She Learned her ABC's and 123's

"All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten"

-Robert Fulghum

Kindergarten was a big year for my little girl.  She was so scared to start the year, but settled in, and began to love it. Starting math was a breeze after what I had taught her before school started, and reading has taken off, much to this mom's delight.

There were snacks every day, and we made sure to make ours cute and fun.

She survived the 100th day of school and even had her own fun poster for the parade.

For Dr. Suess day she refused to be something "weird" so she chose to be fox in sox, from Fox in Sox of course.

She even had a tail!

When field day rolled around, she wanted to know what it was.  From my experiences as a child I told her it's a great day of competitions like big kid field and track, with relays, dashes, distance runs, high and long jumps, and distance throwing.  I wasn't sure for her, but in my school there were first, second, and third place ribbons; but for if you didn't place you still got a participation ribbon and could be happy.  She was excited for the event, and hoped she might even place.

Boy was I wrong!  Either they do things different here or they had changed a bit since I was at field day.  There were several events such as stick horse races, little scooter riding, jump roping, parachute play, hurdles, and obstacle courses.  Not a single one was highly competitive, some not at all.  No prizes were given, and no ribbons.  I guess in the name of equality they chose to keep it more of an event day instead of a track and field day.  I personally enjoy a  bit of competition to encourage kids to try their best and learn to be gracious when loosing, but in this was not the case and I guess that's okay too.  She had so much fun with her friends, but was a little sad I had mentioned ribbons, and been a big fat liar.

Sometimes you get bucked off!!!

Her kindergarten class.

Then there was kindergarten graduation, an adorable ceremony  where kids get confused on their cues, sit in the wrong places, and parents gush over their first big accomplishment.

They even performed a few songs.

They sang, "We learned our ABC's and 123's, we learned to get along...now we're going to be a part of it, first grade, first grade." to the tune of New York New York by Frank Sinatra and also sang What a Beautiful World by Louis Armstrong.  Later when I sang it with her, she asked me if I had learned the lyrics to What a Beautiful World when I was in kindergarten also.

One of the biggest disappointments she's had this year was when she turned six this May.  On her birthday, she asks me if she has a loose tooth.  I check, and nothing is wiggling; so I ask if her tooth hurts.  She says, "The dentist said I would loose a tooth when I'm six."  I explained it was likely, but he was referring to sometime during the entire year she is six.  That was not her understanding and she feels jipped. I'll be sure to inform the dentist of his mistake.  :)

Now if she would just stop growing up!!!

Something Old, Something New

  " A new experience can be extremely pleasurable, or extremely irritating, or somewhere in between, and you never know until you try it out."

 -Lemony Snicket

Idaho-Nevada border

 With the closing date on our house in Idaho approaching, John and I had some quick decisions to make.  Our truck had sprung about a hundred leaks and as they fixed one, they had to order a part or hose for another.  With the truck in limbo, we couldn't pull the utility trailer we purchased up to Idaho and clear out the last of our belongings we couldn't part with and couldn't fit in the RV.  Decision:  1) Hire someone to load up our garage, with items still needing a final sorting, and haul it to a storage unit for us; or 2) Rent a vehicle to tow it up at great expense; or 3) Finally get a new vehicle (which John has been wanting to do) as our current car is getting old and haul the trailer up and back with that.

After much procrastination and hoping for the truck to be magically fixed, we decided now or never.  We drove to car lots subjecting ourselves to the flood of pushy salesmen shoving less-than-desirable vehicles upon us.  We finally found a great vehicle to fit the bill and at 9pm Thursday night we signed on a Nissan Armada in blue, a car color I've always wanted.  The next morning John cleared time off with his boss,  I randomly threw clothes and toiletries into suitcases, and by noon we were on the road.

Limited to only a week for travel and time with family, we decided to drive straight through  to Idaho taking the route through Vegas so we would avoid late night bad weather in New Mexico.  At 10pm local time, we paused to say hi to Rob and Donna and then back on the road.  At 3am in Wickenberg, AZ, I took over the wheel for my first time pulling a trailer. I might have over-thought this one; especially being empty it was a piece of cake.  I managed to get us through Vegas where John once again took over. Yep I drove 4 of the 29 hours.  I honestly could have taken us further, but John always takes the lead, or the wheel (pun intended).

About 80 miles south of Ely, NV , as we expected, we encountered a storm system rolling in with ferocity.  The remainder of the trip was fraught with several bouts of extreme weather, but fortunately spaced by clear roads and great weather.  In the end we made it through slowly but safely despite bad drivers and arrived home in Idaho for the last time.

Immediately we were greeted by family as Chrissy and Brandon brought over dinner, a welcome treat after hours on the road.  Over the next several days we camped out in our house, not having any furniture, and spent many great hours catching up with family and friends.  Many of them treated us to wonderful meals and entertainment.  It was so great to spend time with everyone.

Zoey's little goat friends hadn't forgotten her, and she was excited to give them one last goodbye snack.

The Magic Valley still had patches of white snow, which Zoey found perfect for a little snowball fight with mom.

 We managed a swift trip with Chrissy and Brandon to Miracle Hot Springs, which was beautifully renovate, and a drive through the Snake River Canyon along the beautiful Kelly Orchard area. It was great to be visiting old friends and old haunts.

With the garage cleared, we spent one last night in the home where Zoey was born and reached so many childhood milestones.

We set off early Friday morning towards home; although not as early as expected since the newly hooked up trailer brake system had been improperly repaired by the previous owner, causing the brakes to activate when the lights were on. After an hour of trouble shooting John solved the problem and we were off. (Raw wires were crossed.)  I admit Zoey and I both shed a few tears leaving our beautiful home in Idaho.

Driving into Vegas, John found he had a day to spare, so we decided to enjoy the evening in Vegas.  We walked the strip and included a quick stop at the Coca-Cola Store for a Coca-Cola around the world tour.  Zoey really appreciated the street performers and their costumes, something she was oblivious to before.

Hungry for a unique dining experience, we wandered into Todai for our first non-deli sushi experience.  John and I were feeling adventurous, and since it was a large buffet, we decided to try everything: we had eel, squid, octopus, tuna and the like.  We found we loved everything except the roe because it was a bit too fishy for our liking.

This was round one!!

 Next, having missed the first performance, we wandered around waiting to see the Cirque de Soliel performance of Ká. Because cameras are strictly forbidden, they threaten to throw you and it in the fire, you'll just have to take my word that it is an amazing show worth every penny.  Even little Zoey had the time of her life, but had to stand for part of the performance to stay awake at the late hour.

The next morning we set off for Tucson, AZ, but not without a stop at the Dam Helicopter Company to treat ourselves to an aerial view of the Hoover Dam.  The ride was a first for all of us, and Zoey, with her monkey tucked in her life vest so he could come along, became suddenly concerned and asked, "How are we going to remember all these cool things we are doing?"  Good thing mom's got pictures.  We all loved the sudden lift off of the aircraft, the swinging from side-to-side movement as it circled the dam, and the beautiful views.  The ride was over all too quickly, and we were on the road once again.

We arrived in Tucson that evening and Joan, John's sister, joined us for a wonderful burrito dinner deliciously prepared by Donna.  John hasn't been able to spend as much time with his family as I have, due to the fact I've done most of the traveling while he does most of the working, so it was a treat for him to spend a few hours with them.

The next morning we were off bright and early, heading for home, which honestly I was missing.  Texas has become home despite my sadness leaving my beautifully hand-renovated home in Idaho.  (I honestly don't think there is a square inch of that home I haven't touched.) 

Our trip was full of wonderful-old and exciting-new experiences, all of which I am grateful to have shared with my husband and daughter.  I just can't wait to see what wonderful things await us in our future.

1....2....3....4 Already!

 "Childhood is a short Season"  - Helen Hayes

Four years old, it seems so grown up and yet my baby is there already.  I keep hoping time will slow down but instead it gets even faster.  Zoey has become her own person and surprises me every day with her loving nature, opinions and questions.

Sometimes I take for granted what she may know and she surprises me with a question that I never thought would go through her mind.  "Mom, is Idaho on Mars?"  (There are times I thought it was.) We had shown her maps of the route from Idaho to Texas and she loves identifying points of interest to her on maps.  When she spotted the red star in the sky we confirmed it was the red planet and told her that was Mars.  Somehow she put the two together and wondered how they worked together, concluding Idaho is on Mars. After showing her images of planets on the internet and explaining that 'only Earth has good air', she now understands planets.  I just love the internet for teaching.


It also amazes me how educational cartoons have become.  She has learned some basic math principles, geometry, reading skills, and sometimes tells me of animals I've never even heard of.  "Mom, my favorite butterflies are the blue morpho butterflies and the monarch butterflies, but a pink butterfly would be the coolest."  Most interestingly is how she was watching Dora and began to speak Spanish words to me, even counting in Spanish at age 2 before I had started to teach her.

Each day we do a lesson (or five) in some of her preschool workbooks, practicing writing, letter sounds, basic math and the like.  She is ready and eager to start her lessons and understands most concepts quickly.  Then we sit for a while and the both of us practice Spanish words (Mom is trying to learn a bit too).  I hope this eagerness to learn continues to grow as she does.

She's become such a girlie-girl too.  Her favorite color is pink and anything pink she must point out (or ask for) from toys to walls to food.  In her words, "Pink is the most beautifullest color and that's why I like it."  She even told me she is going to drive "the pink car with no top" she saw parked near our house, a convertible pink Cadillac.  She often expresses her opinion on how she wants her hair done, often without me asking her, and she recently has decided she wants no bangs.  I was considering growing them out, so I think we're going to try it as long as mom can get through the awkward stage (her hair grows so slowly.

Zoey has about  6 swimsuits from hand-me-downs and gifts and wears most of them when the temperature reaches above 95, because she feels its the only way to stay cool even if you're not swimming.  I let her as long as we're not going anywhere, but once we are heading out I insist she put something else onand hear her new favorite phrase, "But MooOOoom....".

Our little girl is growing up, way too fast for me, but I'm loving every minute of it.  What will the next year bring?

Zoey and Mommy

Zoey and her friends at Memorial.