Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Our Excellent Elk
Yesterday, Jonah received the Excellent Elk Award at a school assembly. Each teacher chose one student from their class to receive this award for academic excellence. He received a medal, certificate, and a card for a free kid's meal from Applebee's. We're so proud of Jonah and his desire to always do his best and learn as much as he can. Way to go Jo!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Back to School!
School is now officially in full swing at the Barnum house. Jonah started 2nd grade last Monday, Lilly started kindergarten today, and I started fall semester today as well.
This year the kids are going to a brand new elementary school. It is so new in fact, that it technically isn't even finished yet. On the first day of school there was still no library, no playground equipment, no gym, no working kitchen, and even no electricity in a couple of the classrooms. Can you say "behind schedule"?! But the kids haven't seemed to care. They play hopscotch and basketball and tag at recess and Jonah didn't really mind at all the his entire first week of lunches were bag lunches like what they have on field trips and such.
Lilly did great with her first day of kindergarten today. She had absolutely no problem going to class. Jayne was a bit put out that she didn't get to go to school. She didn't seem to really miss Lilly though until about 15 minutes before we picked her up. Then she had a massive breakdown! I think it was 1 part tired, 1 part hungry, and 2 parts "I miss my big sister!"
I started fall semester today. I'm taking two classes, family finance and research writing in a persuasive mode. I logged into my classes today to find that they've changed the entire online classes system. I'm not too happy about that. I was a pro at the old one. So I'm still kind of figuring everything out. I'm excited about the classes though. I think they'll both be really interesting and a bit challenging. I'm glad I took my own advice and only registered for two classes instead of three. These two are promising to be quite time consuming.
We're celebrating everyone being back in school with pizza tonight. That's my excuse anyway. =)
This year the kids are going to a brand new elementary school. It is so new in fact, that it technically isn't even finished yet. On the first day of school there was still no library, no playground equipment, no gym, no working kitchen, and even no electricity in a couple of the classrooms. Can you say "behind schedule"?! But the kids haven't seemed to care. They play hopscotch and basketball and tag at recess and Jonah didn't really mind at all the his entire first week of lunches were bag lunches like what they have on field trips and such.
Lilly did great with her first day of kindergarten today. She had absolutely no problem going to class. Jayne was a bit put out that she didn't get to go to school. She didn't seem to really miss Lilly though until about 15 minutes before we picked her up. Then she had a massive breakdown! I think it was 1 part tired, 1 part hungry, and 2 parts "I miss my big sister!"
I started fall semester today. I'm taking two classes, family finance and research writing in a persuasive mode. I logged into my classes today to find that they've changed the entire online classes system. I'm not too happy about that. I was a pro at the old one. So I'm still kind of figuring everything out. I'm excited about the classes though. I think they'll both be really interesting and a bit challenging. I'm glad I took my own advice and only registered for two classes instead of three. These two are promising to be quite time consuming.
We're celebrating everyone being back in school with pizza tonight. That's my excuse anyway. =)
Monday, February 7, 2011
Year Round School vs. Traditional: Which do you prefer?
Our elementary school is on a year round track schedule. With Jonah being in 1st grade, this is our second year with this type of schedule and it seems that with every track break, I despise it even more. I've heard people claim that year round school is supposed to increase retention and that the more frequent breaks are supposed to be beneficial, but I'm not seeing it. I feel like the three week breaks interrupt their learning a bit too much. For example, Jonah's track only went to school for two weeks after Christmas break before having a three week track break. It felt like those two weeks were pointless. His teacher didn't send home the usual homework sheets or mark in their planners or anything.
I don't know about other people's children, but Jonah really hates changes in his schedule. It feels like as soon as we get into the swing of things with school, he goes on another break and then we have to kind of start over again. He went back on track today and when he got home, I could tell he was exhausted and emotional. It's usually like that for the first few days that he's back in school.
They're building a new elementary school in our neighborhood which I hear is going to be on a traditional schedule. Alas, we're about six houses north of the border for the new school. I've heard rumors that they might switch our school to traditional since the number of students should be down, but nothing is for certain. So, I guess I'm wondering how others feel about it. Year round or traditional? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I don't know about other people's children, but Jonah really hates changes in his schedule. It feels like as soon as we get into the swing of things with school, he goes on another break and then we have to kind of start over again. He went back on track today and when he got home, I could tell he was exhausted and emotional. It's usually like that for the first few days that he's back in school.
They're building a new elementary school in our neighborhood which I hear is going to be on a traditional schedule. Alas, we're about six houses north of the border for the new school. I've heard rumors that they might switch our school to traditional since the number of students should be down, but nothing is for certain. So, I guess I'm wondering how others feel about it. Year round or traditional? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Let the madness begin!
Today marks the beginning of spring semester. I'm not sure why they call it that because most of the semester is still during the freezing cold winter, but I'll go with it. Anyhoo....this semester I'm taking three classes. They are intro to statistics, economic issues for individuals and families, and adult development and aging. I'm not really excited about any of them, but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised and enjoy at least one. I'm a little anxious about taking three classes since I've only been doing two at a time for the last two semesters. But, if I take three every semester, I can graduate two semesters earlier.
So I plan on being busy, stressed, and possibly a bit insane for the next few months especially since, on top of school, I'm still doing babysitting, preschool volunteering, cub scouts, 3 piano/voice students, and all the fabulous duties of a full time wife and mother.
So I plan on being busy, stressed, and possibly a bit insane for the next few months especially since, on top of school, I'm still doing babysitting, preschool volunteering, cub scouts, 3 piano/voice students, and all the fabulous duties of a full time wife and mother.
I must be crazy.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Frustrated
Lots of you commented on my last post about Jonah. Thanks so much for all your words of advice and encouragement. I've begun looking at options and I'm getting a bit frustrated. So I'm going to put it all out here in cyberspace to perhaps get a better perspective or be inspired or just plain feel better.
First, I checked for charter schools in our area and wasn't really too impressed. Then, on the suggestion of a friend who has a daughter Jonah's age that is quite gifted, I called the district's gifted education department. I told them that his teacher had said he passed off his first grade flash cards and is reading at a fifth grade level. She looked up his testing scores from last January and said that while he did well, he wasn't quite high enough to be placed in the district's magnet school. She said they would test him now, but that school is full. She suggested we look into grade acceleration, which is testing to skip a grade. I told her I felt that would be a good step for him, at least to do the test and see where he stands. So she said she'd contact his principal and have her call me.
So I spoke with the principal today. She had already talked to Jonah's teacher about what we'd like to do and the teacher says that he's not ready. She says that while he's advanced in his reading, he's slower in other areas. When I asked which ones, the principal said, "work completion." I'm not exactly sure what she means by that because every time I asked, she'd change the subject. I'm guessing that he sometimes starts his worksheet and then doesn't want to finish it. That doesn't surprise me, because if it's too easy for him, he's going to get bored with it and want to move on to something else, right?
Anyway, the principal basically told me that he's already being placed with the top learning group within his class and that should be good enough. But if that's enough, then why is he not excited about anything that he's learning in class?! The only things he seems excited to tell me about are the books that he checks out of the library and gets to read during reading time. So far he's been checking out the Zoo Books on snakes and sharks, he loves to learn about animals. I look at the worksheets he brings home and they just seem too simple for him.
The principal said I need to meet with his teacher and let her know my concerns. She pretty much passed it off to the teacher saying that his teacher has some gifted curriculum and it's her job to be teaching it to him. I agree. My problem is that, so far, granted it is early in the year, this gifted curriculum is still easy and boring for him. I don't get why they won't just do the test and see where he's at. I'm okay with it if he's not ready for second grade, but maybe they could send him to the second grade class just for reading time or spelling or something. Are you feeling my frustration yet?
I'll talk to his teacher on Tuesday and set up a time to get together. She's a great teacher and I hope she's not taking this personally, I just feel like he needs something more. I'm not saying my child's a genius or trying to push him or overstate his ability. He's not one of those kids who are doing physics in kindergarten or anything. I'm just trying to keep him happy and engaged in his education so that he doesn't grow complacent and go from being the top of his class, to becoming lazy and unmotivated.
I just hate the way they're trying to make me feel like I'm just some snotty parent who thinks my child is smarter than he really is. That's the tone I felt from talking to the principal.
Of course, that's the same tone I got last year when they put Jonah in a different kindergarten class and the teacher wasn't challenging him and he was so bored that he hated going to school and I had to fight to get him put back in the class with the teacher who recognized his ability and actually gave him more challenging material.
I thought educators were supposed to want the best for each individual student. I'm not really getting that feeling lately.
First, I checked for charter schools in our area and wasn't really too impressed. Then, on the suggestion of a friend who has a daughter Jonah's age that is quite gifted, I called the district's gifted education department. I told them that his teacher had said he passed off his first grade flash cards and is reading at a fifth grade level. She looked up his testing scores from last January and said that while he did well, he wasn't quite high enough to be placed in the district's magnet school. She said they would test him now, but that school is full. She suggested we look into grade acceleration, which is testing to skip a grade. I told her I felt that would be a good step for him, at least to do the test and see where he stands. So she said she'd contact his principal and have her call me.
So I spoke with the principal today. She had already talked to Jonah's teacher about what we'd like to do and the teacher says that he's not ready. She says that while he's advanced in his reading, he's slower in other areas. When I asked which ones, the principal said, "work completion." I'm not exactly sure what she means by that because every time I asked, she'd change the subject. I'm guessing that he sometimes starts his worksheet and then doesn't want to finish it. That doesn't surprise me, because if it's too easy for him, he's going to get bored with it and want to move on to something else, right?
Anyway, the principal basically told me that he's already being placed with the top learning group within his class and that should be good enough. But if that's enough, then why is he not excited about anything that he's learning in class?! The only things he seems excited to tell me about are the books that he checks out of the library and gets to read during reading time. So far he's been checking out the Zoo Books on snakes and sharks, he loves to learn about animals. I look at the worksheets he brings home and they just seem too simple for him.
The principal said I need to meet with his teacher and let her know my concerns. She pretty much passed it off to the teacher saying that his teacher has some gifted curriculum and it's her job to be teaching it to him. I agree. My problem is that, so far, granted it is early in the year, this gifted curriculum is still easy and boring for him. I don't get why they won't just do the test and see where he's at. I'm okay with it if he's not ready for second grade, but maybe they could send him to the second grade class just for reading time or spelling or something. Are you feeling my frustration yet?
I'll talk to his teacher on Tuesday and set up a time to get together. She's a great teacher and I hope she's not taking this personally, I just feel like he needs something more. I'm not saying my child's a genius or trying to push him or overstate his ability. He's not one of those kids who are doing physics in kindergarten or anything. I'm just trying to keep him happy and engaged in his education so that he doesn't grow complacent and go from being the top of his class, to becoming lazy and unmotivated.
I just hate the way they're trying to make me feel like I'm just some snotty parent who thinks my child is smarter than he really is. That's the tone I felt from talking to the principal.
Of course, that's the same tone I got last year when they put Jonah in a different kindergarten class and the teacher wasn't challenging him and he was so bored that he hated going to school and I had to fight to get him put back in the class with the teacher who recognized his ability and actually gave him more challenging material.
I thought educators were supposed to want the best for each individual student. I'm not really getting that feeling lately.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
What do I do?
As most of you know, my son Jonah just started 1st grade a couple of weeks ago. He's a very bright kid, but I really didn't understand how bright until I met with his teacher last week. She informed me that he had already passed off ALL of his 1st grade flashcards. She said that he basically already knows everything that they will be learning in 1st grade this year. When I asked what we should do with that, she said that she would do her best to keep him busy with customized spelling and reading lists and other assignments. But I know that will be hard because she's already got an entire classroom of students that she needs to teach things that he already knows.
Then, when I checked his backpack this morning, I noticed a note that said that he had passed his accelerated reading test with a score of over 90% ON THE 5TH GRADE LEVEL!
I would be lying if I didn't say that I was proud as a peacock, but I'm also a bit worried. When I ask him what he's done at school, he always says "boring stuff." Jonah loves learning new things, so when he says this, it tells me that he's not learning anything new. And I worry that, with all of his classmates working on things that he already knows, his education is going to suffer. I wonder if I need to find a school for him where he can be around kids who are on the same level that he is. His elementary school says they have a gifted track, but it doesn't start until 2nd grade.
So I'm looking for advice. What would you do? Do you know of any good schools for accelerated learners in the Salt Lake Valley that I should look into?
Then, when I checked his backpack this morning, I noticed a note that said that he had passed his accelerated reading test with a score of over 90% ON THE 5TH GRADE LEVEL!
I would be lying if I didn't say that I was proud as a peacock, but I'm also a bit worried. When I ask him what he's done at school, he always says "boring stuff." Jonah loves learning new things, so when he says this, it tells me that he's not learning anything new. And I worry that, with all of his classmates working on things that he already knows, his education is going to suffer. I wonder if I need to find a school for him where he can be around kids who are on the same level that he is. His elementary school says they have a gifted track, but it doesn't start until 2nd grade.
So I'm looking for advice. What would you do? Do you know of any good schools for accelerated learners in the Salt Lake Valley that I should look into?
HELP!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Jonah's Picture Day Wisdom
Today was Picture Day for Jonah at school. When I picked him up this afternoon I asked him how it went. Here is his response:
Jonah-"I smiled really good, but there was one thing that I didn't like."
Mom-"What was that?"
Jonah-"They told me to say 'Girls stink!' and I didn't think that was a nice thing to say. And they told the girls to say 'Boys stink!' and that's not nice either. It just broke my heart(Yes, he really did say that it broke his heart. My little guy is sensitive that way) when they told me to say that because I think girls and boys are nice and I don't like to say mean things."
I have to agree with him on this one. Whatever happened to "Say Cheese!" and stuff like that? Do we really need the school photographer ingraining sexist messages into our elementary students? I think not. I'm glad Jonah recognized it for what it was, something mean, and wouldn't say it. I don't think I had such deep thoughts at the age of 6.
Jonah-"I smiled really good, but there was one thing that I didn't like."
Mom-"What was that?"
Jonah-"They told me to say 'Girls stink!' and I didn't think that was a nice thing to say. And they told the girls to say 'Boys stink!' and that's not nice either. It just broke my heart(Yes, he really did say that it broke his heart. My little guy is sensitive that way) when they told me to say that because I think girls and boys are nice and I don't like to say mean things."
I have to agree with him on this one. Whatever happened to "Say Cheese!" and stuff like that? Do we really need the school photographer ingraining sexist messages into our elementary students? I think not. I'm glad Jonah recognized it for what it was, something mean, and wouldn't say it. I don't think I had such deep thoughts at the age of 6.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Jonah's 1st Week of 1st Grade
Jonah started 1st grade this week. I think I was more nervous for him than he was. Jonah has a history of not liking new things and I was worried about him adjusting to the longer school day and a new teacher, but all he cared about was more recesses and getting to eat school lunch. He was very excited about that.
Anyway, he's doing great! He loves his teacher and he seems to be getting along well with the kids in his class. The longer day definitely takes its toll. He's tired after school and has been falling asleep a bit earlier at night.
I ask him every day what his favorite thing he did at school was and so far I've gotten the same answer every day..."the three recesses!" That's my boy.
This is what I get when I ask him to smile for the camera.
Yesterday we had quite the downpour of a thunderstorm and you know what that means, right? Mud! The kids asked to play outside and the next thing I knew, they were covered. I didn't get any pictures of Jonah, but I did catch a few of my muddy girls.
Lilly showing off her muddy hands
I love my kiddos! They remind me that happiness can be found in the simplest of things.......like mud.
Anyway, he's doing great! He loves his teacher and he seems to be getting along well with the kids in his class. The longer day definitely takes its toll. He's tired after school and has been falling asleep a bit earlier at night.
I ask him every day what his favorite thing he did at school was and so far I've gotten the same answer every day..."the three recesses!" That's my boy.
Jonah got a new Lego Star Wars backpack this year.
This is what I get when I ask him to smile for the camera.
Yesterday we had quite the downpour of a thunderstorm and you know what that means, right? Mud! The kids asked to play outside and the next thing I knew, they were covered. I didn't get any pictures of Jonah, but I did catch a few of my muddy girls.
Playing in their little mud pit. After I took this, Jayne actually went and sat down right in the middle of the wettest part of the mud and just started having a good ol' time.
Jayne wouldn't look at the camera, but this picture shows how covered in mud she was. Her backside was even worse!
Lilly showing off her muddy hands
I love my kiddos! They remind me that happiness can be found in the simplest of things.......like mud.Thursday, May 6, 2010
Tonsils, Soccer, and School
Hey all! I've been kind of absent from the blogging world for a couple of weeks. But now I'm back and get to tell you all about WHY I've been absent from the blogging world for a couple of weeks.
Let's start with the tonsils.
Nate had his tonsils removed two weeks ago. He's always had trouble with them. They were huge and always getting infected, so we finally decided to take the plunge and take 'em out! While the doctor was doing the surgery, he found a big mass of adenoidal tissue in Nate's sinuses that wasn't supposed to be there. So he took that out too. I'd always heard that a tonsilectemy is a lot harder on an adult than a child and now I KNOW what they're talking about. Nate's had a tough recovery. He started back at work this week. He's supposed to be on light duty, no heavy lifting, but I think we all know how that worked out.
Last Friday the doctor's office called to tell us that they had gotten the results of the culture they did on Nate's tonsils. Can you say "massively infected with a really nasty bacteria?" The best part is that this infection has probably been there for a long time. He's been on antibiotics several times in the last six months or so, but they obviously had no effect on this bad boy. So the doctor prescribed two Z-packs which are supposed to be stronger and wipe out the infection. The doctor said that the tonsils were so saturated with this bacteria that he's sure the bacteria is still in the rest of the tissue in Nate's throat. Poor guy has had a rough couple of weeks.
He also started his last class this week. And when I say 'last' I really mean LAST! As long as he passes with a C or better, Nate will finally be done with his BA.
Speaking of classes, guess who is officially going back to school as of May 17th? Yep. Me! I'm so excited to be finally getting back into it and finishing my Bachelor's. I'll be completing a Family Life Studies degree completely online through Utah State. I have my associates degree and about six classes of the major finished already. I'm starting out with just two classes so as not to overwhelm myself. Hooray for education!
So, what's left? Oh yeah. Soccer. I signed Jonah up to play soccer through the Magna Rec Center youth sports program. It said that the program was 8 games long, so I figured that would be about two months. Turns out that they play two games a week. So Jonah's already almost half way done. He had a hard time his first game. He would get frustrated so easily because he was not getting the ball as much as he wanted and he'd throw his little tantrums. So we had a nice long talk about how soccer is a team sport and he needs to help his team and how crying and stomping off the field was not helping his team. He finally caught on to the fact that even though he didn't score the goal his team did and that's a good thing. If the team wins, he wins. He did better the last couple games.
They have games on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings and then practices on Thursday nights. He does better on Saturday mornings. I think because he's pretty tired by Tuesday evening. And, no I don't have any cute pictures of him in his uniform. I know, bad mother moment. I'll have to get on that.
So, there you have it. That has been our lives for the last couple of weeks. What have you been up to?
Let's start with the tonsils.
Nate had his tonsils removed two weeks ago. He's always had trouble with them. They were huge and always getting infected, so we finally decided to take the plunge and take 'em out! While the doctor was doing the surgery, he found a big mass of adenoidal tissue in Nate's sinuses that wasn't supposed to be there. So he took that out too. I'd always heard that a tonsilectemy is a lot harder on an adult than a child and now I KNOW what they're talking about. Nate's had a tough recovery. He started back at work this week. He's supposed to be on light duty, no heavy lifting, but I think we all know how that worked out.
Last Friday the doctor's office called to tell us that they had gotten the results of the culture they did on Nate's tonsils. Can you say "massively infected with a really nasty bacteria?" The best part is that this infection has probably been there for a long time. He's been on antibiotics several times in the last six months or so, but they obviously had no effect on this bad boy. So the doctor prescribed two Z-packs which are supposed to be stronger and wipe out the infection. The doctor said that the tonsils were so saturated with this bacteria that he's sure the bacteria is still in the rest of the tissue in Nate's throat. Poor guy has had a rough couple of weeks.
He also started his last class this week. And when I say 'last' I really mean LAST! As long as he passes with a C or better, Nate will finally be done with his BA.
Speaking of classes, guess who is officially going back to school as of May 17th? Yep. Me! I'm so excited to be finally getting back into it and finishing my Bachelor's. I'll be completing a Family Life Studies degree completely online through Utah State. I have my associates degree and about six classes of the major finished already. I'm starting out with just two classes so as not to overwhelm myself. Hooray for education!
So, what's left? Oh yeah. Soccer. I signed Jonah up to play soccer through the Magna Rec Center youth sports program. It said that the program was 8 games long, so I figured that would be about two months. Turns out that they play two games a week. So Jonah's already almost half way done. He had a hard time his first game. He would get frustrated so easily because he was not getting the ball as much as he wanted and he'd throw his little tantrums. So we had a nice long talk about how soccer is a team sport and he needs to help his team and how crying and stomping off the field was not helping his team. He finally caught on to the fact that even though he didn't score the goal his team did and that's a good thing. If the team wins, he wins. He did better the last couple games.
They have games on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings and then practices on Thursday nights. He does better on Saturday mornings. I think because he's pretty tired by Tuesday evening. And, no I don't have any cute pictures of him in his uniform. I know, bad mother moment. I'll have to get on that.
So, there you have it. That has been our lives for the last couple of weeks. What have you been up to?
Monday, March 29, 2010
I'm so Excited!
I feel like jumping out of my skin right now! I think I may have finally found a way to finish my Bachelor's degree! Hooray!
Just a bit of background....I started college as a music major(vocal performance) and studied that for a few years(I was actually only about 3 semesters from graduating). Then I went and got married and started having babies and college just got put on the back burner, the very back burner.
About a year after Jonah was born I started taking some evening and internet classes in Family Studies at Weber State and decided to make that my major. I find the dynamics of family relationships and development really interesting. Anyway, I did those classes for two semesters, maybe three before taking another hiatus due to moving and marriage and kiddos, blah, blah, blah.
That was about 5 years ago. I've wanted so badly to finish my Bachelor's degree ever since. But being a stay at home mom with a wonderfully devoted and hardworking husband doesn't really give me many options for continuing my education except for online classes.
I've been searching and searching different online degrees, but I couldn't find a family studies degree offered completely online.....until today! I don't know why I didn't find it before, but Utah State University offers an online Bachelor of Science degree in Family Life Studies.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but I've already filled out my admissions application and started my financial aid applications. I really feel that now is the time and this is the way!
Anyhoo, just wanted to share my joy!
Just a bit of background....I started college as a music major(vocal performance) and studied that for a few years(I was actually only about 3 semesters from graduating). Then I went and got married and started having babies and college just got put on the back burner, the very back burner.
About a year after Jonah was born I started taking some evening and internet classes in Family Studies at Weber State and decided to make that my major. I find the dynamics of family relationships and development really interesting. Anyway, I did those classes for two semesters, maybe three before taking another hiatus due to moving and marriage and kiddos, blah, blah, blah.
That was about 5 years ago. I've wanted so badly to finish my Bachelor's degree ever since. But being a stay at home mom with a wonderfully devoted and hardworking husband doesn't really give me many options for continuing my education except for online classes.
I've been searching and searching different online degrees, but I couldn't find a family studies degree offered completely online.....until today! I don't know why I didn't find it before, but Utah State University offers an online Bachelor of Science degree in Family Life Studies.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but I've already filled out my admissions application and started my financial aid applications. I really feel that now is the time and this is the way!
Anyhoo, just wanted to share my joy!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Okay, so we're home, the kids are back in school, and life is sort of normal so I figured I'd better get to my forever long holiday post.
Warning: this post may be quite lengthy as I haven't written anything for about two weeks and there's a lot to cover. Feel free to read it in two or three sittings, but do me a favor and post a comment when you're done (pretty please!) so I can feel like my work was appreciated =)
Alright...here we go!
The first news would be Nate's layoff. On the 17th Nate was temporarily laid off. His boss wanted to do a "rolling" lay off where everyone takes a turn being laid off this winter instead of just laying off a bunch of people for the entire winter like he usually does. He thinks it will be more fair. Don't get me started on that one.
Anyway...the lay off was supposed to go for two weeks, but we just found out today that Nate doesn't go back to work until the 18th. So, needless to say we've had lots of family time this Christmas!
Christmas Eve was spent at my Mom's house having yummy dinner and opening presents. Being the only grandkids/nephew and nieces on my side of the family, Jonah, Lilly, & Jayne got spoiled like crazy! They love all their fun presents. Thank you everyone!
When we got home that night we hurried into our pajamas so we could get to sleep so Santa could come. Nate spread out some 'reindeer food' that a friend had given us and Jonah set out a plate of cookies for the Big Man that we had made earlier in the day. Then we tucked the kiddos snugly into their beds.
Christmas morning was fun and relaxed. The kids looked out their window to discover reindeer tracks in the snow and the reindeer food all eaten up. Santa had also eaten his cookies, much to the delight of the little ones!
We opened all the presents and the kids started playing right away. I made a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon, and fruit and we settled in to relax. We have a strict stay home policy for Christmas Day. People are free to come visit us, but we like to stay home and spend the day as a family. My mom and brothers and sisters stopped by to see what Santa had brought the kids. It was a very peaceful and wonderful day!
Lilly's elephants from Aunt Amanda and Aunt Emily
Jayne's favorite gift was this outfit. She carried it around all morning.
Lilly in her Fairy dress up clothes with her talking doll house
Since Nate was off work, we decided to make a trip to Las Vegas to visit his family. We left early(the alarm went off at 4:30am) the day after Christmas and arrived right around lunch time. I had started to develop a sort of sinus infection cold thingy on Christmas Day and it just got worse. So I was sick and exhausted for most of our time in Las Vegas.
The kids did great on the drive and were so excited to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They loved playing with them and with Aunt Emily. They even got to play with their one and only cousin, Quinn, for a while.
A few highlights of our trip included a trip to the temple with Grandma and Grandpa, seeing the fish at the Bass Pro Shop and the Silverton Hotel...
and exploring mine with Tyler and Rebekka. Nate and I and Aunt Emily went on this one without the kids. It was their nap time and we didn't think they would particularly enjoy it. Tyler took us to an abandoned mine tunnel. He and Rebekka and Quinn have explored them before. Tyler went through the mine first to make sure there were no animals lurking inside. Nate stood at the ready at the exit just in case something came rushing out. Not to worry, the place was uninhabited except for some beer bottles and surfing magazines....go figure.
Little Quinn loved the tunnel. He had his flashlight and loved walking through.
Nate and I pushed the boundaries of our claustrophobia. We both don't like tight spaces. I think mine was more the fear of the thing caving in on us or something. But it was pretty cool to walk in there and imagine what it must have been like for the men that had actually worked in there every day.
After we came out of the mine, Nate and Tyler wanted to do a little shooting. They set up some spray paint cans and a pumpkin and some other targets on the hillside and had a grand old time. They were aiming for a blue can of spray paint. As soon as Nate pulled the trigger, a gust of wind came up. He hit the can and blue spray paint got all over him and Tyler! They were little polka dotted smurfs!
After the shooting, we all went out to dinner at Claim Jumper. We ordered dessert first and then dinner. The food was fabulous and so was the company!
We were also in Las Vegas for New Year's Eve. Grandma and Grandpa pulled out some games and we all sat around the table playing. I think the group favorite was Guesstures. I was the only one who had ever played before. It was really fun watching everyone try to act out their words on the cards. After we were done playing games, we blew up some balloons. We gave one to each of the kids and took them outside. They yelled "Happy New Year!" and let the air out of their balloons, which sent them flying in all directions. Then we all turned in nice and early since we were leaving the next day.
Nate had warned me that he wanted to leave pretty early to head home, so I was expecting the 4am wake-up call that I'd gotten on the morning of the drive down. You can imagine my surprise and 'enthusiasm' when the alarm went of at 2:30 in the blessed A.M.! Nevertheless, I rolled myself out of bed and we got loaded up and on the road. We made the drive in 6 hours and only one pit stop thanks to sleeping kids(all except Jayne-she only slept about 45 minutes during the entire drive!). We got home and started unpacking, making lunch, and getting ready for a much needed nap.
Later that night, Nate and I went over to our friends' house and played some Guitar Hero and had pizza. It was really fun to just hang out and visit. Then on Saturday, we crashed.
Let's see, that brings me to Sunday. Don't fret. We're almost done. You're on the home stretch!
Sunday was Nate's first day teaching in primary. He co-teaches our largest class, the 9 year olds. We had 11 there this Sunday and there are 7 more on the roll. His partner wasn't there, so Nate got to do the lesson. The kids loved him! They all raved about him to me after class time.
The kids went back to school today. They both were very excited to see their teachers and friends again. Nate also went back to school today. He is finishing his Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice through Weber State. They offer the classes in the evenings at Salt Lake Community College. He'll have class on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. If all goes according to the plan, he'll be finished in August.
Phew! I think that about does it! Thanks for sticking with me!
We hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season! We're looking forward to 2010 and the challenges and joys it will undoubtedly bring.
Warning: this post may be quite lengthy as I haven't written anything for about two weeks and there's a lot to cover. Feel free to read it in two or three sittings, but do me a favor and post a comment when you're done (pretty please!) so I can feel like my work was appreciated =)
Alright...here we go!
The first news would be Nate's layoff. On the 17th Nate was temporarily laid off. His boss wanted to do a "rolling" lay off where everyone takes a turn being laid off this winter instead of just laying off a bunch of people for the entire winter like he usually does. He thinks it will be more fair. Don't get me started on that one.
Anyway...the lay off was supposed to go for two weeks, but we just found out today that Nate doesn't go back to work until the 18th. So, needless to say we've had lots of family time this Christmas!
Christmas Eve was spent at my Mom's house having yummy dinner and opening presents. Being the only grandkids/nephew and nieces on my side of the family, Jonah, Lilly, & Jayne got spoiled like crazy! They love all their fun presents. Thank you everyone!
Jonah's new Cloud Cat....very manly!
When we got home that night we hurried into our pajamas so we could get to sleep so Santa could come. Nate spread out some 'reindeer food' that a friend had given us and Jonah set out a plate of cookies for the Big Man that we had made earlier in the day. Then we tucked the kiddos snugly into their beds.Christmas morning was fun and relaxed. The kids looked out their window to discover reindeer tracks in the snow and the reindeer food all eaten up. Santa had also eaten his cookies, much to the delight of the little ones!
We opened all the presents and the kids started playing right away. I made a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon, and fruit and we settled in to relax. We have a strict stay home policy for Christmas Day. People are free to come visit us, but we like to stay home and spend the day as a family. My mom and brothers and sisters stopped by to see what Santa had brought the kids. It was a very peaceful and wonderful day!
Lilly's elephants from Aunt Amanda and Aunt Emily
Daddy and Jayne hamming it up for the camera
Jayne's favorite gift was this outfit. She carried it around all morning.
Lilly in her Fairy dress up clothes with her talking doll house
Since Nate was off work, we decided to make a trip to Las Vegas to visit his family. We left early(the alarm went off at 4:30am) the day after Christmas and arrived right around lunch time. I had started to develop a sort of sinus infection cold thingy on Christmas Day and it just got worse. So I was sick and exhausted for most of our time in Las Vegas.The kids did great on the drive and were so excited to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They loved playing with them and with Aunt Emily. They even got to play with their one and only cousin, Quinn, for a while.
A few highlights of our trip included a trip to the temple with Grandma and Grandpa, seeing the fish at the Bass Pro Shop and the Silverton Hotel...
and exploring mine with Tyler and Rebekka. Nate and I and Aunt Emily went on this one without the kids. It was their nap time and we didn't think they would particularly enjoy it. Tyler took us to an abandoned mine tunnel. He and Rebekka and Quinn have explored them before. Tyler went through the mine first to make sure there were no animals lurking inside. Nate stood at the ready at the exit just in case something came rushing out. Not to worry, the place was uninhabited except for some beer bottles and surfing magazines....go figure. 
Little Quinn loved the tunnel. He had his flashlight and loved walking through. 
After we came out of the mine, Nate and Tyler wanted to do a little shooting. They set up some spray paint cans and a pumpkin and some other targets on the hillside and had a grand old time. They were aiming for a blue can of spray paint. As soon as Nate pulled the trigger, a gust of wind came up. He hit the can and blue spray paint got all over him and Tyler! They were little polka dotted smurfs!
After the shooting, we all went out to dinner at Claim Jumper. We ordered dessert first and then dinner. The food was fabulous and so was the company!
We were also in Las Vegas for New Year's Eve. Grandma and Grandpa pulled out some games and we all sat around the table playing. I think the group favorite was Guesstures. I was the only one who had ever played before. It was really fun watching everyone try to act out their words on the cards. After we were done playing games, we blew up some balloons. We gave one to each of the kids and took them outside. They yelled "Happy New Year!" and let the air out of their balloons, which sent them flying in all directions. Then we all turned in nice and early since we were leaving the next day.
Nate had warned me that he wanted to leave pretty early to head home, so I was expecting the 4am wake-up call that I'd gotten on the morning of the drive down. You can imagine my surprise and 'enthusiasm' when the alarm went of at 2:30 in the blessed A.M.! Nevertheless, I rolled myself out of bed and we got loaded up and on the road. We made the drive in 6 hours and only one pit stop thanks to sleeping kids(all except Jayne-she only slept about 45 minutes during the entire drive!). We got home and started unpacking, making lunch, and getting ready for a much needed nap.
Later that night, Nate and I went over to our friends' house and played some Guitar Hero and had pizza. It was really fun to just hang out and visit. Then on Saturday, we crashed.
Let's see, that brings me to Sunday. Don't fret. We're almost done. You're on the home stretch!
Sunday was Nate's first day teaching in primary. He co-teaches our largest class, the 9 year olds. We had 11 there this Sunday and there are 7 more on the roll. His partner wasn't there, so Nate got to do the lesson. The kids loved him! They all raved about him to me after class time.
The kids went back to school today. They both were very excited to see their teachers and friends again. Nate also went back to school today. He is finishing his Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice through Weber State. They offer the classes in the evenings at Salt Lake Community College. He'll have class on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. If all goes according to the plan, he'll be finished in August.
Phew! I think that about does it! Thanks for sticking with me!
We hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season! We're looking forward to 2010 and the challenges and joys it will undoubtedly bring.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Parent Teacher Conference #2
Today I went to another parent teacher conference, this time for Lilly. Lilly goes to preschool twice a week. And yes, you guessed it! She is doing great! So now I get to brag about another of my wonderful children.
- Lilly can recognize all the letters of the alphabet and tell you the sound they make(apparently not all 3 year olds can do that yet)
- She's very well behaved in class
- She likes to sing songs with her friends
- Since she can already recognize her name, they're going to help her learn to write it starting next month. I was happy to hear this one, because she's really been wanting to learn to write her name. We've been practicing a bit at home and she loves it.
- Basically, Lilly is very bright and is doing fabulous in preschool!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The Top Secret Parent Teacher Conference
When I was a kid, parent teacher conferences were very intriguing. You knew your mom and your teacher were going to talk about you. I always wanted to know what was being said. Was my teacher going to tattle on me for talking too much? Would my mom tattle on me for putting off my homework until the last minute? Seriously....it stressed me out.
Well, today I got to go to my very first parent teacher conference as a parent and it was still stressful. Even though I know Jonah is an awesome kid, smart, and well behaved. I was sure his teacher was going to chastise me or tell me he had some problem. I'm just paranoid that way.
Not to worry, she had only good things to say. So now I get to say them to all of you in my role as the proud mama of a super kid! Here is the report...
Well, today I got to go to my very first parent teacher conference as a parent and it was still stressful. Even though I know Jonah is an awesome kid, smart, and well behaved. I was sure his teacher was going to chastise me or tell me he had some problem. I'm just paranoid that way.
Not to worry, she had only good things to say. So now I get to say them to all of you in my role as the proud mama of a super kid! Here is the report...
- Jonah got perfect scores on all of his Fall assessment tests
- He's reading and writing at a level way beyond his classmates
- He's always very well behaved
- His teacher loves the very few times when he tells her something is 'hard' because then she feels like she's finally found something to challenge him with
- Jonah loves math
- Jonah is going to be tested next week to see if he is "gifted". The teacher explained that in the higher grades they have special classes for "gifted" students, but in kindergarten you really just get the status and if he tests high enough he may be offered the opportunity to go to a school specifically for "gifted" students.
MY KID ROCKS!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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