Ukrainian Dance

Yesturday was Emma's dress rehearsal for her Ukrainian Dance group. She looked so cute in her costume. To be honest, at first I didn't like them at all. I thought the shirts were gorgeous but the skirts were pretty goofy. Now that I see them all together they look cute. It looks even better when you see an entire group of boys and girls all up on stage dancing away in these outfits.

Emma will be sad to see the end of Ukrainian dance for the year but she is already looking forward to next year. I asked her if she wants to join again and she was very quick to say "Yes!"

This is going to be an extremely busy week for Emma. She is dancing everyday from Tuesday to Saturday because it's the villages festival and Brantford and that is what they train and practise all year for. I can't wait to see Emma on stage.

Sometimes a break is all you need!

Finally, after being cooped up with anywhere between 2 and 4 kids for the past week or more I got a break tonight. Kelly invited me out to a movie, with her and Barb, and boy was it nice. I don't think people realize just how tough it is looking after kids day after day. The constant fighting and yelling begins to wear on your nerves very quickly. Natalia is bad these days for hitting and of course Emma is really quick to tattle. It seems to be the never ending scenario around here and I have no idea what to do about it. It seems like the kids can play nicely for about 15 minutes and then someone gets mad and there is tears and yelling. I'm really not sure how I am going to survive the summer but I know that I am really looking forward to having Emma go to school all day every day next year. I only hope I can get Natalia potty trained so that she can start some sort of preschool program that will hopefully keep her busy. As much as Emma loved the quiet comfort of home at this age, I think it drives Natalia crazy. She needs to be running and playing. She needs more social interaction with other kids. She is definetly more high-energy than Emma. We will see what the fall will bring but the idea of sending her to daycare and going back to work is sounding very appealling.

Too much whinning!

Please, Please, tell me how someone so cute can do so much whinning! Natalia is exhausting me these days with her whinning and screaming over EVERYTHING! It doesn't seem to matter what it is she will whine and cry about it. Today she wanted a drink so she went to the fridge and pulled out a full milk bag even though there was still some in the jug. Because I used the jug and not the bag she screamed, cried and through a tantrum and refused to drink the milk in her cup. Urg! What do I do with this kid!! She also HAS to pick out her own clothes these days. If I try to do it for her she won't let me put them on, or if I do, she strips them back off as soon as I am not looking. She insists on pulling off her diaper yet refuses to use the potty. Today she pulled the chocolate spread off the counter and a butter knife and helped herself to a few scoops of that. It seems like I cannot turn my eyes away from her for a second or she is getting into something or hitting Emma because Emma won't let her have what she is playing with. I really need a kid holiday. I need to find her some activities like a preschool for the fall just to keep her busy or I am going to lose what little sanity I have left.

On to Grade ONE

I can't believe my baby is moving on to grade one next year. I am so very, very proud of everything she has accomplished in the past year. She is absolutely excelling at school and piano and her social skills have really come along too. She is no longer the shy, timid child that she was in the past. She has definetly come out of her shell and her more vibrant side is emerging.

Emma has been such a trooper since returning home from Iceland and Holland. Between her teacher, the special education teacher, Gerben and I we decided to persue placement in grade one for Emma next year. I had absolutely no idea the hurdles we would have to jump through to get her there. I guess it is extremely rare for a child of Emma's age to be accelerated. They say that a child under 7 cannot be accurately assessed for giftedness and therefore is not a good candidate for classroom acceleration (skipping a grade.) Needless to say, Emma has gone through test after test after test so that the teachers could document just how bright Emma is. In the end she is tested at an early grade 2 level. A full 2 years and a bit ahead of her age. Finally, she was given a test called at CCAT (Canadian Cognitive abilities Test.) I believe she is the first student to ever take this test because this version is brand new. It's a standardized test for children in Senior Kindergarten or Grade 1 to assess their learning levels. When the results came in Emma's scores were high enough to identify her as gifted by Ontario Standards and therefore gifted in the eyes of our school board. It turns out she scored amazing on it and that in itself is very cool because this test is actually meant for a child 1 to 2 years older than Emma. All I can say is...Way to go Emma! After weeks and weeks of tests we managed to get Emma the placement that she needs for next year. Emma is considered a exceptional student and will be attending grade 1 in the fall.

Friday was her Kindergarten Graduation. It was so cute to see all the little kids up singing and doing the chicken dance. Emma will miss some of her fellow JK friends but she is super excited about going on to grade 1 with some of her other friends.

Here's a few pictures of that wonderful day.

I can't believe I actually did it!

It may not sound like much to everyone else but I finally took Natalia today for a real haircut. I am so tired of the ratty tatty hair and how it always looks very stringy so I went tonight had had it cut into a long bob. It's absolutely adorable on her. I love it so much and I cannot believe I didn't do it sooner. She just looks precious and so much more grown up. She is always such an angel getting her hair cut. She just sits and stares in the mirror.

Here's the results.

Before....



After...




This weekend we also had Emma's birthday party. Seeing as we were away for her actually birthday we were stuck waiting more than a month to have it but it was a great success. We had seven little girls over. We played some games and they each got to decorate their own canvas goodie bags to take home. The highlight of the party was definetly the pinata. It was the only thing that Emma really, really wanted and she loved it. We were also lucky enough to have Kelly come over and do some gorgeous face painting. The girls looked fantastic.

Here's a few photos...