Excited does not even really begin to describe how jazzed-up Simon was about starting second grade. We took him to the open house on Tuesday to meet his teacher, see his classroom, see where his buddies are sitting, etc and he just beamed.
Part of the beaming could be that he got his Harry Potter costume in the mail on Monday and he wanted to tell everyone all about it. He would have loved to wear his costume to school if at all possible. First thing he did when he got home today was have me help him put on his tie.
My Mom had a great suggestion for Simon when she was here this past week. Tonight we are going to start a journal for Simon to write one sentence in (or more if he wants) each evening. I love the idea of encouraging him to do a little documenting about his day – great for writing practice as well as potentially using it for expressing and teaching gratitude.
Little Anna Fancy Pants (also known as super tall & really skinny Anna Pants) is seven months old today. We can't get enough of her. She's wide-eyed and interested and definitely wants to participate in every little thing happening around here.
A couple other things:
I will be doing a live video chat tonight at 5pm Pacific with Renee at ReneePearson.com and today she is giving away a spot in my Yesterday & Today class.
Ella Publishing (a lovely new company) has launched some great ebooks. Check them out here.
![Two Peas](http://www.avantlink.com/gbi/10513/24901/21775/26723/image.jpg"width="120"height="240"style="border:0px;"alt=)
so glad that simon is excited for school. and the pic of anna is darling.
a
I feel the excitement about school right know and feel like the little kid I used to be. No more 1st class. No, 2nd! Yeah! Have a great year, Simon!
I rrrrrrreaaaally love that picture of Simon!
i love that Anna has tons of handknits – where do you get them all from?!
and tell Simon congrats on getting into second grade – what an accomplishment! can’t wait to see Halloween pictures!
Had to laugh at your first photo…I just took a shot of my fourth grader holding up four fingers before heading off to his first day (yes, a very late start)!
I love that Simon is still into wearing costumes! And Miss Anna, isn’t she just adorable???
Gosh! Is she 7 months already? We had to keep Ella back in first grade this year…I was just looking at an old CK Studio and Simon’s interests just about match Luke’s to a T.
Anna is so precious! I think she looks a lot like you! So cute to hear about Simon! I bet he’ll have a great year! I would like to adopt the journaling idea with my kids.
I love the peace sign Simon is flashing! CUTE! Anna is adorable!
I love that enthusiasm about school, Halloween, life . . . etc.! Just love it!
The journal is a great idea. I have a first and second grader. I am going to have them start one today. They are also into taking pictures so I think I will let them include pictures in it that they take. Just this morning I was getting the …..when can we buy our Halloween costumes. My boys love dressing up in their costumes all year long.
Sandi
I make my daughter (who’s
write 3 things each day. Three things that she likes, remembers, makes her happy. Anything to show her how good her life is, how lucky she is, to be grateful for. Sometimes it’s big things like food or shelter but sometimes she writes about her cats or tv even.
Hi Ali!! My kids keep journals in school. I love reading them at the end of the year. The teachers give them a topic to write about each day and they only need to complete a sentence or two. Sometimes they draw pictures too. They are so fun to read!!! I think it’d be great to suggest to Simon’s teacher. Some of the things they write about are super easy. (like the weather!) Peace and blessings….
so happy to simon excited and I love your mom’s idea about him documenting his day…what a treasure that will be for all of you.
Anna is still the cutest baby – seven months already???
I home school my 3rd grader, and one thing that he started last year was a journal. We use the Mead Primary Journal K-2, which we got at Walmart. The design is fun – room on the top half of each page for a drawing and then about 7 lines on the bottom of each page for writing. The skies the limit with regard to what he can write or draw, and it is REALLY FUN to look back on what he wrote about last year. Journals are great!
My son was tall & skinny as a baby, he is now 6′ 4″. Maybe Anna is going to be tall.
Those pics of your kids are adorable! Where did you get Anna’s hat? I love it!
love those photos. Congratulations Simon on second grade…… Love the writing idea, may try that with my son. He has been wanting a diary.
Love the photos, especially Simon, that cracked me up. I wanted to pass a link along to you, http://www.makeandtakes.com/tips-for-journaling-with-kids I thought it was ironic that Make & Takes had something posted on journalling this morning also.
was that a peace sign or number 2 for second grade? thanks for the tip in journaling for the little ones
I am so excited to see Simon making his way through school. Although you are only posting snippets of his every day, it just seems like the work you and Chris and his teachers have put into helping him find his comfort zones is really allowing him to find excitement in the every day instead of frustration. It is so great to see him take things on. Go Simon.
thought I would share a link with you for a “Harry Potter” type frame. Using a digital frame to play a little looped clip like the pictures in Harry Potter.
http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/harry-potter-moving-pictures/
Glad to hear Simon is excited for 2nd grade. Such great pictures of your children!!!
I LOVE Anna’s knick-names, so I had to share what my son likes to call his Grandma = Nanny Pants
Thanks for sharing your life with all of us!!!!
In our ouse we used the typical black school journals and the kids could write notes to my husband or I and would leave them under our pillow at night. We in turn would write back leaving under their pillow the next night. Frustrations and joys were shared. Songs were written. Poems etc. I still have these – I just sent the first off to college and the second child is a senior in Hs this year. These notebooks are a treasure.
The journal idea is a great one. My DD had a book at school last year that they would write in each Monday saying what they did over the weekend. It is fun to see her perspective of our weekends
She began 2nd grade this year as well.
Little (or tall and skinny) Anna is so precious!
It’s been a joy to watch Simon and Anna grow. My 6 yr. old grandson, couldn’t wait to go to bed, so he could go to school the next day. My 1 yr. old grandaughter is tall and skinny, too. She is just over 17 lbs.
Just caught the end of you live cast. Thank you so much.
Loretta
Oh Anna’s hat is so cute! Who is the fabulous knitter? And Simon is just adorable with that big grin.
er….I meant hiding his fabulous grin…lol
Ali,
Simon looks like a rockstar with his super cool cute goodbye, and gorgeous Anna is all that and more!
I guess I do not realize how cold its starting to get on the west coast. Im in the South, so the cold has not set in yet, unlike the weather where you are
Love your site!
That Anna is so beautiful. Simon, oh, he is growing up before our eyes and it is such a joy to watch. I have three girls, ages 7 down to 2 and am right there in the same life stage with family. The everyday here makes it tougher to step back and see the jumps in time and growth. Checking in here and watching yours grow and hit milestones, like the beginning of second grade, makes me more aware of taking a step back and reflecting on the changes in my own brood. Thank you for that.
Love that hat!! Just sooo totally ‘kewt’!!!
Curious, what kind of carrier you have Anna in?
That one is the Ergo: http://www.ergobabycarriers.com/. Chris is actually wearing her in the photo – he likes this carrier quite a bit. I like that it can be a front, side, and back carrier.
I love that idea Kathy – my friend Kim and her family do the same thing.
That would be a 2 for second grade
Not sure where that hat came from – I think a local shop.
Probably
. We are tall people – Chris is 6’1 and I am 5’9.
Congratulations to Simon – 2nd grade will be a blast , cute baby there my friend !!! My baby , Mackenzie , turned 14 today – time flys so I say ‘Take pictures!’
Have a great weekend -
VERY sweet pictures! And thanks a ton for the Ella shout out.
Ali, I know I don’t even know you, but I just love your blog! I had been reading it pretty faithfully but have fallen off lately due to overloaded schedules. I still look in though, quickly enough to scan and get the gist. Posts like this are my favorite. Your kids are so adorable, and I love the little stories you document like about starting a little nightly journaling with Simon or that Anna is tall and skinny.
It’s cute. Glad you’re enjoying the mom part of your life so much.
Such a fab pic of your son and your baby girl is getting so big. Time sure flies.
Love the hat Anna is wearing – too cute!
Beautiful photo of Anna, what a beauty.
Simon congrats on beginning grade two, what a big boy you are becoming.
Have a great day,
Paola
great idea, we do that with our son too and he’s up to about 8 lines a day.
Your little Anna is very pretty!
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