Okay, not sure this will count, since really no one reads my blog, but I would like to win a prize for a free photo book... so here we go... please pick me... :)
In other news, I will come back here and put up an end of summer, proper post in the next few days, when I have some time. Thanks for watching.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
That one is (almost) over
Well, what I have learned this year in school is, #1, trust my instincts. I should have requested a new teacher for Thomas. It was/has been a terrible year for him. Fortunately his grades have not faltered, and he is reading 5th grade level books (he's in 2nd) and doing 4th grade math, top of the class in both, but the teacher has a real vendetta against him. I was happy to talk to another mom whose son had this teacher part of last year (in Glee's class) and realized it truly is the teacher, not Thomas. He got a detention this year for laughing at the teacher when she repeated "Buttkickers is not appropriate language at school." Who wouldn't laugh at an old lady saying the word "buttkickers?" He also got a letter for playing cops and robbers and getting tackled during the game. It only hurt a little he said. Yeah, that is a lame teacher.
#2, I should not be embarrassed that my kids are smart. I am still working on that, but I sure don't want to be that parent who just thinks their kids are advanced when they really aren't. My kids are. It's almost harder than having kids with learning disabilities because people think you are boasting, but I am not. Glee is on honor roll again all this year, and her goal is to be a Presidential Scholar, which is honor roll for all three years you can be on honor roll in elementary school. She reads books like there is no tomorrow and loves loves loves math. Not to mention she is learning the negotiations of a pre-teen, and she has a straight head on her shoulders. Thomas, he is a a firecracker. As much as his teacher doesn't like him, I think he is amazing. He is funny, quick and learns things faster than can be taught. He still loves his turtles but with his new interest in all things Space and all things Tron I think we may have an MIT candidate some day soon.
#3, and last... I don't have to be in charge of so many things. I can give up PTA jobs and they will still happen. I have been really lucky this year, my business has really picked up. I could do a better job following up on those clients, and I think I will set that as a short term goal, but for now, I have had a fairly steady flow of work and that makes me happy on all sorts of levels.
So, we have two trips in the planning this year... one to Colorado and one to Chicago. We are going to Colorado in the summer, with a weekend stop in Arizona for a family reunion. We are planning a winter time trip to Chicago, because we like new experiences and we have never been there in the winter! We were hoping to plan a trip for a wedding in March of 2012, but the bride and groom are tying the knot in September 2011 instead, and we can't make it. I am sad... but so incredibly happy for the family members getting married! They are perfect together, and I am very glad they found each other.
Other news here... lately, there was a royal wedding to watch, and Glee and I sat on the couch at 3am and watch it. Amazing, and I am sure I will remember it as fondly as I remember the wedding from 1981. Also, Osama bin Laden was taken out by the US Navy SEALS, and it leaves a weird feeling to me. I am relieved, not that anything will really change in the world, but I feel like his orchestration of 9/11/2001 stole a piece of my history from me, my baby daughter was 5 days old. I am glad he can't be here to do that anymore and it feels like what I imagine closure may feel like, although I have never been in a situation where I needed closure (thank god). I am glad the guy is not here anymore. It felt kind of personal to me.
So, I am looking ahead to the summer of libraries and parks and beach days and sleepovers with friends and computer games and knitting. It will be a good summer.
#2, I should not be embarrassed that my kids are smart. I am still working on that, but I sure don't want to be that parent who just thinks their kids are advanced when they really aren't. My kids are. It's almost harder than having kids with learning disabilities because people think you are boasting, but I am not. Glee is on honor roll again all this year, and her goal is to be a Presidential Scholar, which is honor roll for all three years you can be on honor roll in elementary school. She reads books like there is no tomorrow and loves loves loves math. Not to mention she is learning the negotiations of a pre-teen, and she has a straight head on her shoulders. Thomas, he is a a firecracker. As much as his teacher doesn't like him, I think he is amazing. He is funny, quick and learns things faster than can be taught. He still loves his turtles but with his new interest in all things Space and all things Tron I think we may have an MIT candidate some day soon.
#3, and last... I don't have to be in charge of so many things. I can give up PTA jobs and they will still happen. I have been really lucky this year, my business has really picked up. I could do a better job following up on those clients, and I think I will set that as a short term goal, but for now, I have had a fairly steady flow of work and that makes me happy on all sorts of levels.
So, we have two trips in the planning this year... one to Colorado and one to Chicago. We are going to Colorado in the summer, with a weekend stop in Arizona for a family reunion. We are planning a winter time trip to Chicago, because we like new experiences and we have never been there in the winter! We were hoping to plan a trip for a wedding in March of 2012, but the bride and groom are tying the knot in September 2011 instead, and we can't make it. I am sad... but so incredibly happy for the family members getting married! They are perfect together, and I am very glad they found each other.
Other news here... lately, there was a royal wedding to watch, and Glee and I sat on the couch at 3am and watch it. Amazing, and I am sure I will remember it as fondly as I remember the wedding from 1981. Also, Osama bin Laden was taken out by the US Navy SEALS, and it leaves a weird feeling to me. I am relieved, not that anything will really change in the world, but I feel like his orchestration of 9/11/2001 stole a piece of my history from me, my baby daughter was 5 days old. I am glad he can't be here to do that anymore and it feels like what I imagine closure may feel like, although I have never been in a situation where I needed closure (thank god). I am glad the guy is not here anymore. It felt kind of personal to me.
So, I am looking ahead to the summer of libraries and parks and beach days and sleepovers with friends and computer games and knitting. It will be a good summer.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
And so it goes...
Thomas got the teacher I thought I wouldn't want for him. In the long run she may the best of the three choices (although I had trouble with her last year when Glee had her, but that was a 2/3 combo of which Glee was the 3). This year it is a dedicated 2nd grade class... maybe it will work out better. Glee got the exact teacher I had hoped for. I was thrilled with that one! Yes, school has started again, we have made it through day 2, and luckily day 3 is a Friday. Soccer season first game is on Saturday, both kids teams have really great parents and it should be a fun year even with all the messing up the league has done. Glee's team was almost disbanded for lack of a coach, but that swung around the next week. Problem is both kids teams play 7 on 7 and both teams only have 9 total, so if it is like last year and any one or two kids don't show up there could be a lot of forfeiture.
The boss man is nearing the end of a weeklong vacation, that was really nice. It's nice to have him here for the first week of school. Also this week Glee turned 9 (?!?) and I have no idea where those days/weeks/years went. We took them on a train ride through our city to the El Capitan for the new Tinkerbell movie. It was sweet and she was really surprised. I was afraid at first that it would be too young for her but on her 9th birthday she met a character who was 9 also, and who made a scientific journal of the fairies with Tinkerbell's help. So it may be the last year to do it, I am glad we did. Thomas will turn 7 at the end of the month and has already planned that he wants to go ice skating and we are hoping some cousins can come along too.
The other news is we have lovely new neighbors. It is a family with a boy in between Glee and Thomas, a girl just younger than Thomas and a girl who is 3. PERFECT! We have enjoyed them over the summer... and they homeschool so we won't get to see them at school, but afterwards and weekends maybe.
My parents should be visiting soon for a wedding at the end of the month. I am hoping for a lovely visit, and I think it will be. Time for some gardening advice from the old man farmer known as my dad.
That's it for now... things in full swing (school, soccer practice 4 days a week, scouts 2 days a week every other week). Let the games begin!
The boss man is nearing the end of a weeklong vacation, that was really nice. It's nice to have him here for the first week of school. Also this week Glee turned 9 (?!?) and I have no idea where those days/weeks/years went. We took them on a train ride through our city to the El Capitan for the new Tinkerbell movie. It was sweet and she was really surprised. I was afraid at first that it would be too young for her but on her 9th birthday she met a character who was 9 also, and who made a scientific journal of the fairies with Tinkerbell's help. So it may be the last year to do it, I am glad we did. Thomas will turn 7 at the end of the month and has already planned that he wants to go ice skating and we are hoping some cousins can come along too.
The other news is we have lovely new neighbors. It is a family with a boy in between Glee and Thomas, a girl just younger than Thomas and a girl who is 3. PERFECT! We have enjoyed them over the summer... and they homeschool so we won't get to see them at school, but afterwards and weekends maybe.
My parents should be visiting soon for a wedding at the end of the month. I am hoping for a lovely visit, and I think it will be. Time for some gardening advice from the old man farmer known as my dad.
That's it for now... things in full swing (school, soccer practice 4 days a week, scouts 2 days a week every other week). Let the games begin!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Summer full swing...
So, I can't say anything about England that I haven't said before. It was another amazing trip. We spent the most wonderful time with our family, learning new wedding traditions (some English, some religious) and got to meet the newest members, the boys. We went to museums and we decided it would not be a bad thing for both kids to go to University in London (where they are pumping out nobel prize winners and scientist like there's no tomorrow!). We found an Egyptology museum and a museum of dead things (some even extinct!). We went to our favorite bookstore, stopped in to say hello to the Rosetta Stone and the roman antiquities and the British Museum. Discovered the newly redone Museum of London, walked past St. Paul's, went to Hampton Court for one whole glorious day, rode loads and loads of trains and ate delicious food. And then there was the company, which goes without saying, have to be my very most favorite relatives. It was just wonderful and I am ready to go again (the bank account isn't, but I am!).
And then we ended school with Glee being admitted to the GATE program, for which there is no funding so I have offered to be the parent rep (since the other one is leaving because she wants her kids to go to a different school) and we will see what I can dream up. GATE is for the gifted kids, and of course it was one of the very first programs cut when there were budget cuts. That's okay, we will make due... both kids got amazing report cards (again all A's for Glee and Thomas was able to improve in his listening skills and attention skills!). I got to attend a field trip to the Santa Ana Zoo (home of the sad monkeys and one of my friends called it) and was surprised to learn that the kids in his class whom I thought would be best behaved actually weren't. We made it through Multicultural week/Fair, school carnival, yearbook sales (I think there are only a handful left) and we have been launched into summer as of June 24th. Now, tomorrow is 4th of July which always signaled midsummer to me, but since school was out so late this year I may have to revise my midsummer! School starts again on Sept. 8th (I think) which feels like years away but will be on us in no time.
I also have a few jobs going... one big one I am working on, one smaller one I just finished and a couple of print/design jobs, so maybe we can catch up a little on the bills. Things have been tight for us (as for everyone) and it would be nice to be able to loosen the stranglehold a little. I have been knitting (found some lovely stuff in England when we were there) and am working on a sweater for Glee which should be done just in time for school. The yarn is called "moonlight" and it's lovely, it will look really nice on her.
OH, we have new additions to our family... Rex and Luna, a couple of kittens we have had for just over a week now. They are about three months old and adorable (as all kittens are). Thomas named Rex, who is mostly black but has a white belly and white legs. Glee named Luna who is a calico in honor of Krycek. That was one of my personal requirements, we honor our first cat.
So there we are, all caught up, right? For now anyway.
And then we ended school with Glee being admitted to the GATE program, for which there is no funding so I have offered to be the parent rep (since the other one is leaving because she wants her kids to go to a different school) and we will see what I can dream up. GATE is for the gifted kids, and of course it was one of the very first programs cut when there were budget cuts. That's okay, we will make due... both kids got amazing report cards (again all A's for Glee and Thomas was able to improve in his listening skills and attention skills!). I got to attend a field trip to the Santa Ana Zoo (home of the sad monkeys and one of my friends called it) and was surprised to learn that the kids in his class whom I thought would be best behaved actually weren't. We made it through Multicultural week/Fair, school carnival, yearbook sales (I think there are only a handful left) and we have been launched into summer as of June 24th. Now, tomorrow is 4th of July which always signaled midsummer to me, but since school was out so late this year I may have to revise my midsummer! School starts again on Sept. 8th (I think) which feels like years away but will be on us in no time.
I also have a few jobs going... one big one I am working on, one smaller one I just finished and a couple of print/design jobs, so maybe we can catch up a little on the bills. Things have been tight for us (as for everyone) and it would be nice to be able to loosen the stranglehold a little. I have been knitting (found some lovely stuff in England when we were there) and am working on a sweater for Glee which should be done just in time for school. The yarn is called "moonlight" and it's lovely, it will look really nice on her.
OH, we have new additions to our family... Rex and Luna, a couple of kittens we have had for just over a week now. They are about three months old and adorable (as all kittens are). Thomas named Rex, who is mostly black but has a white belly and white legs. Glee named Luna who is a calico in honor of Krycek. That was one of my personal requirements, we honor our first cat.
So there we are, all caught up, right? For now anyway.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Spring springing all over...
Happy Spring world! I only have a couple things I want to put here before I forget. #1, Thomas' school conference... he is maxed out in his reading, his teacher has tested him as high as he can go in first grade. He wants to read The Lightning Thief... he just finished Diary of a Wimpy Kid. That boy can READ! He can even read a book we have called The Universe which is full of scientific descriptions of stars and other things in the universe. It's awesome. He is a very intuitive reader. He also is at the top of the class in math (and considering his teacher thought he needed math help at the beginning of the year, I found that to be a nice amusement for myself). His area he needs to work on? Following class rules and keeping his desk neat. Yes, I think those will be following him the rest of his life. One other note about Thomas... we were sitting at the table eating dinner the other night and I asked him what will happen when someday Glee doesn't want to play with him, when she wants just to have her own friends? He looked me square in the eye and said "I will love her no matter what." I asked what if she wants to marry another boy and go live without us and he said that would never happen, and then she said no way, never happen. Man I love those kids.
Glee got named to honor roll again this trimester. She had all A's and one B on her report card. I have to say I am super proud of her too. She rolls with the punches and does her work without fail. I don't even have to sit with her for homework anymore, she just does it! Her weakest subject... handwriting. I say so what on that one. She will never be judged on her handwriting after third grade, so I told her as long as she does her best, I don't care what grade the teacher gives her on that. By the way, she is often marked off for her "j"'s which will be amusing to you all.
We are off to a wedding at the end of May... IN ENGLAND!!! We bought our tickets and we will be gone for 10 days. All of us are just a little excited...
Glee got named to honor roll again this trimester. She had all A's and one B on her report card. I have to say I am super proud of her too. She rolls with the punches and does her work without fail. I don't even have to sit with her for homework anymore, she just does it! Her weakest subject... handwriting. I say so what on that one. She will never be judged on her handwriting after third grade, so I told her as long as she does her best, I don't care what grade the teacher gives her on that. By the way, she is often marked off for her "j"'s which will be amusing to you all.
We are off to a wedding at the end of May... IN ENGLAND!!! We bought our tickets and we will be gone for 10 days. All of us are just a little excited...
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