We discovered some goats at the school down the street. They’re so friendly and cute! They’re basically vegetarian dogs. Now we walk over and visit them form time to time.
Goats!
school
Claire the Flapper
Claire had a major role in the 5th grade musical play the year.
She was a flapper and got a brief solo singing part! She sounded amazing and looked great in her flapper outfit. She’s a natural flapper. Way to go, Claire!
Here’s Claire with her friends Susie, Wolfie, and another girl whose name I forgot. (oops!)
First Grade Guide to Austin Restaurants
Molly’s first grade class did the cutest assignment to hand out to the parents as a Christmas present. Each kid in the class wrote a review of a restaurant they were familiar with. Molly choose Chi’lantro, a regular favorite of ours. Molly’s review followed the same format followed by most of the other kids. “Chi’lantro is good. The parking is okay…” etc. But it was support sweet, and Molly had some good observations about Chi’lantro. Way to go, first graders! BTW, the most popular restaurant was P. Terry’s, which got several independent reviews.
Last Day of School ’15
The girls head out for their last day of school for this academic year. This was Molly’s last day in Pre-K and Claire’s last day in 3rd grade. It is a pajamas day for Molly, and both girls get to bring games, stuffed animals, etc. for their last day with their classes.
STAAR Wars
Claire finished her first major standardized test today, the dreaded STAAR test. It is a two-day test, fours hours each day, mandated by the state of Texas. Claire and her fellow third graders have spent most of third grade preparing for this test. Parents brought snacks and drinks to keep the kids sharp and refreshed. But once the doors close, it is fully locked down, with no visitors of any kind. It is pretty serious. A sign in Claire’s classroom says:
STAAR Wars — May the Scores Be With You!
We don’t know Claire’s test results yet, but to celebrate just finishing this monster test, we took her out to dinner and let her pick a dessert, a rare and substantial treat for our sugar-starved Claire.
Pre-K Track Star
The girls’ school had its annual track day today. There was a mile race for the third-graders. Claire bravely took pet in this race and finished near end, tied with a new friend, Anna, who she met on the track.
Molly took part in the 1/4-mile race for the pre-K class. Molly finished as second place for per-K girls and got a medal! A total of three pre-K girls participated, and one girl finished behind Molly. Still, second place is second place, and a medal is a medal!
The Solar System
Here is the Solar System that Claire put together for school. She worked hard in this, and even took it on our weekend trip to Houston so she could finish it. It came out great! Claire even added her own flair such as the asteroid belt.
But sadly, that is the Earth laying there on the ground. It became unseated and fell off unceremoniously to the floor. Tragedy happens.
Molly Rides the Bus
Molly rode the school bus home for the first time today. It was a brave step for a Pre-K kid like Molly to hop onto a gigantic, loud bus full of big kids as old as 12. Molly was barely as tall as the lowest step on the bus. But Molly did it with full confidence, no complaints, and no problems.
This was an accomplishment for Claire too. Being in Pre-K, Molly gets out at 2:00 rather than 2:45. Molly goes to Extend-a-Care for 45 minutes, at which point Claire gets out of class and picks up Molly. Claire actually has to find Molly and her stuff, sign her out, and get her across school in halls clogged with 895 other kids, to the bus before it leaves. This is also challenge because Molly is a bit of a slow walker. The teachers, Extend-a-Care staff, the bus driver were all prepared for this, and they all helped make it safe and easy to get Molly to the bus. The bus driver and Claire have kept careful watch on Molly to make sure she is alright on the bus. I had asked Claire if she wanted me to go through the process with her once or twice, but she immediately declined, saying she could handle it on her own. Way to go, Claire and Molly!
Molly was excited about riding the bus home, which is good because it is quite helpful for everyone. Up to this point, Claire had been riding the bus home by herself. While Molly stayed at Extend-a-Care, Claire did homework with her nanny Sarah. When Claire was doing something independent like reading, then Sarah would run and get Molly, which took about 45 to 60 minutes door-to-door, including some playground time. This was fine since I was upstairs working from home every day. This changed when I took a new job working at the Whole Foods headquarters. Now Sarah would have to take Claire with her to pick up Molly at Extend-a-Care. Before I started my new job, we did some test runs. It became painfully clear that Claire would not have the time she need to finish her homework if she was also pickup up Molly. Claire was up late, sometimes finishing her homework, up early the next morning to catch up, and some nights in tears. Now, with Molly riding the bus home, they can all stay at home and do homework, etc. without having to head back out into the traffic. Everyone seems to love the new arrangement, although it leaves Sarah with the challenge of keeping Molly from distracting Claire during her homework time.
Morning Drop Off
Claire has been walking Molly into school in the mornings. She drops Molly off at class and then heads off to her own class. Watching Claire and Molly cross the street together and head up the hill towards school is just about the most precious thing I have ever seen.
McG Kids 