Sunday, July 24, 2011

Glamorous Day Indeed!!

The day before Ella started her first day of Kindergarten I had a surprise for her. I planned an entire special day of just Ella and Mommy time. I took her to the Arizona Mills mall for a photo shoot at Glamour Shots.



She was SO excited and giddy about it. She could not WAIT to get her make up and hair done and she was in the chair loving every second of it!!






All ready for my shoot!!



Behind the scenes photos!!





Touch ups...



Playing in between shoots...




I never saw her smile so much and my heart was melting.





Her next surprise was I took her to lunch at Rainforest Cafe, which she LOVES. Funny thing is, she had just asked me the day before, when can we go back there? And I said oh not for a while honey. So when she saw we were going there she said "Mommy you fibbed me!!".



She requested the table next to the Elephants,



and had fun posing with the fish and animals.




After lunch we headed back to Glamour Shots to see all the photos Ella took. It ended up being a video slideshow set to the song "Girls Just Want to Have" by Cyndi Lauper. I was sitting there watching with Ella, who was still smiling like crazy, and just could not believe how grown up my 4 yr old looked. I literally started balling like a baby. The sales girl grabbed and my hand and was like are you OK? I was so embarrassed. I kept telling her, I'm OK, I'm OK, let's just keep watching. When she looked unsure, I explained it's not just the photos, but also that she is starting Kindergarten tomorrow and I'm a little emotional. She gave me a sympathetic nod and luckily stopped staring at me so I could cry in private. But here are the three photos below that I bought; honestly, can you blame me for crying?




Saturday, June 4, 2011

Ella's Pre-K Graduation 2011

Last night was Ella's graduation at Premier Learning Academy. They started the ceremony with a song called "God is Bigger" and Ella had a solo part to open the show. :) She was excited but nervous before it started. How cute.



Here it is below...



She was so cute in her cap and gown.




Then the kids in the class who can read were invited up to read a book for the audience. Ella was one of them. Here she is....



Her entire class also signed the alphabet while singing about it. The only unfortunate thing about having a tall kid is she is always in the back :/



Ella getting her diploma :)



She is so proud...






The girls of the graduating class



Yay Ella! She is ready for new adventures at San Tan Elementary this year!



But we are sad for Ella that she has to say goodbye to her best friend Natalie. These girls became so close at school and spent every second playing together.



Ella doesn't really understand that she will likely never see Natalie again or get to play with her anymore. I didn't have the heart to tell her. So we just made sure they said goodbye to each other and gave hugs and took photos.



And Ella said goodbye to her teacher Mrs. Debby. But not for good, cause Ella will pop into PLA a few times this Summer for some playtime and also Ryen will be going to school at PLA for the next two years. Ella loves Mrs. Debby so much and will miss her xo




We are so proud of Ella. She is getting so big way too fast!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

My Budding Photographer

Before I get into Ella's early love of photography, I want to share this picture I found in her school folder. She drew it at school. When I saw it, I thought it was so cute. Here it is:



It is a picture of Ella and a girl at school and it says "I like you. Do you like me?" I thought it was really brave and really cute of her to make this and give it to her classmate at school :)

Anyhow on to the photography. For as long as I can remember Ella has been obsessed with cameras. She has had play cameras for a long time. When she turned two she was given a Kid Tough camera but the batteries would die every 2 hours it seems. She is always shooting pics on my cell phone. She was super excited when my friend Trish gave her her own disposable camera on her 4th birthday at the zoo so she could take pictures of whatever she wanted! And the Easter Bunny just brought her a camera in her Easter basket. I don't often let her use my big expensive camera cause I don't want her to break it. But I recently let her use it and she had such a good time, and she did so good at it, that I am thinking of letting her do it more often. Perhaps Santa has to bring her her own digital camera this year :)

Enjoy her shots at Heritage Square, Phoenix









Saturday, April 9, 2011

To Kinder or Not To Kinder... that is the question :)

In Arizona the age cut off for Kindergarten registration is August 31st. Ella's birthday is November 2nd. About a year or two ago, Chandler implemented a rule that if your child misses the cut off they can take a Kindergarten Readiness Test (KRT) for early enrollment into Kindergarten. If they pass, the child is allowed to enter Kindergarten on a 30 day probationary period. I think this was a great compromise and it has especially benefited my family. It is not that I am in a rush to get Ella into all day school or full day Kindergarten. I am not a working Mom that can't wait to no longer have a day care bill nor am I a Mom that can't wait to get away from her (most days anyway, ha ha).

Ella has always been advanced for her age. She started walking at 9.5 mos. She started talking before the age of 12 mos, was speaking in full sentences and singing complete songs at the age of 18 mos. When she turned 2 she began asking if she could ride the school bus and go to school. Every time she saw a school bus drive by she got excited the way a little boy gets excited over a fire truck :)At almost 3 she took to school like a fish in water. Never cried or clung to me once. Barely said goodbye to me when I dropped her off in her class. I was lucky to get a kiss. She never said she didn't like it or didn't want to go. She actually begged to go more often and would be sad on the days she didn't have school. She has had 2 preschools and 3 different teachers. Every teacher she has ever had has told me you need to put her into Kindergarten early. And her latest development is she started writing words and reading books on her own at the age of 4 years, 3 mos. She also has developed a passion for the sciences i.e. insects, science experiments, and the human body. I mention all this as a an example of the fact that I think schools, teachers and parents have to look at and evaluate children on a case by case basis, which is why I am glad the KRT (Kindergarten Readiness Test) exists. Her teaches think I will be doing her more harm by keeping her home till she is almost 6 due to how advanced she is and how much challenging stimulation she craves and requires everyday.

This is a tough decision for us as parents and has long term implications. I have had many parents tell me I am wrong to put her into Kindergarten early. I have had people tell me they would rather keep their child home with them one more year or that they would rather their child be graduating high school and/or heading off to college at the age of 18 not 17 etc. That they would rather their kid be the oldest in their class and the most mature and not the youngest, (i.e. the most impressionable). While I respect the opinions of other parents and the choices they make for their kids, I have to make the best choice for mine. I don't judge anyone's decision to keep them home longer nor do I judge anyone's decision to put them in early. Even if someone were to put their kid in early and they had to repeat Kindergarten, I wouldn't judge it. You gave it the best shot, and challenged your child and no one ever suffered from having two years of Kindergarten ;) I also think some of the viewpoints against me putting Ella in early, come with a lot of assumptions. I do not believe that being older in age necessarily = more maturity or better judgment. Nor do I necessarily believe that being younger in age = more impressionable. These factors are completely determined by things like personality, socio-economic factors, birth order, home environment, intelligence level, emotional readiness etc. and again should be on a case by case basis.

Am I thrilled that Ella will be one of the youngest kids in her class? No. Am I thrilled she wont be eligible for her license until her Junior Year, Yes. LOL. Am I thrilled that she will going off to college at the age of 17 instead of 18? I am indifferent. Maybe it is because I was in her shoes when I was her age. When my sister and I entered Kindergarten the age cut off was Dec 31st. I made the cut off by 3 days (Dec 28th) so I actually was the youngest person in my class of 425 students. Literally. I was 4 when I started Kindergarten. Not only was I READY for school, I excelled at it. I never had a grade where I struggled and in fact I graduated high school in 3.5 years, graduating 6 mos early at the age of 16. (ok so I turned 17 a week after finishing high school, but still... you get the point)

If Ella was born August 30th not many would have concerns because she would "make the cut". But to me there may not be much difference between a child born Aug 31st and Nov 2nd of the same year. Or there could be a huge difference or sometimes the younger child can be more ready, more mature and more developed. Ella misses the cut off by 8 wks 2 days. To me I don't think that is a big difference to overcome. I am ok with her turning 5 three mos after the school year starts. I am ok with her turning 18 just over two months into her freshman year at college. I know I was still making stupid decisions at 18, 19, 20 and 21 just as I did at 17. She will make stupid decisions and learn from the outcome at all those ages. I can just hope that no matter what age she stumbles out into the world, I have taught her enough to make good decisions, be smart, be careful, be trusting but cautious, be kind and selfless and hope she finds like minded people that will become her best friends in life and that together they will get through it all unscathed. And she will always have me here to help her do just that and protect her as much as I can.

That's all we can ever hope for in life. I have much more pressing battles and things to worry about like her getting hurt, fights over clothes, friends, boys, curfews, drinking, grades, money etc. In the meantime her KRT is scheduled for May 7th at 1pm. We will see how that goes :) Wish her luck.

And here is a picture "book" she drew and glued together last night.



She brought it to me and Jimmy and "read" it to us as follows:

1. Is her stopping to smell pretty flowers,
2. Is her performing outside on a stage
3. Is her praying for love
4. Is her making rainbows
5. Is her smiling and happy cause it is Springtime.

This... is me smiling and happy cause she is such a bright, funny and challenging little girl. :)

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