You sound like a frog!

Tonight during dinner I had to burp. I did and said excuse me. Sadie looked at me and questioned "that was a burp Mom?". I said yes and she said..."you sounded just like a frog!".

Wow!

We took Sadie to get tested to see if she qualifies for some of the gifted schools in our area. The psychologist spent about an hour with Sadie and then spent some time with us going over the results. During this time, Sadie was in the next room playing. As the doctor was telling us how Sadie scored (more about that later), Sadie walked in with a question. Here is the conversation...

Sadie: How big is space?
Mom: It's infinite, as big as you can imagine.
Sadie: Is Earth in space?
Mom: Yes.
Sadie: That means we are in space because we live on Earth.
Mom: That's right.
Sadie: But space is dark.
Mom: Not all space is dark. The sun is also in space and it makes things light.
Sadie: Oh.

Then she walks out and goes back to playing. No wonder she scored a 140 and is in the top half of the top one percent for her age group (99.6)! The psychologist told us that Sadie shouldn't have any problem getting into the gifted schools - they only accept kids who score 97% and above. She said her high test scores and personality (outgoing, inquisitive, etc.) are just what these schools are looking for in the kids they enroll. She also thought that Sadie might be bored in a traditional kindergarten setting. Some of the public schools have gifted programs, but unfortunately none of them are in our surrounding neighborhoods. One of the gifted schools is just across the Fremont bridge - only about a 5-10 minute drive. We are going on a 2 hour tour next week. It is both exciting and nerve-wracking! First things first though, we have to finish the application process - paperwork, parent interview, classroom visit for Sadie and even a home visit. We will know if Sadie gets accepted into any of these schools by mid March. Then the big decision making starts! For now we will just enjoy the fact that someone else (an unbiased, trained professional no less) thinks Sadie is as smart as we do...

What are you thankful for?

Today is Thanksgiving. This morning Sadie told me she was thankful for everything!

..."except for pigs because they are smelly. Did you know the first time I saw a pig at a farm I had to hold my nose!?"

That's what big sisters are for

This morning during breakfast Leo had to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later he is calling for help. I ask Sadie if she would please go in and see what Leo needs. Here is the conversation...

Sadie: What's wrong Leo?
Leo: I'm frustrated with my underwear!
Sadie: They are inside out, I'll fix them and don't forget the tag goes in the back.
Leo: Okay, thanks Sadie.

Oh dear!

We put the pumpkins we carved for Halloween this year on our new garden wall out front. Every night before bed, Leo would ask if he could check on his pumpkin. He would look out his window and say "goodnight pumpkin". Well, they were starting to rot so we threw them in the yard waste on Sunday afternoon. He is still asking me if he can check on his pumpkin. The past two nights when he opens the window and realizes the pumpkin is gone he says (very earnestly)..."Oh dear! I miss my pumpkin".

Joe on my knee

We play a lot of kids music in the car. Sometimes we'll just listen to a CD straight through and sometimes the kids take turns picking out songs. The other day Leo sprang a new one on me - he told me he wanted to listen to "Joe on my Knee". I was a little confused so I asked him what other words are in the song. He said "you know the Susanne song with Joe on my knee". It was then I realized he was talking about Oh Susanna!

A conversation in the car

We were all in the car and Sadie was talking about wanting a kitty for a pet. I told her that she could ask Santa and see what happens. Leo then says "I want to pet a kitty" to which Sadie replies "not pet a kitty, a kitty for a pet!" Leo ignores her and says to me..."Mom, I want to pet a kitty with Santa and see what happens". Maybe you had to be there, but James and I thought it was pretty darn funny!!

The final Halloween costumes

I know I said I would let everyone know last week about the final costumes - sorry for the long delay. We went to a Halloween Carnival on Saturday night and here is what the kids looked like....



Sadie was a black cat - the same thing she has been for two previous Halloweens! She was pretty set on being a dinosaur until I made her the princess dress. She never wanted to be a princess, but she wanted to wear the dress with some wings she has and be a fairy. Then it changed into a kitty fairy, so she could wear the dress, her wings, her kitty tail and ears and have whiskers painted on her face. We were all set for the kitty fairy on Saturday. When I put the kids down for a nap that afternoon, I reminded them that when they woke up we'd be going to the Halloween Carnival. As I was walking down the stairs Sadie called me back up. She said, "Mom, I just want to be a plain black kitty okay?" I told her of course she could be a plain black kitty and she smiled and closed her eyes. We'll see what happens next year...

Leo was a dalmatian. He was still changing his mind all the time. He and I were in the car last Saturday morning and he told me that he wanted to be a bee. That was great by me - I could easily make a bee costume. So for the rest of that day, I was pushing the bee idea. The next day was Sunday (and the princess party). I went shopping after I dropped Sadie off. I was looking for a comforter for Leo and went into Pottery Barn Kids. All their Halloween stuff was right up front (and on sale) and they had the cutest dalmatian ears. I decided right there that Leo had to be a dalmatian! After we got home, I showed him the ears and told him about being a dalmatian for Halloween and he said "No Mom, I'm going to be a bee!". So right after dinner we let them watch a movie...101 Dalmatians. Leo still wasn't convinced. I finally just made the costume and told him he was a dalmatian. Once he saw the costume, he was excited about it. I think for him the fun was wearing a costume...it didn't really matter what it was.

The princess dress

I was pretty impressed with the dress I made for the princess party Sadie was invited to. She really liked it too! Apparently the party was lots of fun and she came back with a crown, a wand, a purse, a ring, a bracelet and a necklace - plenty of bling!! I don't think the whole princess thing made that much of an impression on her though - when I went to pick her up after the party, she was outside playing baseball with the birthday girls dad! He was impressed with her batting skills...now that's my Sadie! Here is a picture of the dress.

Before the party -



After the party -

"Wear your favorite princess dress..."

This is what it says on a birthday invitation Sadie got last week. One of her friends from school is having a Princess Tea Party for her birthday. I guess parents must just assume that every little girl has a princess dress?! Obviously Sadie does not have one. I told her that she could wear one of her many other dresses, but she said they weren't fancy enough. So we went to the fabric store and she picked out some shiny purple fabric and I'm going to make her a dress. The invitation also says..."we'll provide the bling!" I can only imagine what she is going to come home with.

Another costume update

For the past week or so Sadie has pretty consistently said that she wants to be a black kitty again - fine with me as it is a super easy costume to put together. Well, since yesterday afternoon she has decided she wants to be a dinosaur! Trying to figure out that costume...not so super easy.

Leo is still changing his mind several times a day. Some of the more recent ones are Spiderman, a policeman, "the biggest green dinosaur in the whole world", Wolverine, and a bad guy.


This weekend is the deadline, so I'll post on Monday with the official outcome!

I need to read a dictionary!

Sadie has been asking me for the definitions all kinds of words lately. This morning in the car she asked me what a "chemical" was. I had a hard time trying to explain it!

Leo's looking out for his mom

Tonight Leo and I were walking down the stairs after getting his jammies. I always tell him to be very careful. So he says to me..."Be very careful Mom so you don't fall because I don't want you to get broken".

Future vegetarian?

Today in the car Sadie asked me where turkey comes from. I told her it came from turkeys. She then asked if they had to kill the turkeys and I said yes. That opened up a flood of other questions...

How do they kill them?...I'm not sure.
How do they get new turkeys?...the mama turkeys have more babies.
What if they kill all the mamas?...they won't.
Are turkeys good at hiding?...I bet they are.
Good because I don't want any more turkeys to be killed!

We'll see if she remembers any of this the next time she has a turkey sandwich.

Dinosaur snob

Last night Sadie and I were reading before bed. She had picked out the book When Dinosaurs came with Everything. The book is about a little boy who discovers that he gets free dinosaurs wherever he goes...free stegasaurus with a dozen donuts, free pterosaur with a haircut, etc., etc. We came to a page which showed a duckbill. She looked at the picture for a moment and said "Mom that dinosaur has a crest on his head. It's not a duckbill, it is obviously a parasaurolophus!"

Sadie and Finn

It has been so nice for Sadie to have a neighbor kid to play with! Even though Finn only lives 2 doors down from us they never really played together. I think the big change was when we re-seeded the backyard in the spring. Having no grass in the back for several months forced Sadie and Leo to play out front. I will be the first to admit that our kids are LOUD, so Finn probably heard them playing everyday. I remember the day when he came running over and asked Sadie if she wanted to chase him. She did and then freaked out when he chased her back! Once Sadie found out that Finn loved dinosaurs as much as she did, they were best friends! I really hope with colder weather and shorter days coming that they continue to play together often. Here are some pictures of them...

In the backyard before the new seed was put down...


This will be great for when they are in high school!...


Coloring in the playroom...


Sharing a snack...

Autumn has arrived

Yesterday we went to a cider making party at our neighbor's house. They have this party every year and this is the first time that we have actually made it over there. Everyone brings apples from their trees and makes tons of cider. It was lots of fun. We all took turns working at the cider press and Sadie and Leo roasted marshmallows for the first time! Of course Sadie had a great time as Finn's parents were the ones having the party. Leo was just so excited to be able to go to Finn's house. I feel bad for Leo because almost every day Finn comes over and he and Sadie go off to play. Leo always wants to join them, but we tell him that he has to get bigger before he can go to Finn's house. Yesterday when I told him we were going to Finn's house he said "am I bigger now?", to which I sadly replied no. There is no way I would subject Sean and Jeanne (Finn's parents) to trying to keep track of Leo over there. He so wants to be a big kid like Sadie and Finn! He gets so excited when they come back to our house, but they never seem to stay here long. Anyway, here are some pics from the party...

You can barely see James in the way back by the cider press (he's wearing a green hat) and Leo in the foreground riding Finn's scooter


Here is the cider press up close...

Leo on the phone

We have several pretend phones around the house. Whenever Leo picks one up he always says "Hi Aunt Jules". This morning he made James and I also "talk" to her. When we were done he took the phone back and said "Bye Aunt Jules, I love you". Awwww!

In Sadie's words...

We are just finishing breakfast and out of the blue...

Sadie - "Dad, you should always bring water into a desert."
Dad - "I should always bring water into the desert? Why?"
Sadie - "Because it is really hot. And you should always wear protection because there are wild animals too."

Where this thought came from...?

Costume update #2

Today Sadie told me she wanted to be - Spiderman, a bat, a queen and a black kitty again. It really wouldn't surprise me if after all these crazy ideas she ends up being a kitty again. She really loves the tail (made out of a black boa) that she gets to wear. I wonder how many years in a row this could continue?

Last night I had a staff meeting. Funny how when I came back Leo had decided that he wanted to be either Spiderman or Batman for Halloween. Hmmm, I wonder if his Dad had any influence on him while I was away...

I've set Friday, October 19th as the deadline. Let's see how many more times they can change their minds during that time!

Halloween costume update #1

So today both Leo and Sadie told me they want to be princesses for Halloween. I don't know how James feels about it, but I am more than happy to make them both princess costumes! What a great story for when they are older too.

Halloween costumes

Tis the time to start thinking about those costumes! I have this crazy opinion in my head that I need to make Sadie and Leo's Halloween costumes every year. I know that buying something from a store would save me so much time and energy, but I just can't do it! Probably comes from the same mindset that causes me to make and decorate their birthday cakes every year...even if I have to stay up all night to get it done. And if you think I am joking, just ask James!

For those that don't remember, last year Sadie changed her mind several times a day about what she wanted to be for Halloween. It was a dragon for a while, then a lizard, a baby turtle, etc., etc., etc. Once it got to be the week before Halloween I made her come to a decision. After all her ideas, she decided that she wanted to be a black kitty again (the same thing she was the year before!). This year, she doesn't seem to have nearly as many ideas, but they are very interesting...a kitty fairy, a baby horse, and a motorcycle just to name a few. I'll let her keep inventing new ideas for a few more weeks and see what else she comes up with...

Leo on the other hand has been saying he wants to be a knight. I think it is because Finn has a knight costume that he wears and Leo thinks it is pretty cool. Although today at school Leo told me he wanted to be a princess for Halloween. That made me chuckle and of course I had to call James and tell him. I think Leo was influenced though by the older girls talking about what they were going to be (princesses of course!). I don't know if he completely gets the idea of dressing up in a costume anyway. I could probably decide for him again this year and he'd be just fine with it. We'll see...I'll give him a few more weeks to think about it too.

One idea that Sadie and Leo talked about the other day was Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat. Now that would be cute, but I don't want to influence them. Maybe I'll just bring it up again and see what they say...stay tuned.

It's just kindergarten right?

This past weekend Sadie figured out the concept of simple addition and subtraction. For a while she has been putting things into sets and adding that way (very visual). At dinner on Saturday night, she figured out how to add in her head. I would ask "what is 6+3?" and you could see her counting to six and then slowly counting three more and proudly saying nine! We did lots of addition (she wanted me to give her "tricky" ones...23+2) and she got them all. I explained the concept of subtraction (or take away) and she sort of got it, but found it a little more difficult. I am amazed everyday at how smart she is. I know that I am biased because I am her mom, but I also spend my days with other preschoolers so I get to see what her peers are doing. This brings to mind the whole worry about where to send her to school. All we want is for Sadie to be challenged and excited about learning...and to get the most out of her education that she can. The public school that is closest to us (within walking distance) is not highly regarded or well funded. There are some other public schools in the area (less than 5 miles) that are much better though. I think we will also apply to some private schools and see if we can get in. There are a couple gifted schools (where you have to test above a certain level to get in) that we may apply to as well. All the touring of schools starts in November with applications due in January. I think most acceptance letters are sent out in March, so we have a while still before we have to make any serious decisions. I swear if you didn't know Sadie was four, you'd think I was talking about college!

Finally...I'm blogging!

Well...here we are, my first blog entry. I have been meaning to do this for a long time just to keep track of all the funny stuff Sadie and Leo say and do! Plus, it's a nice way to keep all the friends and family up to date. I hope people find this informative, amusing and maybe even addictive. Please post comments so I know who is reading this. I'll try to write something at least once a week, but don't hold me to it!