Preschool Graduation

Today, Aerya had her last day of Three Year Old Preschool at Les Tournesols French Immersion Preschool. Aerya has grown and matured so much over this year, thanks largely in part to the devotion of her amazing teachers, Mme. Lucie and Mme. Gisele.

Over the course of the year Aerya has gone from crying when I dropped her off and not letting me leave, to saying a quick goodbye as she excitedly played with the other kids. She has learned her alphabet, how to spell her name, numbers and about 75 french words and phrases. She will often slip in a few french words while speaking with us which just excites us so much.

Stations were her favorite part of the day, but she really did enjoy most everything. The kids always came home with great little crafts like ladybugs (out of paper plates), sandscapes, picture frames and of course tons of coloring pages. While at first Aerya was hesitant to join in, she quickly began singing along at song time (and most of them were in french!) and answering the questions to games. The only thing I'm a bit concerned with is that Aerya is easily distracted (gee Derek...!) and her attention will wander from the task at hand. But this usually happens only with group songs and games, and not during stations or craft time - until she is finished that is.



Probably the best part of preschool was the time Aerya spent with the other children. She became much better at understanding sharing and taking turns - even if she still didn't want to do that! She would often take a second to talk to a quiet child, or reassure one who was sad. Aerya would discuss this with me at home, and decide how to handle these situations if they arose again. It warmed my heart to see her reaching out to the other students. Even though Aerya still explains that she doesn't like it when others win at games, or get to go first, she at least now lets it happen without a fit or complaint (most of the time.)
She also clearly came into her own extroverted personality. Aerya would often be heard telling stories to her teachers, explaining just what was what and trying to direct her friends in a game. Her best friend at school was Taylor (in front of her with the purple shirt and no hat), a very sweet natured little girl. The two of them were inseparable! Finishing out a trio was Jaina (beside her with pigtails and the pink/green dress), whom I was so happy to see with Aerya. They both have quite dominant personalities and had to come to terms with each other. There were days that Aerya wasn't thrilled Jaina was there (especially when Jaina was spending time with Taylor) and Jaina often went home with comments of Aerya's bossiness (which we also heard about Jaina!), but by the end of the year the three of them were great friends. Aerya and Jaina both gained a lot from learning to balance each other.





We are so very proud of Aerya and all the growth she has shown this year. She is returning to Les Tournesols next year (3 days a week) and we are so excited for what that may bring.

Hungry Girl

I took a nap and even though I'd gotten Aerya breakfast, a snack and a drink I woke up to her having eaten 3 nectarines and a bowl of Special K (which she poured herself and then put away!) Later, I went to work in the office and told Aerya she could not have any more snacks before lunch. Half an hour later I return to the livingroom to find that she had poured herself a bowl of pancake mix! While she made a huge mess of it on the couch (I mean who can easily eat dry powder without blowing it all over) she did pour it neatly into a bowl and put the box away. Needless to say, I quickly figured it was time to make lunch.

Shoe Obsession

I have forgotten that Aerya is obsessed with pretty shoes. When I brought out all the summer shoes she quickly absconded with my sandals to line them all up in her room. She explained that she just HAD to have them to look at all the time!

Good Girl (for chocolate anyways)

Derek bought me an Aero bar as a little treat. When Aerya saw it she of course thought it was for her. Derek told her that if she was a good girl tomorrow, Mommy would share some with her (it was bedtime.)
Aerya came over to me and said: "Mommy, I promise to be a good girl tomorrow, so you can give me your chocolate now."
I think she's somehow missed the concept!

Garden Party 2010

Well, another May Long Weekend has arrived with the crappiest weather known to man!! I plan and I plan, I slave away over a hot stove, I clean until my fingers are raw. But does Mother Nature care?!?! Nope, not at all. The temperature hovered right around the freezing mark and the ground was of course so wet that the garden couldn't be tilled. But as Ben said, it was still really nice out!

We all had a nice time visiting and watching the kids play around. There was good food, great friends and lots of chaos. Everyone played outside and explored the acreage - especially the dogs! It was hilarious to watch them run and chase each other. We had 4 big Lab sized dogs tearing up the place, and little Stider watching calmly from the deck. He did try to um, get in on the action with Forester, but was quickly denied.





The kids did one craft where they painted rocks for the garden. They're super cute because while older kids would have made them into animals, we have incredibly colorful rainbows instead. It'd be neat to see them do this every year and watch their progression. Hopefully Kendall will practice a bit at home (with non-yogurt colors) and paint a bit more on the rock, and a bit less in her mouth. And I really did like the purple streak in Monica's hair! Seriously, it looked great!




The rocks from left to right: Kendall's, Madison's & Aerya's. I love how Aerya & Madison have the same idea for their rocks, but Maddy paints the whole rock with each side a different color, and Aerya's is just random splotches until she gets bored. Kendall kept most to the original concept as we can all see that she was painting Purrest the cat (whom her mother tried to bring indoors to defy Derek! Love it!






My favorite comment of the day came from Madison while she and Aerya were playing with sidewalk chalk. Aerya: "Look, I made an 'A'. I learned that from the internet." Madison: "Oh Aerya, you crack me up!"

The cows across the road came out for a visit and the kids went and fed them grass and the horses got apple slices. It was so cute to see all the cows lined up on their side of the fence, and all the kids and dads on the other.






I hope everyone had a good time at Fuzzy Acres. I'm hoping to make this an annual event, but maybe we'll do a combo dealy with Aerya's birthday on the first weekend of June. I think we'd have a better chance of catching the Magic Weather Fairies that weekend! If anyone wants, we will actually be planting next weekend and the one after that, so feel free to pop by (I mean it's just down the road!) and get dirty in the garden.

I think she's trying to wink

I really have no idea what she's doing, but it's Paddleriffic!

Delinquent Blogging

Every few months I must put out an appology to the followers of Aerya's Blog as I have fallen behind on my blogging.
I would like to say that I'm just too busy for it, but lets face it, no one would believe me.

It's not that I'm not busy - I totally am. But I do manage to find time to do other (completely useless) things - like standing on the fence to trim the trees with a hand saw (or rake when I can't reach the branches) or staying up until midnight to read a book I've already read once or twice. But really, when your husband goes to bed at 9pm you tend to stay up super late cause there's no one to keep you in line!

But enough about me. Wait... me. Huh, maybe I would blog more if it was all about me. Imagine...in bright flashing lights - with sparkles...THE WORLD ACCORDING TO TARRA! I could make amazing lists (FYI I just added a few lists to Aerya's Home Page on the right side), explain just how I see the world (why are dumb people so dumb?!?), tell people how they should be living their lives in EXCRUCIATING detail, explain why exlaimation points make all things better. Oh boy! The possibilities are endless! Hmm, maybe Derek (and Nikki - lol) are right. I need more adult interaction in my life.

Anywho, back to Aerya. Apparently you can follow the blog. I'm not sure exactly what this does, but there's a spot on the right side of the blog above PREVIOUS POSTS to click. Someone please do this and tell me what happens!! Keep watching and I promise lots more blogs!

Scrapn'

Aerya loves to scrap. She spends a lot of time cutting up little pieces of paper, sticking on stickers and adding anything that isn't already stuck down. Her masterpieces are really improving.

Little Model

All day, everyday Aerya dresses up, poses to ask how beautiful she is and then changes again. Seriously, all day, everyday.