As the title give away, this post will focus on likely the largest milestone to date – you started kindergarten!

This post might be a bit shorter than normal because things are a bit nutty right now. That said, the last six months have been exciting as always.

You played T-ball this year, and as you can see from the picture below you LOVED it. Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. You enjoyed hitting but not really fielding, running, the outfits, the gear you had to wear or much else. I took you to all your games and mom and Ethan came to watch. You hit pretty well, and running is improving. Fielding though, especially with a bunch of boys, was not your thing. You were the only girl on your team (although that didn’t phase you a bit), and 5/6 year old boys are, well, annoying. When playing in the field I would go out with you to help everyone. The ball would be hit, and every boy would run as fast as possible and dog pile on it – then struggle to pull it away from one another. You would stay back and let them have it.

The best part was the look on your face when this occurred. You would stare at them like they were terrible idiots. There was a specific case where it was more disgust than anything – “how could they be so dumb” sums it up well. There was one occasion where the ball came your way, you fielded it and as a boy came over and tried to grab it you yanked it away. It was great.

Outside of T-ball, you can see we also took some trips. Palm Desert was great, you guys love it there. We try to get there at least once a year. We went to McCall as well and stayed in one of my company’s units. Also did some SV trips and are planning some more for next year.

You are also maturing at a rapid rate. You are beginning to read (although it’s rough), getting better with numbers and growing quickly. You are also beautiful – so unbelievably beautiful.

Kindergarten

The big item this time around is that you started real school as a kindergartner at St. Joe’s Catholic School. You started last month, and so far you LOVE it. You have made friends like Remi, Lucy and Norah, plus others. Your teacher is Mrs. Howard, and, of course, your favorite subject is Art. You do also love P.E. (where I volunteer quite a bit for your class), and music. You are also taking Spanish which you really enjoy.

You might be curious as to why you are attending a catholic school. It is a fair question. We, as you know, are not religious – and I personally have an affinity for making fun of organized religion in general. This runs contrary to our decision, but while the religious aspect was a detractor let me give you some reasons:

• It is a great education. They take the time to work with you, and the class sizes are manageable.
• The Boise public school system is not good – Idaho in general ranks 48th in the country regarding academic standards.
• You are an organized individual and do not flourish in chaos. What better place to go than a regimented catholic institution?
• St. Joe’s is a feeder school for Bishop Kelly, one of the best high schools in the state.
• While we are not religious, you are getting exposure to religion you would not get otherwise. Since you won’t get it from us, at least you are getting it from them as it is very important to know religious history (although your least favorite activity is going to Mass each week).
• It is right outside of downtown, which allows me to bring you to school everyday on my way to the office.
• It is wholesome, and they teach solid lessons. Right now (at your age) it is all about the importance of being a good person – what better lesson is there?
• Being that it is a private school, they are able to do things from an academic and teaching perspective not available to public (basically because we pay tuition, so more money = greater opportunities in this case).
• You love it. At least so far. If that changes all this goes out the window and we will start from scratch.

Your teachers all speak incredibly highly of you, calling out your polite demeanor and manners. They love having you in class and use you as an example of what is right. I guess your mom and I aren’t messing up too badly so far.

Normally I take you to school (you have to be there by 8am) and your mom picks you up. This differs when I am traveling or we have an instance where we can switch it up. My favorite days are the ones where I leave the office and walk to your school to pick you up (always surprise you, never let you know ahead of time). We then walk back to my office where you get snacks. You love how fully stocked our office always is with snacks, and you and I hang out for a bit before your mom comes and gets you. You are obviously a favorite of our office staff, specifically Kristi (who is catholic and went to catholic school growing up).

You are only a month or so in to school so we will see how it goes, but so far so good. You are still a bit shy but that is changing by the day. You have maintained your sweet, kind attitude, and with that invites people to take advantage. This has yet to occur, and we hope that having you at a school where personality traits are treated with the same importance as academic ones, that this will help restrict those negative outcomes. Won’t be perfect, but I think you are setup pretty well.

Outside of school you have remained pretty consistent. Your art and creativity is unparalleled, and we have hundreds, if not thousands, of art pieces you have made. You play with the neighborhood girls everyday, even though you don’t go to the same school. You still love Ethan more than anything in the world, and are the best big sister anyone could ask for.

I am so proud of who you are and who you are becoming. Talk to you in a few months, when you turn 6!

I love you more than you will ever know.

Love, Dad

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