New Pictures....

The boys and I were looking at old Shutterfly albums last night and I realized it has been forever since I  took and nice pictures with my good camera. I take it out every so often and snap pics, but I never take my time and set the white balance the right way or focus on their eyes....

Today, I bugged all three kids until I got a few halfway decent pictures. They are still not the best.... but better than what I had been getting with my iPhone! :)

Christmas 2014

Another Christmas in the books.

Christmas Eve, we went to early church (3:30!). The first two services, that one and 5:30 were family services. Ben and Simon had been learning songs at Sunday School, so for the first year ever, they both sang with the children's chorus. Super cute. :) Jonathan could have gone up too, but wasn't feeling it!

After church we headed over to Babby and Grandad's for their traditional Christmas Eve finger foods/present opening extravaganza. The kids had fun, though Jonathan was kind of a pill. All the Christmasing has made him more than a little out of sorts lately.

Home for bedtime and to wait for Santa!

Christmas morning, the kids spelt in until nearly 8:00. When they got up, we let them open a few things and then waited for my parents, my brother and his wife, and Aunt Debbie came over for our Christmas breakfast!

The big hits this year were the laser tag guns. The dud (so far) that I thought would be a big hit is the LEgo Fusion set we gave Simon. He hasn't even opened it yet. I'm thinking maybe in the long and cold winter months during a snow day from school that might make an appearance. Also, making a mental note (again) for next year to scale back even more. I had actually pulled some gifts out Christmas Eve and put them away for birthdays... leaving Ben and Simon each with eight presents. Of those, maybe 3-4 were "big" things...as in things they had put on their lists.... (the laser tag guns, a couple DS games, the Risk game Ben asked for) The rest were little things I had thought they would like (a couple books from the book fair, some origami paper for Ben, a puzzle).  I really should have just stuck with the 3-4 big things and stockings.  Jonathan got his bow and arrow (huge hit), a new cash register, and two books that he cast aside (but that I'm sure will be become bedtime favorites soon enough)

I had also gotten them (as a joint gift) the Disney Infinity game.... and I think it kinda bombed... at least Christmas morning. I wish I hadn't gotten it!

After our breakfast, we headed over to Tom's parents' house. This was a lot more chaotic than it has been in years past. What used to be orderly one at a time present opening deteriorated into everyone opening everything at once. We're not sure why.... I think our mother-in-law has given up on any kind of order with 7 grandchildren in the picture now? lol.  Anyway, it was a lot.... I'm going to suggest next year that maybe we let the kids do secret santa with each other.

We had brunch over there and then all scattered to our respective home to crash! I'm fighting a cold now and was so exhausted...  hoping to have a quiet weekend to recoup!

...And to All, A Good Night...

Finally got A Christmas photo of the boys....   it's not great....I took it at the end of a three-hour Santa brunch and so they look a little disheveled. (at least the pancake syrup on Jonathan's sweater and his snotty nose didn't show up in the photo!) LOL.  Buuuut.... it will do. I didn't even notice that Ben had his hands on his hips until we got home and I looked at the pic. I was more focused on keeping Jonathan's hands out of his pants. 

Winter Germs and Other Fun....

Jonathan is under the weather today with a head cold. He's barely speaking, which is always weird because he a kid who NEVER STOPS TALKING.

He's home from school, which is sad for two reasons:
1) It was his last real day before break and
2) it was his LAST real day before break... LOL.

His little pageant is Friday and I'm sure he'll be fine by then... so that's good. But today, we are stuck home. Not good when I had about a thousand things left to do to get ready for Christmas. But, I am enjoying the snuggles.

I fear Simon is right behind him. He left for school today saying his nose "hurt" and was a little sniffly. ARGH. Washing my hands like crazy because, while I am happy to care for my sick babies, I do NOT have time to be sick myself. Truly. NOT AT ALL.

Pageant day is a little complicated this year. Ben's new school is holding their Christmas thing on the same day at the same time. This is a little strange to me since a decent number of kids from J's preschool have siblings at Ben's school. You'd think there would have been some coordination there. We were going to skip it entirely since this is probably Jonathan's last pageant AND Ben has only been there 2-1/2 weeks so really, how invested can he possibly be? BUT....he wants someone there... so we are splitting off and Tom is going to Ben's school and I'm going to Jonathan's pageant.

Simon doesn't have any special Christmas performance this year... just a little class party next week. Which reminds me... I need to buy hot chocolate cups for that. Adding that to the to-do list.  The massive, never-ending to-do list.

Just trying to take it all in stride and whatever gets done, gets done... whatever doesn't? Well, it's just that kind of year. Made the decision to not send Christmas cards this year and that took a huge load off. We'll take a nice Christmas photo Sunday at the Santa brunch we're going to... and I'll post it on FB or send it via email to most people on our card list. I just ran out of time this year.  Bonus,  $50 saved on postage and cards! ;)

The boys are excited and counting down the days. I asked each one which they most hope to find under the tree:

Ben - the new Pokemon DS game (thankfully he mentioned this last week and I picked it up! He doesn't like to make Christmas lists... he just hopes Santa figures it all out by osmosis)

Simon - Minecraft animal figures  (thankfully, my MOM got these for him after I suggested them awhile back... because these were not going to be under the tree from Santa!)

Jonathan - A Bow and Arrow set and a microphone (both covered! WHEW!)

As for what else they are getting...  Ben is getting a couple books, another DS game, a Lego Fusion set,  some origami paper, and some science things (a rock hardness testing kit and some owl pellets)

Simon is getting a couple books (both Minecraft-related), a DS game, a Lego Fusion Set, a minecraft sword, and a minecraft Lego set

Jonathan was the toughest this year... i opted for a new cash register for our play grocery store (he has worn the old one out), the bow and arrow set, a stuffed pigeon from the Mo Willems books, and some books.

I might be forgetting a couple little things.... but those are the main ones.

As joint gifts, they are getting Disney Infinity, an old Mario Smash Brothers game my brother introduced them to that they ALL love to play, and laser tag guns (which I also found out a bunch of their friends are getting so they can have one massive game!!)

I'm definitely ready for Christmas break. It will be nice to be off the mom-taxi and lunch-packing train for a bit. I know I'll be more than ready for them all to go back to school when January 5th rolls around, but for now, the break will be nice.

Ready or not... here comes Christmas!

OH! And one last thing! Simon FINALLY has a loose tooth on the top! :) He'll be top-toothless by spring, I predict. I was rooting for this to happen soon... he's getting a little old for the top-toothless look! ;) I was starting to worry it wouldn't happen until third grade!

PReschool Extended Day....

We are now test-driving two days a week of preschool extended day.... and I can not lie, it is OH so nice. Jonathan loves it, I am getting SO much done, and we still have our Friday afternoons together.

I considered adding him to his regular class's afternoon since he has taken to extended day so nicely.... (his class is split... he and two others leave at 12:30, the rest stay until 3)... but I think like having the option based on how our week and I like that he gets to spend time with Miss Sally and my friend Beth, who run it on Mondays and Wednesdays, respectively.

Yesterday, I even came home with this cutie wootie photo that they took to use to make a Christmas ornament!  ;)

Behind...

I don't know what it is about this year, but I am just NOT on schedule. We haven't taken a Christmas photo yet.... I just started on my baking yesterday and honestly don't even really have a plan. Usually I have a spreadsheet. LOL!

There is just too much going on lately and not enough hours in the day. It hasn't helped that with the school change, I lose a half hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon to drop off and pick-up.  I have been trying to figure out where to reclaim that time from. I'm getting up a little earlier.... but I still feel like I'm going non-stop all day and never quite catch up.  Definitely going to welcome the Christmas break to regroup and reorganize.

This week was particularly insane.

 I need some time to breathe....

Stranger in a Strange Land...

The rest of us are morning people.... Ben, not so much...

Updates...

Fifth grade Take Two is going well. Ben loves every aspect of it. His list why gets longer by the day! He says the classes are all more interesting, and they do all kinds of in-class projects and hands-on experiments. Lots of opportunities for moving around. There is more freedom.... he especially likes that on the rainy days when they have to have indoor recess, they can choose what they want to do -- whether they want to play board games in their classroom, go over to the other fifth grade room and do something different or even go to the gym and play! (he chose the gym last week) ;)

So far everyone seems nice. There are a couple boys he talks about more than others and says he sits with the same group at lunch every day. :)

The most amazing thing to me, is that his attitude about school changed almost overnight. He brought home some graded classroom last week and the difference in his effort, neatness, etc was night and day.   It's something I had hoped would happen but did not expect to see so quickly.

There are little things I love about it.... like that the daily homework is on the fifth grade website, along with any papers that are needed. Spelling words are there, vocabulary words, test information.... everything.  There was a slip that needed to be signed about an upcoming science test, the document was linked on the website.... Ben didn't have to remember to bring it home.  The website/homework thing is SUCH an easy, simple thing to do.... and makes a world of difference for a kid like Ben.

Anyway, so we are off to a good start there. :)

Simon.... Simon is doing well! He just finished up his second round of cello lessons through school and starts a new one next week. (they go by quarter) He made progress despite me being truly AWFUL about making him practice. Yesterday, he spent part of the day picking out all of his cello songs on the piano.  He has an ear for music, for sure.... I did discover that the instrumental music teacher has not actually been teaching them to read music.  Now, I KNOW Simon could pick this up reading music quickly....  that's the kind of thing he's really good at!  So over Christmas break, my plan is start working on this with him because I think once he can read the notes on the page, he'll really take off.  I got the level 1 piano book I used when I was a little kid and thought we'd just start it and see how it goes.

Schoolwise, he is doing well. We have an IEP team meeting coming up Wednesday and I don't think there is a whole lot that needs to be said. He has hit a groove this year. :)

He and Jonathan have become the best of friends. They play together constantly. This drives Ben insane. He feels like he has no one here at home to play with because the two of them have their dress-up/pretend games they play all the time and Ben wants someone to play sports with. I need to do better about inviting kids from school over. I say this all the time but life is just so busy.... and time keeps getting away from us. :(

Jonathan is loving his standing extended day at preschool! I may even add a second one after Christmas. We just dropped his group that he was doing through the county in favor of the teacher coming to his regular preschool more often to work with him. He had lost all of his same-age peers there to preschool placements and was left with two young 3s who didn't speak much English and another who was more like him but socially where he was a year and a half ago. The teacher's supervisor came to observe the group and thought Jonathan was the "typical" peer placed there to be a model for the other kids.  We enjoyed going, but the teacher and I agreed he wasn't getting much out of it at this point and the time would be better spent at preschool and maybe doing another activity on Tuesdays and Thursdays in its place.... so I'm looking into swim lessons or gymnastics.... library storytimes.... that sort of thing.  He just needs to spend as much time as possible with socially typical peers. He's doing SO well.... and things are a hundred times better than they were last year, but the more social stuff he gets now, the better.

I didn't do a post about Thanksgiving.... but we hosted it here and it was good. I feel more comfortable with that now and it's actually almost easier to just have it here. My sister-in-law and I do it as a team and it just works. The kids had a blast, we hardly saw them all day. The food was great and we all survived. ;)

So that's about it for now! I have a goal to do a post a day this week... hold me to it! :)

Second First Day of Fifth Grade....

:)

He was a little nervous this morning, but mostly excited! He talked my ear off all the way to school. I walked him in because they had wanted him to get there a few minutes early to get his things situated. They welcomed him with smiles and I left him in good hands. He was SO happy. Can't wait to pick him up today and hear how it went!

Visit....

We went by Ben's new school yesterday afternoon because they wanted him to meet his homeroom teacher and give us some things he would need.

I was excited before, but after this visit,  I am even MORE excited for him and 100% sure we made the right choice.

His teacher, Mr. B.,  looks like he's about 15... so Ben was immediately very comfortable.  LOL. He's really nice and was so welcoming. Showed Ben all around the classroom. He already has a desk with his name on it! Ben was really excited to see that it was next to a kid he already knows from basketball and two desks down from the the kid from his class who switched to this school at the beginning of the year.

His other teacher, Mrs. W, popped her head in too. He'll have two other teachers in addition because each classroom has two teachers.  Life-changing, I tell you.

They gave him a new agenda and a homework folder and explained the binder system they use. The entire operation seems set up to help kids like Ben succeed. After they showed me the binder organization and the checklists they put on the kids' desks,  and mentioned "organization workshop" the kids can go to in the morning before class, they asked if I had any concerns about them making the accommodations Ben is supposed to get at JES through his 504-Plan. I laughed. I've been doing my best to keep my criticisms of JES's fifth grade to a minimum;  but in this instance, I had to be honest.... basically, Ummm... NO.... he'll be getting more NATURAL accommodations (as in, they just DO these things for everyone) here than he is getting with a legal document in place at his old school.  (his teachers are basically ignoring it this year)  The class size alone is going to make a huge difference for him. I counted the desks in his homeroom and there are 19, which is fantastic! But some of his actual classes will be even smaller than that... the day he shadowed, the math class he saw had six kids in it!

They said the kids in the class are SO excited he is coming and I think that made him feel great. They said they've had a lot of shadow visitors lately and the kids are thrilled one is joining them! I think he'll feel very welcomed on Monday.  There is also another new student starting Monday too, so he won't be entirely alone in his newness! It's a fourth grader... which makes me suspect some other parents had the same reaction to American Education week that we did.  Now I super curious if we know him! LOL.

When we got home, his uniforms had arrived. Perfect timing to keep him excited!  We unpacked everything and hung it up. I have to admit, I am giddy about the uniform. Oddly, he is too, which surprised me because he generally shuns the golf shirt and khaki pants look. My life is about to be 1,000 times easier in the mornings with him. He is ridiculously picky about clothes and which shirts he'll wear.... this will end those arguments! Not to mention, the uniform is adorable and he looks SO cheek-pinchingly handsome. :)  (picture to come! ;)  )

I'm not usually one to embrace change so wholeheartedly, but I think this is a good one. A REALLY good one.  :)

Been Busy....

My poor blog! Life is so busy lately....

The biggest news around these parts ---

Ben starts at a new school next Monday, ight after the Thanksgiving holiday.

It started out as a pretty far-fetched possibility, but slowly materialized into basically the only choice we had. Suffice to say, fifth grade at our current elementary school was nothing short of disappointing. Curriculum changes coupled with a fifth grade team that seems a little "checked out", to put it mildly, have just made things completely and unacceptably mediocre. Perhaps the most surprising thing of all is that Ben wants to make the move and is VERY excited. We ordered uniforms and everything already. I have a meeting with his new teachers next week at some point to get caught up and get them caught up.

Yesterday, I gave the news the principal and a couple of his fourth grade teachers who helped us come to this decision. (you know things are bad when other teachers are pushing you to make a move this drastic) The principal wants to talk to me next week to hear about what has been going on and I'm gathering my thoughts for this meeting as I feel like I am in a position to represent an entire class of kids are being done a complete disservice this year... and hopefully maybe get some things fixed before Simon and my niece (both currently in second and having great years)  get to fifth grade.  We LOVE our elementary school.... I keep telling people I feel so blindsided and let down that my son's last year there has turned out to be his worst.  I don't have hugely high hopes for change, especially since our principal is on the verge of retirement.... but we have a bit of a rapport and I do really feel like I need to be candid about our concerns.

Other news.... my sister-in-law and I are hosting Thanksgiving here next week. I should probably be more stressed out about it than I am, but I have been so preoccupied with all the school stuff that I haven't had time to be. This week, I'm sure I will be running around like crazy.

American Education Week was good. Well, second grade... I love Simon's classroom, class, and teacher. She is wonderful and he is getting the absolute most out of this year. Catching up in all areas and doing great. She says he is a "math kid" and has amazing number sense. I love that he has this thing he is so good at.... he has gained so much confidence this year. It's a joy to see. He still hates to read anything but texts that tell him how to accomplish things on the computer, but his reading skills are where they need to be and that is all I can ask. It will probably never be his strength or most favorite thing. He is writing a chapter book about hippos right now and I got to see the beginnings of it at conference. SO cute and his writing has come SO so so so far from where he started last year.  SO proud of him (and thankful to some wonderful teachers!)

Jonathan is doing well in preschool. He is having a blast and starting to play with and be interested in other kids. He stayed for his very first extended day (until3p..m.) last week and LOVED IT. I plan to do it regularly now both to give myself some extra time to do things and also to prepare him a little for  the full day of kindergarten. I was surprised and delighted that he enjoyed it so much! He loves hanging out with his same-age cousin, Alek, now and gets excited when he gets to see and play with him.  So the two of them are extended day buddies.

I think that's all that has been happening lately! I need to update with some pictures soon.... :)

5th Grade Woes....

Ugh. We are having just such a disappointing fifth grade year.

First off, the curriculum changes to language arts are just awful in that grade.   Add to that they started mixed grouping last year and did away with GT Language arts and that has not helped at ALL. I'm all for heterogenous grouping when it's done well, but this is NOT done well. The kids on both ends of the extremes are losing out.

Math is all right. But that's because they didn't touch GT math with last year's 4th and 5th grade. They were allowed to continue as a class and with the old curriculum. The changes to that won't start until this year's third grade moves to fourth, I THINK.

Second, our fifth grade teachers... sigh. I just don't know what to say. Frankly, they mostly seem like they just don't care.  At first I thought, okay, fine... whatever. We'll just get through the year and it won't matter anyway.  But then, Ben's disorganization caught up with him and he came home crying that he can never find what he needs. So I sent a very short, cordial email to all three of his teachers and his homeroom teacher and just asked if they could please offer him a little help keeping his things together. This is something they are supposed to be doing anyway, as he has a 504 plan in place that legally entitles him to accommodations related to the ADHD.

Last year, I never had to bring up the 504. There were very few, if any issues. His teachers helped by seating him near them, giving him visual cues and making sure he left with what he needed at the end of the day. He ended last year with straight As and glowing comments from his teachers about what a great student he is... a fantastic writer.... wonderful insights... great addition to the class.

Anyway, so sent this email off to the teachers. I waited.... and waited.... and waited..... only one bothered to write back. It was his language arts teacher. She offered to help him clean out his binder. I thanked her. Still never heard back from the other three.

This is new for me... the teachers at our school ALWAYS reply in a timely manner. They've always been willing to help. I go out of my way to be on their side... to help them with Ben wherever I can.... they've almost always gone out of their way to help us.

This year... crickets....

Okay... fast forward a few more weeks. End of the quarter. The online gradebook showed some really bad grades. His A in language arts dropped to a B after a 50% on a spelling test and a 50% on the only writing assignment of the quarter. His social studies grade had only eight items, many of which were 5/8s and was a very low B....   his science grade (and he LOVED science last quarter... worked his butt off... talked about it constantly) would have been an A except his teacher never gave him credit for a signed test that I kept telling her via email was in his binder... to PLEASE ask him for it if he forgot. The zero (a 0/2) brought his grade down.

Math, he maintained a B and that's fine. He works very hard in math and though he keeps up, it's definitely not his passion or his strongest subject.

Here's the deal... I'm not mad because he did not get straight As....  no, I'm mad because I keep ASKING them for help and they aren't doing anything. I'm mad because now he's overwhelmed and frustrated... last night he said, "I can't do anything right... I lose everything..... " And IF they had given him even an ounce of assistance with his organization at school, his grades would have been so much better.

These grades are not at all a reflection of the work he put out... they are a reflection of a bunch of assignments he forgot to turn in.... and don't get me started on the spelling, which several other teacher friends have looked at and said is ridiculous... she lets them make up their own words and the six kids in his group all look for the hardest to spell words they can find... one kid actually googled that and came up with his list that way.... they aren't learning the definitions.... they aren't learning roots.... they are just random, ridiculous, obscure words.

The writing assignment he failed? He lost five points because he didn't stay with the theme. There were three drafts of this at LEAST that he turned in. Not once did the teacher redirect him and say, "Hey... you need to make sure you're sticking with the theme... you're a little off base here."

He's incredibly bored. His effort reflects that. I asked him about this and he said, "It's really hard to care and put in your best effort when you're doing the same thing for the third time in a week." The curriculum moves at a snail's base and is SO repetitive.

I am just SO angry and frustrated.... this is an amazingly helpless feeling! And now conferences are coming and guess how much time I get? TEN MINUTES.... with ONE teacher who will speak for all three. Um. What?

I want to scream!

I'm the first to admit that my son is NOT perfect. He does not always give things his best effort...especially when it's not something he's that interested in. He loses things. He's a little bit of work for teachers sometimes. I know all this, which is why I almost always take their side and help absolutely as much as I can from the home end. He's a really smart kid, but I'm under no delusion that he's a super genius. He will not be going to Yale or Harvard, skipping a grade, or volunteering to do any work that is above and beyond what is required. That's just not him. I don't expect straight As all the time. (but in ELA and science right now? THAT'S his niche... there is no reason those classes should not be As for him)  He's a bit of a smart underachiever like his daddy and I. And that's ok. I will admit to ALL of those things. But with little things.. helping him cleaning out his binder, locker, and desk once in awhile....  a reminder  here and there to turn something in... checklists...  he can at least be helped to do his BEST work and not lose points for stupid things like not turning in a signed test THAT I TOLD THE TEACHER I SIGNED AND SENT BACK.

Anyway, so fifth grade....  just UGH.

Halloween 2014

This year we had two barbarian kings and a General Grievous. General Grievous (Ben) only lasted through the school day and, as per his Halloween tradition, he freaked out about his costume and tore through the closets to make a new one for trick or treating. This was not without some tears and a borderline anxiety attack.  After much angst, he ended up a "spider tamer". Sigh.  I am so not a halloween fan. LOL. 

Middle School Mania....

We are knee-deep in middle school research over here. Thus far, we have toured three schools, our districted public middle school, a very small K-8 private school right around the corner from our house, and a larger private 6-12 school. We have one more to visit this Sunday and Ben has two "shadow days" coming up at the two private schools. Plus, I am going to pay a visit to our "almost districted and exponentially better" public middle school.

This is a ridiculously overwhelming process and there are SO many factors to consider... everything from the friend situation, to cost, to logistics, to whether the other two kids can eventually transition to whatever school we choose as they get to middle school too.

Our districted public school is okay, but not great. It's in kind of a weird area and I worry quite a bit about Ben getting picked on. Educationally, we are VERY concerned, which is not the school's fault... but the county itself is taking kind of a worrisome turn as far as curriculum and educational philosophy is concerned.

The small private school around the corner is our top pick right now. When we visited last spring, we felt very much welcomed and they kept saying how Ben seemed like he would fit right in. He loved being there and talked about it a lot over the summer. He was very excited about their science classes and the technology they have. It works well with our elementary school's schedule so getting him there and picking him would not be an issue or even require any major changes to our routine.  Ben already knows a couple of fifth graders and one of them will be his shadow partner when he goes to visit. I think he'll come away feeling very comfortable after that. Biggest con here is that we'll have to do this process all over again when he gets to high school.

The bigger, private 6-12 school... Ben loved it. He saw three classmates at the open house and one of them told him today that he is DEFINITELY going there and Ben told him "I am too." LOL. Pros -- Ben loved it, felt comfortable there. It's all boys, which is wonderful. The teachers really seem to understand how boys learn and Ben was excited about every class just wandering around the open house yesterday and listening to the teachers talk.  He could go all the way through with no future transition.... Other huge pro, Simon could start there in 6th which means they could be in the same place,  AND the school has incredible services for ADHD kids who qualify. (Ben likely wouldn't, but Simon probably could)  Cons -- It's further away and will be harder to manage drop off and pickup... I also didn't feel as comfortable with it or as confident of the fit for Ben. However, he wants to shadow there too, so I think that will help answer that question.

The other public middle school, I thought, was a really great possibility. We could easily get him special permission to attend there, as long as we could get him there and pick him up, which we could definitely work out. However, I recently learned that some of their GT classes have 30+ kids in them!! :( That was disappointing. Not to mention, it will still have the same curriculum issues as the other public middle school. So I think it's basically out at this point. I still might go up during American Ed week to check it out though.

This is definitely a tough call... but Ben is getting very into the research process and has finally gone from insisting he wants to stay with his friends even though he is anxious about the huge middle school... to saying he's excited about someplace different and he doesn't want to go to the public school any more.

I tell myself that no decision is permanent. Even if it turns out we made the wrong call, he can always switch. So just trying to go with our gut and follow Ben's lead a little bit to try to make the most educated decision we can and hope we get it right on the first try.

Update!

Yikes.... did I really let almost a month go by? Stupid Facebook.... still eating my blog.

First? The biggest news! Jonathan is officially, finally, mercifully, potty trained! Still in Pullups at night, but otherwise? GOOD TO GO! Never thought I'd see the day.

We went to the pumpkin farm with his preschool class yesterday. It was the the same one (though relocated about 15 minutes further away... ) that Simon went to when he was four where we got to pick a bunch of vegetables to bring home. Jonathan was basically done with this after the first turnip.... so we spent a lot of time in the hay wagon waiting for the rest of the class. In his defense, it was super hot out in the middle of that field and also because it had rained HARD the night before, crazy muddy.

We bailed when the hay wagon dumped us back out at the picnic area. He was just done. And so was I. I was SO exhausted when we got home!

Last weekend, we went to the Renn Fest with the boys. They LOVED it. We stayed way longer than Tom thought we'd last.... we watched three shows and an archery demonstration, ate lunch and the boys bought some wooden swords. Ben wants to go back next year and dress up. How fun is that? :)

The boys' swingset came a couple of weeks ago! They love it! We still need to call and get some sand delivered for the sandbox. 

Simon has made the most wonderful new little friend who we brought home for a playdate last Friday. He's adorable and fits right in at our house. Then we went to their house after school yesterday for a playdate. He's a lot like my boys (more like Ben than Simon, probably.... but loves to play the computer stuff and doesn't play sports, which is more like Simon)  He gets along well with both Ben AND Simon, which is awesome! He lives really close to our house too, so I foresee lots of playdates in the future. Love it!

Simon is doing really well in school.... haven't heard a word from the teacher and no news is generally good news! Turns out, he's a pretty great little speller and, even though they are only required to spell the first ten words, he has been taking it on himself to do the ten challenge words on the tests and doing a great job! I'm really proud of him! He's very happy this year too and wanting to do well... he has confidence he hasn't had before. I love that! 

Ben is doing okay.... hanging in there with decent grades. Happy. I'm not so thrilled with fifth grade in general though. It's pretty disappointing after a great year last year. No high expectations.... lack of structure.... I don't know this is true, but the feeling I get as a parent is there is kind of apathy from the fifth grade teachers. I'd like for that to be wrong.... but I have yet to be convinced. To be completely honest, I am sort of wishing we had pulled him and put him somewhere else for this year.  :( 

Jonathan is loving school these days. Skips in smiling and always super happy when I pick him up. I am THRILLED for such a great year! He's doing well and now that we're good on the potty training front, I'm leaning more and more lately toward sending him to kindergarten next year as opposed to holding him a year. 

Not much else going on.... doing the annual pumpkin farm visit with all three boys this weekend! :) So I'll have a new post up sooner than later. ;) 

Glasses....

We finally picked up Jonathan's glasses yesterday. He put them on in the store and four seconds later started rubbing his eyes and saying they hurt.  (to be expected, since they are correcting a muscle weakness)

So I had him wear them for an hour on, hour off a few times yesterday... once they were on, I'd let him play an iPad game for a little bit to make him forget about them (plus it forced him to focus on something close up, which is what the glasses are for) He did well! I'm hopeful he'll wear them a little longer each day....

Four-Year Well Visit...

Jonathan had his four-year well visit today! I had forgotten it was the awful one where they get a ton of shots. Oy. He got four... hoping he doesn't spike a fever tomorrow. Uuuuugh.

He weighs 37-1/2 pounds and is 40-1/4 inches tall... 63rd and 47th percentiles, so he has held true to being right in between his two older brothers growth-wise.  He grew THREE inches over the last year!!!!

He was super chatty with the doctor and it was adorably cute. :)  No concerns except that the doctor is happy we are still being followed by OT because he noticed some of the motor planning stuff while J was walking around the exam room. Otherwise, he's really healthy and looks good! :)

ETA: I looked up the other boys' 4-year-checkup numbers.... WOW....
Ben was only 32 pounds and 33 inches tall.  What?!?!? I always knew he was tiny... but never realized how small he was compared to other kids back then. Yikes.

Simon was 43 pounds and 42 inches tall. Craziness!!

All's Well...

Jonathan had a great second day of school yesterday. Walked in like he was leading a parade. Waved to people, said hello.... went right into the classroom. Told me when I picked him up that he had fun! YAY!

Had a conference with Simon's teacher already.... seems things are going okay! She said he's getting his papers where they need to be (huge, HUGE issue last year). She wanted to know more about what he struggled with last year and how to draw him out a little. (he doesn't often speak to teachers unless spoken to) She did say he is raising his hand now and participating, so that's good. He's also starting and finishing classwork without prompting.  I really, really like her.... her classroom structure and the way she naturally goes about keeping the kids on task and prompting with visual cues is really helpful for him. I'm optimistic about continuing to make lots of forward strides with him and school this year!

Ben is doing well... though I continue to be sort of unimpressed by 5th grade. He didn't even have any homework last night.... or much at all on any other night. Apparently there was a sub in math, which explained that one.... but he rarely has any other homework other than math. Really? Middle school is going to be a jarring experience for him if the demands don't pick up a little here....  They've implemented this online grading system, so I can check in on his grades a couple times a week. I like it and it's really helpful to keep tabs on quizzes and things. Simon has this too, but it really makes no sense for the grades below fourth. So the teachers aren't even sure what they are going to do with it for the little guys.

Waiting on Jonathan's glasses to come in. He keeps asking about them. LOL.

OH! We are also waiting on a swingset to be delivered for the backyard! We hemmed and hawed about this for a few years, but finally caved. The boys helped customize it... Simon asked for a "pirate bridge" (like the ramp thing with ropes on the side), so we added that... and Ben wanted three swings,  so we swapped out a trapeze swing for a third swing. He also wanted monkey bars, so we made sure the model we picked had those. Jonathan is excited about the slide. :)

Other than that, no news around here.... just trying to get my life organized lately!

First Day!

Dropoff did not go wonderfully well, but apparently he got over it quickly. I enjoyed my quiet morning in the school library immensely. OH how I have missed my routine!

Things didn't tank until we went IN though... so outside, he was pretty happy!  Ignore the silly faces... he was running around making exploding noises. Just caught him in the middle. ;)

Here he is with his buddy, LIllian. They aren't in the same class for the first time ever. They'll still see each other on the playground though. :)

Pickup was great. He had a great day and had lots to say. The teacher (a sub.... his real teacher had to attend a funeral today... but thankfully, the sub was familiar and well-liked) said her whole class did great and you never would have known it was the first day!

Preschool Visit Day!

Today was peek at your seat for preschool. Jonathan was less than enthused. My expectations were low.... but he actually did great! Posed for a picture on the steps....

He went right into his classroom and said hello to his teacher and, to my surprise, pleasantly answered a few questions about his summer.  About 30 minutes in, I left the room to go out to the parents' meeting and he didn't bat an eye.

I have high hopes for a non-dramatic first day!

I had prepared his teacher for the worst.... but maybe he'll surprise us all! :) We'll see! Monday is the big day!

Two for Three....

After Jonathan's preschool vision screening in February, I got a phone call. It was the woman who ran it calling to tell me that something weird had cropped up during the screening.... that Jonathan had different visual acuity in each eye. (or something like that) The discrepancy is an indication of strabismus, she said. This caught my attention because this is why I had eye surgery when I was 18 months old and then wore glasses until I was 10. At the advice of our pediatrician, we had the two older kids screened really early by an ophthalmologist to make sure they showed no sign of it since tends to run in families. They were both fine... Ben is near-sighted now and wears glasses, but that's unrelated. Simon will eventually need glasses for the same reason...

I had planned on taking Jonathan soon anyway, but the vision people recommended I take him a.s.a.p.
I had never noticed any eye crossing at ALL, plus, I knew he hadn't been especially cooperative for the screening AND the other two kids had been fine, so I procrastinated a little.... between other commitments and the doctor's busy schedule, we didn't end up going until today.

He did great. Complied with everything they asked him to do.  Even handled the eye drops like a pro!

Well, turns out, he is far-sighted! His one eye turns in a bit when he is trying to focus on things that are close. She said it's really mild and that I never would have noticed it until it got worse, (which it would have) and that it was an EXCELLENT catch on the part of the vision screening people.

We left with a prescription for glasses, which she says will correct the problem and he'll eventually grow out of it, hopefully....

I took him out to lunch for being so good and the glasses place was right next door, so we went and and took care of it while we were out. They'll be in next week! He chose little red ones.... super cute! :)
He was mad we couldn't leave with them today, so I think getting him to wear them might not be an issue!  Whew!

Seriously though... how cute is this!? He was very serious about the whole thing.... but he was really happy... don't let the lack of smile fool you! ;)

History Repeating Itself....

So when swim season was in full swing, Ben was ALL gung ho about winter swimming. We talked about it at length, because last year, I got suckered into signing him up for winter team and he ended up crying through three weeks of it before we gave up.

This year, I was very careful. He said he wanted to keep swimming and I talked to his coach and a bunch of the other parents who all suggested this stroke clinic at a nearby college. His coach used to run it and it is now run by a friend of his. He said it's great.... Ben would get to swim with other kids and that adds a little competitive element without the pressure of winter team. (which is commitment level WAY above summer team)  We looked over the brochure together.... we talked about it. I showed him a photo of the pool where it's held. He was all excited. I said, "Are you SURE? I do not want to go through what you put me through with this last year!" "Yes, I'm sure." he said.

Then, this weekend, I reminded him that next weekend is the start of the first session and he FREAKED. "You didn't tell me it was a deep pool!" "It will be cold!" "I'm not doing it!!!"

ARRRRRGH. I already told him he IS doing it.... he is signed up for six weeks and he IS doing those six weeks.

This makes me so mad. I wish this indoor stuff started up while we still had the momentum of summer team going for us. He was SO excited just a two months ago.

Hoping one or two of his summer teammates show up... I know some of them do this clinic. But it's four sessions from now until spring, so they might not be doing THIS particular one. So we'll see....  there's really nothing else for him to do. He can't really do the private lessons anymore at the place the other boys do them... they have nothing left to teach him. What he needs to be doing now is fine-tuning his strokes and working on speed and turns.....

Back to School Night....

Back to school night was uneventful.

I went to fifth grade first and they presented as a team, as they do from 3rd on up. Lots going on this year field trip wise and special activity-wise. Philadelphia, Marshy Point, BSO and like two other things.

In the spring they have the big "Your Changing Body" and an HIV/AIDS unit. Ugh. We're pretty open about talking about all that at home, but something about it being presented to 10-11-year-olds at school weirds me out a little.  (probably just that I have a kid old enough to be partaking in such a unit...)

They've changed "GT" to "AA". I guess "Gifted and Talented" was no longer politically correct. Ben's math teacher confirmed for everyone that the "AA" class gets homework on the weekends. (he had homework over Labor Day weekend and was not happy about this. LOL)

Ben has a seriously bad attitude so far about fifth grade in general. There is none of the excitement he had last year. I don't know why this is, but hope it's just him getting back in the swing of things and that it changes soon. I already miss his teachers from last year and I think he does too They were a great bunch and he was almost always excited about what they were learning and came home with stories. This year, not much so far. His best friend also was pulled out to be homeschooled, so I'm sure that is part of it.

Second grade was great. It's just nice to sit at your child's desk in their classroom... to look around at the bulletin boards and book centers and all that. I miss that when they start presenting as a team. I love his teacher. I just think it's going to be a good year all around there. She wants to meet with me next week to go over his IEP and reports and whatnot, so that's great!

He'll learn cursive this year, which he's excited about.

I learned he doesn't switch for math, so stays with his teacher all day. A handful of other kids from other classes come in. I'm relieved he doesn't switch. Consistency is good....

All in all, not much new.... just trying to get everyone in a good routine!

First Week....

First "week" (three days) of school down.

So far, so good.

Simon is happy. He likes his class, the people he sits with and his teacher. He said, "She is super nice" and then added, "It seems like I ALWAYS get the nicest teachers." I love that he feels that way. :) He has brought home a handful of papers and it mostly seems like he has remembered how to write and spell, so that's good.

I already have a conference with his teacher coming up on the 9th. I had sent her an email just say hello and let her know to not hesitate to get in touch prior to his annual team meeting if she was having issues with his work habits. She immediately wrote back to say thanks and gave me that conference date. Uh... so, either she IS already having trouble with his work habits... or she just wants to recap his IEP and testing reports. Hoping the latter. LOL.  At any rate, I'm looking forward to going in just to really talk to her a little about him and give her some heads up on what has worked in the past.

Ben is kind of "meh" about fifth grade. Honestly, so am I. I don't know any of the teachers at ALL, other than passing them when I work in the library. I hate that. None of them have sent anything home introducing themselves or talking about what they'll be teaching. I guess they save it all for Back to School Night next week. He does say he thinks he likes his English/Language Arts teacher a lot. She's brand new to the school, so I don't even know who she is and couldn't pick her out of a lineup. Oh well... preparation for middle school independence and all...  I just feel so disconnected! Guess I should get used to it!

I spent yesterday in his library class and his homeroom is HUGE. There are six fifth grade teachers, so the main subjects aren't big classes... but two of the fifth grade teachers are part-time, so there are only four homerooms, which means specials classes are enormous. I didn't get a count... but the checkout line felt like it went on forever!

He had a solid HOUR of math homework last night, which he was none too pleased about. I felt really bad for him. An HOUR! Something like 40 problems he had to do. Also, this teacher says she gives homework on the weekends and you can imagine how THAT went over with him. LOL.

He's in the GT math class, and can hold his own... (I worried a little last year because he had a few dismal test grades... but he got Bs and ended the year with an A... so all turned out ok)....but it is definitely starting to be REAL work for him.  He gets frustrated easily, not to mention, wants to go quickly and do everything in his head and hates showing his work. I can't seem to get through to him that showing his work and keeping all the work/numbers organized and orderly (instead of randomly scratched on ripped up paper) will make it easier in the long run. Oh well... live and learn, I guess.

Next week should be when everything really gets underway. Simon hasn't had any homework yet, so I'm anxious to see how all that works this year and get into a routine with it.

Jonathan and I are enjoying our time just the two of us. Although, I am remembering now how when the brothers aren't home, though his behavior is easier to manage, he requires WAY more entertainment from me, which means I'm not getting a whole lot done! So now I'm looking forward to his little three half days of preschool.... we'll still get Jonathan and mommy time, but I'll also have time to go to the store and make the beds!  ;)

First Day of School...Second Grade and Fifth Grade....

Today was the day! Big boys are off! Jonathan and I have spent a blissful morning and afternoon at the playground, at Target, out to lunch, and visiting a friend! Now I am home enjoying a cup of coffee and some Facebook time while J plays. HOORAY! I can't wait to hear how the day went.

As usual, I anticipate Ben will come home pleasantly surprised. (he is always pessimistic on the first day)  Simon, who was fairly happy this morning will likely come home annoyed about having to sit and write all day. ;)

Ben? Are you smiling?

Second grader.... same age Ben was when he started at JES.

My big fifth grader.... ambivalent, at best, about school starting....

His annual Peanuts expression first day photo.... 

THe only thing that made me sad about today.... this is the last time they will head off on a first school day together until HIGH SCHOOL.




This was when Ben drew the line on the photos... "NO... just no." LOL. Simon was still a good sport....

Now You Are Four....

Dear Jonathan,

Today you are four!

Between the sleepless nights of 0-1, the "how many ways can I hurt myself?" phase of 1-2, the knock down, drag out tantrums of 2-3, and the "I will only drink from blue cups with lids and eat only pasta!" pickiness of 3-4,  sometimes it truly felt like this day would never come.

It's not that all those other ages didn't have their positives....because they did....and there are things I will miss about each of them, especially since you are our last baby. It's just that, it seemed like four was when your brothers,  particularly your oldest one, who was our toughest model until you came along, became much more rational human beings, capable of being reasoned with.

Oddly, last night at your birthday party, you sort of morphed into this weirdly polite little person who was nice to your cousins, said thank you for presents, and said hello and goodbye to everyone without whining, scowling or burying your head in the floor for no apparent reason. So I'm starting to think there is something to this magical age.

At any rate.... so.... FOUR.

In many ways, you are such an OLD four. Four going on seven... or ten. I hang my head in shame when you talk endlessly to other preschoolers about Minecraft and Clash of Clans. Most of them, especially the firstborns, look at you like you have a dozen heads and go back to building Lego towers or talking superheroes.  At the pool this summer, you hung out with Ben and Simon's friends when they would all go off to play Minecraft on their iPads. You fit right in and they never complained that you tagged along. They just adopted you as one of the big kids. One of your best friends at the pool is a little boy named Carter, who is Simon's age. Every day Carter would show up and say to me, "Where's Jonathan?" I'd point him in your direction and he'd run over and high five you and spend hours trying to teach you to swim or playing Minecraft with you under the awning. You would tell me "Carter's here! Carter loves me! He loves me because I'm CUTE."

In other ways, you are the youngest-seeming four I have ever had. First off, this August birthday makes you the youngest in your class. But there are other things too....you are dragging out this potty training thing as long as possible, for instance.  You aren't usually able to just "go play" with other kids your age, which makes playdates tough... you are also still unhappy about school and I'm interested/worried to see how this year's start goes. (I hope better than last year. It HAS to be better than last year.....)
I keep reminding myself you are almost half a year younger than Ben was when he started school every year. And, in many cases, you are even more significantly younger than some of your classmates. You have some natural social weaknesses anyway, so this age gap, as far as school is concerned, feels enormous at times.

You are my snuggle bug. During quiet afternoons when your brothers aren't around (and even sometimes when they are), you will announce that you need some quiet time "on the couch with binky and ducky". You'll curl up next to me and, if I'm really lucky, ask to read some books and we'll pick a whole pile to go through together all in one sitting. You LOVE your books... all kinds... but especially the Pigeon series, the How Do Dinosaurs series, and this blatant ripoff of the Hungry Caterpillar one that we have called Hungry Bunny.  You can read anything and everything, but you still prefer to be read to, which I love.

Somehow, you are simultaneously our most affectionate child and our meanest. You can go from hugs and kisses and "I love yous" to biting and hitting and kicking in the blink of an eye. There is NO in between with you. I do hope, now that you are this magical age, we start seeing more of nice Jonathan and less of vicious untrained puppy Jonathan.

You are still our fearless one. Our recent trip to Dutch Wonderland confirmed that. You are solidly in the "the higher and faster, the better!" camp. I am both terrified and excited to see what you will do in life without fear to hold you back.  If I had to pick one of my three children who was most likely to jump from an airplane or hang-glide off a cliff? There is zero question. It's you.

No doubt about it. You are challenging in many ways, my little friend. You keep us on our toes and things are rarely easy as far as you are concerned. You are certainly our ball of fire.... but with that, you bring so much light, life and energy to our family. You drive us all completely crazy sometimes, but I know I speak for daddy and big brothers too when I say we love you to pieces and wouldn't change you for anything.

Happy 4th Birthday, J, Jonathan, Jellybean...

Love,
Mommy

Peek at Your Seat 2014

Today was open house for the new school year. Armed with our backpacks of supplies and donations of tissues and plastic baggies, we headed off to see their classrooms and meet their teachers.

We started at Ben's class, like we did last year, since he can unpack himself and then I can take care of getting Simon where he needs to be. The fifth grade teachers were having the kids do a scavenger hunt to figure out their schedules. They had to go from classroom to classroom the check the lists and figure out where they are for each period of the day. As it turns out, Ben's homeroom teacher is only his homeroom teacher, just like last year. Then he has three other teachers the rest of the day, including the brand new teacher. I'm know nothing about any of them and for probably the first year ever, I'm pretty indifferent about all of them right now and haven't heard much from other parents.  (unlike all the other grades where there was always scuttlebutt about who was good to have and who was good at this or that... nice... not nice.... strict....etc....) Unless something goes horribly bad, I probably won't hear a whole lot from them this year.  It's getting to the point where I'll know Ben's teachers less and less and be less involved.... and they seem to foster that atmosphere in 5th grade, which is good preparation for middle school, I suppose. For me, it's kind of sad because I enjoy getting to know the teachers.... but, c'est la vie....

After I got Ben settled doing his thing, I walked Simon down to the second grade hallway. His teacher was very warm and welcoming. She reminds me a lot of his teacher last year, which is truly what I wanted for him.  There was long checklist to take care of and Simon had a worksheet of "What I did this summer" to do. I busied myself putting supplies away and working my list while he did that.

Simon was in his quiet, expressionless mode, but he did say hello to his teacher, so that was good. She had a backdrop set up with props and took silly pictures of all of them before they left. We got a few extra... ;)

Hoping for awesome years for both of them. :) Ready or not, here we go!

Keeping Them Busy.....

Today we went to Home Depot (exciting!), but struck out on cold weather veggies for our garden, so we went up the street to Valley View and picked up some broccoli, kale, and a lettuce mix. Apparently all should do well until the frost and it said the lettuce can even survive a few frosts!

We spent a TON of time checking out the pond part of the store... the koi had just been fed and were acually coming OUT of the water to slurp up the food pellets left on the rocks. It was crazy! The boys got the biggest kick out of it!

After that, we went for italian ices. Came home and cleaned off the sticky by playing outside in the hose and now they are having a little screen time. I downloaded the new Muppet Movie to the TiVo for later since it looks like it's going to storm.

Five more days of summer!! ;)