“The things he sees are not just remembered; they form a part of his soul.” Maria Montessori

Yesterday Ella's class had a water day. I volunteered to help out and to take photos for the  year book/Facebook page. There were sprinklers, slip and slides, bubbles, chalk, pools, water toys, etc.

At first all the kids were kind of walking around, checking out the slip and slide. Ella was literally the first to dive right down the slip and slide.

The kids often take the sidewalk chalk and dip it in water and it creates an almost paste or paint. We haven't tried it at home before but will be doing it soon!

This is Alyssa. At the beginning of the year, as the newest and youngest, Ella had a hard time making friends. Ella's class is 3-6 year olds and many of the kids had been in the class two, if not three years. Alyssa moved here from out of state in November and they became fast and great friends. It really opened the door to Ella forming other friendships as well. Alyssa is truly Ella's first best friend. We have done a few play dates with Alyssa, her mom, and baby brother and even though Alyssa will be going to a different school next year, I see a lot of play dates in the future.

Ella has also formed really great friendships with Emma and Teigan who will both be in her class again next year.

It ended  up being fairly chilly yesterday morning and after about an hour of playing in the water a lot of the kids laid out in the sun. They seriously looked like teenage girls laying in the sun and chatting.

And today was Ella's last day of school! I cannot believe how quick this year passed. And check her out below! I mean I knew she grew but it really takes a side by side like this to really see the difference. She really shot up in height and her face just looks so much more grown up!

Tom, Claire, and I attended the celebration at Ella's school. They called up each child and said a little about each child. Her teachers talked about how determined she is and how each day she came in there with a plan and knew the exact works she was going to do. Also, how she was always determined to finish each task and how independent she is.

This year has solidified our decision in Montessori education. I love all it is and all it stands for. It really is a philosophy, a mindset, a way of life. Ella has really developed and blossomed this year in the classroom. She never ceases to amaze me with all she has learned. She has matured socially and emotionally in the classroom as well. I love to see how she just goes about her business working even while I am volunteering in the classroom. She has learned to write her name completely on her own! I mean self taught. She can count to hundred. She recognizes her numbers to ten. Her artistic ability blows my mind. The things she can tell me about from the American Flag, to constellations, to the life cycle of a frog, to counting and naming colors in Spanish, etc makes me so proud. We are so happy she will be a second year in the same classroom come September. Ella Rose we could not be more proud of you and we could not love you more.
So, let summertime begin! This mom is ready to enjoy summertime activities with my two girls.

Be The Change You Wish To See In The World....

It has never been a secret that I am an emotional person. Frequently I result to yelling to get my point across. While at times it has not been extremely productive, it has never really been something I cared to focus on changing. That is until I had children, and more specifically in the last few months.

As someone with a behavior background I knew/know how ineffective yelling at children is. I made it a point not to yell at Ella. We did a lot of positive reinforcement, redirecting, explaining, giving positive choices, helping Ella find her own voice, etc. Well I am ashamed to admit that since the birth of Claire, my yelling has spilled over into my parenting of Ella. Do I yell everyday, all the time? No but I do have my moments. And they are very often moments that I am not proud of. Small moments that have a big impact. On me and on her. There are times that these moments have such an impact on me that I have a hard time falling asleep at night. I want to clarify that our house is not some chaotic, screaming, terrible place to live, its just that I don't feel under any occasion should I resort to screaming at my daughter.

3.5 has proven to be the toughest age yet. Yet, somehow even in its toughest moments, I am blessed to have an almost all the time well behaved, caring, beautiful, intelligent daughter. It could be a lot a lot worse, but it doesn't mean there isn't tough moments. As of now, Ella has not picked up my yelling and I want to keep it that way. I want her to continue to calmly express her emotions, just as we all should in this house.

I recently came across an article by a mother about how she had stopped yelling due to the impact she saw it was having on her children. It really hit home with me and really impacted me. There was also a link to a Facebook page called The Orange Rhino seen here https://www.facebook.com/TheOrangeRhino?fref=ts. This was a lady who challenged herself to 365 to no yelling and as a result changed her life for the better.
So as a result of me wanting to change my ways and as a result change the way my daughters deal with their own emotions in the future, I have taken on a challenge put on by The Orange Rhino. This starts as 30 days to less yelling. This challenge is not to immediately stop yelling but rather to dig deep and learn more about yourself. To learn your triggers, to find supports, to challenge yourself, to learn coping skills. To not just stop yelling but to learn to live a different life by dealing with stress, emotions, and life differently.
The challenge started yesterday. To kick it off Ella and I talked about what this challenge meant. We went out and bought orange nail polish and painted our toes as a reminder. I bought an orange journal and orange stickers.

So did I yell yesterday? Not proud to admit it, but yep I did. Tom had just gone back to school after a three week break, I am on little sleep with a sick teething baby, it was evening (always a tough time for me), I was hungry, the kids were tired, and I had to repeat something five times before Ella listened (this is the toughest, biggest challenge for me), and I had one moment of weakness. Right now, as suggested in daily emails and blogs by The Orange Rhino, I am trying to determine my triggers, planning for these hard times, and learning to let go and go with the flow. 

My mantra in this journey is the quote by Gandhi "Be the change you wish to see in this world". I am the example for my girls. How I live my life and how I present myself will be in many ways how they carry themselves. When I started having children I said I would give my all, and I had been. Somewhere along the way I have taken a bit of a wrong turn but I am ready to get back on track.  So wish us me luck as I embark on a new and better way of life. A life where yelling is left for moments of happiness and joy!