Santa 2013

Today the kids went to see Santa.  They already saw a Santa last week, but they questioned his authenticity.  They thought he looked silly.
This Santa, on the other hand, was REAL!  G was so HAPPY!
Santa took his time talking to the kids and asking them all kinds of questions.
G asked for a specific car and a cat.
Annika asked for a fairy doll.

-scanned photo-

G has a lose tooth!  I don't know how long it will take for it to fall out, but it makes me sad.  Wasn't it just yesterday his teeth were coming in?

Time just flies!

National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial

This is a beautiful and peaceful place.  There is a reflecting pool under each bench and the sound of the water running is very calming.  I remember it smelled like chlorine mixed with fresh air.

It looked so lovely at night!

Each bench represents one person who died in the building and on flight AA77.

There are 184 benches.

Pentagon.  South facade.

Dana Falkenberg's bench.  She was 3.

Benches facing this way represent people who died on AA Flight 77.

Benches facing the other way represent people who died in the Pentagon.

Annika is three in this picture.

Visit the virtual memorial here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/interactives/pentagonmemorial/victims/

Добро.

Люди часто бывают глупы и упрямы, эгоцентричны и нелогичны.
Все равно прощай их.

Если ты добр, люди будут обвинять тебя в том, что под маской доброты ты скрываешь корысть.
Все равно оставайся добрым.

Если ты честен и прям, люди будут обманывать тебя.
Все равно будь честным и прямым.

Если ты спокоен и счастлив, тебе будут завидовать.
Все равно оставайся счастливым.

То добро, которое ты делаешь сегодня, завтра люди забудут.
Все равно делай добро.

-Мать Тереза

А принц Белоснежку полюбит. 

А жадность Кащея погубит... 

А Золушку выручит фея, 

Не станет Горыныча Змея... 

А месяц засветится ясный, 

В глазах Василисы Прекрасной... 

Пусть Зло на проделки хитро,

Но все ж побеждает Добро!

G's first piano performance & parent-teacher meeting.

Today the teacher asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to play a song in front of the class and G immediately raised his hand.
Here is his short performance.
In two months he will start private piano lessons, as well as continue attending the Yamaha School of Music.
I don't know how to play piano, so I am incredibly proud of my little monkey, who just turned 6!

 The video is shaky. Joseph was filming him with his phone.

This week I volunteered at G's classroom.  I was doing a rotation, playing a cooperative game with kids (4 groups of 5 kids) for about 2 hours.  Honestly, it was hard work!  I could never be a teacher.

Then I ran home for our play group and Joseph went to a parent-teacher meeting.  I actually didn't want to go there, because I have bad memories of parent-teacher meetings in Russia.

So, I told Joseph I didn't want to go.  He sent me a text at 2:00 saying that the meeting went well.  I was so busy that I wasn't able to call him back until 6:00.

The teachers said only nice things about G.  He is sweet and a joy to be around and this and that and brag, brag, brag!  Everything is perfect-perfect with a cherry on top.

He scored highest in every section of the Kindergarten assessment test.

His handwriting is great!  So, he will soon stop receiving occupational therapy (not sure how I feel about this, as I want him to continue receiving it).

He reads and can solve basic algebra problems (find x).  He knows his 2D and 3D shapes.

He's been making huge progress with his social development.

So, that was that.

When I went to volunteer in the morning, I came during snack time.  He saw me, screamed with joy, ran to me and started hugging me.  He buried his head in my neck and I saw that his eyes were full of tears.  Of course, that made me cry, too.  I couldn't believe how much he loved me to have SO many emotions!  All the teachers (4 teachers in his class) started saying how sweet he is and how much he loves me!  That made me cry even more!

Later that day, I told him: "You were so surprised to see me at school that you even started to cry!"

He replied: "Yes, I thought you came to take me home and I started to cry because I didn't want to miss recess."

Mommy 0  Recess 1

My feelings are kind of crushed right now.

G's drawing of Saint Fabiola (pastels) - Age 5.

We actually like it quite a lot.  He has come a long way since his first shark picture that he drew in September :)

Святая Фабиола.  Рисунок Гендена (работа пастелью).

Details:

Here is what they were trying to copy:

Drawing

G has now been in drawing classes for a couple of weeks.
After G's first class, I could say that he isn't artistically inclined, at least not yet.   He must be taking after me.  They were drawing a shark and his shark was more like a whale or something.
There are 8 kids in his class (ages 5.5 to 7) and one other girl drew a shark that looks exactly like G's shark, which makes me feel better...
G and that girl were sitting at the same desk and, at first, I even thought they were copying each other instead of watching the teacher.
The other 6 kids might as well have an art show at the Tretyakov Gallery.  They were so good.
G only recently started drawing (at age 4+) and he is getting daily occupation therapy.  I hope he gets better, but if not, that's okay, too.
And, here is his shark (markers and pastels):

You can't see it all, but the hilarious part of this drawing is that he added some math in the corner.  He counted how many sharks and fish and little fish he drew.  It says: 1 Shark (you can see he actually drew a tiny shark), 2 big fish, 18 little fish.
I don't really understand how his mind works.
The school recommends taking this beginners class for 3 semesters.  I did read that absolutely everyone can learn to draw as long as they practice, so we will see his progression in the coming year.
And, here is a tiger that he drew today (watercolor):

 And this is what it was supposed to look like:

G LOVES drawing classes and we are planning on keeping him there as long as he enjoys it.

Solfège today

My little singer from Ksenia on Vimeo.