School Pictures

Now that I finally got our holiday posts behind me, I thought we could move on to some more current updates.  Then I remembered that I had never done a post with the kids' school pictures from the fall!  So here you go.  I think these pictures are hilarious.  I know the photographer is good, but she somehow managed to take terribly unflattering photos of my kids (especially Miss E).  And neither of them looks terribly happy in the group photo.  But at least they are good for a laugh!

I think Charlie looks a little coy here.

I love this one of Evie.  They got her bow to stay in, but she somehow ended up with a paci. I think if E had a thought bubble in this pic, it would say, "you can make me sit here, but you can't make me look happy about it."

Poor, sweet Evie.  Just not her best photo ever.  Not that I blame the photographer--the girl is hard to photograph!  I can't imagine what she was like with a strange photographer, no Mommy there to cling to, and a short time to take the picture.  For Miss E, not a good combination. :)

This has been Charlie and Evie's first year of school and so far, it has been really great.  There were quite a bit of tears the first few weeks, but one day, Charlie just decided not to cry.  After we dropped off his stuff and washed his hands, he just gave me a big hug and walked off to play.  I was so surprised because he had been clinging to me and crying every time before that.  But ever since that one day, we have had no problems with drop-off!  (Evie still cries from time to time, but recovers very quickly.)

Charlie goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Evie goes on Tuesdays.  Thursdays are a little tough because Charlie does not like going with Evie, but he has decided to she goes to the doctor every Thursday, so that makes it a little more palatable.  I just feel terribly guilty every week when he runs up to her and asks, "how was your doctor appointment, Evie?"  Although Charlie seems to really enjoy school while he's there, and always has a good report when I pick him up, he never wants to go.  He told me one evening that he was "frustrated with school...because it is frus-ter-ating."  And has said several times that he is "nervous about school."  It's pretty easy to talk through his fears (one day, simply telling him that everyone was nervous made him quite relieved and happy to go :), but I am sorry that he gets nervous (but glad he likes spending time at home :).

We had a funny incident recently involving our last name.  Charlie had been bringing home his art with the name "Charlie Burns" on it.  Clint and I had been laughing about it and one night, we asked Charlie what his teachers called him.  He immediately smiled and said, "Miss Vicky, she call me Charlie BURNS!"  We laughed and asked him what his name really was and he said "Charlie B-U-R-R-U-S," in a very exaggerated way.  That got another big laugh out of us and I really didn't think about it again until Charlie got home from school the next day.  I found a note in his backpack apologizing for getting his name wrong.  I asked Charlie about it and he said that he had walked up to Miss Vicky and told her, "my name is Charlie B-U-R-R-U-S!"  Poor Miss Vicky--I am sure she thinks we are so picky!

At school, the cutest little lady, Miss Rose, teaches music to the kids every day.  I think my favorite part of the morning is after I drop off Charlie, when I swing back by Evie's class to peek in and make sure she's ok, and get to watch her doing music with Miss Rose.  She is always sitting in her little table, is happily shaking her musical instrument, and has totally forgotten about the trauma of drop-off.  Miss Rose always tells me how great Evie is as music, which is so funny to me--hard to imagine Miss E being "good" at anything yet! :)  One day, when we were riding along in the car, Charlie piped up from the back, "Miss Rose, she say ahhhhhhhhh (picture "ahhhh" in the highest-pitched, softest, sweetest little singing voice))."  Clint and I just about died laughing, especially because we could totally picture Miss Rose singing just like that!  [Due to the excellent reception he received for this comment, he has brought it back out many more times since. :)]

Charlie got into a bit of trouble recently when I found a small toy bulldozer stashed away in his backpack after school.  I questioned him about it, and he told me that "Miss Debbie and Miss Vicky told me that I could take it home."  I doubted the truth of this, so I told him that we would leave it in his backpack and return it to school on Thursday.  I forgot to give it to them at drop-off, but Charlie reminded me of it at pick-up time.  I opened his backpack and found another little bulldozer stashed away in there.  I scolded Charlie for taking them, told him that he could not do it again, and asked him to give them back to Miss Debbie and Miss Vicky and apologize for taking them.  It was SO sad to see his little lip start trembling and then, when I gave him a hug, he just started sobbing.  I think he was really embarrassed about the whole thing (and probably a little sorry that he wasn't getting to take the bulldozers home).  Miss Debbie and Vicky were very sweet about the whole thing (they thought the bulldozers had been their's, but said that Charlie had insisted they were his--they gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought he might have been mistaken, but they do not know how discriminating Charlie is with his vehicles; he knew exactly whose those were!), and so far, we haven't had another episode...hopefully it will stay that way.  But you are now officially warned to watch your small construction vehicles (and toy guns--see last post) when Charlie is around!

Charlie really loves all the kids in his class, and we hear a lot about each of them.  But he really really loves John.  If I ask him who was the most fun, he always answers, "John."  If I ask him who made him laugh the most, "John."  If I asked him who he played with, "John."  And if I ask who got in trouble the most?  You guessed it--"John."  Charlie has a story every day about some way that John got in trouble and a detailed explanation of the consequence that was carried out by Debbie or Vicky (they have confirmed the veracity of these stories). It is so funny to me how closely Charlie observes these interactions, and a bit scary to me how much he likes John's troublemaking personality. :)

Evie, in her typical way, handles school very well.  Although I don't get a rundown of her days from her, her teachers just love her.  She always gets a report of being "happy" and "playful" (and talkative!) at school and her favorite teacher (Miss Wanda) calls her "my favorite girl in the world!"  Miss Wanda had to find a slide to bring into the classroom recently because she has had trouble keeping Evie from climbing on things.  I was glad I'm not the only one with this problem!  And she loves the way Evie goes off to find a book and then comes back to her, backs up to her, and perches herself down into her lap.  It reminds me exactly of Charlie at this age!  Her teachers are so sweet to her and I think she has had a great experience.