Winter Walk

There is nothing more peaceful than a walk though the winter woods. Unless you are with me and Cole. Apparently we never stop talking loudly, we step in the frozen water and mud, and generally act like wild animals. That is way more fun than walking quietly and just looking around. Mom and Dad are boring.

Christmas Eve solo sneak peek

This year I joined the kids choir at church AND I'm singing a solo during Christmas Eve mass. I am so excited to get a turn all by myself on the microphone. This Sunday we had our last practice and Mom took a video. I wish you all could be there to see me!

Afternoon at the ballet

I went to the ballet to see the Nutcracker with my friend Olivia, and our mom's and Cole too. The dancing and music was soooo good!

It's important to eat lots of sugar before the ballet.

Don't we look beautiful.

Our Christmas tree

Mom and Dad decided to put up a real Christmas tree in our house this year instead of our usual tree. We went to a tree farm and walked all over it looking for a perfect tree. Then Dad chopped it down and brought it to our house.

It took a few days for them to get the tree standing up right. But finally we decorated it. Isn't it beautiful!

(P.S. Don't my teeth look great?! I lost another one right after this picture was taken. I have 5 missing teeth right and another one that is loose!)

K-1 Bingo Night and Book Fair

We met Pete the Cat. Groovy!

Bingo and popcorn. Cole, Mom, and I all won bingo!

Christmas is coming!

Advent calendar!

Christmas lights!

Making ornaments!

Ornaments at church!

Baking cookies!

First NFL Stadium visit, 30 more to go

Have I mentioned that I'm obsessed with the NFL? Of course I have! Over Thanksgiving, mom and dad took me to see the Brown's stadium. It was huge and wonderful. Now if only we had seen a game or bought lots of souvenirs... 

And while we were there, we stopped by dad's old high school, St. Ignatius. It looked very fancy. He told me that all of the students are boys. No girls! I can't imagine that.

Thanksgiving

at Grandma and Grandpa's! With cousins! And cookies!

My first report card

Now that I'm in Kindergarten, I get report cards too! Turns out I'm pretty good at school. The grades are Partial (lowest), Moderate (expected performance), Strong (end of K expectation), and Distinguished (beyond Kindergarten). I'm glad I don't have to learn how to read the report card!

Math: I am Distinguished for writing my numbers! I wrote all the way up to 35 perfectly. No backwards numbers. I am Partial for counting out loud to 100. I only made it to 49. If I had remembered that 50 came next, my grade would have been Moderate. So silly!

Reading: I am Strong for knowing all my letter names and Moderate for knowing all my letter sounds. I am Partial for knowing sight words and using reading strategies.

Writing: I am Partial for having writing ideas, spelling, and writing my letters.

Science & Social Studies: I am Strong for understanding concepts and vocabulary.

Behavior & Social Skills: I am good in all areas. My best behavior is that I am exceptionally kind and helpful to others. My one area to work on is transitioning between activities without getting distracted.

Overall, Kindergarten is great. I love my teacher and the kids are all nice. I am learning so much. I can read lots of books. My teacher is very happy with my work.

My one problem with school is mommy. She has been volunteering in my classroom, helping us make paintings on Fridays. I love having her in my class, but I hate saying goodbye. I just can't handle it. So, I've decided that she can't come anymore because it will always make me cry when she leaves. Poor mommy.

Report card time

I'm a genius! Seriously, I think I'm probably the smartest kid in my class. My teacher told me that it is good to have confidence. No shortage there. I just got my first 2nd grade report card and I'm doing great. The grades are Partial (lowest), Moderate (expected performance), Strong (end of 2nd grade expectation), and Distinguished (beyond 2nd grade).

Math: My grades were Strong for adding two-digit numbers and adding in word problems, and for measuring length of objects and telling time. My grades were Moderate for adding numbers 1-20 automatically and only Partial for subtracting numbers 1-20 automatically.

Reading: My grades were Strong for fluency and understanding the text. I was Moderate on using phonics and critical reading. I was Partial for self-correcting errors. I don't want to stop for mispronounced words. My reading level is N, which is a 3rd grade level.

Writing: My grades were Strong for grammar and spelling. I was Moderate for my essay organization and details. I was Partial for varying my sentence patterns and vocabulary.

Social Studies: We have covered the topics of government, geography, and history and I am Strong!

Science: We have studied life sciences and I am Strong!

Behavior and Social Skills: I am Strong in all areas... except I need to work a bit on following directions.

So, maybe I still have some things to learn in 2nd grade.

Snow day!

Woo hoo! Monday was our first snow day of the year! We played outside all day, make snow forts (sort of), had snowball fights, and drank hot chocolate!

Our snow forts weren't very big. Who knew it would be so hard to build?!

New Albany History

In school I have learned a lot about the history of our town. First it was a forest, then it was farmland, and now it is filled with shops, neighborhoods, and our school. The Ealy house is over 100 years old. The Ealy family lived there a long time ago. I went there in 1st grade and I finally took Mom and Luke there.

Look at all this old stuff!

In the basement were tools for a blacksmith. This was our favorite part. I want to learn how to make horseshoes!

Here I am ringing the dinner bell. 

Nice back yard!

Trick or Treat

I think Halloween might be the best holiday for us. Our house is SUPER spooky. The 3rd spookiest in the neighborhood and we are going to be even better next year. Ali, Dexter, and Grandfather came to visit because our Halloween is great.

This year I was Harry Potter, Dexter was Darth Maul, and Cole was a skeleton zombie.

Look at all the candy mom and dad tried to give away. I think they just bought a bunch extra so they could have some.

Grandfather helped my get dressed and my neighbor painted on my lightning bolt scar.

Here is the scariest house in our neighborhood. We were able to catch Cole and his friend Nicholas at this house, but then they ran off again.

Dexter was really good at setting off the jumping spider.