Sophie - 4 Years Old

Happy birthday Sophie! 

It is amazing how much more independent you are this year. You can get yourself dressed on your own, make your bed, and mostly stay at the table during meal time. You can swim, which will make pool time this summer very nice. You are also a minute away from riding your bike without training wheels. 

You are articulate and know what you want. When you're angry, you crinkle up your nose to let the person know that you've felt slighted. You are a stockpiler and like things in certain places tucked away without anyone else's involvement.  You enjoy all kinds of activities, especially gymnastics, swimming and tennis.

On your birthday, you woke up to find the Red Plate waiting for you as well as some presents and the traditional balloon that our neighbor brings by every year for each of your birthdays. 

 Zoe and Mia had been preparing cards and home made presents for you for several months, and they were really eager for you to see their presents first thing. After a few presents and breakfast, it was off  to school.

At school, you had so much fun carrying the globe you selected around the candle (representing the sun) four times while the kids sang. Ms. Dasbach read "The Day You Were Born", the class looked at your picture board that outlines the milestones in your life, and then we all had snack.

As you've each requested for each other's birthdays, your sisters joined you for the birthday celebration. 

We shared an after dinner happy birthday treat later that night.

That weekend, we had a garden party for your birthday party. When your friends arrived, they each made their own 'dirt cake.'

 You went outside for a scavenger hunt and a game of 'put the bird in the nest', before coming inside for lunch.

There were little sandwiches in the shapes of butterflies and flowers, fruit and veggies and other odds and ends. 

Then, you blew out candles in the dirt cake we had made earlier. It was one of the easiest and cutest cakes we've made, although I am not a fan of gummy worms. 

After cake, we had a piñata. I do not like piñatas in general (you can ask Grandma Barbara about the time I got hit in the head with a broom stick at my birthday while another kid was trying to whack the piñata ). However, these piñatas where you just pull strings until the bottom falls out are just my speed.

 Sophie, you are a smiley, happy, joyful little girl. We are so happy to celebrate with you and look forward to the year ahead!

Love,

Mom

Odyssey of the Mind - Ashlawn's 2nd Grade Stackables

I had no idea what we were getting in to when Zoe asked, and I agreed, that she could be on an Odyssey of the Mind team. She actually declined the first time, but when a coach and some peers asked again, she wanted to do it, and we were happy for her to participate. Weekly practices became twice a week practices and sometimes there were mini-work sessions in between. The idea is that the kids select a problem that they have to solve entirely, 100% on their own. That means that they take a pledge not to use any ideas or help offered by adults or anyone not on the team. They had to use sharp  instruments to cut their own wood pieces, they had to write and edit a script, they had to read and understand a complex problem, and they had to engineer scenery all on their own. This was a good thing because most of the parents couldn't understand the problem. 

The Stackables had to build a structure of a certain height out of specific materials. The structure had to have a hole through the center so that it could fit over a pole and it couldn't weigh more than a certain amount. If any of these criteria were missed, they could not compete. Then, the structure had to have a theme, and they had to perform a skit about that theme. When the skit was over, they had to place their structure over a pole, but a crusher board over it, and then apply weights until the structure collapsed. Points were given based on meeting the criteria, the skit and how much weight the structure could hold. Each team also had to select the areas that they wanted to be judged on. The Stackables selected "teamwork" as another element that they wanted to be judged on. 

After this part of the competition, the team goes in to a room with a panel of judges and no other adults, including the coach and parents. The kids are given a verbal challenge to solve. 

When it's all over, the kids are given a score. Our team is celebrating with a bon fire in a few weeks. They deserve a lot of credit for the grit and teamwork they showed to pull this together all on their own.

At weigh in, the team waits anxiously to find out if they are at the correct weight.

The judges make sure that the structure is the right height and will fit over the pole.

Narrating the beginning of their skit, Zoe lets the judges know that the skit is about the earth.

Once the skit was over, the structure was placed over the pole, and the kids put the crusher board on top.

The crushed structure is brought back to the judges for inspection and discussion about where it broke and how come.

This was the most laid back and fun group thanks in large part to their awesome coach. We will miss Aimee next year!

Mia Loses a Tooth x 2

Mia, you finally got to use the letter you wrote the tooth fairy LAST YEAR! When you wrote it last year, we had a talk about whether the tooth fairy would know when you really lost a tooth or if she could be tricked. We agreed that I'd save the note until you really lost a tooth. 

The day finally arrived! Then, you lost two in a week. You have been ready to lose a tooth for a long time, and have been telling us you have wiggly teeth for as long as I can remember. It was worth the wait to see how excited you were!

Dear Tooth Fairy, I lost my first tooth. Love Mia

Random Cuteness

Mia at "The Rocks" in one of her favorite dresses

Sophie silliness

Mia

Zoe making the most of a cold day

I wish we had room for one of these in our basement. They love banging away when we are at the music store.
Zoe

Zoe and Mia

Edible Book Competition

All three of you participated in the library's annual edible book competition. Zoe and Mia both opted for a version of Hansel and Gretel. Sophie opted for Charlotte's Web. 

The Hansel and Gretel productions were essentially ginger bread decorated kits. Zoe and Mia took great care to decorate them exactly as they liked, and we held our breath in the car on the way there hoping they didn't crumble. Sophie spread some cotton candy on a plate and made a spider out of an Oreo and licorice. 

We turned in the entries, took a photo, and left. We were there long enough to see the other entries arriving and some were incredible. We didn't need to linger two hours for them to announce winners. Turns out, we had a winner! Sophie won for the children's category. We're lucky to have such great library programs. This was a really fun activity to participate in.