Tea Party

Jentry is continuously begging me to let her have friends over and I usually give her the excuse that we have to plan ahead in order to make that work.  I'm not sure why I have been so reluctant in arranging a play date, but yesterday I finally made it happen.  I picked up her friend Avery from preschool and then picked up Jentry and Julie from daycare.

Avery and Julie are sisters and have been great friends to Jentry since we moved to Sutton.  Avery turned five last November and Julie turned 4 this month.  They are truly three peas in a pod, however they all like to be in charge.  This creates some interesting referring moments for the adults but makes for some really funny stories as well.

When we arrived at our house, they immediately wanted to change into the princess dresses and then took a bag full of plastic, Easter eggs outside to hunt.  It was quite a site seeing three little girls in dresses and high heels prancing around the yard.  Next they came back inside and played house, school and had a tea party.

Jentry selected the supper menu, and I could not believe how much three tiny girls could eat!  Jentry and Avery had thirds and they all devoured not one but two cookies for dessert!

They had a blast and I have to say it went much more smoothly than I had anticipated.  I am so thankful Jentry has such great girlfriends and hope that the friendships continue as they grow into little women.

Boots, Training, Flowers and Monsters

We celebrated St Patrick's Day with some amazing, traditional, Irish food.  Jan and John invited us for supper Sunday and Jan prepared some of the best corned beef and cabbage I have ever eaten.  Yum!  Jentry and I made Leprechaun Loaf for dessert, which was very green as Jentry insisted we add lots of green food coloring. 

Jentry always enjoys spending time at the McKenzie residence, because Jan has some really cool toys.  She loves dressing up in her favorite ballerina costume and this time she accessorized with some really trendy cowboy boots.  I thought it was just lovely.

Last Monday I headed to Minneapolis for a work, training conference and left Nathan to be Mr. Mom again.  I think he was much more comfortable this time, however he did request that I leave plenty of leftovers.  Apparently mac and cheese for every meal can get somewhat cheesey. 

I had a great time at the training, however by Thursday evening I was very happy to get back home and see my family.  I was very surprised to receive some beautiful flowers upon my arrival.  Jentry helped Nathan select a purple arrangement because, "Purple is mommy's favorite color."  Good work Jentry!  I absolutely love them and it made me feel very special.

While I was gone, Jentry was learning about the letter "U" in preschool and was required to bring something that started with a "U" for show and share.  At first, Nathan said he couldn't think of anything that she could take but quickly found a bag with the US Bank logo.  I thought it quite fitting and even shared Jentry's drawing with some of my co-workers who attended the training with me. 

On Wednesday, I received a text message from Nathan that read, "We have a problem."  Not exactly something you want to see when you are hours away from home.  Jentry had been invited to a birthday party for her classmate Connor (AKA Conster the Monster).  The party was scheduled for Friday and they gave her a T-shirt iron-on that she was to wear to the party.  I had no idea how I was going to buy a shirt and find the time to make it while I was in another state!  John came to the rescue and took Jentry to York Wednesday evening.  John said he had been wanting to take her on a "date night" for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity.  He took her out to eat at McDonalds and then they went shopping for a T-shirt at Walmart.  Of course, Jentry talked him into also buying her a new purse, doll and book.  Geesh...talk about spoiled! 

They found the perfect shirt and I was able to help Jentry iron on the stickers when I got home Thursday night.  The project came with lots of pieces so you could create your very own, unique monster.  When it comes to creativity, I am fairly useless.  If there is not step by step instructions and a picture to follow I get a bit sweaty.  Thank goodness Jentry is not like her mother in this regard.  She could not wait to get started designing her monster.  She laid out all the pieces and moved them around until they were just where she wanted them.  All I had to do was iron them down.  Now that I could handle.  When we were finished, I was praising her about how great it looked and she just sat there looking at the shirt with her finger on her chin.  "Um, I think it is missing something mom."  She quickly handed me two, yellow ears and asked me to iron them on as well.  "Now it is perfect, mom!" 

Her creation was much better than anything I could have put together and I am very proud of her ability to take charge and think outside of the box.  Maybe this old mother could learn a thing or two from her.

Snow Family

Yesterday afternoon was a perfect day to build a snowman.  The temperature was in the low forties and the snow was nice and sticky.   Just perfect for creating snow people.

"Hurry up mom, the sun is killing me!"

We started with one snowman and immediately upon completion Jentry insisted that it was her and that we needed to build another one for me. 

When the two snowWomen were complete, she insisted on building yet one more for daddy.  When Nathan asked her where his snowman was she replied with a somewhat guilty face, "Well, I just wanted what was there when I was born."  Good cover Jentry!

Jentry had so much fun and even placed a small piece of snow in each mouth so that they had some chewing gum.  Yes, of course every snow person needs some gum, right?

Jentry even took time to chew on the snow-gum herself.  "Don't worry mom, it wasn't yellow."

We had a great time in what was hopefully the last snow of the season.  With the forecast in the seventies by Friday I don't think our snow family will last long.  Yeah, bring on Spring!  

Boys and Basketball

This year both the Sutton girls and boys basketball teams qualified for the State Tournament in Lincoln.  We were unable to make the trip to cheer on the girls, however last week Nathan and I decided it would be fun to spend a long weekend cheering on the boys.  I dropped Jentry off with her dad a day early and turned right around that night and drove east to Lincoln.  We were able to stay at Nathan's parent's condo downtown which was quite convenient as well as extremely economical.

Bright and early Friday morning we took our seats and the Pershing Center to cheer on the Mustangs.  My brother-in-law, Chad, and nephew, Isaac, also made the trip to Lincoln to cheer on my alma mater, Southern Valley.  Chad and Kelly moved to Orleans last summer when Chad took a teaching position there. Southern Valley played Freeman immediately after the Sutton game so we were able to see everyone in one short morning. Isaac was so excited to get to observe his very first State Tournament and I was thrilled to be able to sit next to him.  He was much more into the sport than Jentry would have been.

When the brackets first came out, I joked and said, "Wouldn't it be fun if Sutton played Southern Valley in the finals?"  Much to my surprise, both Sutton and Southern Valley won their first two games and were set to play for the C-2 Championship on Saturday morning.  I wasn't sure who I was going to root for but was excited to watch them both play at Devaney.  People from back home as well as Sutton teased me to no end about being loyal, wearing the right colors and sitting on the right side.  I wished that I was in the know with one of the Red Hat Society ladies so that I could have borrowed a crazy purple and red hat.  That would have really made a statement!

Saturday morning, I put on a very neutral, white shirt and took a seat next to my husband with my other new neighbors.  My dad said he had to sit on the purple side with my sister and brother-in-law.  I told him that I understood and really wished I could have been on both sides at once.

At halftime, Sutton was down by only one point and I was able to venture to the purple side to say hello to some old classmates and friends.  It was so fun to see everyone and reminisce about my old cheerleading days.  Lots of the cheers were exactly the same!  They really should look into some new ideas after ten plus years.  Just a thought.

Time ran out with the score tied and then the dreaded overtime began.  I was on the edge of my seat the entire game and in the end Southern Valley came out with the big win 38-34.  I told Nathan that it was a win win situation for me because now I have bragging rights for the rest of the year, however if Sutton had won I would have been very excited for the boys I have gotten to know this year and more importantly would have had bragging rights with my brother-in-law till the end of time.  Overall it was a very exciting weekend filled with exciting basketball, excellent food, great old AND new friends, loving family and, of course, super shopping.

Sunday morning we woke up to a fabulous Nebraska, March blizzard.  We got in the car and headed west into the storm.  There have been three major snow storms this winter and Nathan and I have been lucky enough to have been driving in two of them.   Three hours later we had traveled the whopping 70 miles and arrived safely in Sutton.  Lincoln, it was fun but oh how nice it is to be home.

Congrats to the Southern Valley Eagles for their first ever State Championship title and best of luck to the Sutton Mustangs in the 2013-2014 season.

P.S. Jentry cried when she discovered the picture of Isaac and me at the game on my phone.  She was very upset that she didn't get to go too.  Maybe next year!?!?!

A Quiet Student?

Yesterday evening I attended my very first Parent - Teacher Conference.  It makes me a bit sick to my stomach that I could even have a child old enough to require such an activity, however I was very excited to get the real scoop on Miss Jentry. 

Her teacher, Ms. Peterson, is very sweet and even took the time to write a summary report of what Jentry has been learning and her progress.

"Jentry follows the classroom routine and rules.  She engages in cooperative pretend play with her peers, and she maintains the interactions with both peers and adults for extended periods of time.  Verbal or visual cues may be needed with Jentry to help her use her words to problem solve with her peers.  She enjoys playing board games and card games, and will sometimes choose the academic activities during choice time, rather than pretend play.  She enjoys creating in the art area and engaging in pretend play in the house area.  Jentry preforms all tasks that are presented to her, and she is cooperative in the classroom.  She has age-level attention during choral activities, music/movement activities, and paper/pencil tasks.  Occasional verbal or visual cues may be needed to redirect Jentry to the task.  She also has good manners, and she is sweet and caring towards others.  She uses a very quiet voice in the classroom."   

Most of what I read was very predictable and expected, however when I got to this last sentence I had to double check the name because my daughter does NOT use a quiet voice!  The teacher reassured me, "She is always very quiet and I never have to ask her to quiet down."  What?  This can't possible be my energetic, boisterous Jentry!  It was difficult to believe, but I took the teachers word to be true.

"Jentry writes her first and last name independently.  She draws a self-portrait independently, and she adds simple objects in her pictures.  Jentry puts together 25 piece puzzles, zips her own coat and cuts out simple shapes.  She is dominant with her right hand, and she uses a tri-pod grasp.  Jentry identifies all of the basic colors and shapes.  She counts objects 1-39, using 1:1 correspondence, and she identifies numbers 1-19 with occasional prompts.  She also identifies all of the uppercase letters, and she is developing phonemic awareness skills to sound out and write other words.  She also has good large motor skills as she jumps, gallops, balances on one foot, hops on one foot, and skips.  Jentry continues to work on ball skills, such as kicking, throwing, catching and dribbling.  We really enjoy having Jentry in our class."

The fact that Jentry needs to practice her ball skills is no surprise to me at all.  If she takes after her mother, she will most likely have very little to possibly zero athletic abilities.  Hopefully this is not the case.

I am very proud of how far Jentry has progressed this year.  Last summer she had absolutely no desire to sit down and color and/or draw.  Sit still?  What? No way!  Now, just eight months later, she is writing and drawing all kinds of things.  This makes me very anxious to see what Kindergarten will do for her this fall.