Checking in on the girlies

It is Labour Day - Summer's official end, and I thought it would be a good time to post about some of the things i don't want to forget about them now at 7, almost 5 and 2. This is the kind of post that is only interesting to Grandparents!

Jackie will be 5 in exactly 3 weeks. It is hard for me to remember that she is not 5 already. As expected she is loving Kindergarten just like Alice did. She got on the school bus without even a backwards glance - just like Alice. Unlike Alice, though, she tells me EVERYTHING that happens at school. It is so satisfying to have a child that loves to communicate. She does find school tiring though -and half the time she falls to pieces right as I am getting lunch on the table. She needs to less communicating and more eating at snack time.

Jackie's loves this summer: swimming with her floatie, end of summer campfire, discovering more adventurous food: hummus, salsa, and she went crazy over tomato artichoke dip at my work BBQ last weekend. She has sworn off skirts ( except her ballet dance skirt). She continues to be very happy and complimentary and I can't count how many times this summer she has said: This is the best day of my life! Or this is the best____ I have ever tasted!

Future plans: a big 5 year old birthday bash - it will be hard to chisel down the guest list: the theme so far - A Costume Party.

Eve is two with a vengeance! She is spirited, independent, and fearless. She loves the water and will swim whenever she gets the chance no matter the temperature of the water. Last week she was swimming on her own with the help of a small inflated tube ( left my Dot). She is small, but as her nursery leader, I can attest that she can hold her own with anyone 3 and under. She is tough, and when she gets hurt, all she needs is a kiss on her owie and she is back at it.

She loves to go out anywhere and when we do she gallops most of the time, moving in her arms in big circles. She loves to play " I have fallen and need help up" a game that Jackie taught her. It is very dramatic when played with Jackie - but personally I find annoying because it takes a long time to get anywhere when you have to stop every 5 feet. She only goes in her stroller to protect it from others or when I have had it with the help me up game.

She is finally talking more and can finally say her sisters names - saying Jackie's for the first time as she was angrily chasing her down the hall to get something back from her. She loves her little friends and can say " Chelsa, Gavin and Terry. Last week she finally said please and thanks - something we have been working for all summer - but really her favourite thing to say is "I too" and anything about her beloved "sou sou". She still starts more words than she finishes - I can't for the life of me get her to say open - she just says "op".She is enjoying the one on one time she gets with her sisters at school but hates it when they leave in the mornings. Mornings when we all leave and she stays with a babysitter at home are especially rough. But - as the picture shows, her babysitter if very indulgent with painting and it have become a passion.

Other current passions: dancing, dress up, balls, running, swings (which she calls wee) Popsicles, taco chips and any toys her sisters seem to be playing with.

Alice is 7 but half the time I think she is twelve ( a feeling that was confirmed to me at beehive camp this year). She is again in the mega class, with two teachers and 36 kids, but sadly her best friend is not in her class. I thought she might be upset, but when we found out, with both looked at each other and said, "darn" and that was it.

Alice learned to swim on her own this summer and has just gotten better and better. As of last week she was doing front crawl in place of the doggy paddle. She will jump in and out of the water all day long. Alice is taking jazz dancing and piano this year. She loved her first piano class, but is not thrilled with the idea of practicing. She loves her dance class and wishes it was more than once a week. We read Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone this summer and she loved it - especially being able to watch the movie afterwards. We have started on The Chamber of Secrets and she never forgets about reading. Her English and French reading is really coming along, which is great considering she hasn't learned any English reading in school.

Alice had a lesson about writing in her journal sometime this spring, and now writes in her journal pretty much every night - and Jackie does too. We had a family temple trip on Saturday and Alice said, " This is actually fun " as we were driving in the car. She also listened during testimony meeting when Dad and I bore our testimonies. She is someone who reminds us to do good things. She is also someone who reminds us that Friday nights should be movie nights. This weekend we watched Zoom.

Alice has discovered money. When I told her that we would be starting a more regular chore system, and that once they had not there required chores, she could do extra chores for money she said, : Mom, you better start working more, because your wallet is going to get a lot lighter".

Alice future plans include: learning to ride that two wheeler we got in May, making sure we go swimming once a week, and convincing me to pick her up from school as often as possible.