Preschool Halloween Party

Halloween came early for our two preschoolers as their party was held on Thursday. They changed their minds multiple times, but in the end chose Strawberry Shortcake, and Ballerina (not a costume, but her sister's old ballet outfit). Their classroom was turned into a not-too-scary haunted house, with plenty of fun games and treats. Here they are before heading to school:

School Photos

It that time of year again...Last week, my first-grader brought home some photo proofs. Much to my surprise, her smile was not forced. Nonetheless, I was not convinced that we needed to buy a package of multiple prints in a variety of sizes. The digital version made a lot more sense, and the very same day, I was able to download the class photo as well as two poses with three different backgrounds. Here is my favourite...now if she could only keep her her neat for even an hour after arriving at school...

Swim Team Meets

Our 6-year old proudly made the local winter swim team a few months ago. Practices, twice weekly, were supposed to begin at the end of September. Unfortunately the annual pool maintenance uncovered some larger-than-anticipiated problems, and the local indoor pool remains closed for renovations. An alternative pool was found in the interim, and the junior swim team met for the first time this week. Rather than have two separate half-hour swim practices preceded by a land workout, they met once for a one hour land workout, and a second time for a one hour swim practice. The land practice, held locally, went very well. The swim practice was another story. The water was ice-cold, and the air temperature was not much warmer. The kids quickly developed blue lips, some were left in tears, and very few lasted longer than 30 minutes of the 60 minute practice. After multiple complaints, the swim club had decided to ask the school board that runs the high school pool in question to warm it up...Here is hoping that next week's practice lasts a little longer. Just in case, I will be brining her neoprene swim suit...

The Cutest Homework Club

When I met with my daughter's grade one teacher early in the school year, I felt overwhelmed by the amount of homework she would be doing. A new book to read every night for a week, about 200 french words that she would have to master by the end of the school year, in addition to nightly vocabulary, and a weekly test involving numbers. I needn't be worried as her homework is completed within 15 minutes, she has aced all three of her tests so far, learned all of her words within three weeks, and actually enjoys doing her homework. So much so that our 4-year old asked if she could do homework too. Why not, I thought, and bought her a prep book for kindergarten. She take out her book each time she see her sister doing her homework, and meticulously practice writing letters, both "majuscule" and "minuscule"...

The Girls Play Hockey

In a bid to improve their skating skills, we signed our two oldest girls up for pre-novice hockey. The play two days per week, for a total of 2.5 hours. There aren't any teams or goalies yet, but eventually there will be one practice per week, and one game per week. For now, they are just learning how to hold a stick, and how to pass a puck, all the while playing games and improving their skating skills. They have also picked up some new vocabulary, including "stick-handling" and "passing a puck". Our littlest one watched intently, exclaiming "I can't play hockey yet because I am too young".  Our youngest one will continue her once weekly skating lessons which start in mid-October. After just two weeks of hockey, our oldest one has said on several occasions that she enjoys the sport, while the middle one not so much, although she isn't a strong skater. We are hoping that she will enjoy the game more as her skating improves, but more than anything, we are hoping that both girls continue to play at the same time each week and that they will be placed on the same team once the teams are assigned in January.