Helping Others

things i need to blog about:

computer buddy to brooke
library aide
park
warriors

Same Old Same Old

School, piano lessons, homework, dinner, clean up, laundry, blog, put girls down, prep for tomorrow, sign planner, more clean up  ...  some of this is out of order, but it is a typical night here.

Nothing too new :)  Madi had a great, great day :)

Zumba Time

Madi had fun at Zumba after school today.  She even stayed and helped Shannon put all the hula hoops together and stuff picked up.  Shannon always has little prizes for the kids after each class and this week she got two bracelets.  Like the Lance Armstrong ones - stretchy and rubbery.

I haven't talked too much about grades, but Madi is doing fabulous!  She has 99% in spelling, 95% in history, 100% in science and 90% in math.  I was able to talk to Carol (her teacher) for a little while today to find out how things are going.  She said that she just finished a DRA test with her - reading/comprehension - and that she is just so impressed with how smart Madi is.  She said that she tested at a sixth grade reading level.  I am assuming that they don't test past that level?!  As it wouldn't surprise me if she actually reads even higher than that.  I think you've even told me that she tested at a higher level than that.  It's possible that she only goes to a certain level of testing at first.  Not completely sure.  But either way, she is doing excellent.

She has had no missing assignments, everything turned in on time and completed.  The only thing she did say is that it would be great if she could stop talking.  :)   We had a small talk about it tonight.  Madi understood.  We gave her some strategies/ideas for how to handle it if someone is talking to her.  Explained that the harder part is on her end.  Choices like not responding to them or ignoring them would be hard, but would take the attention off of her talking because she wouldn't be talking then.  We gave her other ideas and ways to handle the talking in class and explained that it is respectful to not talk when it is not appropriate.  She got it.

Tomorrow morning is running club.  And then piano students after school.  Madi spends time playing games or doing homework or hanging out in her room while I do the piano students. Planning to do some playdates in the next few weeks so she doesn't feel so cooped up on Thursdays.  I tried allowing her downstairs the first week I did lessons, but it just didn't work.  So this way she has some down time upstairs and it worked well last week.

I braided her hair tonight so it'll be a little wavy tomorrow.  Love the lotion you got her - the sweet pea Bath and Body works stuff - smells so good!

Better Day

Madi had a pretty good day at school today.  I asked Ms. T to check up on her in case she wanted to talk, but she said she was chatting with friends and laughing and told her that she was doing fine.

She ended up having to do five laps at recess today because a boy poked her and she poked him back and they were goofing off.  Zumba is tomorrow so she's looking forward to that!  Math homework and Fasttmath went well today.  And we reviewed her spelling words.

She was very happy to see your face and talk with you.  Was quite sad when the connection got lost after just 3 minutes, but was happy again that she was able to chat when you got on the computer.

Poppi spent a few hours at our house and we all loved the time with him.  Though we missed Grammy!!  Madi got a special night with him and he put her to bed.  And popped out of bed soon after he left her room.  She's still up at the moment and Poppi is in the other room with her and Jeremy.

She got lots of hugs and affection.  Julia gave her a nice hug before she went to sleep too!

Sad Girl

So the last post was about how well Madi is doing - and she is doing well.  But she is missing you guys like crazy.  I think that the short phone calls the last two weeks have left her missing just hearing your voices or getting time with you.  This isn't to make you feel guilty!  Obviously you have school and things to do.  It's just to say that your little girl misses you and any time spent with you - even just hearing your voice - would be wonderful.

She came downstairs tonight and was crying quite a bit.  Just missing you guys.  We gave her big hugs and asked her if she'd like to call Poppi - as he has a way of calming her.  She was able to talk to both your mom and dad for a little while.  We didn't ask her to talk to us, but told her that if she wanted to talk, we were available.  She looked as though she just wanted to vent emotionally and wasn't really wanting to talk which was fine.  She just said she was really sad.  And we told her that it's a perfectly normal emotion and that it was ok if she needed to cry and that she shouldn't feel bad about it.  We didn't say it in a mean way, but just validating her need to express how she felt emotionally.  We were able to get her to crack a smile and giggle very little at some silly things and then she went upstairs to read a little bit.

We recommended that she pray or write in her journal or even talk to Ms. T, the counselor, tomorrow at school.  Just so that she has some outlets to go to when she can't talk to you and is missing you - ways to cope.

I'm hoping you don't feel guilty by this, but that you know that any time you can give her is time that she truly, truly loves.  Even if you're not talking about much of anything.  Just your voice.  Or seeing you.  And knowing that you are ok, helps her.

Love you!

Happy Girl

Today was a good day.  School went well.  No homework.  Had time for Fasttmath during school so we didn't even have to do that at home.  She created a code spinning thing and is reading a new book.

The girls are currently flying the aero prop and sending a parachute attached to a small puppet down the stairs while Julia is clapping and saying "wow!"  over and over.

We got surprised with a small bag of clothes in front of my door at school this morning.  A few pairs of pj pants and shirts and cute sweatpants.  Very, very sweet of whoever did it.  Will have to do my best to find out so I can actually thank them.

Tonight it's pasta and chicken and then play time.  Madi got a little time to play Pocket Legends and has been in a great mood.  Just really relaxed today which is great.

Weather is finally nice enough to go outside as well which is great!

Beautiful Lazy Day

So we skipped church today.  Though Riley woke us up at 6:30, we had a tough time getting out of bed.  Things have been so hectic and we decided to just have time together.  Not to mention that Riley just got over throwing up the last two days and Julia had snot covering her face when she woke up and was crying from teething pain.  Just didn't want to risk having them catch more sickness and yes, we were just lazy too.

Weekend was very low-key after a hectic week.  Madi played some Pocket Legends and did her FasttMath for school each day.  I need to measure her height because I honestly think she has grown at least another inch.  All I know is that I feel shorter every day and I know I'm short, but I'm actually feeling shorter standing next to her.

We had her favorite meal here tonight for dinner - rigatoni with white butter sauce and cream with chicken.  Yum!

We've all had fun with this flying aero thing.  It's basically a propeller on a stick.  Flies incredibly high and all of us have had fun with it.  Minus the welt on Jeremy's arm and the sting on Riley's face.  :)  Julia loves to say "wow!!!"  when it shoots in the air and we all giggle at her.

Other than that, it was the usual:  vacuuming, cleaning, sweeping, laundry, etc...

Tomorrow is the first day of choir!  I'm hoping Madi enjoys it.  Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7:10 - 7:35 are running club and Wednesdays from 3-4 is Zumba.  So she has some kind of club every day except for Fridays.

And so on...

Normal Day!  Madi was able to do running club this morning.  She thought it was tiring, but she liked it a lot.  She mostly walked and did a mile in 25 minutes.  She said if she's running for something important then she runs more.  Running club keeps track of mileage and is more for fun.  Whether she runs or walks, I think it's an awesome thing for her!  Lets her hang out with some great kids and get some exercise before school.  Plus it's just a fun activity.

After school today, I had a dr. appointment.  She came with me and hung out in the lobby.  Now we're home waiting on piano students to show up and she's playing some computer games.

Already finished her FasttMath at school and didn't have any homework except to read (which is never a problem).

Tonight we'll have some pizza, read a little and hang out until bedtime.  Has finally gotten to be gorgeous weather outside instead of all the heat.  Only in the low 80s.  So we'll be able to do more things outside now which will be great!

Tomorrow we have Julia's dr. appointment after school.

School Days, School Days

All is going well.  We're finally getting into a groove.  Mornings have been going fairly smoothly.  Few bumps here and there, but overall, it's going well.  We've been on time every day so woo hoo to that!  We're out of the house around 6:45am and at work by 7:10 every day.  We're usually home around 4:30pm after picking up the girls at daycare.  Then it's dinner at 5pm or so, some computer time, prep for morning and then bed routine.  Madi hasn't missed a night of brushing her teeth!  :)  She's doing quite well.  Still reading like crazy.  Loving these Warriors books and Clue books.  Can't remember the exact name of the clue books.

She gets to be a library aide every Wednesday.  Helps with restocking books on the shelves and helping some of the first graders when they come for library.  She seemed to enjoy it today.  It's during her recess time.

Today was also another Zumba day.  That seemed to go great too.  Choir auditions were on Monday and of course she made it.  I have 69 kids in choir this year and it's going to be so fun!  They're such an amazing group of kids.  Running club started yesterday, but we didn't have all the information about it.  Now that I have it, she'll start that tomorrow morning.  The kids meet at the front of the school at 7:10 and run/walk for 30 minutes before school.

While she'd love to do more activities, she's off to a really great start with all of the extra activities she's doing already.  We haven't started church on Wednesday nights yet.  Has been quite a challenge to do anything that is in the evenings.  Still trying to figure out how to make that work.  All of her activities are either right after school or right before it so they're at a more convenient time and works around the other girls' nighttimes.

Homework is going well.  We check it every night.  And sign her planner every night.  She left her planner at school on Tuesday and didn't have it for us to sign on Wednesday.  Though she didn't realize it until I was going to sign it (since Jeremy and I didn't sign it Tuesday night).  She went to look for it in her bag and wanted to go to the classroom to get it.  I told her that she was not allowed to go to her classroom to get it and that we weren't going to ask for special privileges just because I am a teacher there.  Rules are rules and we follow them just like everyone else.  I told her that it will help her to be more responsible if she takes responsibility for forgetting it, reaps the consequence and learns from it.  Mrs. Campbell was very appreciative that we didn't ask to get it (since noone else in the class is allowed to do it either) and told me that Madi will learn responsibility better if it is truly up to her to remember it.

The consequence was quite minimal.  Practically nothing.  Mrs. Campbell circled where the signature should have been and then told me if it happens again, they give them laps at recess.  The kids truly hate walking laps at recess instead of getting to play so the consequence works well.  Though I don't think Madi will forget it again.

She is hanging out with some good kids - Riley and Aimee and Avery.  She has also made friends with Annaliese and a few others.  Smiles often.  Though I will say she is missing you something fierce.  She often listens to a Taylor Swift Song - I think it's called The Best Day - when she's really missing you because it makes her think of you.  We listened to it quite a bit in the car on Monday and Tuesday.  We're hoping to get some pictures of you and the family printed and put them in an album so that she has something to look at when she's missing you.  If you want to send any to our emails, that'd be great.  Or I'm sure Jeremy can figure out a way to get some printed from Facebook or something.

Party People in the House Tonight

We are all partied out today.  Took Riley to a party for her friend Tristan from school.  Was at a cool place called JumpStreet.  Lots of trampolines, foam pits, slides, mazes.  Very cool and very stimulating on the eyes.  Neon everywhere.

Madi spent most of the morning playing games and just chilling.  She put her laundry away after folding it and took a shower, but most of the morning was just relaxing.  Was a very good thing as she hasn't had much of that since school started.

Then we all went to Lincoln and Nolan's birthday party.  Spent the afternoon in the bounce house.  Madi was bouncing all over it and had a blast.  Especially loved the orange soda, capri suns and sugary snacks :)  Julia went crazy over the bounce house and giggled constantly when she was in it.  The girls were all completely worn out from it (parents all say woo hoo!!!).  They all crashed hard when we got home.  In fact they all went to sleep 30 minutes earlier just from sheer exhaustion.  Considering purchasing a bounce house for our backyard....  heehee

Was really great to see Kathryn and Tripp.  Though I didn't get as much time with her as I was hoping to.  Tripp was having a blast playing and jumping as well.

So on to a quiet night of cleaning bathrooms and folding the rest of our laundry and then finally sleeping before waking up to flashing lights from Riley's shoes again as she enters the bedroom.  And then says, while poking my shoulder, "Mom.  Mom.  I would really like my Eggo please."

Random Pics

New pjs!

Their normal selves :)

How Riley looked going to bed

How she looked when she woke us up - flashing shoes and all

"Cutest crayon in the box"

Playing at the park down the street

Nail Polish Saves the Day!

Has been another great week.  Madi is doing great.  She's found some nice friends at school and a few girls in particular that she likes to eat lunch with and play at recess with.  Has chosen some of my  - and please don't say this to anyone else ;)  - favorite students to become good friends with.  They are the kind of kids you hope that your kid will hook up with.

I sent her info for LEAP (Gifted and Talented) testing in a few weeks ago.  Can't remember if I told you that already or not.  She has to take 6 tests.  They pull her out of class for about 30 minutes each time.  So far she has done 4 tests.  So we'll find out in the next two or three weeks if she qualifies for LEAP.  Really hoping that she does!  We think it'd be very positive for her.

So far her studies are easy.  Hasn't been anything very complicated yet.  She just got some math homework for the first time.  Has to do two sections of math every night on Fasttmath online.

She's been eating the cafeteria food each day.  Has brought lunch a handful of times, but since she likes it, we've just been paying for her to eat at school.  She seems to like having options and she gets three sides as well as the main course.  I'm probably already restating what I've written before.  It's been a great week, but a long one with all the meetings and extra things after work so I'm a little tired tonight.

We went to the mall to buy some birthday gifts for the parties tomorrow.  Got Madi a few pairs of long sleeved and long pant pjs since the nights are getting colder.  Should last her a little while.  She's fully stocked on daytime clothes which is great.

Then we all met up with my parents to eat out at Buca.  And then headed home.  Madi and I read a book from a series called "Warriors" tonight about cats and their clans.  Fictional books that she is loving lately.  We also read Mark ch. 6.

But the best part of the day is that we found out that nail polish actually works!  And has many different functions.  Madi has been sitting under a tree at recess while talking and hanging out with friends.  Since it's been hot, she's been wearing shorts.  She started getting these bumps around her waistline and bra line and other areas on Tuesday.  We weren't sure exactly what they were, but anti-itch cream wasn't working and benadryl didn't seem to do much either except help her sleep.  So I had her go to the nurse yesterday.  She told Madi that she thought they were chiggers.  Sure enough!  So she said that if you cover them in nail polish, it suffocates them and they die.  So that's what we have done last night and today.  They are getting smaller and not spreading any more which is very good.  Plus the itching is going away.  Poor girl has been so uncomfortable!  But has done really well with it.

We've just made sure that she wears loose fitting clothing and undergarments that aren't tight.  Especially at night.  Keeps them from finding other warm areas to burrow into.  Exciting, right?!

She's still reading like crazy and doing some new drawings of cats and other things as well. All is good!

Zumbatomics!

First day of Zumba was today.  Madi wasn't sure whether to do golf, soccer skills or zumba, but then decided she wanted to do Zumba most.  Was a fun hour after school of dancing!  They did six dances, a game called sliders and some hula hooping.  There are just a few fourth grade girls doing it.  The instructor is actually our pediatrician's wife - Shannon.  So you've met her.  She's awesome!!!

Madi had a little bit of homework.  Got through it no problem.  She was able to play some games on the iPod tonight and we read part of this wolf book together.

Has been a really great week of school so far.  Tomorrow I have a meeting after school followed by five piano students and then "Meet the Teacher" night at Riley's school.

We'll be at Jenny and Mike's house on Saturday night for Nolan/Lincoln's birthdays, but we'll make sure she has her iPod so that you guys can chat.

Not too much to say.  She's really doing such a great job at school and seems very settled in.  She has some nice friends at school and church.  Can't think of too much else to say at the moment so I'll end there!

Weekend

Fast weekend.  Don't really remember all that we did.  Grocery shopping.  Church.  Lots of cleaning (vacuuming, sweeping, dusting, mopping a few times).  Madi read quite a bit this weekend and spent some time playing her game.

We went to Justice on Friday afternoon and got her some new pjs.  Had a $25 off coupon.  They are super cute!  I'll post pics soon.  Each girl also got a little necklace.  Madi's is a mood necklace and changes color.

No homework this weekend.  They played a lot in Terabithia in the playroom.  Not much time outside.  It's very dry and the winds are bringing in some of the smoke from Austin and the fires down there.  So we haven't spent much time outside due to allergies.  Don't want to make them worse.  Madi hasn't had major issues with them and we've been really consistent in making sure that she has her Claritin every morning.

She and Jeremy built a small desk and bookshelf from Ikea this afternoon.  She was in charge of the bolts and things and handing them to him.  My job was to keep Riley and Julia away so we were in the other room.

She enjoyed the talk with you this morning.  She said she'll call you Tuesday night!

Pig

Madi's homework tonight was a game called "Pig."  You "pig out" when you roll a one on both dice at the same time.  You keep adding your points up until you either roll a "one" on one die or until you "pig out."  If you pig out, whoever has the larger score wins the game.

I kept pigging out.  In fact, the first time I rolled I pigged out.  Madi ended up winning each game.

Tomorrow is the last chapter of Matthew in the Bible.  Read about the crucifixion tonight.  She had a question as to why they were offering him sour wine while he was on the cross.  I told her to ask Poppi as I really didn't know the answer to that one.  I was able to answer a few other questions about it, but that one had me stumped.  So Poppi - help us out :)

Then Jer, Madi and I read her book on the iPod.

She's also working on two other books at the moment:  the 3rd Percy Jackson book in the series and The Bridge to Terabithia.  She and Riley moved all sorts of stuff around in the playroom to play Terabithia today.  They would both freak out if Julia got on the slide "Don't ruin Terabithia!!!!!"  "Oh no!  Not Terabithia!"  Julia would just climb the slide and stare at them and would slide down calmly.  Though I don't blame them for fearing that she'd destroy things.  She has been sitting in "thinking time" at school because she keeps pushing kids and then taking their toys and running away.  It's somewhat funny to think of because she looks innocent.  The other day I was able to watch from the window as she was carrying a truck and another boy grabbed her truck (probably learned it from her) and as he pulled, Julia yelled "no!!!" and pulled it back until he couldn't hold it anymore.  Then she took off and booked it all around the room until she was as far away as she could get and the boy was just standing there crying.  She knows how to stand up for herself, but oh my, we've got our hands full with her!  :)

Madi had a great day at school.  Her artwork is posted on Ms. Martin's website.  I'll get the info for you so you can see it.

Plugging Along

Been a strange week.  First Riley had a stomach bug and now Julia has it.  So I've dropped Madi off at school two days this week and then Tiffanni, a third grade teacher and also Hannah's mom, has dropped Madi off at our house after school.

Today I went into work only to get a call after the first class that Julia threw up at daycare.  So I got lesson plans together, let Madi know she'd be riding with Tiffanni, cancelled District Honor Choir rehearsal and my five piano students after school, and got to my girl as soon as I could.

Madi is doing well.  We had a really fun time last night playing in the playroom.  The princess hopscotch foam squares were set out in a straight line so they were walking down it like a catwalk saying "work it, work it, work it and pose!"

You were SO right in saying that Madi is quite the reader!!  Wow!  It's been amazing to see her flying through the Percy Jackson series.  Already on book 3 in two weeks.  Even with going to school.  She reads any chance she can get.  They do AR necklaces and they get points for reading certain books.  And the student in her class who has the most AR points, gets to choose a stuffed animal.  I will not be shocked if she wins it!  (and of course, I'm hoping so badly that she does!)  There is a J.R. Tolkien book that she'll earn something like 29 points for if she reads it.  So she checked it out of the library.  Wondering how long it will take her to read it.... maybe a day?

She still hasn't had much homework at all.  It's a little confusing.  They write in their planners every day, but they don't list what homework they have.  So the kids just have to remember what they have due.  Mind you, it will be on the homework side of her folder.  But we're really confused as to what the point of the planner is then.  Madi has been great about doing her homework as soon as we're home.  She has also been doing it at school if she's had any.

Choir tryouts are on the 19th so she'll be doing that.  My parents wanted to help her do an after-school activity since they're paying for dance classes for Riley.  Riley's classes are at her preschool, but are taught by a local dance studio.  So she'll have tap and ballet on Tuesdays.  They said that they'd like to help Madi do something as well.  She brought home several flyers of things and the one that was affordable and that she'll have a blast doing is "Zumbatomics." It's awesome!!!

She really wanted to do cheer, but the monthly fees of $80 with outfit costs of $250 plus competition costs... ummm... too much.  So Zumba it will be!  She's excited about it and will be even more excited once she gets to do it as she's still not real sure exactly what it is.   One of the best parts is that it's an hour after school on Wednesdays during my meetings so she won't have to sit in the classroom by herself.  Will be a lot more fun for her!

Will try to keep you updated a little better, but just know she is doing awesome!!

Labor Day Weekend!

Good rest of the week.  Not really much to tell.  Just the usual school stuff.  Madi is doing well getting her homework done.  Most of the homework will pick up this week.

On Friday night, she had a sleepover with my parents.  They went swimming, had alfredo sauce with pasta and watched Alice in Wonderland.  We picked her up in the morning and they said it was a really nice night together.  Her allergies have been quite bad, but we've been making sure she gets her Claritin every day so that has made things easier.

Today we all went to church and then came home and played.  Playdoh, kicking the ball in the playroom, Riley and Madi pretended to be rogues and were running around the house wearing blankets and carrying "weapons."  Was cute.  They watched 101 Dalmations while Julia took her nap.

Tomorrow is another no-school day!  Definitely looking forward to that!  Not sure that we'll do much, but will be nice to just be home with the girls.