Walker took his first reading comprehension test yesterday at school...

He was SO excited when I picked him up... he got all the answers correct... 100 percent! When we told him how proud we were of him he says, "I'm proud of myself too!"

Trying to get back in the groove with life after having a week off from school. Been trying to get all of Ainsley's Birthday party plans done and finished so it's not crazy the last minute.

Soccer should be starting up any moment... speaking of we signed up to be Assistant coaches for Ainsley's team (don't really know what we were thinking... yikes) and yesterday we got a call to see if we would coach Walker's team!..they must be in dire needs... verdict is still out on that one for us... need to decide soon though.

This is my current favorite picture taken...

Ainsley did her own hair this morning... love the two ponies... makes her still look little. She still loves playing the piano but has to be reminded to practice but does so willingly... just an ordinary day in our life.

To start Spring Break we went bowling Friday night... and I'm embarrassed to say that both kiddos beat my little score of 60 something. Walker even got a strike! We all played 2 games and then Stewart (Mr. Bowler wannabe) played a third game. A few action shots...

Saturday we headed to the Model Train Display that little Bug loved so much last year. Last year when we went we had to hold him up the entire time so that he could see the trains. Here he is last year on tippy toes trying to see..

This year he was flat footed and able to peek over the edge to enjoy the trains...

Guess who can read???

I talked to his teacher about him being bored in school and she decided to have him take the "Star test" which tests reading levels... he is currently at a reading level of 1.0 -2.0 meaning he can read at first grade level. He will be able to check out reading books in the library and take a reading comprehension test on them. He is really excited about this... so we will be hitting the library on Monday to check out books!

Ainsley was immediately saying, "No fair... I didn't do that in Kindergarten... I guess Walker's going to be smarter than me!" Had to explain to her that he learned all of this from her.

Friday was also "Fake Injury Day" at school... the kids think this is the coolest thing ever. Walker was a bit unsure if he wanted to participate at first... he likes things all normal... but in the end decided too. He's totally got the sympathy vote..

Ainsley would have had her whole body bandaged up if we would have enough gauze... she even had to limp on the way to school... ha!

To finish off yesterday's festivities the kiddos and I made St. Patty's Day Cupcakes..

with frosting, sprinkles and Lucky charm cereal..

After we did one the kiddos both said, "Well can we just use the marshmallows??"

Ainsley's creation..

and Walker explaining in great detail about his creation... so yeah looking at his face he may have licked a bit of frosting during the process and then wiped his hands on his shirt.

Update to Walker and the tears at school... fine yesterday (having the leprechauns come made for an exciting day.) Today we barely got across the crosswalk before the tears started... and he put the brakes on. Luckily his teacher aide was outside and he held her hand until the bell rang... he made it the rest of the day and was all smiles when I picked him up later. Still trying to figure it all out but I think he's bored... at home is so much more exciting... we learn about things he's interested in... space... planets and the latest reptiles. School is well... writing letters... doing craft projects... making patterns... things that he already knows or dislikes.

Only one more day until Spring Break starts... which being a week off from school is going to either help or hinder the problem.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The kiddos woke up to this...

those sneaky leprechauns left green footprints and gold candy coins on their beds, nightstands and along the hallway.

Walker sleepily woke up and when he saw the gold coins he jumped out of bed and started yelling all the way into Ainsley's room, "Ainsley... we got gold!" Poor thing his heart was beating so fast... thought he was going to pass out!

I made green blueberry muffins for breakfast... which they were a little leery of. I kept saying that they were the same taste but just a different color... they normally eat at least 2 each but today... it was all they could do to choke down 1.

It was a fun way to start the day and the plan was to have a little aversion to dropping him off at school this morning. Seemed to work for he had no tears!

How is it that this cute little face... can go from one extreme to the other???

Remember when he had behavior bucks taken away at school for being loud and wild?? Well for the past two days he's been crying... more like sobbing and gripping onto me when I take him to school!

Hoping to figure out this one quickly... for he's never been a clingy child. His teacher is just as confused as we are about the situation... we've both talked to him to see if something happened with a friend or on the playground but that all seems to be fine. No ideas... breaks my heart to pry him off and leave him sobbing in the classroom... it's like deja vu all over again when Ainsley went through this at the beginning of kindergarten... not nearing the end!

The past couple of days the kiddos have been out of school for Parent-Teacher conferences. They are a bit different than the "traditional" conferences in the fall... these are student-led conferences, meaning the kids take you through their classroom and show you what they do. Usually Stewart goes so that he knows what the kids do at school but this year the times worked out that we all went together .

First up was Walker who thought that he was going to play the role of teacher and have us do all the centers... he was thoroughly disappointed when I read the signs to him which stated... Have your child name all the letters and sounds in 1 minute. So he was like, "Uggh... this is just like a regular school day!"   Ainsley was dying to do the work... Ha!

We got to the last station which was his teacher's desk... she handed out his report card and he did fine but doesn't know how to write his last name... What?? So we immediately came home and got that covered... funny how you forget the little things to go over.

Ainsley was up next and went through her desk...

Showed us a few writing assignments in her binder, read part of her reading book and showed us a few current papers and then was ready to go home. Cracks me up how shy they are when the focus is solely on them.   So it was a very quick conference... which is good I suppose.

Today the kiddos were off from school, so with Webkinz Fuzzy and Shimmer in hand we set out to find Birthday supplies for an almost 8 year old... Yikes!

We were hunting for Wizards of Waverly Place Birthday supplies to be exact... it was a no go... which is why we started looking early... now I'll have to get an order together online. But while at the store we had to check out the toy section... the only requirement made by Walker when we started out this morning.  And what did we find... a new Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 Bad Guy!!! Can you see the excitement???

Instead of saying, "I want this!" (which I knew he really did want) he said, "Do you think we can ask them if we can take it home real quick to show Daddy?" Aww... how sweet. So this is the hard thing of being a parent... you want to buy it for him because you know how much he LOVES the show and toys but you also don't want your kids being spoiled beyond belief with "things".

So as I'm debating all this I thinking... crap... of course it's got to be the only one... we've never seen it and I like to think I'm on the up and up with their latest toy obsessions. And also where can I put this so that no one will buy it before I get back tonight to get it for his birthday.

Walker then says, "I have money in my piggy bank at home... can we go home and get it and come back?" Instead of making a trip up and back and knowing that it will be gone, I tell him, " Mommy will buy it but when we get home you have to pay me what is in the piggy bank." Deal??...it was a deal and home we came.

We got home and he immediately ran to get his money chanting the whole time, "$10.99...$10.99... I hope I have it!!" Low and behold he did (thankgoodness can you imagine the tears if it had to go back!)...he was so very proud to count out the exact money..$10.99 (i gave him a break on the tax)...

And then he and Ainsley set up the "Battlefield" and re-enacted a few shows... Bad guys vs the Good guys.

Onto lunch... new toy got the prime spot...

and is currently on the nightstand next to his bed.

Yesterday it was a beautiful warm, sunny day and after I picked up Walker from school we went on a little bike ride.

He was so funny... every little unevenness in the sidewalk he'd hop off and want to push his bike... saying, "It's better to be safe."

Where we live isn't the ideal spot for biking (sloping) but he did pretty good... opting again to push his bike down the slope than riding it... he was too nervous. I was planning on another ride today after school but it's now snowing!