President's Day and Kindergarteners

February has been a busy month at school for the kids, especially Zach and Allie.

Of course there's all the Valentine's Day fun -- the class party, filling out Valentine's and then exchanging them. There's nothing quite like a 5-year-old's excitement as they pore over the box of Valentines and candy they've received from their classmates.

But, much more interestingly to me, has been their fascination with learning about the presidents during this President's Day month.

For starters, they learned a song in which they name all the presidents. They learned it in pieces and have been singing it at home for the past three weeks nearly every day.They now have it all done -- it's quite impressive.

The names in places kind of run together and in some parts of the song, to make it flow nicely, only the last name is used and in other parts first and last. So the other day Zach told me Clinton Bush and George Bush were father and son. He was initially a little confused when I explained that Clinton and Bush were two very different presidents, and that there are two George Bushes ... but I think he's got it now.

And Zach in particular is so inquisitive and interested in the presidents, asking questions and incorporating presidents into his everyday talk. Over the past few weeks:

• He wants to look at all the coins and dollar bills and know who is on each one.
• Print out pictures of his favorite presidents -- Washington, Lincoln and Zachary Taylor.
• Zach has asked me who the president is who "looks like a vampire?" Hmm? I inquired further. "You know, the one who was shot while he was riding in his car without a top?" Oh! Zach thinks JFK looks like a vampire. Interesting ... I kind of see it, actually.
• Zach has asked me if Grover Cleveland (who was President 22, he tells me) died and came back to life to be President 24. So funny how his mind works.
• Got really excited when we read a Curious George book in which the little monkey went to Mt. Rushmore. "Mommy, it's THE PRESIDENTS," he screeched.

So cute!

Allie's First Daddy/Daughter Dance

Back in January a little note came home in Allie's folder. The paper was plain white with photocopied words. But the message sent Allie's excitement level to new heights: the school's annual Daddy/Daughter Dance was coming up.

"Mommy, how do we dance? What do we do? What dress am I going to wear?" Allie asked almost daily, eagerly peppering me with variations of the same questions.

Allie practices twirling in the hallway.

One day when I was at Costco, I spied some adorable, spring-looking, twirly (a requirement for 5-year-old girls going to a dance) dresses, so I picked out the cutest one. It was white with big bright pink polka dots and a huge pink bow (I know, doesn't sound that cute, but it really, really is).

I brought it home, Allie tried it on and she liked it. But, Allie had her heart set on wearing her black, "fancy" shoes. And she explained that the black shoes did not match her white and pink dress (which, I had to agree with her on that one).

"Mommy, I want to wear my Nutcracker dress," she proclaimed.

The "Nutcracker" dress is the black and blue fancy dress she wore when we saw the Nutcracker during the Christmas season.

Getting her hair ready.

"Are you sure? We could just get some white shoes for the new dress?" I said, knowing I was in an uphill battle on this one.

"No, I really want to wear the Nutcracker dress and my black shoes," she said.

And so she did. And she looked adorable.

We curled her hair, put in a headband. Brett put on his suit and tie. I took some pictures, and then they were on their way.

Brett and Allie

Brett said she and some of her kindergarten friends spent the evening laughing, dancing, twirling and falling to the floor. Over and over.

The minute she walked in the door, she said what

many of us girls have said after an evening of cutting the rug ...

"Mommy, my feet hurt."

A Teenager in the House

Blake with a book about his favorite soccer club.

I'm a little behind, but on Jan. 29 Blake turned the big 1-3! Thirteen. A teenager.

One sure sign that he is getting older is that he didn't want (or act like he wanted) a lot of fanfare on his special day.

A party with friends?

"Maybe I'll take a couple of friends snowboarding," he said casually.

Dinner out? We'll take you wherever you want to go, we told him. In years past it was usually an Italian chain like Macaroni Grill or Maggiano's.

"Just Domino's Pizza ... delivered," he said.

And as for his birthday gifts, he's reached the age where grandparents are sending cash and gift cards.

Earlier this year Blake entered the world of snowboarding. So for his birthday we ordered snowboard equipment, which he received a couple weeks early so he could use it on the snowboard trip -- the one where I took Blake and Nick.

So, all in all, a calm, low-maintenance birthday celebration.

Let's just hope the same is true for the coming year ...

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

Getting a little help from Zach and Allie.