We didn't actually paint anything today, but we got all the supplies so that the painting can begin tomorrow. Madi has been working on her Reflections piece for the PTA. Each student gets to choose how they want to show what diversity means. We sat around and talked about it last night for a while and looked up info on the internet. And then talked some more. She has done some research on different ways to write the word "Diversity" from different countries and chose 13 that she liked.
Then she played with ways of writing the words on paper and created a picture of the world and in the middle it says "Diversity means many languages, one meaning." And the different languages are coming out from the earth. She'll turn it in by November 1 and then it will be judged at the school level. If she places in the school level, then she'll go on to the regional, then state, then national levels if she continues through. We've tried to reinforce in her that giving her very best is what matters. Truly taking the time to do a thorough job on it and use her creative talents to make it the best she can. Kept telling her that she's smart, talented and creative - to look at this as a chance to use these traits rather than just an assignment to race through just so it is done.
Got a flyer in the mail a few days ago and Michael's had their canvases marked down as well as 40% off their paints and supplies. So we all talked about what kind of art she'd want to do and asked if she'd want to paint. To which she quickly replied "yes!"
We went to Michael's this afternoon and got acrylic paints, a palette, a five pack of canvas (in case she needs to paint it more than once), and brushes. So thankful to have Kathryn, artist extraordinaire, to call!!!! She gave Madi some guidance in doing it and how to draw it with crayon first and paint over it second. Madi wasn't really in the mood to look up things or do the rough draft. But as soon as we got the paints and materials, she got home and was quick about creating the rough draft. And then said she was sooo excited about creating it now.
So tomorrow will be a painting day!
The rest of the day we mostly chilled. Julia and Riley both got sick in their beds with stomach bugs last night so the day consisted of an extra 5 loads of laundry and cleaning even more. Not fun. Madi cleaned her mirror and counter in the bathroom, took out her trash from the bathroom, finished her Fasttmath for the day, and made her bed. It was a day of cleaning and getting chores done in the morning. The rest of the day she either played her Warriors Cat Game on the computer or worked on her Reflections idea.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Recent Pics
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| The aero plane toy |
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| The Grant concentration... |
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| The Collado concentration... quite similar to the Grant concentration |
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| Our little stinker |
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| Soo very tired |
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| 18 months old now |
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| The girls... because I can't resist |
A whole week...
Ok - seriously didn't realize I hadn't written anything on here in an entire week. Jules had hand, foot, mouth. Poor thing handled it well, but not fun to go through with her. Though the snuggle time was very precious. Thankfully her spots are almost all gone and she is now healthy.
Madi is truly a healthy girl! She hasn't caught a single thing of viruses or stomach bugs which is great!!!
Was a fabulous week for her! Her report card was incredible. All A's. Had a 100% in history, 98% in spelling, 93% in math, 96% in language arts. She received all 2's in her skills such as responsibility, organization, respect, listening well in class, etc... a 2 means that she is meeting expectations. Not a bad thing at all. Most teachers don't give out a 3 (exceeds expectations) in the first six weeks unless they are truly outstanding in these areas in the first six weeks.
We're encouraging Madi to stop talking in class and to think before speaking to classmates when the teacher is talking. She is working on it! She's shared a few times when a student asked her something and she decided instead to tell them that it wasn't a good time to talk. We gave her a few things to try: not responding to the person - as she continues to be the one caught talking because she talks so much, talks at inappropriate times and talks louder than they do; telling them "it's not a good time"; completely ignoring them. They give laps at recess for talking in class when the teacher is talking or when they are supposed to be working. Madi hasn't had very many, but has had a few each week.
There were two other events this week that were truly awesome for her! She finished her LEAP tests and did exceptionally well on all of them! Scored 81% in quantitative and 99% in verbal and non-verbal. She qualifies for full services for LEAP! This means that every Thursday she will be pulled out of her class and spend the entire day in the Gifted and Talented class with Mrs. Fuller and about five other students. She'll still be required to do the work given in class that day as well as the work assigned in LEAP. Though I think it will be a really great thing for her. A nice challenge for sure! She's super excited and you should be very proud. Such a smart girl!
The first six weeks she has been reading tons and takes AR (advanced reader) tests at school. Every student in fourth grade is signed up for the program and given books to read that fit their reading level. They then take short tests online about the books and receive AR points depending on the difficulty of the book. Not every book qualifies as an AR book - only the ones that have stickers on them in the library. She had 24 points at the end of the six weeks which is incredible. So she was the leader in her class and was able to pick out a stuffed animal. She has had her eye on the blue moose the entire time and got it! The second place student had 10 AR points and the third place student had 6 points. Really great that something she loves reading and she was so excited to get the moose.
Zumba on Wednesdays is going great. She'll be performing at the Fall Carnival in three weeks. We'll videotape it with the iPad or camera and find a way to post it if we can.
Madi's doing a really great job on her FasttMath. She does about 10-12 minutes every night and finished two sections each night. We're also working on her big project that is due in three weeks. It's called "reflections" and it's PTA sponsored. Students win prizes for their art, music, photography, etc... everyone in Madi's class is required to do it. The theme is "Diversity means..." She'll do something with art for it and while we can't tell her what to do or give her too much guidance (has to be student created and parents are not supposed to help in giving the topic), we've talked about it with her. Hoping to have her finish it in the next few days as we have the time on Monday for her to do it and the rest of the month is packed with events and school and meetings.
She's having her friend Annaliese come over and spend the night on Friday. This will give Jeremy a chance to meet her and for us to see how things are going with them. Madi really likes Annaliese a lot and while I know her family fairly well, I haven't had a chance to see how they interact together. So we thought it'd be a good idea to have her over to observe... if that makes sense.
We went to church last week - despite Jules being sick (she stayed with us in the lobby whre we watched the sermon on the tv and we had no idea the rash was so contagious - oops!!!!) - and we'll go again this week. We have Monday off for Fair Day, but we'll just hang out at the house and get some chores done. Today Madi spent a lot of time playing some games and playing. She says she loves her Saturdays to be relaxing and restful. And today was definitely that for her.
I need to measure her height- swear she's in another growth spurt again! She was 4' 6" the last time we measured her when Poppi was up. They also weighed her at school for the physical and she was 64 lbs. She's thin, healthy, and we're getting more active now that the weather is much nicer.
Guess that's all for now. Can't really think of anything else....
Madi is truly a healthy girl! She hasn't caught a single thing of viruses or stomach bugs which is great!!!
Was a fabulous week for her! Her report card was incredible. All A's. Had a 100% in history, 98% in spelling, 93% in math, 96% in language arts. She received all 2's in her skills such as responsibility, organization, respect, listening well in class, etc... a 2 means that she is meeting expectations. Not a bad thing at all. Most teachers don't give out a 3 (exceeds expectations) in the first six weeks unless they are truly outstanding in these areas in the first six weeks.
We're encouraging Madi to stop talking in class and to think before speaking to classmates when the teacher is talking. She is working on it! She's shared a few times when a student asked her something and she decided instead to tell them that it wasn't a good time to talk. We gave her a few things to try: not responding to the person - as she continues to be the one caught talking because she talks so much, talks at inappropriate times and talks louder than they do; telling them "it's not a good time"; completely ignoring them. They give laps at recess for talking in class when the teacher is talking or when they are supposed to be working. Madi hasn't had very many, but has had a few each week.
There were two other events this week that were truly awesome for her! She finished her LEAP tests and did exceptionally well on all of them! Scored 81% in quantitative and 99% in verbal and non-verbal. She qualifies for full services for LEAP! This means that every Thursday she will be pulled out of her class and spend the entire day in the Gifted and Talented class with Mrs. Fuller and about five other students. She'll still be required to do the work given in class that day as well as the work assigned in LEAP. Though I think it will be a really great thing for her. A nice challenge for sure! She's super excited and you should be very proud. Such a smart girl!
The first six weeks she has been reading tons and takes AR (advanced reader) tests at school. Every student in fourth grade is signed up for the program and given books to read that fit their reading level. They then take short tests online about the books and receive AR points depending on the difficulty of the book. Not every book qualifies as an AR book - only the ones that have stickers on them in the library. She had 24 points at the end of the six weeks which is incredible. So she was the leader in her class and was able to pick out a stuffed animal. She has had her eye on the blue moose the entire time and got it! The second place student had 10 AR points and the third place student had 6 points. Really great that something she loves reading and she was so excited to get the moose.
Zumba on Wednesdays is going great. She'll be performing at the Fall Carnival in three weeks. We'll videotape it with the iPad or camera and find a way to post it if we can.
Madi's doing a really great job on her FasttMath. She does about 10-12 minutes every night and finished two sections each night. We're also working on her big project that is due in three weeks. It's called "reflections" and it's PTA sponsored. Students win prizes for their art, music, photography, etc... everyone in Madi's class is required to do it. The theme is "Diversity means..." She'll do something with art for it and while we can't tell her what to do or give her too much guidance (has to be student created and parents are not supposed to help in giving the topic), we've talked about it with her. Hoping to have her finish it in the next few days as we have the time on Monday for her to do it and the rest of the month is packed with events and school and meetings.
She's having her friend Annaliese come over and spend the night on Friday. This will give Jeremy a chance to meet her and for us to see how things are going with them. Madi really likes Annaliese a lot and while I know her family fairly well, I haven't had a chance to see how they interact together. So we thought it'd be a good idea to have her over to observe... if that makes sense.
We went to church last week - despite Jules being sick (she stayed with us in the lobby whre we watched the sermon on the tv and we had no idea the rash was so contagious - oops!!!!) - and we'll go again this week. We have Monday off for Fair Day, but we'll just hang out at the house and get some chores done. Today Madi spent a lot of time playing some games and playing. She says she loves her Saturdays to be relaxing and restful. And today was definitely that for her.
I need to measure her height- swear she's in another growth spurt again! She was 4' 6" the last time we measured her when Poppi was up. They also weighed her at school for the physical and she was 64 lbs. She's thin, healthy, and we're getting more active now that the weather is much nicer.
Guess that's all for now. Can't really think of anything else....
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Halloween Costumes
We've been looking at different Halloween costumes online and trying to figure out what the girls wanted to be. Madi had been interested in being an Indian, but wasn't completely sure if that's what she wanted to be.
Riley knew right away that she wanted to be a pony, but the costumes are expensive. Both girls found costumes they wanted and it would have cost us about $90 after tax. So we kept looking. Decided to check out the costumes at Walmart and found two perfect costumes. Riley decided to be a "horse girl." Basically a cow girl who is dressed in pink boots, hat and cowgirl outfit. We just have to get her a stick pony :)
Madison will be....
I'll let you ask her! She'll be excited to share!
Riley knew right away that she wanted to be a pony, but the costumes are expensive. Both girls found costumes they wanted and it would have cost us about $90 after tax. So we kept looking. Decided to check out the costumes at Walmart and found two perfect costumes. Riley decided to be a "horse girl." Basically a cow girl who is dressed in pink boots, hat and cowgirl outfit. We just have to get her a stick pony :)
Madison will be....
I'll let you ask her! She'll be excited to share!
Lists
Well, I meant to write on here yesterday to finally blog about the things I listed on here. But Julia is now sick with hand, foot, mouth disease. Just seems we can't keep our girls healthy :( Never ending. She has a rash on her palms, feet, genitalia - buttocks and front, and keeps putting her hand in her mouth and crying. So we're just snuggling with her, but also trying to keep from getting it. I'll be staying home with her tomorrow as there is no way the daycare would take her looking like she does. Thank God that Madi is so healthy!
This weekend was good. She played her games, folded laundry, put laundry away, did FasttMath for school, and got to ride her bike. My mom, Riley, Madi and I walked to the park. Actually Madi rode her bike there. Was a gorgeous day on Saturday! It's about half a mile away and it's the larger park in the neighborhood. We played outside for a good hour - in the sandbox, swings, slides. Super fun.
Today we went to church. Jeremy and I sat in the lobby while I held Julia the whole service as weren't quite sure what the bumps were, but really didn't want to miss church again since we missed last week due to Riley throwing up for a few days. Then we went to Ikea again to get new bowls because Riley has been throwing them away at breakfast each morning at school. So we talked with her and hopefully that'll be fixed. Otherwise we'll just forget about buying more. Thankfully they're cheap. We also got Madi a shelf unit that fits under her mirror in her room. She's able to fit a bunch of books and put some yarn and things in a bin inside of it so that her desk is usable for other things.
She found a few pictures so we gave her some frames that we have and now she has pics of you in her room. She was very excited about that!
This afternoon Riley and Madi spent time with my mom at their house and they walked to the park in her neighborhood. Sounds like they had a blast! Jeremy and I spent the time putting together Madi's shelf unit and taking care of Jules.
Madi has had a great weekend. Tomorrow she'll get to come home with Rita, the art teacher. She'll hang out in her room at the end of the day and get to crochet so she'll have fun with that. Rita will drop her off at our house so that I don't have to wake Julia up from her nap - total blessing. Madi has a field trip to LISDOLA on Tuesday. Should be fun for her! They'll do hiking and science exploration all day.
She is learning to think of others in new ways which has been great. She's a library aide one day a week and she shelves books and helps younger students. I think it's awesome that she's doing it and I'm sure she's doing a great job.
We also have a program where older students are paired up with younger students to help them in the computer lab. This year the fourth graders are paired up with the kindergartners. Madi was soooo excited about helping a little girl in kindergarten. Her buddy is named Brooke. She was so impressed with how smart Brooke was. Madi was able to help her log on and log off the computer. And showed her where to go. She told us that Brooke got it right the first time and she was so happy about it.
I'll drop Madi off in the morning and get my lesson plans for the sub turned in as well. Never a dull moment for sure!!
This weekend was good. She played her games, folded laundry, put laundry away, did FasttMath for school, and got to ride her bike. My mom, Riley, Madi and I walked to the park. Actually Madi rode her bike there. Was a gorgeous day on Saturday! It's about half a mile away and it's the larger park in the neighborhood. We played outside for a good hour - in the sandbox, swings, slides. Super fun.
Today we went to church. Jeremy and I sat in the lobby while I held Julia the whole service as weren't quite sure what the bumps were, but really didn't want to miss church again since we missed last week due to Riley throwing up for a few days. Then we went to Ikea again to get new bowls because Riley has been throwing them away at breakfast each morning at school. So we talked with her and hopefully that'll be fixed. Otherwise we'll just forget about buying more. Thankfully they're cheap. We also got Madi a shelf unit that fits under her mirror in her room. She's able to fit a bunch of books and put some yarn and things in a bin inside of it so that her desk is usable for other things.
She found a few pictures so we gave her some frames that we have and now she has pics of you in her room. She was very excited about that!
This afternoon Riley and Madi spent time with my mom at their house and they walked to the park in her neighborhood. Sounds like they had a blast! Jeremy and I spent the time putting together Madi's shelf unit and taking care of Jules.
Madi has had a great weekend. Tomorrow she'll get to come home with Rita, the art teacher. She'll hang out in her room at the end of the day and get to crochet so she'll have fun with that. Rita will drop her off at our house so that I don't have to wake Julia up from her nap - total blessing. Madi has a field trip to LISDOLA on Tuesday. Should be fun for her! They'll do hiking and science exploration all day.
She is learning to think of others in new ways which has been great. She's a library aide one day a week and she shelves books and helps younger students. I think it's awesome that she's doing it and I'm sure she's doing a great job.
We also have a program where older students are paired up with younger students to help them in the computer lab. This year the fourth graders are paired up with the kindergartners. Madi was soooo excited about helping a little girl in kindergarten. Her buddy is named Brooke. She was so impressed with how smart Brooke was. Madi was able to help her log on and log off the computer. And showed her where to go. She told us that Brooke got it right the first time and she was so happy about it.
I'll drop Madi off in the morning and get my lesson plans for the sub turned in as well. Never a dull moment for sure!!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
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 :)
Nothing too new :) Madi had a great, great day :)
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