Thomas' Project

Thomas has been wanting to increase his arsenal of tools lately and it seems that he has been thinking about building stuff. So, he began looking at plans for different things and decided he wanted to build an Adirondack chair. He found the plans, bought the wood and was ready.

He had begun a while ago by building a model of his pattern. Then he made the pattern for the chair, in case he wanted to build another one! After making the pattern he began working on his chair.

After working on it on and off he is done, about a month after beginning and look how great it turned out! With matching table and all!

Tanners First Full Day

It is Tanner's day to go to school! Tyler got to go on Tuesday, but Tanner goes on Thursday and he couldn't wait!Thomas and I greeted him as he came off the bus and he couldn't stop talking! Right away he said, "I had a good day!"

Tanner had watched me take notes while talking to Tyler on Tuesday and he was waiting for me to take notes on his day. When he saw Grammie and Grandma he was so excited for them to read the notes, like they would explain the whole day and he just had to share it! Tanners notes for his day:
"Ms. Geer wasn't there today, but I had to take tests."
"What kind of tests did you take?"
"Stand on one foot and count and letters."

"I went to 3 classes, one was art, we made dots. One was computers, but we didn't get to do much because two kids had to go to the potty. And 3 others."

"3 other classes, what were they?"
"I don't remember."
"Was on gym?" shake no
"Was one music?" shake no
"was one another persons class?" "Yes"

"For lunch, I typed in my number, ate pizza, white milk, and half an apple!"

"What did you think of the bus?"
"Fun"

"We are going to gym class next time."

"Did you meet any new friends?"
"I just had fun with new people that was it."

"Did you have nap time, did you fall asleep?"
"Just one minute then I woke up."

I was a little upset to hear that Mrs. Geer wasn't at school on Tanners first day. These first few days are important for the students to learn about school and their teacher to learn their new students. But as a teacher I understand sometimes the best laid plans, just don't work out!

Tanner had a great day and keeps asking how many days till his next day of school!

Tylers Full First Day

Tyler was assigned to Tuesday as his testing day. It would be his first full day and he would be riding the bus from the daycare to school and back again, because I had to work. He was super excited about riding the bus when I dropped him off at daycare that morning. I left my camera with daycare and they took a picture of him climbing on board the bus this morning.

My school gets out at 2:30 and the boys bus won't be at the daycare till about 4:10. This works out nicely for me because I have time, where I can work after school or go shopping as needed and then be able to meet the kids at the end of the day and focus on them in the evening. I was rushed this afternoon, because I was still working on school stuff and did have to run to the store, but I made it! Tyler was the last off the bus, but at least he came off the right bus!

I had decided to grab a note pad and interview the boys about their first day and trying to get answers from Tyler was like pulling teeth, but this is what he had to say about his first day:

"How was your day?"

"Good"

-

"Did you do anything fun?"

"Played with a new friend and Ms. Randolphs action figures."

-

"Were you by yourself?"

"No"

"Who else was there, boys or girls?"

"Two more boys came in"

"Do you know what their names were?"

"No"

-

"How did you like riding the bus?"

"It was AWESOME, I loved it!"

-

"What did you eat for lunch?"

"I don't remember."

"Did you get cafeteria lunch?"

"Yes"

"Did you get milk?"

"Yes, chocolate."

"Do you remember your lunch number?"

"Yes"

"Did you get to type it in, like I told you?"

"No"

-

"Did you go anywhere besides your class?"

"Yea, art."

"Did you make anything?"

"They told us to make dots. A bunch of dots."

-

The purpose of these first two weeks was to test the new students. So, I was curious what was tested on this first day.

"Did you do your ABC's?"

"No"

"Write your name?"
"Yup"

"Draw a picture of a person?"

"We had to draw a picture of our self!"

-

"Do you want to go back to school?"

"Yeah!"

I have often worried about Tyler at school and having to follow rules and directions on a regular basis. I had hoped that Tyler would be on his best behavior, but he did come home with two x's, one for not following directions in centers and the other for talking out. I do realize this is learning time for him and have confidence that he will learn to be that good student!

First Day of Kindergarten

The day has finally come...Tanner and Tyler are starting Kindergarten. You may think me crazy, but I have been looking forward to this day. Maybe its because I am a teacher, maybe not, but I have thought about this for awhile, what kind of teacher will they get, what kind of student will they be, what will they learn, how will they grow, and the list goes on and on and on...

I can't tell you how many times, I was asked "Are you going to cry?" or "Did you cry?" No, I didn't, why cry I am excited, this is a new step, one we all have been looking forward to!

We arrived at Liberty, where I took the typical firs day pictures in front of the school. We weren't sure Tyler was going to make it, he was the last of the three to get the stomach bug that passed around the house and he seemed to get it worse than the other two. He was sick yesterday, but this morning seems to be doing ok. Tyler, even not feeling 100%, was excited and worried that he might not be able to come. Thomas was worried that Tyler might still be sick so he made a big deal about me going with him, just in case! Thanks Thomas!

Tanner, my big boy, couldn't wait to get to his classroom and meet his teacher.

The school didn't want the Kindergartners at the school till 9:30, when we got there we went to the cafeteria where they called out the class rolls. The cafeteria was full!

The teachers and principal come and in and get right to business. Tyler's name is called for the 2nd class, Ms. Randolph. (Funny comment, Ms. Randolph was probably the oldest teacher in the group of about 10 and Thomas said, he kept thinking..."Please don't pick one of the boys." Tough luck!) Tyler and I head to Ms. Randolph's room with about 11 other children. Ms. Randolph made a point of making each child feel welcome, she had a goody bag ready at the tables for each child. I think she will be a good fit for Tyler. She has about 20 years experience mostly teaching Kindergarten and seems very confident. She is about full day rigorous Kindergarten, they will not take naps. She had about 6 computers in the room where she said they will do math and language on. I think she will have the patience to work well with Tyler. (On a side note, I actually worked with her at NPMS (sort of) for a few years...she said she put her time in middle school and that was enough, this was where her heart was!)

Thomas and Tanner got called in about the 5th class, Mrs. Geer. Since I didn't get to go down there, I don't know how I feel about Mrs. Geer. Thomas told me she was a new teacher, I thought he meant new, new, which had me concerned, but no only new to CMCSS. I guess she is a military wife who just transferred in. I didn't get a great vibe when I found out that she didn't even have a color sheet for the students to work on while the parents filled out the paperwork, but she did pull all the kids aside and read them a story.

After finishing in Tyler's room, we all walked back down to Tanners room where I introduced myself and looked around very briefly. She did send home a daily schedule which gives me an idea of what they will be working on and when. And Tanner will have a 20 minute rest period, just long enough to fall asleep and have to wake up suddenly! Tanner seemed to like Mrs. Geers room and that's what is important!

I had asked the school to put the boys in two classrooms that the teachers work well together, I don't think I got that. By the looks of the supply lists and just some of the differences I have heard about I think they will be two different rooms, but we will see. I asked Ms. Randolph if she worked with Mrs. Geer, she said sort of that she was Mrs. Geers mentor teacher.

After finishing up at the school we took the boys to McDonalds for lunch, before I had to head back to work. My principal was nice enough to let me go with the boys for their first day, but I had to go back for the meetings in the afternoon.

Daddy had the whole day off and since Tyler was doing good, he decided to take them bowling since we still had free bowling coupons.

What a great start to hopefully a great year!

Tapangas Actual Birthday

Its Tapanga's birthday and she has chosen to eat her birthday dinner at Chuck E. Cheese. Now, we normally don't go to places like this when the kids choose their restaurant they choose restaurants, but we thought we would give it a shot this time. I called Joy and invited her and the girls to join us.

When we got there, we ran into Laura and Melissa and their kids. Levi and Landons birthday is the same day as Tapangas and they too wanted to go to CEC...how funny we should all run into each other like this!

We were having a good time and talking about the joint birthday party we were planning when Julia started choking on something. We all turned to look, Melissa ran over to where she was and Laura who was holding Loni and sitting backwards in a booth fell out of the booth and onto the ground. When I saw Laura fall I ran around to where she was at and got there just as she was trying to get back up. Laura handed Loni to me and was hurt. She had scraped herself pretty bad and was in some pain.

After a little bit, Laura decided she needed to go to the chiropractor. She called them and they could get her in right before closing. She must have been in pain, because she didn't waste much time in getting out of CEC leaving all four kids including mommy's girl, Loni. I was a little worried about her leaving Loni, she can be a fussy baby and she is a boob baby...but we managed! At some point while I was holding her she fell asleep and although I was getting tired, I didn't want her to wake up because I didn't know how much longer Laura would be. I held her almost the whole time we were there and so didn't get to enjoy Tapangas party as much as would have normally. But I am Lauras friend and she needed us to help her and I am glad I was there to do that!

We had brought a birthday cake for Tapanga and all the grandparents came to enjoy Tapanga birthday. It was great to be able to spend the day with our friends even though there was an accident and Laura got hurt. Tapanga enjoyed herself and that is also what matters most.

When we got home Tapanga got the extra surprise of her new Princess bike, which she absolutely loved!

Tylers Hotel

I always try to get a copy of the latest Clarksville Family Magazine and when I was at Sweet Berry the other day with the kids I picked up the August issue. It was sitting on the ottoman and Tyler picked it up and started flipping through it. He came to page 9, looked at the pictures and said very excitedly (think 5 year old really excited), "Look Mommy, its a hotel!" This is his hotel!

In my mind I am thinking I don't think they would like us staying there, we might get the cops called on us! "No, Tyler that's not a hotel (with chuckle), " was my reply!