Kindergarten, bikes, and boo boos

Boy, what a busy day!

We ate lunch at St. Mark's after school, cleaned up, and then dropped Spencer off at the Kindergarten Roundup at St. Charles. After spending a week telling me that he was going to tell anyone who asked that he didn't own any western wear he ended up wearing the white cowboy hat I brought him just in case the whole time. He seemed to enjoy his hour there. The teacher changed her snack plans at the last minute so it could be something Spencer could eat. And she served water instead of milk. It was really sweet of her. But now I'm left with 3 dozen cookies!

While playing outside Spencer's back bike tire literally popped. It has a gash in it all the way through. He's been skidding his tires whenever possible and it has several weak spots. He wasn't skidding when it happened, so it was a little bit of a surprise when it blew. He took it pretty well and showed the neighborhood kids the tear.

Then, only 5 minutes after reminding Spencer that his helmet needs to rest on his forehead and not pushed back and less than 1 minute after I told him that he should use his scooter break pedal and not his foot to stop, disaster struck. He tried to stop himself with his foot while going fast down the hill, tripped, and fell right on his forehead. He was in quite a state for a long time. He's got a lovely mark on his forehead. He even told me I was right about the helmet thing.

So poor Spencer has no bike until we get a tire and doesn't want to wear his helmet to ride his scooter because of the boo boo, so he's stuck with just his big wheel. And of course the wheels are looking a little thin on that thing, too.

Peter and the Wolf

Today was Evie's performance in Peter and the Wolf. She was a kitten. It was all incredibly adorable and fun. Pictures will be posted when I get a chance.

Busy day

The weather was great today, so both kids got lots of outdoor time at school. I know in my own class we were out for almost 2 hours. Evie's was as well and I think Spencer's even sat in the sun to eat lunch (too hot for me, but it didn't stop them!).

After school Spencer had to go to his Kindergarten assessment at Summit, one of our public schools. It was completely different from the one at St. Charles. Spencer was very reluctant and shy, barely talking through most of it. Evie, on the other hand, answered the few questions she was asked (her name and age and if she's like to color). We will be arranging to go observe during class some time to see what we think. They had a Bev Bos quote in the hallway, which I thought was encouraging, but then I heard a teacher yelling at her class to line up. That was not so encouraging. It was an older class, but still. Lots to think about.

Maple helicopters

We actually planted those helicopters today. I have no clue if any of them will grow, but the kids seem excited about it. We were going to do a bunch of other gardening, but both of them were cranky so we just had a low key afternoon.

Little 500

Completely unplanned, but we went to the Little 500 bicycle race this afternoon. They really couldn't have had better weather for it, and luckily we packed extra sunscreen. Also luckily, the kids were too young to notice how many of the people around us couldn't walk without assistance. I imagine they've been partying since Thursday. I know they were partying at 10am when Evie's dance class ended (we saw two different banners that urged us to honk to make the people at the party drink).

Ah, springtime in Bloomington.

And oh, yeah, we also made the first trip to the farmer's market for the year.

Rub me the right way

This afternoon we went to the park. I brought flat crayons and paper so the kids could do rubbings. At Lower Cascades park there are lots of things with different textures, including a tile mosaic, so it was fun. Spencer only did a couple, but Evie really got into it.

We also collected maple tree helicopters at school to see if any will grow. They're in a plastic bag right now, and I have a feeling they're going to rot before we can plant them. The kids seem completely uninterested in going out to buy some dirt. I'd use dirt from around the house, but I don't want to disturb the weeds in the lawn. They seem happy.

Eggs!

Am I the only person who finds coloring eggs with kids a little stressful? Not terribly so, just a little. The kids had a good time, but dye was spilled and there was some crying about an egg that didn't come out just perfectly. Then all was made well when we decided to put stickers on some of the eggs.

Ah, Easter.

Easter plans anybody?

After some nice snuggles with Spencer between Alan and me this morning he sat straight up and said, "Let's talk about Easter plans. Anybody?" He sounded just like a professor expecting hands to go up in response. Hilarious.

Hoosier Heights

One of the families at the kids' preschool owns an indoor climbing facility. Since school was closed today for Good Friday they opened for a special session just for the little kids. I couldn't get Spencer to try on a harness (he spent the whole time running with other kids), but Evie got all dressed up and tried several climbs. She was upset when it was time to go. It was a great time and they both want to go back.

Do Bunnies Eat Carrot Cake?

We decided to make carrot cake today in honor of Easter coming this weekend. Secretly, I just wanted to do something other than sugar cookies. Here the kiddos are, cleaning up after baking. Afterwards I had to do more cleaning up of the cleaning up, as usual.

They are both recovering nicely from bouts of mild pneumonia. I really don't want to go through that again this year.

The first big drop off

Because of the food allergy thing, I've never dropped Spencer off at a birthday party or a play date and just left him. I always have to come so that the parent in question doesn't have to worry about administering an EpiPen should the worst happen. I don't really feel it's fair to ask someone to do that or to try to keep track of all the dietary restrictions.

Today Spencer went to a birthday party by himself. The parent is a teacher at his preschool, so she's already trained to use the EpiPens, and she gave me the gift of letting me leave him there. I brought cupcakes for him and she had fruit there, and I gave her the bag with his emergency meds. He was thrilled. She had to tell me about ten times that it would be ok.

I cried the whole way home. I think it was an anxiety attack. I knew he was in good hands, but things happen, you know? So, after I calmed down, I took a walk and then went back a little early to let him know it was time to leave.

Spencer had a fabulous time. He really didn't want to come home. I'm so glad. And it was good for me, too. Most parents have already been through this before now and I know I won't get to do it much. It's really hard letting him go to things on his own because of the potential consequences. But we did it. And it was good for both of us.