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Em bounces on my side of the bed this morning: "Mom! It's going to be really cold today! April Fool!" 4/1

Em had soccer practice today and did very well during a scrimmage: she kicks the ball to the net, and when the goalie blocked it, she picked up the rebound and scored a goal! But then at the end of a long practice and a long day, Em on defense watches the last goal of the scrimmage shoot right by all three of her team and into the net. Without missing a beat Em burst into tears and ran right into my arms! 4/1

Em says, "I know another girl named Emily and she looks just like me and whenever I look in the mirror she's there! We play Rock Paper Scissors and we always get the same thing."

Em's first soccer game is rained out! 4/3

We all go to Todd and Michelle's house for Michelle's birthday party tonight (her birthday is April 6!). Em LOVES being at a grown-up party and is especially happy to see a large shrimp cocktail on the snacks table. I have to remind her that it is there for EVERYONE and she may NOT eat them all! 4/3

Monica, one of our old Purple Coyote teachers, told me she needed to practice giving an IQ assessment for one of her classes, and asked if it would be okay if she practiced on Emily! Em said yes, so today after church Monica came over for a couple hours. She said Em did great, and Emily got a real kick out of helping Miss Monica with her "college homework!" 4/4

Em lost her second tooth! She asked me to pull it out before dinner. I don't remember having a problem yanking out my own teeth, but doing Emily's gives me the willies! 4/5

During our snuggle time this morning, Em gently stroked my hair as I lay dozing. She asked, "Does that feel nice, Mommy?" It did! 4/5

Emily is practicing with a new children's bell choir at church! We ask her about it and she says she is playing the A bell and sings the song for us completely using the names of the notes. The group will perform on May 2nd!

It's spring break! Em has all week off and next Monday, too. It has been at least 6 weeks since the last day off for school and the kids are ready for a break. We have a GREAT stay-at-home day today and bake some Easter cookies. 4/5

Today we went over to our friends the Waggeners to have lunch! 4/6

Emily will spend today, Thursday and Friday at the Ritchie Center, the DU rec center. They have a School Days Off program that we are taking advantage of this spring break! Bill says it's like gym class all day long: today the kids ice skated, swam, climbed the climbing wall, did gymnastics, and I don't know what else! Emily C., an ex-Purple Coyote, was there today, too. At pick up time one of her leaders came over to me and said Em did really well. 4/7

While tucking Emily in tonight, she suddenly says, "I heard Daddy say, 'Yes!'" I said, "Then our team probably scored a goal." Em said, "You better hurry or you'll miss the replay!" 4/7

We colored Easter eggs today! Emily likes to hold just part of the egg in the dye to make stripes. She also did an egg with horizontal and vertical stripes that came out plaid! She is very good at using the wax crayon to draw designs on the white egg and did a great bunny. 4/9

It's playoff hockey time for Daddy's team! This means early games for once and we go see him play several times. The girls watch him a little bit, but then want to go down to the arcade and play some bubble hockey and skeeball. 4/10

Easter morning! The church egg hunt was called off yesterday due to snow! The kids had a chance this morning to look for eggs in their Sunday School classrooms instead. Back at home, Emily found her basket (after first finding Mommy's in the downstairs shower and Sarah's in the little pink chair cushions) in the corner of Daddy's office. 4/11

Our last day of spring break! We spend the morning at Susan and Nigel's house and stay for lunch. Then we head over to Dr. Tucker's office for Em's 6 year checkup! He says she is perfect! (Even her vision is still 20/20...Bill and I are taking bets on how long that will last!) She is up to the 20th percentile in weight! (37 1/2 lbs) Really! ....but she is still 5th percentile in height (42"). Dr. Tucker writes, "Terrific young lady! Very bright." 4/12

Mrs. Cameron is starting end of the year assessment tests in kindergarten. She told me today that Emily did great on a reading/writing test this morning! Em even volunteered to go first! (Mom and Dad liked hearing this because Em spent some time resisting writing this year.) Em wrote down all the words she could think of, took some dictation, and read some text. Go Em! 4/15

Em has her first soccer game! She got the first goal of the game! 4/17

Finally we host Emily's 6th birthday party! We invite 8 girls over for the afternoon and have a great time. 4/18

We head over to the Botanic Gardens after school. We got turned on to the Free Days at the Gardens by our friends the Waggeners! It is cool and breezy, so we go into the greenhouse for the first time. Em has been interested in Venus Flytraps lately, so we hunt some out! Em says, "Don't get too close!" 4/19

For Daddy's birthday, Emily wanted to make him a book, just like the girls made for me on my birthday. Em and I look at some hockey and frog clipart together, then she writes the title! She also chooses a picture of her as a baby, asks me to put it on a piece of white cardstock, and writes "love and kisses" and "xoxoxo" all around the outside. 4/22

Occasionally Em chooses a student dictionary as her bedtime book, and has us rifle through the pages until she puts her finger down on a word, then we read the definition. Bill and I say, "How cool is our daughter?" 4/04

It's Claire's turn for a birthday party! All the girls get picked up in a big black stretch limo!!!! Em is beside herself. I was at work, so Bill took some pictures. When I got home, Emily said, "I had 7-UP in the limo!" 4/24

I ask Em how it feels to be 6. She says, "It's just like being 5, except I know more." 4/28

The kindergarten class is studying dinosaurs! Emily comes home with a work neither Bill or I knew: oviparous, which means being born from an egg! She says, "I'm only in kindergarten and I know it!" 4/28

At bedtime last night I talked with Em about school, and which was the favorite thing she studied this year. She said, "I like the variety!" She also explained how she liked school better now than at the beginning of the year, because they used to do more playing, and now they do more work! She also has explained that she "likes writing now." 4/29

Sarah's school sheet today said she was "a bit defiant!" Apparently the Abiyoyos were having a group attack of "fake coughing" and driving the teachers nuts. Finally Miss Susan had to speak sternly to the class and say that if anyone needed to do a fake cough, then they would have to have a time out. Well, guess who gave a little fake cough RIGHT AFTER Susan said this! Our Sarah! Sarah had to go sit in the time out corner! Miss Katie told me later that she walked by and saw Sarah sitting there and was so surprised that she had to go over and ask Sarah why. Miss Katie said she had a hard time keeping a straight face while she listened to Sarah sadly explain. Miss Katie said, "It's that face of hers!" 4/1

Today I went with the Abiyoyos to the Ritchie center for gymnastics! I took my camera and had a lot of fun.Sarah likes running up and down the long trampoline and jumping into the squishy foam pit! 4/2

We all go to Todd and Michelle's house for Michelle's birthday party tonight (her birthday is April 6!).Sarah enjoys being a center of attention as we look through the photos from the disposable cameras from the wedding tables. Everyone comments how many of them have Emily or Sarah in them! 4/3

No nap today! Sarah falls asleep while eating her chocolate cookie at dessert time. 4/4

We made Easter cookies this morning. Sarah was banging away at the dough with a cookie cutter, and when I asked her what she was doing, she said, "A triple-double!" Where Sarah learned a basketball term in this hockey household I will never know! 4/5

At about 3pm today Sarah was very sad! When I asked why, she said that she missed Daddy. I told her he would be home for dinner, but if she wanted to, she could call him and leave a message at his office. So we did! I gave her the phone after the beep and she said, "Happy Birthday! I love you! Bye bye!" Bill got the message after class and was thrilled. 4/5

Em's spring break is this week and Sarah stays home from school for some good hangout time for the days I don't work. We make cookies, and visit our friends the Waggeners for lunch. 4/5-6

At bedtime I tell Sarah, "Daddy's wondering if you have a kiss for him." Without missing a beat, she puckered up her lips, pointed to them and said, "RIGHT HERE!" 4/7

"Did you have a good day at school today, Sarah?"
"No."
"No! Why not?"
"I missed you."
4/9

We had a wonderful parent-teacher conference with Miss Katie for Sarah today. Katie said Sarah is doing super. She is on track for all her skills and very adept socially. She interacts well with her teachers and her peers and actively looks for feedback from her teachers--not all of the kids do! Katie said that Sarah gets along so well with everyone that Sarah tends to choose her "centers" or activities based on what she actually wants to do, knowing that she will be able to enjoy working with whoever is there. (The other way around would be choosing to do only what your friends are already doing.) Sarah is doing well with counting, basic math concepts, letter recognition, and writing/drawing. She is just an all-around good kid! But we knew that already! 4/9

We colored Easter eggs today! Sarah really, really wanted to use the spoon or wire egg holder to transfer her eggs from the dye to the cartons, but dropped about 3 eggs in the process! She used the wax crayon on a few eggs & really liked the egg I made with her name on it. 4/9

Sarah is heavy into the "why" phase and asks the question almost reflexively, without really thinking about it. Tonight she wrapped the ball of a ball-and-paddle toy by its elastic around and around the handle, showed it to us, and said, "I wrapped it around and around!" She paused and looked at it for a minute, and then asked, "Why?" Bill and I just laughed! 4/11

Easter morning! The church egg hunt was called off yesterday due to snow! The kids had a chance this morning to look for eggs in their Sunday School classrooms instead. Sarah was very happy to find a few there. Back at home, Emily found Sarah's basket in the cushions of the pink chair and pulled it out before we could tell her to leave it for Sarah to find! 4/11

Our last day of spring break! Sarah stays home from school one more day and we spend the morning at Susan and Nigel's house and stay for lunch. 4/12

At soccer practice, Sarah wants to go kick her own soccer ball at the trunk of a nearby tree. I say, "Do you remember our rule about the playground?" [Don't walk to the playground without Mommy and Daddy!] She says, "Yes." I asked, "What's our rule about the playground?" Sarah said, "I don't know." All the other parents in a 5 foot radius immediately cracked up! 4/15

Sarah has a good time at Emily's first soccer game, hanging out with her friend Erin (who is also a little sister), sitting in the blue camp chair, and looking for pinecones under the trees. She also liked the snacks afterwards! 4/17

Sarah was an excellent guest at Emily's 6th birthday party. She played pin-the-bee-on-the-flower, decorated a cupcake, and had a good time watching Em open presents with the other girls. 4/18

We head over to the Botanic Gardens after school. We got turned on to the Free Days at the Gardens by our friends the Waggeners! It is cool and breezy, so we go into the greenhouse for the first time. It has different levels and Sarah likes climbing the stairs and looking down onto the tops of the plants. The misters come on and she says, "It's raining!"4/19

We ran into Miss Linda, one of Emily's old Purple Coyote teachers, as I was putting the girls into the car the other day. Linda poked her head in the window to say hello to Emily, then came around to Sarah's side to say hello to her, too. Then Linda said to me, "So, can I have dibs on Sarah when she changes classrooms this summer?" Linda is hoping to get a spot in the Purple Coyote classroom again (it is switching back from half-day to whole day) and wants Sarah in her class! Linda said all the teachers have been discussing the kids to determine which classrooms and which combination of students will be best. "Everyone says Sarah is so happy all the time, and even if you come to work in a really bad mood just looking at her smile cheers you up!"

While we are at Bookies looking for a present for Em to give to Claire, Sarah sees "a pokey game" that she wants to give to Daddy! 4/22

Sarah tells us, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a mom and have a two-horse open sleigh!" Bill says, "Tough delivery!" 4/25

Sarah announces to Daddy, "The toilet is a baby that we feed every day!" 4/26

Sarah's teachers tell us again how happy she is all the time. Rachel said she is the most optimistic kid she knows! The have been reading Miss Spider's Tea Party, and Katie said they were talking about how Miss Spider felt when none of the other bugs would come to her party because they were so scared of her. Katie asked how the kids would feel if they had a birthday party, and invited their friends, but none of their friends came to the party! The kids said they would feel sad and lonely. Not, however, Sarah! Sarah raised her hand and said, "If I had a party and invited my friends, and they didn't come, I would be okay! I would just invite my OTHER friends!" Rachel and Katie said it was impossible to come up with a scenario in which Sarah was not okay! 4/28