Genius

Okay, it might be a little early to start throwing out labels, but check out my kid's first test scores of the year in math, science and spelling.

(Math has never been my strong suit but I'm not sure how you can get-1 and still have a score of 32/32 when there's no bonus question.....).

At any rate, we are super proud of our little second-grader. He never ceases to amaze us.

It's that time

School supplies

New backpacks and lunch boxes

New fabric napkins to pack in lunches (because we are all about recycling and not making extra trash in this house).

Ridiculously expensive name-brand shoes that I swore I'd never purchase

Two adorable kids wearing new outfits

One really sad mom who doesn't want her baby to be old enough for school
(definitely no picture of that)

Two kids who couldn't wait to tell us about their first day

Happy Back to School Xander and Jordis!

I need a plan

It appears as though Thursday is the last day of school. That's two days from now. We've all been counting down the days. For different reasons, of course. :-)

I've known this day was coming for a while now, so I've had ample time to make a plan for filling our summer days with things besides TV, Wii and screaming children who like to fight all day.

I've done a LOT of research about crafts, events and local happenings in my community.

And this is the plan I've come up with.

I think it's going to be a long summer.

Perspective

This afternoon, the little man came home from school with this new T-shirt. Apparently all of the first graders got one from a local business.

I guess I've never taken the time to figure out what year my kids should graduate from high school, so it was interesting to have it thrust into my face like that.

I'm not sure what bothers me more.....that my first-born is supposed to be out of high school in 11 years, or that in 11 years it will be almost time for my 30th high school reunion.

Hmmmmmm.........

March?!

Wow, February sure went by quickly. We've been so busy the past week or so. Xander spent more time out of school due to weather, I think one whole day and maybe two 2-hour delays. My bible study has also been cancelled the past two weeks ~ last week for snow and then this week because the power went out during a thunderstorm and the sump pump broke, so the restrooms were out of order.

Jason's parents came to visit on Sunday afternoon and the kids were able to con them out of some money. They were both pretty excited to get a five dollar bill, they're used to only having singles. That money, on top of allowance and three visits from the tooth fairy made Xander a very rich little boy. Yes, I said THREE visits from the tooth fairy. He's had this one tooth on the top that has been loose for almost six months now, and he wouldn't let anyone pull it. It's made for some serious battles where tooth-brushing is concerned. Two other teeth ended up coming out first, and the other one had been hanging on so long that the adult tooth is already sticking out. He currently has an adorable lisp.

One of Xander's teeth fell out on Saturday while we were at an old friend's for dinner. I used to always look at my mom's wedding album and ask why I didn't know anyone who was in her wedding. I thought, if these people were that close to you that you would have them in your wedding, why don't you still talk to them any more? And now I understand, as our dinner host was one of those friends for me. I've known her since first grade, we were in each other's weddings, and then life plus a few miscommunications on both sides occurred, and here we are. Currently we live less than 10 minutes from each other and we had a nice time reconnecting, so I'm hopeful we will do a better job at keeping in touch.

On Tuesday the kids and I went to Red Lobster for dinner with my mom and step-dad. We needed to get together on that specific day and, unfortunately, Jason had to work so he wasn't able to join us. My dinner came with dessert though, so I gave him half. The kids were crazy-hyper after we ate and my attempt at taking them to Whole Foods with me was futile. They were running laps around some cases of wine in the meat department and then when I was looking at some chicken I heard Xander shout

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"Everybody dance now!" and he had a whole chicken standing up on its legs and was dancing it around the meat case. The song he was singing was what we used one year in high school for drill team tryouts, but he heard it from Shrek the Halls and now I will just never think of it the same way again.

At bed time I asked Jordis why she was acting up throughout the course of the evening and she said, "I was mad at Xander because he woke me up today when I was trying to get my booty sleep." On Wednesday she had her first gymnastics and hip hop class. She was easily the smallest one there by about 6 inches, but she jumped right in and had a smile on her face the whole time. She's been practicing her stand-ups (hand stands) ever since.

I now have a cold and am glad that this week is coming to a close soon. Hoping to rest up over the weekend and prepare a little Mardi Gras shindig for us since Fat Tuesday is right around the corner. Have a great weekend!

Pretty Preschooler

Jordis will start kindergarten in the fall, but we have failed to enroll her in preschool. I know....tsk, tsk. Part of it is because we just don't want to spend the money, and the other part is that I want to keep her all to myself while Xander's at school. This is the last year EVER that she will be home all day, so I'm taking advantage of her company while she still likes to be around me. Don't worry, we don't play Wii all day.

We go to bible study on Tuesday mornings, volunteer at Xander's school on Tuesday afternoons and visit the nursing home on Wednesdays. We also try to go to the library once a week or every other week, we run errands, and she "helps" me with domestic chores. And sometimes, we have a little bit of school.

We're not having as much school as I had wanted, but we are learning what we need for her kindergarten testing. (Especially now that I know they expect five-year-olds to identify a rhombus). Look at this girl hold a pencil. She has some mad skills.

Since it's winter we did a little polar bear lesson recently. We read books about them, practiced writing the letter "P," did a worksheet, and made a craft.

Best of all, she enjoys learning. Christmas socks and all.

First Grade

Xander just completed his first full week of first grade. He started last Wednesday and I'm glad they ease into with just a few days because he was worn out.

A few days before school starts they have an open house where you can drop off your supplies, meet your teacher, check out your classroom and go to the cafeteria to have a treat and mingle with other people.

I loved Xander's teacher from the moment I walked into the room. She was welcoming, friendly and had a very clean and organized learning environment. She already had nametags on the kids' desks and mailboxes, her books were organized into categories, and she had fun lamps, rugs and pillows in the reading center. It looked like a fun place to come to every day and, compared to last year's teacher, I was very impressed. On top of that, he gets two teachers. The intervention teacher is also in his room most of the day as well, so I'm hoping that will be very helpful for him.

On the big day, Xander was super excited! He was up and dressed earlier than he's been in months. I bought the kids a special treat of chocolate donuts to celebrate and Xander ate his on the plate he made at the paint-your-own-pottery store.

We made chocolate chip cookies for his teachers.

He got to use his Transformers lunch box and fun food containers inside.

And best of all, we finally let him wear his new light-up Skechers. These aren't just any light-up shoes. You could wake the dead with these things. I could see him coming up the stairs from my bedroom with the door barely cracked open. God bless a good sale and Jason's mom's store discount, or this kid would not be wearing shoes that cost more than his parents' shoes.

Jason took Xander to buy his annual first-day-of-school outfit and he had to have a Toy Story t-shirt. He also picked out some new jeans.

We awaited the bus with great anticipation. I love that the bus stop is at the end of my driveway. I hope it continues to stay there as long as we live here.

Xander had no trouble getting on the bus this year, and I had no trouble saying goodbye.

(And in case you were wondering, I made sure he didn't get on the bus with a firearm.)

It's official

We have a first grader at our house. Got his grade card the other day and it's written right on there. We're so proud of his accomplishments in literacy and reading, especially his sight words. He was supposed to know 50 by the end of the year and he knew 85. He's also reading one level higher than expected and socred above-average in math. I don't recall reading or knowing any math in kindergarten so I'm pretty impressed. Just need to work on a few behavioral issues and using a ruler and hopefully things will go well for him this next school year. Here he is with his diploma.

The week before school was out he got to practice eating lunch at school in preparation for being there all day next year. Luckily I had bought his lunch box in advance and he was so excited to try it out.

Looking forward to enjoying our summer together before he goes off to big-kid school.

Random Goings-On

Ever been busy but not really doing anything? Yeah, that's us lately.

This child CRACKS me up. I haven't decided yet if she's going to be a fashion designer or a feature on What Not to Wear. The day she picked out this ensemble it was 85 degrees.

All she needs now is some dreadlocks to go with that hat and sunglasses.

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend the kids and I spent the morning with my mom. We started very early at the Worthington Farmers Market.

We also did some shopping, ate gyros and went for Italian Ice. That night after Jason and my step-dad got off work we went to their house for a cookout. I was a bad mom and didn't take pictures, but the parental units took pictures of the kids in the sprinkler.

Some man at the farmers market must have really wanted me to buy some of his things because he tried to tell me that Jordis "looks just like her mother." Really? I think not. Let's check it out......

Um, let's see. Jordis has big brown eyes. They are so big she doesn't have much in the way of eyelids. I have small green eyes and a lot of eyelids. The bridge of my nose is really narrow and hers is pretty wide. And I don't have to mention the skin. I have on makeup here and she is still darker than me. 'Nuff said. And no, I didn't buy any of his wares.

Let's see, what else. Oh, Xander had a new spelling word. Like it? Jason said it's perfect.....if they want to teach kindergartners about rum we have a great excuse to take them out of school to go to Mardi Gras.

Jason's summer softball season started. The kids are actually cooperating a little this year while we're there, and sometimes they even watch the game for a minute or two.

Last week Jason worked some overtime for the Memorial Tournament. He spent 10 hours over two days monitoring the traffic light in case cars got too backed up. I wish someone would pay me to sit by myself under a shady tree. I'm sure it's not that simple, but I'm thinking I'd enjoy the solitude. On one of the days I took the kids to the afternoon farmers market nearby and for some italian ice so we could visit Daddy. They were really excited when he let them each push the button to change the traffic light.

We also had a gorgeous double rainbow. I never would have known if my neighbor Dena hadn't called me. It was right after we'd put the kids to bed and sat down to watch some TV, so I ran upstairs to show the kids before it faded away.

Such a neat way to end the evening.

Reading

I'm so excited, the little man can do some reading!

Maybe this is normal for kindergartners, but I don't remember being able to read at his age. My mom used to tape words around the house on things, like "up" and "down" at the stairs, "light" on the switch plates, etc., so maybe I knew some sight words too and just don't know it. But either way, we're super excited.

Not only does he know most of them, but if I make sentences them he'll read sentences up to 9 words long. He got a new set of flash cards from school today so I can't wait to make better sentences for him with more variety.

We also got his first grade card yesterday and were really impressed. He is well surpassing all of his goals for literacy. In the fall he already knew the number of letters they want him to know at the end of the school year. Along with exceeding the goals in every other category he is also one reading level above expectations.

For whatever reason he just can't grasp the concept of money, and we are still having some behavior problems. But the good news is that he has proven he can learn in a typical classroom setting, which is the goal.

Hopefully it will only get better from here.

Our Little Laureate

Back in October, Xander entered his first writing contest. Our county chapter of The Red Cross has a heroes breakfast every year where they honor local heroes in different categories (public service, education, community, etc.), along with writings by children in grades K-12.

Xander brought home an entry form from school and the category for his age group was "A Hero In My Family." I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to write about his dad since he always asks about his work and if he caught any bad guys, but he said no. He decided on a fictional story instead. I told him I didn't think it was supposed to be a made-up story, but he assured me his story was perfect. I type over 100 words per minute and he spouted off his story faster than I could keep up with him. I turned it in for him and about 4 weeks later I got the phone call that he beat out all the other kindergarteners in the county.

He couldn't wait to wear his suit to the awards breakfast.

He was also excited that there was lots of breakfast "junk" to eat, like donuts, and he picked Jason to go up with him to get his certificate and $100 savings bond.

Sitting through the rest of the banquet was a little tough, but Jason's parents were able to join us and helped try to keep the kids' attention, too. Then things got a little hairy at the end when it was picture time.

We're so proud of our little man!

K is for Kindergarten

I can't believe our little guy started kindergarten today. Monday night they had an ice cream social where the kids could come in to drop off their school supplies, see their room and meet their teacher.

Last night he signed the form saying he understands the rules in the student handbook.

This morning Jason got us a special Tim Horton's Back-to-School breakfast.

Xander was super-excited to go to school and loves his new Spidey shirt.

He did not love taking his picture with his mom.

Apparently he's had this attitude about posing for pictures with me for over five years now.

I have no idea what they were looking at while we waited for the bus, but I liked getting their profiles all at once.

Here's Xan getting on the bus.

Here's Xan getting off the bus.

I don't have pictures of Jason coming and carrying him to the seat and then running down the stairs so Miss Kelly could close the doors. He was screaming, "No, Daddy, no!" as the driver was trying to use her arm to hold him back. She even had to stop the bus a few houses down. It was so sad. The new neighbor across the street assured me he'd be okay, which I already knew, but I still felt sorry for him. My mom said they shut the bus doors on me, too, in kindergarten, so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Jordis came outside with me again later to wait for his arrival. The bus ride home is only kindergarteners so that went fairly well.

He had Honeycomb cereal for snack, played on the kindergarten playground, didn't go potty, colored, and has an assigned seat at the yellow table. This apparently qualified as a good day and he says he's going to get on the bus tomorrow morning. We'll see.