On a Roll = Honor Roll

You may not be able to read it, but that paper she's holding has a big A+ on it. 25/25. That was Maryn's first spelling test in third grade a few months back. Things are beginning to click this year, and it's wonderful to see when they do. More recently her first report card came home with all A's on it, and there was an honor roll ribbon in the envelope, too. That was an exciting day, at least for her parents. She hasn't really connected the whole hard work equals good grades thing yet, but I'm sure I didn't either. I breathe a sigh of relief every few weeks when a paper comes home with the first letter in the word Friday on it. I just want to make sure we all know that, while she's certainly making great strides this year, she doesn't have it all figured out yet. When I see too many A's, I begin to wonder if the person who's helping her learn the English language at school is the one who's getting an A in third grade, and I'm pretty sure that person completed third grade quite a few years ago. So Maryn may have identified both Canada and Mexico as bordering our state, but she remembered learning the names of those places and spelled them correctly, and that's worth something. We've got time to work on map skills, and we're certain to keep practicing those spelling words knowing that someday, when she's all grown up, she'll write the word "quadrilateral" in a sentence and spell it correctly.

Happy Meowloween!

I love a costume that comes from the closet with the bare minimum of investment.  When it comes together as cute as this year's, it's a real score.  Mama cat and her kitten were really happy about the way it turned out.
Two weeks before the holiday, Maryn had a call from her best friend asking her if she could trick or treat at her house.  Wham!  I was caught off guard with that one, and the question hit me like a punch in the stomach.  I knew it would happen someday, but this was only her third Halloween after all.  How could our little girl be ready to go trick or treating with someone else?  I thought about all the neighbors who welcomed her home along with us, knowing they'd want to see her, too.  I told her she could go, but when she hung up the phone I gave her a sad mom, frowny face and asked "How come you're growing up so fast?"  I love it when she looks at me and says, "Mom, I'm ten now."  Then with all her worldliness and maturity she says, "It's okay, mom, I won't go.  I'll stay here with you."  So I acquiesce, swallow my disappointment, lose the frown and tell her I want her to go, but only because that's what I should do.  Giving roots AND wings, right?  In the end a little compromise was the best option - one hour of trick or treating at her friend's house and one hour in our neighborhood.  She was happy, her friend was happy, we were happy, and I know the neighbors were happy because I heard them say it.  After her friend went home, Maryn and I went out together hitting the last few houses we could squeeze in before the night officially ended.  My growing up fast girl and I walked hand in hand carrying a bulging bag of candy.  Our best Meowloween ever.

Summer Wrap Up

Our summer drew to a close on a high note with a reunion of kids from the same city in China and their families. So many beautiful kids in the same place and smiling parents watching them having the time of their lives.  It was particularly incredible to see the kids who are old enough to remember each other talking, laughing, playing and just being together again on the other side of the world. 

A morning of pouring rain gave way to overcast skies by pool time, and it was pure sunshine as we closed out the afternoon at the beach.  It was perfect and looking at the pictures we took on that memorable day will get me through a long winter as I look forward to the next time we can all be together.

Family Day 2011

Oh, the many blessings! Here are just a few of them.

Picture slideshow created with Smilebox

Double Digits Day

The big day started last evening with a birthday/movie/slumber party for one of Maryn's friends. Thanks to Ali's parents for hosting a party that slid right into Maryn's birthday without us having to stay up until midnight. I picked her up at 10 this morning and crowned the birthday princess immediately. Ame, Jen and Louise joined us for lunch at our favorite place, and then we were off to the doll store with a gift card and cash just itching to be spent. "Daisy" is now completely outfitted in this season's hottest ski fashion with all the necessary gear to get her schussing down the highest mountains or just standing on the carpet in the family room. In the evening, Grandma and Grandpa joined us for a cake party and presents. It was a great day of celebration, and I think Maryn would agree that 10 is looking good so far.

We're Back!

We didn't disappear, we just experienced a significant blogging loss with the death of our computer. A month and a half ago I emailed a friend at 11 p.m., and when I went to the computer the next morning to check for a response, it was dead. That really rocked our world, but it certainly would have been worse without "our guy" who takes care of us when situations like this arise at our house. Of course, our timing couldn't have been worse as he and his family had just moved into a newly built, big, beautiful home with all kinds of stuff to put away and all kinds of trick things to try out like a really sweet media room, oh, and a previous home sale to get closed. With all that, he still managed to find time to get over to our house to confirm our computer had died, decide what we should get next, order it and then spend two more half days at our house getting everything set up. Thanks, Mr. B., for getting us back in business.

In the meantime, a lot has happened as you can tell by the pictures. We closed out the school year and said goodbye to second grade. Maryn had a hip hop dance recital. Jen graduated from fifth grade, Bill graduated from college. We enjoyed cookouts at Ame's house for Father's Day and Fourth of July. We even managed to enjoy some seahorse bacon, or, rather, bacon that looked like a seahose, when we were out for lunch one day. It won't be easy to top all that, but with a couple of weeks of summer vacation left, we'll give it a good try.

Bravo!

I was front row center for the best show in Room 8 this morning, and it didn't disappoint. A few weeks back the script came home from school with no fanfare, so now and then we divvied up the lines as a great way to practice reading. It wasn't until last evening that Maryn let us know she wasn't allowed to have the paper with her when she did the play this morning. Gulp! I surpressed the overwhelming urge to shout out, "You mean you have to have the lines memorized?" Shouldn't she be learning the word memorized at school and using it correctly in a sentence? Shouldn't there be a note that comes home for the parent(s) to sign that states I/We the undersigned parent(s) is/are fully aware that these lines must be memorized? She never noticed my bulging eyes or the rapid rise in my heart rate, as I calmly picked up the script, and we started to practice. Lucky for us, her teacher had it under control all along, and they have been practicing the plays at school for a while now, so Maryn had a good handle on her lines. We merely had to put some emphasis on words like identify, disgrace and actually, and she was ready for her close-up. There were classroom lights, parents had cameras, and the kids provided plenty of action that made me smile for 20 minutes. When it was all over, my favorite actress asked me to stay to have lunch with her. I declined the offer letting her know I didn't want to sit in my car for 45 minutes waiting for that to happen. Someday when she's an even bigger star, she'll thank me for keeping her grounded.

Encore!

Hangin' With Her Peops and a Butterfly

We spent time with some of our favorite people recently, a few of them smaller than Maryn. We think Olivia, Chloe and Will are some of the cutest people we know, and we can't wait to see them again.

Trophy Daughter

We went to Maryn's swim club banquet Saturday, and this is what we saw in the backseat when we arrived home. This is what two and a half hours on a dance floor will do to a person, any person. When it was time to pull the pin on all the fun, I stood up at the table and while looking at the dance floor between the heads and legs blocking my view I was saying in my head, "Hey, someone is break danc...it's Maryn!" She was spinning like a bug on it's back, doing a good job of cleaning that spot on the floor in her new outfit. It made me laugh, and it let me know it really was time to go home.
Maryn sat at a kids' table with her cronies, while we sat at a different table with two nice couples we had just met. The highlight of the evening was the distribution of trophies. They were participation trophies, all the same size, every child received one, and as the head coach called each child up, one at a time, he said something nice about that child. We heard him say, "This next person always has a smile on her face. She is happy all the time, and she makes me wish I were the coach of the red team...Maryn." What he said was really great and what was even greater is that during that pause before he said her name, from the table next to us we heard another child say "Maryn." That was better than getting a trophy.
We knew she would be asleep as soon as the car started to move so I asked her if she wanted me to hold her trophy. Nope. I didn't need to anyway because she had a pretty good hold on it. The next morning the first words out of her mouth were, "I got a trophy. I never got a trophy before." Every child loves a trophy, and every parent likes to hear something nice about their child.
The trophy looks good on her shelf, and she's on to the next thing.

Playing Around

I know, he looks ridiculous, and she looks adorable like she always does. I want to remember the two of them just like this. It was a big moment: Maryn-initiated, imaginative play. She had come home repeating the word "action" as if she had practiced a play at school, and she was eager to get to work on her own play. While I made dinner, Maryn got paper and a pencil and wrote her play, copying the same words on two pieces of paper. There were correctly spelled words. There were complete sentences with subjects, verbs and punctuation. There were costumes. There were calls for "action". There were parents wordlessly marveling to each other about how far she has come, and there were smiles.

Book Report

What are the chances Maryn would be lucky enough to be given China for her most recent book report about a country? Chances are excellent, when you have a savvy teacher like she does. With parental assistance, Maryn read the book, took notes, wrote the report with the help of those notes, and then practiced, practiced, practiced reading the report before presenting it to the class. We gave extra attention to new words such as crops, protection, and population that don't roll right off the tongue of an English language learner. And, we all know how hard it is to say spaghetti when you're new at it, but, in any good book report about China, you're going to have to say it since it was invented there.

She wore her new qi pao, a traditional Chinese dress, and taught the class to say hello, goodbye, thank you, mom, dad and teacher "in Mandarin, the national language of China." Does a quote taken from a second grader's book report require citation? Well, I give all the credit to Maryn. Once again, she wowed her teacher and class, and we couldn't be more thrilled with the progress she is making this school year.

Only One Fish in the Sea

This is what the 100 yard backstroke looks like to adoring parents. Our eyes are on only one swimmer and there are no other fish in the sea. Maryn is on a swim team, and this is how she has spent two nights per week and the occasional weekend since the season started back in September. She loves it, and so do we. Being part of a team and all that exercise are so good for her. Watching her go off the block and do flip turns makes us smile. We aren't rabid about times, ranks or ribbons, we merely delight in watching her do something she enjoys. She wants to do it next season, and we'll be there watching.

Hail to the Chiefs

Happy Presidents' Day from George Washington herself. Maryn's class did biography book reports recently, and I was thrilled when she came home and announced her report would be about George Washington. I knew a good costume could make a huge difference for a second grade report, so I went right to the phone and told Ame to borrow the colonial man cuffs, jabot, hat and wig from her friend Helen. Helen's 19 and 15 year old sons wore the costume when they were in second grade, and I'd seen Jen in it when she was George Washington in third grade. Just as I suspected the costume was a huge hit with her classmates and teacher. It really made us proud knowing our daughter would be president (for) one day, and you'll be happy to know the father of our country got an A on her report. We're already practicing for the next one - all about China.

Playing Through

Maryn's school is doing a week of special events as a fund raiser for a children's hospital. Tuesday was pajamas, slippers AND stuffed animal day, and she really loves that. Friday is ice cream day. Today was dress as your favorite book character or sports star. That was a puzzle. She doesn't have a Curious*George costume, and she doesn't have a favorite sports star. Last night it was Tom's brilliant idea for her to dress like a golfer. This morning the two hour weather delay for school gave us time to dig through the summer clothes for a costume, so we looked on the internet for the latest fashions in professional golf. When I saw pictures of Michelle*Wie with her long, dark hair, I said, "Perfect." I told Maryn, "If anyone asks you who you are, you can tell them you're Michelle*Wie. She is a fabulous golfer." As I worked to get her ponytail just right for the cap, I quizzed her asking, "Who are you?" "Michelle Fabulous," she said. As I zipped up her winter coat and sent her out for the arriving bus, I coached her a few last times calling down the driveway, "Have a great day, Michelle*Wie. I Love you, Michelle*Wie." With one last, "Mooommm!" Michelle*Wie got on the bus and off she went to a fabulous day of second grade.

Groundhog Day

Without a single ray of sunshine today our little groundhog did not see her shadow, so we're predicting an early spring or at least we're hoping for one after the shoveling we did today. Who knew there were so many people holed up in the houses in our neighborhood during the long winter when the sighting of another human being can be rare. We were all out today putting our snowblowers through their paces and helping those who tried to do battle with only shovels. To clear it today you had to have more than mere muscle power. Now there's all the fun to be had playing in the snow. There are piles to climb, hills to sled and forts to build, and that's all before the next round comes.

All for the Little Ones' Christmas Joy

Imagine the delight of getting 10 "smelly pencils" in your stocking. Santa kept up with the hottest trend in second grade and came through with item #1 on Maryn's Christmas list. We had a wonderful Christmas season filled with excitement and anticipation this year, and it was delightful to view it through Maryn's eyes. We woke up at 7 a.m. to the shuffle of feet in our bedroom and an exclamation that Santa had brought a new sled. After presents at home we were off to round 2 with family and an all day affair of opening, snacking, eating, playing and even napping for those who were so inclined. It was a marvelously cozy day. We spent the next two nights with the Marriott*family using the free nights we had earned, and we discovered we really enjoyed treating ourselves to leaving our beds unmade, taking the elevator to breakfast in our pajamas, and leaving our wet towels in a pile on the bathroom floor as we were asked to do. Doing that again next year will be #1 on my Christmas list.