First day
Thursday, August 29th 2013. The first day of kindergarten for Hunter. We have been talking about kindergarten for so long now, prepping Hunter and encouraging his good behavior so he can be ready for kindergarten. Hunter goes to morning kindergarten in Ms. Youngberg’s class and afternoon Kinder-connection with Ms. Wacht (Watt). We had K-orientation for AM class, orientation for K-connection and K-orientation for parents. Lots of orientations! I think it was helpful for Hunter to meet his teachers in advance and have the opportunity to check out the classroom. The bus picks up at the end of our street at 7:41am. Parents are required (and should anyway) to wait with their K-gartner at the bus stop. In the afternoon he gets dropped off at 3:30pm. If you aren’t there to meet your K-gartner they will drive your child back to the school. Jeanie is the bus driver and the kids have assigned seats.
I made waffles this morning so that the kids would have a good breakfast. Hunter ate 1 waffle and a yogurt. Ella ate 1 waffle, some blueberries and a yogurt. The whole family walked Hunter to the bus stop and we took a few pictures while waiting. Ms. Youngberg had sent an email out to all the parents saying that it was fine for parents to escort their children to the classroom for the first couple of days. So after the bus left, Ella and I drove in the car to the elementary school just to be sure Hunter did not have any problems finding his teacher. I wanted him taking the bus from the very first day, but I did not want him feeling left out that his parents were not there. For the first few days they are having the K-gartners meet in the cafeteria. Ms. Youngberg was holding a big yellow sign with a “K” on it. Hunter’s bus had already arrived school by the time Ella and I got there. He was lined up right beside his teacher. Such a big boy and a good example for the other kids! We went up to Hunter and told him what a great job he did riding the bus. Then he started to cry and was asking where is Daddy? I said Daddy is home putting your desk together so be brave and your desk will be all ready when you get home. There was so much organized chaos going on, kids, parents, lines, etc… it was overwhelming even for me! Anyway, I was a bit misty eyed but very determined not to cry to be strong for Hunter. I decided at that point it was time to go and that escorting him to the classroom would only make things worse for him.
As Ella and I left we stopped at his bus and met the bus driver Jeanie. Ella really wanted to ride the bus with Hunter and this summer she has been telling everyone she meets that she is going to K-garten. Jeanie was very kind and let Ella climb aboard the bus to check it out. Ella got a special day with Daddy today! They built Hunter’s desk together, played Connect Four, went to the park and had lunch with Mommy. We all walked back to the bus stop to get Hunter at 3:30pm. He did not say much as we walked home, he immediately wanted to see his desk and work on his homework. While upstairs in his room Ella said “I love ya Hunter, I missed you a long time”. You could tell by looking at Hunter’s face that this made him feel good. So sweet! We asked him about his day, but he didn’t really say much at first. As we were playing and coloring together later he said that he had fun riding the bus and that he had a “green light all day”. Which is a way they encourage good behavior. Seemed to work well for him. He then told me it will be “easy to get a green light every day”. He also said “I was not mean at all”.
In Ms. Youngberg’s class, the kids made a raccoon hand puppet with a brown paper bag. On the back of the bag:
“It’s my first day of school, and “The Kissing Hand” is what we read. It’s about a raccoon who did just as his parents said. Like the raccoon’s first day at school, I was scared and a little shy. But because of what you said, I was brave and I got by. All through the year I’ll make more things for you. So as I change and as I learn you can see my growth, too!”
Hunter was also very excited to do his homework and immediately wanted to get started on it when he got home. I suggested that he take a break from working and play for a bit. He replied that he played all day and was ready to do his homework! That gave me a chuckle! The K-connection class – Ms. Wacht sent a packet home, it’s optional homework for the kids. It’s just a fun, interactive way to work together on something, but is completely optional. Today Hunter wrote his full name three times and practiced counting to 20. Tomorrow he’ll count how many stairs we have in our home. Then draw a picture of his teacher, etc… Fun little assignments. He meticulously placed colored pencils, crayons, markers, tape, glue sticks, etc… into his desk. A few days ago he made a sign for his bedroom door- half green and half red so that Ella can tell when she can come in his room. Red means stay out, I’m working on my homework. Green means come in and play! So far so good, I think it’s going to be a good year.
New Words
Little Miss Ella is 18 months old and her vocabulary has grown a TON. She can say Hunter, toothbrush, shoes, binky, blanket, cold and please. She covers her ears and says “loud”. She blows on her food because its “hot”. She calls Grandpa “Papa”. Ella likes to play rough with her brother in the evenings before bed. They chase each other around the house laughing and screaming with delight.
According to Hunter….
Hunter has always enjoyed our talks at bedtime. We review his day, talking about fun things he did, and what he is doing tomorrow. Here is part of our conversation this evening after I put some “Breathe” essential oil blend on his chest…
Hunter: “Mom, on the Dr’s birthday we should give her oils”
Background, Hunter’s was recently treated for “reactive airways”. The term oils is used in reference to my doTERRA essential oils that we have been using for the past year as a natural alternative to help with first aid issues, etc…
Me: “Oh really, why?”
Hunter: “That way she can get rid of all that equipment and shots and the bad stuff. Oils are great, then she could help all the other kids with oils. Kids don’t like shots you know.”
Anyway, I got a kick out of his perspective and thought I’d share!
Taking the summer off!
Things were not working out great at my new start up company, so I had a conversation with the Founder of the company outlining my success to date and the challenges. Including the fact that the CEO left, VP Sales left, Marketing was let go, two Sales reps were laid off, and they cut our commissions by 65%. No executive leadership has been put into place and this being in “limbo” was getting old. Nothing was turning out as promised when I was hired and the traveling was significant. The Math was not adding up. Anyway, I ended up getting laid off my job. Our nanny, Michelle got engaged and was decreasing her hours working for us, and Bear was getting ready to go on location. The timing of everything just worked out well for my “summer off”. I have been busier than ever, coordinating summer camp for Hunter and getting odds and ends done around here. B has been gone for 16 days so far and we all miss him. He’ll be home for a couple of days, working on postproduction and then he’ll get going on location again until the beginning of September. We appreciate all his hard work! Love you Baby!
Lake Tahoe Family Reunion Trip June 2012
We drove the 7 1/2 hours to Lake Tahoe for a family reunion trip on my side of the family. All my siblings were there at some point during the week. All the grandchildren got to play together and it was a BLAST!
Here are all the grandchildren:
Daddy caught this precious moment with the camera while I was putting sunscreen on little Ella’s face. I just love her expression…
Here is Ella playing with cousin Ceci and Titus…
All the cousins gathered around for “movie night”. Hunter was awake for the first 15 min and fell asleep in his sleeping bag.
At King’s Beach park…
Playing at the park with Maren…
Back at Gma and Gpa’s condo on the Lake…
Hunter swimming with Marcus…
Every morning the boys would get up, head to the North Tahoe Regional Park and play around of “disc golf”. As you can see, Hunter is getting quite good…
Still catching up! Easter 2012
Gma and Gpa Gibby were visiting for Easter! We had a lovely Easter including Beef Wellington! YUM! Thank you to the Easter bunny for bringing little tiny plastic toys called “SQUINKIES” instead of candy! We have been to the dentist too much lately!
Preschool Graduation – Deer Valley Academy
Those children going on to kindergarten wore caps and gowns, the other children are not old enough to start kindergarten in the Fall. They had a nice program, each child got an award and they sang a few songs with hand motions. It was super cute. Hunter was given the “NASA AWARD” because when he grows up, he wants to be an alien! Miss Olga and Miss Susan are very good teachers and Hunter simply adores them both. Thanks for all your patience and hard work this year!
Hunter and Miss Olga:
Hunter and Miss Susan:
Skiing – Hunter, Age 4
Hunter went to preschool three days a week at Deer Valley Academy from Jan – May 2012. Part of his preschool tuition included skiing lessons! How cool! The perks of living in Park City! Hunter got a two-hour private ski lesson once a week (sometimes more if the resort was not busy). Barry found Hunter’s skis & boots at a ski swap. Hunter was sent home each ski day with a “report card”. It stated what skiing skills they worked on that day, what part of the mountain he skied on and so forth. Hunter always had fun and looked forward to skiing. His favorite instructor was GLEN. GLEN was awesome! On the chair lift, Hunter and Glen would often practice their “evil laughs” together. One day, Daddy went up on the ski hill to get some photos of Hunter. He looked everywhere for Hunter and could not find him, so he started asking around with the lift operators, etc…. Then Daddy heard someone yell… “Hunter, SLOW DOWN!” And a red missile came speeding down past Daddy. Daddy was looking for Hunter in his gray and red Spyder jacket and could not find him. Well, Hunter had worn his Ironman Halloween costume that day to preschool and wore it on the ski hill as well! This was a fun experience for Hunter and toward the end of the season they had a “ski parade” with all the kids. Grandma and Grandpa Gibby happened to be in town for the ski parade and got to see Hunter skiing down the hill. We were all very proud of Hunter! Great job!
Hunter in his Ironman Halloween costume… Note the bulging muscle arms! Hunter is holding a large snowball in his hands, this is his “eating snow” while he skis.
The Ski class, Hunter is the second from the left in blue goggles.
Hunter and Glen!
Proud Mama and baby sister…
Fishing with Grandpa Hill
As part of Grandpa Hill’s 80th birthday celebration the boys all went fishing. Gpa Hill taught all the boys how to fish while growing up. And so the boys wanted Grandpa Hill to teach the grandsons as well. Fun photos of a great day!
The Hill Connection 