting though, as has the corporal punishment, as has ma's requiring Laura to be a teacher. Really I would expect any chapter books we read to bring up subjects that we don't talk about in our every day lives. I would also expect us to be able to have discussions about values and differences of era and the Laura books really fit the bill for that.

Today Guthrie asked me if Ma and Pa ever argued. I said that they do, it just sounds different than when mom and dad do, or when her and Laithe do. She asked why and I talked about how Ma and Pa have a different relationship than mom and dad do and that Pa makes the final decisions in the family many, many times and Ma doesn't question him. She mused that it would be nice if I would just let John make most of the final decisions.

I mused that children should be seen and not heard. Ahem.

I think one of my favorite things about reading the series as a parent is that almost every chapter ends with the family going to bed. The chapter might include a number of days, or even weeks, but it almost always ends with pa getting out his fiddle and singing with the family until bedtime. We almost always read before bedtime and rest time and the few cliff hangers have resulted in excited kids and multiple chapters read, which isn't bad, but every night would be a bit much.

I think I'm going to try and convince Laithe to wait until after The Long Winter to read Farmer Boy because I really want to read it while it's cold, you know? And then maybe Guthrie will be interested in reading about Almanzo and his horses.

Though this totally sounds like a sponsored post it isn't. Although, the bindings on all of my books are falling apart, so if someone would like to make this a sponsored post, I would be all about it!

top 10 - the guthrie addition

I sat down to peruse my year's worth of pictures and was struck by how many self-portraits Guthrie has taken on my iphone this year. Like a billion. Generally I don't know she's taking pictures, but then notice the memory on my phone is getting a little small. I love it though- it's like a little window into her secret life. Goofy secret life that it is. 

and my favorite -- Happy New Year from Guthrie!!

Halloween and 6th Birthday!

A post full of photos is in order! So, Halloween. We had a tiny Batman and a lovely Princess Buttercup - from the Princess Bride. Laithe's wanted to be Batman for like 3 months and John has been reading Princess Bride to the family on and off for a few months now. Once we got the movie Guthrie was sold.

They were super cute if I do say so myself and both costumes have been in heavy rotation since Trick or Treating.

Weekday mornings at Hyvee are realm of little old ladies and stay at home moms and when Guthrie wore her costume to grocery shop I got several approving nods after they complimented her. I guess the presence of water soluble ink marks still on the dress marked that it was homemade? (And not the uneven hemline!) Every year at the 11th hour I question my sanity about homemade costumes. But, well, I do enjoy it and it does kick of the holiday crafty season.

There was not a lick of self-consciousness this year as Guthrie got dressed and I was so thankful - just excitement. And Batman, well, he just owned it.




We did something a little different this year and spent Guthrie's birthday just the 4 of us. 
John took the afternoon off of work and we surprised the kids with a trip to Monkey Joe's. It's a pizza place filled with indoor bounce houses and some games. 
They exhausted themselves completely and we took a drive out to the surrounding farmland before dinner at Guthrie's chosen location - Red Robin. "Because they already know it's my birthday there." And indeed they did! Home for presents and cake. 
She chose a chocolate cake with pink icing and opened presents of legos from her dad and brother - a couple sets, comic books to read with her dad, and a fort kit from me. The legos are a total hit with both kids.

For Guthrie it's all horse stables all the time and for Laithe it is all sword fighting all the time. Sometimes they play more successfully together than others! I'll post about the fort kit later on.
 

Saturday was the family party with my mom and John's parents which was super fun. We've really tried to pare down and simplify and I've noticed that everything has been played with this week where in years past she's been too overwhelmed by the amount of stuff she received. It's a nice change.

She did have two unique presents from out of towners - Grandpa Dave and Grandma Vera sent a balloon bouquet and it's been hours of fun!
Nana Loree sent an empty cranberry juice bottle filled with little presents. It took her a solid half hour to get everything out - such a fun gift!

Thanks everyone for helping Guthrie have such an awesome week!