First Day of School

Shockingly, I did not wish away most of the summer like I have in the past. Regardless, the first day of school came in August anyway.  I don't take the kids on the first day of school.  It is one of the special daddy jobs to take the kids out for breakfast on the first day and then drop them off.

Ben is a fifth grader, and is having a good year so far.  He told me he is glad he isn't in sixth yet (Me too!).  Will is a third grader, and as you can see, was not thrilled about the first day of school.  Things are going better now though.  Kate is super-excited to be a first grader and go to full-day school!  She is already reading chapter books and acing spelling tests.  

Now that Jack is a big three-year old boy, he goes to school two mornings a week too.  He started in September, and on that fine day he also chose his breakfast wisely.  He loves what he calls, "Ih-ee-lay!"

Jack loves school, where he has the same preschool teachers that Kate had, and he receives speech services.  He comes home everyday trying to tell me what he had for lunch (he always says peanut butter or "sketti," but I seriously doubt that).  And yes, in case you were wondering, I am enjoying my TWO child-free mornings a week.  That's how I found time to blog again last Wednesday.  Although, to be honest, all I usually get done is grocery shopping, a walk, and a shower.  It's the small things.

Love you, kids - I am so proud to be your mama!

This Moment

Life as a mother of four has not slowed down in the past year. I don't know why I thought it eventually would, but I did.  And maybe next year when Jack is in preschool, I might possibly have a child-free moment in my day, but for the moment my free time is often measured in seconds instead of minutes or hours.  Which means you are much more likely to find me on facebook than Blogger.  But that is ok for now.  I will take my adult connections where I can get them.

I honestly do miss blogging, and I frequently have moments that I want to capture, but the space in my brain that holds such things is currently occupied with swing set sale ads, online courses I need to take to keep my teaching certificate current, and vacation ideas.  Not to mention school projects, IEPs, and speech therapy appointments.

But right now, in this moment, I am having a moment I want to remember.  A moment when the children are not fighting over video games or whining about their supposed boredom.  And I want to write it down instead of making dinner or folding socks.  Because I make dinner and fold socks all the time, but how often do I get a moment like this?

For the past two hours, my house has been wonderfully argument free.  Will has decided to organize his younger siblings into an afternoon of playing school.  I can hear Will announcing that it is math time, leading them in singing their ABCs, and telling them to line up for recess outside.  (He even sang praise songs while he was "lesson planning". And right now he is reading them a story.  He has taken them on learning adventures all over the house, and they are having so much fun.  The only angry sound I have heard was when it was "lunchtime" and Will made them milkshakes, and Jack loudly insisted that his should be 'NANA!  (He really likes bananas.)  Jack and Kate adore their big brothers, and so they are just soaking up all of this attention. 

Meanwhile, Ben has a massive science project due on Wednesday. I am a terrible mother who used to try to help with such things, but found that this quickly devolved into frustration and yelling.  And so now I just watch.  His dad graciously takes him to the hardware store to pick out wires and switches for his circuitry project, and then helps him to test it all and make sure it works before Ben finishes it off.  The project is almost complete.  Ben just explained to me the difference between parallel and simple circuits, which I also learned in the 4th grade but have long since forgotten. I just go out to the garage every so often to "ooh" and "ahh" and pat them on the back, literally and figuratively. 

And so I want to remember this moment.  When all is peaceful.  I know that soon there will be hungry children to feed, tired children to put to bed, and more socks to fold.  But for right now, in this moment, all is right with the world. 

Confessions of a Bad Blogger

Since I have been overwhelmed with life in the past year lately, I may have passed up a few bloggable moments.  But there are a few things I would never forget to tell you from 2012.

1. I would never forget to mention that Will learned to ride his bike this past spring.

2.  And I am sure that I remembered to post photographical evidence that we actually did spend a week at the beach with Tim's family. No?

 3. Likewise, I would never fail to blog if Kate learned to read.

4. If Ben had continued to write funny comic strips to amuse his teacher and me, I would post every single one.

5.  I am sure that if Will had visited the local newspaper office and become inspired to write his own newspaper, complete with cover story, sports section, interviews, comics, and puzzles, of course I would have told you about it!

6. I got a new camera just before Thanksgiving, but if a tall, skinny stranger tried to eat my youngest while I was messing with the settings, I am sure I would have remembered and posted a photo.

7.  I always remember to post the Annual Cousins-on-the-Stairs pic, especially if it is Jack's first one.

8. And if Kate ever won an award at school for never giving up or quitting, I would have taken the time to blog about it.

9. We didn't do anything fun like decorate gingerbread houses. And Jack-Man did not eat his house before it ever got decorated.  (Thanks again, Lilly!)

10. And of course, Jack did not fall on his face shortly before said gingerbread adventure, getting a large contusion on his forehead which is still visible more than two weeks later. 


I am also sure that the astute readers among you noticed that I still failed to mention our Christmas celebrations, but maybe I will get to that before the spring thaw. Or maybe I won't. Who knows what you will get from this bad blogger. 

All About Kate

I seem to have several short, Kate-centric anecdotes to share, so I thought I would combine them all into one post.

Story number 1:
Kate has lost her first two (non-cleft related) teeth.  The first one came out while she was playing July 2 at her buddy Olivia's house. (Yes, I am a belated blogger.) It was so loose I could've plucked it right out, but she insisted she wanted it to "just fall out."  And it did.  It bled a little bit, and she cried.  I asked her if it hurt, and she said that it didn't.  So then I asked her why she was crying.  She looked at me and said, "Oh, yeah," and immediately stopped crying and gave me a huge smile.

 

The second one came out between Sunday school and church one Sunday in August.  It just fell out.  No crying this time.  The end.

Story number 2:

Kate loves soccer.  In the spring she played in the 6-7 league with her brother because a) It meant less driving for me and b) She can totally hold her own.  So even though big brother Will moved up to the 8-10 league this fall, we left her in the 6-7 league, even though she is only 5 1/2. On Monday she played in the pouring rain (no lightening at all), and scored her first two goals ever!  The team won 5-2, and she was very proud of herself.

Story number 3:
At school, Kate was nominated for the "Take Pride In Your Work" award. When she came home with the paper and a note from the principal, I bragged on her and talked to her about what that award meant.  I thought she understood it, until her Mimi called an hour later.

Me: Kate, your Mimi is on the phone.  Come here and tell her what your award is for.
Kate: (shrugs) Being a little Chinese person?

Apparently I have done such a thorough job of instilling ethnic pride in my daughter that she thinks she gets awards for it.  Either that, or she has more personality than I know what to do with.

Story number 4:
Will wants me to add that he just taught her to play piano without any lessons.  Seriously, she is downstairs playing a song he taught her.  Good job, Will and Kate!

School Time

I never did get around to posting about the fabulous-ness of the 2011-12 school year, but it really was all that and a bag of chips.  My kids have had excellent teachers in the past, but it was the first time that all three of them were just in the perfect spot for them.  Kate was in her third year of preschool with her beloved Mrs. Whoa-ah (whose name isn't really Mrs. Whoa-ah, but that was how Kate said it when she was three). Will had the wonderful and amazing Mrs. H., whose presence he still mourns daily.  And Ben had Mrs. B., who really got Ben.  You know what I mean?  She understood where he was academically and how to challenge him, but she also seemed to understand his quirky, off the wall personality.  It was just a good year for growth and positive change.

So, you would think that with a year like that under our belts that all three of the kids would be super excited to start another year, right?  Nope.  Not so much.  Well, actually Kate was excited, until about a week before it started, and then the reality hit her that she wasn't going to be in Mrs. Whoa-ah's class any more.

Will spent half of his summer writing letters and postcards to Mrs. H and wondering why she couldn't just teach 2nd grade this year.

Ben was under-whelmed with the whole thing, being a cool almost-4th grader and all.

So, off to school they all went.

Annual First Day of School Breakfast with Daddy

(Don't worry, Kate changed her clothes and combed her hair before school. I promise, Mimi.)

When they got off the bus the first day, I was eager to hear about how awesome it was.  Ben thinks that he has the the nicest teacher in school, and therefore the best teacher in school.  As long as he is learning, I will just keep on agreeing with him.  (He got an A on his first science test, so we are well on our way.)

Will was disappointed that most of his friends are in another class, but happy to be reunited with an old Kindergarten friend.  Since then he has decided that 2nd grade is boring because he hasn't learned anything new yet.  I assured him that it is only the 3rd week of school, so they are only getting warmed up.  (I hope this is true.  Ben spent most of 2nd grade bored, which was why we were so excited about how good 3rd grade was.)

I was most excited to hear about Kate's day, since she is the Kindergartener after all.  So I asked her, "How was your day?"

K: Well, it was a bit "disturbing." (She actually used finger quotes around the word "disturbing."  Where does she get this stuff?)
Me: It was "disturbing?" In what way?
K: Well, my teacher is a little bit bossy.

Oh, boy. 

Me: Well, dear, she is the boss of your classroom, so she does get to be bossy. 
K: Well, I don't like it.  Mrs. Whoa-ah was never bossy.
Me: That's because you acted like you were the boss in Mrs. Whoa-ah's room.  You just didn't notice that the teacher was. 

Everyday that week went on with a similar report.  The boys tried to tell her how it was.  She still didn't like it.  The following Monday, I asked again.

K: My day has come!
Me: Wow, that's great.  What does that mean?
K: I get to be star student for the week. So I get to be line leader and tell about myself and choose first at choice time and a bunch of other stuff. 
Me: Awesome.  I'm glad your day has come. 

This week another child is star student, so she thinks the teacher is bossy again.

It might be a long year with this one.

Kate's First Day

Yesterday, much to Kate NaNa's great joy, was the first day of school. After three long weeks of living with the fact that the boys "get to do all the fun stuff first," she finally got her day. Not only does she have the same classroom teacher from last year, but she also has the same speech therapist. Which made her (and her mama) very happy.

So off she went to her First Day of School Breakfast with Daddy at Chick-fil-A.

And then to class in her favorite Spidey shirt.Life is good:)

Another Reader in the House

Will has been sounding out words for a couple of years now, but his journey to becoming a reader has been one step at a time. I think that is partly because of Ben's reading skills. Even though we constantly remind them that they are not in competition, well, frankly, they are brothers, and they are in constant competition. So even though Will can read, he has not had the confidence to step out and challenge himself (or allow me) to read harder things.

The other day I suggested he read Green Eggs and Ham to me. He is a huge Dr. Seuss fan, so I thought this would be good practice for reading in front of people more. Thankfully, it was a hit. I was so proud of how he was able to sound out words he didn't recognize and read the whole thing by himself. So proud, that I forgot to video it, which I had wanted to do for months.

Today he came home from school with a book from his reading group, so I asked him if I could video tape it. He was so pleased that I wanted to record it that he even said I could post it here:)

So here is Will, reading Rescuing Nelson. (Grandparents and other family, this one is for you - Enjoy!)

Back to School

Already?

Yes, already. Yesterday was the boys' first day back to school.

(Photo from the Official First Day of School Breakfast with Dad at Chick-fil-A)

Ben is officially a third grader. When I asked for a first day of school report, he said it was "boring," but later when he said the supper blessing, he thanked God for giving him a good teacher, Mrs. B. Apparently all is not lost.

Will is a first grader this year, which means that for the first time, he has school all. day. long. Yesterday, he was in full-on I'm-too-tired-to-function meltdown mode from 4pm until bedtime. Uggh. We may have to reinstitute afternoon naps if we don't make the adjustment soon. On the other hand, he has a teacher, Mrs. H, that we know and love. I think she is the perfect fit for my littlest man.

Kate doesn't start school for three more weeks, so she is staying home with me and the littles that I babysit. When I asked her how her day was, she said it was the "Worst. Day. Evah." According to her, "The boys get to do everything fun!" But when they are here, she changes her tune, teasing them, "I don't have to go to school," (said in a mocking, sing-song voice).

I on the other hand, can't decide if I am happy about school or not. On the one hand, I reached my summer allotment of patience about two weeks ago. On the other, I get to help two boys' who are easily distracted finish their lengthy homework each day, not to mention the getting up early that goes along with it. Hmmm.

School's Out, School's Out

Yes, I know I should have posted this like three weeks ago or something, but for some reason, I can't get any writing done with 3+ kids in the house. Of course, it could've had something to do with some new books I was reading (ok, obsessed with). And the one week that the kids were at the grandparents' and I could write? My computer crashed. So, yeah, my writing took a back seat. It happens.

But back to my topic: School's Out!

I know I am supposed to say, "I can't believe another school year has come and gone," but that would be a lie. Because I think this was the longest school year ever. Between my babysitting schedule, the homework assignments that never seemed to change, and a desire for warm weather in all of our hearts, we would have to say that summer was way over-due.


It would, however, be true to say that I can't believe how much my children have grown and learned this year.

Kate NaNa has now decided she is Kate. Not Kathryn. Not Katie. Not NaNa. Not any combination of the above. Just Kate. I am sure it is a phase, but if I use anything else she asks, "Why are you calling me that?"

Her end of the year program was a on a day that I was working, so Tim, Will, and I took Mr. O, Mr. A, and Miss O (ages 1,2,&3) to hear Kate sing. You can tell by the photo how thrilled she was to stand up in front of a crowd of strangers and sing about jungle animals.

"You want me to do motions? You have got to be kidding me."

Her certificate stated that she wants to be a firefighter when she grows up. I assumed that she picked that career because it was the first one she thought of, but I could be wrong. In the past few weeks she has told me no less than a dozen times how she and her friend, Vanessa, are both going to be firefighters and live at the fire house. I suppose we shall see.

Her teacher and SLP both raved about how far she has come in terms of her ability to communicate with adults and peers. Plus, on her report card she scored "Mastery" in every single preschool skill. She asked if that meant she could go ahead and go to kindergarten next year since she already knows everything. It's a wonder she Will don't share genetic code.

Speaking of Will, he wrapped up his kindergarten year, receiving the "Loving to Write" award. He is reading easy reader books, and carries around a stack of Wimpy Kid books everywhere he goes, just like his brother.

He is still a huge help to me with the small children. When they are sad, he cheers them up. When they are thirsty, he finds their sippy cup. They adore him.

Ben didn't have an end-of-year program, so I don't have any photos, but he is still reading and writing and drawing comics like crazy. He got the "Whoppers Award" for his class. That means he loves to make up and tell stories. And no, in this case that is not a euphemism for big fat lies. He still wants to be an author when he grows up. He will be a third grader in the fall, and is obsessed with Transformers and Star Wars, as he should be.

And now is the part where I am supposed to talk about how we have two whole months to relax and do nothing, except for the fact that we are down to about six weeks of vacation. But I plan on squeezing in as much relaxing and doing nothing as is humanly possible. Wish me luck.

Ben: Second Grade

How on earth am I the mother of a second grader? Next month he turns 9. I'm not even sure what to do with that.

This year got off to a rough start. He missed his first grade buddies, most of which were not in his new class. He missed his first grade teacher. Thankfully things have gotten better since Christmas, and he has gotten a chance to do some creative writing. Have I mentioned that Ben wants to be an author someday? He and his brother are currently writing a book together. I love my boys.

Ben's writing is still funny and creative, just like last year, so I thought I would share...

A Poem

A Short Story (I wouldn't read it if you have a weak stomach...)

(Btw, while he does tend to get air sick, he combined parts of a bunch of different flights into one story - except his dad never called him strange. Ben just thought that would be funny. The story is at the bottom if you can't make it out here.)

And quite possibly the best fractions assignment evah.

(For those of you who can't read it: "2/3 of the darth vaders have light sabers." Love it.)

And I love this boy.

The Crazy Airplane Ride

It was a strange day on an airplane. I was with my dad when he told me we were going on a plane. He took me to the air port. Unforchunatly we got to the air port early. I was bored. So I read a little. Then I got really bored. Then we talked a little. Then I got even more bored. Then I Played with my toys for a little bit, and I got SUPER BORED! Then I wached tv until we got on the plane. When I got on the plane I bored again so I played with my toys again. Then they put on a movie. the movie was called Kung Fu Panda. Then Then the gave me a sticker book to intertain me until lunch. When lunch was served, I ate everything exept the rice. I ate the bread, chicken, tomatos and corn. My dad argued me to eat my rice. Finally I decided to eat my rice. When I did I threw up all over the plane. It was a big mess! It was icky! I hated throwing up. It wasn't fun. My dad went to tell the workers on the plane. I got a big drink of water. I felt like I was going to pass out. My dad took me to the rest room while the workers on the plane cleaned up my throw up. I stayed in the rest room for a long time finally I went back to my seat then we arived at China my dad called me "Strange." now I will never eat rice again.

Two and a Half Years Ago

It amazes me that this is how long I have known my daughter.

Some days it feels like she has been here much longer. She is so intertwined with my heart that surely she has been here forever. Other days, it feels like the time has flown. Wasn't it only yesterday that I held this little toddler who cried until I gave her back to Baba? Surely it was only a few months ago (years?) that we turned onto our street and heard that sweet deep voice say "home" for the first time.

I have gotten out of the habit of posting updates because there is very little "adoption" or "special needs" stuff to post about anymore. She is my normal, four-year-old daughter, who still goes to speech therapy and still says, "Rock, Mama," before bed. But I still feel the need to record her progress, if for no other reason than to say - Look how amazing my girl is! School/Speech Issues:
Kate is now attending preschool three mornings a week. She even rides the bus home every now and then, which she thought she would totally love, but it turns out it is only ok. She is unbelievably smart. She can write her name with amazing penmanship, holding her pencil better than her brothers do now.

Her class has several other kids with speech issues, and so the speech and language pathologist spends a lot of her time in the classroom working/playing with groups. This works out well for us, because it means the speech teacher interacts with Kate NaNa more often than she would if Kate was just getting her 30 minutes a week required by law. I can see (and hear) the progress - I am with her so much that sometimes I would be oblivious if I didn't intentionally slow down and listen for it. But it is definitely there.

Cleft Issues:
At our last visit with the plastic surgeon (December?) he was very pleased with how much Kate's cleft had healed. The lip was repaired in China, and he did the palate in January 2009. There is still a good-sized hole in the gum line that won't be repaired until she is about seven years old. It is an impediment to some speech sounds, but mostly it just bothers her when she has a runny nose. (Guess where the snot goes.) She has totally conquered the straw, which I had worried would never happen. It turns out chocolate milk at school is a wonderful motivation.

Hearing/Ears:
She is on her third set of ear tubes. Hearing-wise, I noticed a couple of months ago that she wasn't hearing 100% (she has some very minor hearing loss, but this was something more), but I also knew that there was so much wax in those little ears that she couldn't hear a mac truck. The ENT cleaned out her ears at the last visit (which was very tear-filled), and I have seen some improvement, although I think it may be time for another visit to the audiologist. Amazingly, she only had one ear infection this winter. Her left tube fell out back in the fall, and the right ear got a little infected a few weeks ago, but I was able to treat it with some drops.

*Update 4/16/11 - She was diagnosed with an ear infection in the left ear today. Last night she spiked a fever, so that's how I figured out there was something going on. The doc said it was "bulging really bad." I have a feeling that she had it two weeks ago when we treated the right ear, but she doesn't feel any ear pain, so we didn't know the left ear was affected. I'm frustrated with myself for missing it.
Attachment/Adoption Issues:
Currently we are having no attachment issues. (Can I get an amen?) She has appropriate separation behaviors (she is ok with me dropping her somewhere and happy to see me come back), when something is wrong she comes to me for help, she has learned to trust me, etc. I think I am creating an environment where she feels comfortable talking about her story and asking questions.

For example, I talk to her about China and adoption, and I bring up her first mother and foster mom occasionally. She doesn't usually have a lot to say when I do, except to get really excited about China, but she has started figuring things out. And she asks questions, like, "Mama, when did Mimi go to China to adopt you?" which led to an explanation of birth and adoption. Another question she asked recently was, "Mama, how did you carry two boys in your tummy?" which of course led to an explanation of what twins are and how her brothers aren't twins and what happens when babies are born. (Thankfully she hasn't asked how babies get into tummies yet.) These are all normal questions for a four-year-old, so I am glad she feels good about asking them.

Sleep Issues:
I used to roll this over into adoption issues, and I suppose I still could, technically. But now the issues seem to be age-appropriate rather than clingy/needy/grief-filled behaviors. She now goes to sleep in her own bed without us in the room. This is huge, people. However, about 2am, she gets out of bed, creeps into our room, and crawls into her pallet. We find her there the next morning. Will used to do the same at this age, but he decided his bed was much better than a quilt on the floor. She would rather be near us, and that is ok. She told me a couple weeks ago that, "It's not fair, because Ben gets to sleep next to Will, and Daddy gets you, and I don't have nobody!"

Siblings:
Well, they are siblings. I probably wouldn't feel the need to even address it here, except for the fact that I still get asked if they get along or not. I don't know--do your kids get along every waking moment? They fight and make up and pick at each other and love each other stick up for each other and tattle and all of the things that all brothers and sisters do. Regardless, they just love each other fiercely.

She is bossy and sassy and shy and hilarious and cuddly, and she calls me out for being mean on a regular basis. Mostly I am just amazed at how resilient and brave and creative and amazing my Kate NaNa is. I am so thankful for you, baby girl!

Why do I have to know that?

Will is in kindergarten and is learning to read. He has been sounding out basic sound patterns for about a year. Words that rhyme with his name were the first ones he learned - pill, dill, bill, fill... you get the idea. His opinion was that his name was cool, and rhyming was cool, so therefore these words were worth learning. But he hasn't been very interested in the rest of the words, although he has slowly picked up most basic patterns. He loves books, and often brings me a book to read. He reads the first page himself, then gets frustrated and/or bored, and asks me to read the rest of it to him. Patience is not his strong suit.

So I was pleased when his teacher finally started sending home books for him to read for homework, knowing that she was now reinforcing what I had been working on with him at home.

Last week we sat down to read one such book, entitled I Like Noise. It featured Mr. N, who likes noise. (Riveting, I know, but he likes them so I am cool with it. Plus, I loved the Letter People when I was a kindergartner, thanks to Ms. Carolyn.) One page said, "I hear a telephone," and there was a picture of Mr. N and his telephone. When Will got to this page he said, "I hear a phone." I told him to back up and read the word again - sound out the first few letters. He sounded out "tele" and realized his mistake.

He then looked at me with a frown on his face and said (remember, you have say it without the R sound), "Why in the world do they think I need to know the word "telephone"? I am only in kindergarten!"

Apparently learning new things isn't a big priority right now. Just recess and the bus. We will have to work on that too.

Kate's First Day of School

Just to prove to you all that I haven't dropped off of the face of the earth, I thought I would share about Kate's first day of school. As you know, she had been eagerly waiting for September to get here so that she could be a big kid too. So last Wednesday the day finally arrived.

She picked out her own clothes, with matching orange socks and orange bow.

And she and her Daddy headed out on their annual First Day of School Breakfast, where she happily feasted on pancakes and chocolate milk.

When I picked her up, it was obvious that she had had a great morning and was really happy to see her friends and teachers again. She was grinning ear to ear and ran to meet me.

But when I got her in the van and asked her how it went, she put on her pouty face and said, "I didn't get any homework!" Yes, my daughter loves homework. She asks me every night when she will have homework, and doesn't understand why the teacher only assigns it (usually a story book to read together) on Mondays. My mom says I have to remind her of this in about 5 or 6 years.

A few days later I got a call from the special ed coordinator at her school. She didn't personally know Kate, but she was making rounds with Miss Julie, the speech and language pathologist who does know Kate. She said that Miss Julie's reaction to Kate's progress this summer was, "Wow!" You better believe wow! Learning to raise her tongue has only improved her ability to make sounds and words, and we are very excited about her progress.

And another plus of preschool, Kate is finding new ways to practice her sounds. Apparently one of Kate's new classmates is named Vanessa. So she spent most of Wednesday afternoon singing, "Banessa Banessa Banessa Banessa..." You get the idea. I asked her if she liked that name, and she giggled and said she did. Then she went back to her song. And the best part is that occasionally you can hear the V sound on the front of Banessa. Because of her under bite, that's a tough one!

Ahh, I love back-to-school time.

First Day of School

Tuesday was the first day of school in our district, and as a family, we had very mixed feelings about the whole thing. Will and I were super-duper excited about him starting school. He has grown up so much in the last year, and I am confident he is totally going to rock Kindergarten!

Ben and Kate, on the other hand, were not so happy. In Ben's words, "I do not have high hopes for second grade." Basically, he loved first grade so much, that he can't believe that second grade could possibly be as good. Pessimistic much? He has a new teacher (another Mrs. H), and his best buddies are in different classes. I have assured him that the new Mrs. H. is every bit as wonderful, and that he can still see his buddies on the playground, and that he always makes friends easily, and this year will be no exception. But he is nervous, bless his heart.

Kate NaNa is just mad because she can't go with them. All summer long she has told everyone, "I am five, and I am going to Kindergarten," while I shake my head no at the grown-ups and hold up 3 fingers. At bedtime she asks, "How many days until Kindergarten, Mom?" Since she has no concept of numbers or time, she doesn't understand when I explain to her that there are over 700 days until she goes to Ben's school. Unfortunately, her school called last week to tell us that school would be starting later than they thought - September. Ugh.

Those were the expectations for the first day of school. So, you might ask, how did it go?

Well, Will does indeed love Kindergarten. He loves recess and choice time and the gym and the library and his new friends and his teachers and everything about it. The only part he was dreading was the bus, but it turns out that was his favorite part of the whole day.

Ben's day, although not over-the-moon-spectacular, was much better than he thought it would be. It is taking him a few days to make new friends and warm up to his teacher. When I ask him how it is going he says, "It's ok." And Wednesday was better than Tuesday, so I am hoping today will continue on that upward trend.

(Can you see the nervous finger-popping going on?)

Kate, while frequently complaining (insert whiny voice), "I don't know what to do," is adjusting fine. She busies herself telling the kids I babysit what to do and waiting for her brothers to get off the bus.

And, of course, Tim took them out for the annual First Day of School Breakfast.
I think that once we get the kinks worked out (that is, Ben gets used to second grade, and Kate goes to preschool) that everyone will be happy with our new schedule, just like we were last year.

"But I loved first grade!"

Ben finished school on Wednesday. I met Ben as he came off the bus with the words, "How is my favorite 2nd grader today?"

At which point Ben burst into tears. "But I loved first grade!" he cried. I held him and cuddled with him for a few minutes. His first grade year really has been wonderful. He made lots of good friends, took his reading and writing to the next level, and suddenly became a big kid right before my eyes.

I have mentioned his teacher before, but I feel the need to mention her again. She has repeatedly gone the extra mile for her students, making sure they were all challenged. Inspired, even. She encouraged all of Ben's crazy questions, his creativity, and even his comic book, entitled, Captain Poopypants. (What can I say? He's seven.)

She is one of the those teachers. You know the second you meet her that she cares so, so much about her students. We went to the end-of-the-year awards for his class. She had an award for every student that was unique and special. (Ben got the Growing Author award.) A couple of times she teared up as she talked about her students' accomplishments. She not only cared about their minds, but she also cared about their hearts.

Mrs. H, we love you, and will miss you terribly.

Any chance you would teach second grade next year?

Sunday Snapshot: {Ben}

I can't believe how fast my kids are growing up. It seems like Ben should still be my sweet little toddler, learning to walk, but next week he will finish up the first grade.

This has been a year of changes for him. A year of growth. A year of creativity. He has had an amazing teacher who has worked hard to challenge him, which is a challenge in itself.

He has dreamed big dreams.
He writes me poems that melt my heart.
He writes funny short stories, inspired (ok, required) by his weekly spelling homework. *See bottom of post if you can't make out the words...*

In typical little boy fashion, his papers always come home crumpled like this:) He is also working on a new Star Wars story and a Captain Underpants comic book. It's hard to believe this is the same child who swore he could never do it the first time he had to write sentences for homework.

Occasionally he comes home with some.... interesting projects. Including this monster he created on Earth Day.

He was so proud, but thankfully understood when I explained that we would be recycling those water bottles and LJS box. As long as I took a picture first, of course.

He has grown from a sweet little baby, into a sweet almost-eight-year-old boy. I am so proud of who he is, and who he is becoming.

**For those of you having trouble reading the above stories:

• One day in Spring, in the month of march, a bug climbed up a tree to look for his missing gloves and saw some frogs drinking out of cups. When they were done, the frogs read books about trains. So the Bug turned around saw some birds in the tree, and said, "Have you seen my gloves?"
• Once I met a mean sheep with big feet. He said, "Maybe I should destroy Earth." I said, "I can see you want to destroy the planet, but you won't." Then he decided to be friends with me and invited me to eat pizza.