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.

Majestic

Isn't it hard to think of anything bad when you're looking at something like this?



Last week, on the same day, my step-mom was trapped in Haiti during the earthquake and one of my uncles had to have a triple bypass. The next morning I went to let the dog out and saw the beautiful sky. Mind you, I detest the color pink. But something about the bright sky with the wavy clouds and the snow was really pretty. And it made me feel like it was a sign that everything would be okay.

Today Jason's grandpa Latiolais passed away and then we got in a car accident. Luckily we are all okay and the car appears to be fine right now, but I had to pull up my sky pictures again because they make me feel good. It looks like we may all be traveling to Louisiana for the service, so we would appreciate your prayers for our very long drive there and back. We weren't going to travel this year but Jason was going either way and his cousin graciously offered us a place to stay, so we figured we'll all go down. Hopefully the family visits and some warmer air will lift our spirits a little and we can return to a calmer, less stressful 2010.

Let them eat cake!

Jason's cousin, Shannon, sent me this really cute recipe last week. I love Shannon and she's a great cook, too. Xander still asks me to get her potato salad recipe and he doesn't even like potato salad. But he liked hers.

I've seen this recipe in the past, but never really thought about making it because I usually just make a whole cake. However, Jason had to work and I was trying to find something fun for the kids to do so I thought it would be fun.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

First we got out our ingredients. I'm bummed that I've been out of real vanilla for awhile, so I had to use my cheap imitation extract. But I used nice pure ingredients for the rest, like unbleached flour and turbinado sugar.

The kids took turns mixing and adding ingredients.

We watched it cook in the microwave, then I took it out for them to share. Between the two of them they couldn't finsih it. I ate the rest after they went to bed and then the next night I made two more for Jason and me.

Such a fun treat!

Winter Wonderland

Okay, I'm joking about the wonderland part. The snow was cool the whole week before Christmas, but I'm just about over it now because I don't know the last time I saw the grass. Or the sun for that matter. Jordis loves it though. You will notice no pictures of Xander in this post because he is not a fan of snow. He pretends to be, but after a few minutes he's pretty much f-i-n-i-s-h-e-d. He's like his mommy, doesn't like to be wet or cold. After our 5 or so inches of snow last week Jason took the kids out to build a snowman. It was dry snow and not good for packing, so it didn't roll very well. Xander helped briefly, but not before I was able to get outside and take pictures.

The kids had spent all morning fighting over what the snowman was going to wear. My mom had given them a snowman kit a few years ago so we had a perfect carrot nose. The snowman turned out really cute except that they wanted him to wear a hat. But apparently it just wasn't staying on.

After the snowman Jordis decided to try a snow angel.

The next morning we got up and the snowman looked a little different.

Jason had found some sticks at work and gave him some arms when he got home.

And since this post is featuring Jordis, didn't she look cute on bowl day? Unfortunately Ohio State and LSU both played on the same day so we had to get creative with her clothing. She chose LSU dress with OSU socks and hair accessories. I'm thinking she would make a good Dorothy for Halloween.

Sadly, this is not the picture I intended to use. In the one I took Jordis had thrown up her hands in a big "block O" and was shouting "Go Bucks!" However, I traded in my cell phone and the picture didn't transfer during the download, so I don't have it anymore. That's okay though, Ohio State won and LSU, I think, got beat by a Big Ten team, which I've been told will never happen. Hmmmmm.....

It's over already?

Isn't it weird how Christmas is like a wedding? You plan and plan for what seems like forever, and then it's over before you know it. This year Christmas was such a blur. Or maybe it was the stuffiness in my head from being sick the whole week. At any rate, even though things didn't go quite as we had planned (do they ever?) we had a good time just the same.

Every Monday before Christmas the old train depot here invites families to come see model trains, tour train cars and take a small train ride. We were glad that our niece and nephew could be here this year for it as well.
Our niece, Autumn, a.k.a. Cindy Lou Who


Sarah and Me with Dominic and Jordis

My boys

A few days later we had our Christmas with Jason's family. His dad just had back surgery and wasn't able to join us, but we were able to send him some food and videos of the kids wishing him Merry Christmas.

You really can't trust these three together.

You probably can't trust them here, either, but they sure do put on a good show. Ha, ha, just kidding. This actually turned out to be a great picture.

On Christmas Eve we went to my dad and step-mom's and the kids were much less cooperative. In their defense we didn't go until 8 p.m. so it was technically past their bedtime.

A little sugar perked them up though and we all had a nice time. The ride home was quiet as well.

Santa liked chocolate and coconut this year and made sure the kids were well taken care of.

My mom and step-dad came over for Christmas dinner and that was a more laid back celebration. The kids were so lackadaisical about the whole thing I checked them for signs of illness. I think they were just worn out.

Now we're starting to wind down and think about the new year. Sad that the holidays will be over but looking forward to a prosperous 2010. We wish the same for you as well.

Christmastime is here!

Sometimes I think I love getting ready for Christmas more than Christmas itself. We've been having so much fun with it this year!

Xander and Jordis are old enough that they can help decorate the tree now, so I let them put on their own ornaments. They just need a little guidance so all the ornaments don't end up on the same branch.

The kids also helped me put stamps and return address labels on the Christmas cards this year. That might explain things for a few of you. :-)

We've made cookies, had gingerbread men and enjoyed hot chocolate....

We also had an unsuccessful trip to see Santa at Fantasy of Lights.

Finally made it to the zoo to see Wildlights as well.

While Xander was at school making fun crafts and learning about Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanzaa, Jordis and I had some fun as well. We did some Christmas shopping and caught up on current events.

Currently, Jason's brother and his family are here as well. I love when they come to visit because the kids have so much fun playing with their cousins and I love hanging out with my sister-in-law. Isn't she cute?

She's really tiny, but she's been in the Army so she could definitely take you out back and beat you up. We always have so much fun together and I love having someone around in the morning to drink coffee with and the extra people around the dinner table at night. We only get to see each other 1-2 times a year, so I will be sad when she leaves.

For now, we are just enjoying the season. I didn't get all of our cookies made, probably missed sending out a few cards, and haven't visited as many people as I'd like. But we're having fun just the same.

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!