Julia has surprised us all by how quickly her reading has progressed. In November at the 1st quarter conference, she was reading at a 2nd grade level. In January at the 2nd quarter conference she was reading at a 3rd grade level! She can sound out almost anything, as long it makes sense phonetically. Here are some words she has shocked us by figuring out with no help recently:
-figure
-country
-tentacles
-investment
-cardinal
-nervous
-several
-hopeful
-surprised
-graph
-compared
We are so proud of our Super Reader!! Not only is she an excellent reader, she is also excelling in all other areas. She got a great report card, which earned her $5 from us (double her weekly allowance) PLUS a pair of Heely's from Bubby and Moshie! What a lucky girl!
February 8, 2009
February 1, 2009
Life
It seems like we're moving even faster than usual lately. The days have been passing pretty quickly. We've had lots going on, with me working now, the kids getting over their cold and finally back to normal, Wally taking on a little more by dropping the kids off at school each morning, and Julia's changes at school.
I guess I will start with that since it's the biggest and most immediate news. Netzaberg Elementary is a school for military kids, so the kids are constantly coming and going. People are PCS-ing and relocating here all the time. However, there's been some overcrowding in the 1st grade, so a couple of weeks ago we got a letter saying that they were opening a new 1st grade class and that a few kids from each of the existing classes would be taken to create the new class. To make a long story short, due to some issues in Julia's class, we asked that she be moved to the new class. She helped us make the decision and is very excited about the class. One of her good friends in our neighborhood, a little girl she walks to school with every morning, is also moving to the class, as well as another friend who is moving with her from her old room. I'm excited for her too, I think this is going to be a positive change. The class starts tomorrow so please wish Julia luck!
Lexie is doing really well now. For about a week, she had a really bad cold and was just not herself. Two weeks ago, between Wally and me, we had the kids out of school almost a week. It was a horrible cold and made them all have fevers and just generally feel terrible, with coughs, runny noses, and lots of congestion. Aiden even vomited. It was no fun for any of us. But, Lexie is finally back. She's back to her happy, smiley, friendly self. She's very interested in hats lately. She calls them "hat-hat" and she pats the top of her head when she says it. So cute. We finally turned her carseat to forward facing (at 17 months, we kept her rear-facing the longest, she just seemed happy that way and since it's safer, we saw no reason to change until we had to) and she's starting to enjoy being able to see more, chatting with Aiden in the car, and of course, being able to see the screen when we show a movie in the van. :) She's not into TV at all at home, but will watch it a little while riding. One funny thing she did lately was when I went in the wake her up one morning. She sat up in bed, looked at me, and said "Hi" and gave me this sweet smile. She's such a nice girl. She's very helpful, always bringing things to us and wanting to sit with me or Wally and just snuggle. She loves to play with her daddy and laughs so hard when he tickles her. It's the best sound in the world!
I could write a 2 page post on Aiden. He is the funniest kid. He moves from one obsession to another on a monthly basis. Sometimes one will last 2 months and merge with another obsession before it fades away. Past obsessions have been Finding Nemo, Little Bear, Elmo, The Backyardigans, Cars (specifically "Yite Keen" Lightening McQueen), and lately he's been into....Wally will kill me for writing this....Strawberry Shortcake. He wants to watch it day and night. I don't care, I know he'll be onto something else before the end of February. I'm thinking it might be Monsters Inc next because right now he's watching it for the 2nd time since yesterday. And even when the obsession fades, he still really likes that movie or toy, and watches them, just not as often. He's been watching Little Bear again lately too.
Other funny things, hmmm.... he took some of the money from Julia's Monopoly Jr. game and put it in an empty Elmo dr kit case and has been carrying it around. For some reason yesterday morning he told us "My money cryin'" I have no idea why the money was crying, but it's ok now apparently!
We can't keep enough food in the kid. Wally says he's going to have to stay in the Army longer to be able to feed the boy. His standard phrase is "My hun-gie" He's always "hun-gie" For example, right now it's 11:15 on Sunday morning. He came up to our room at 7am. Wally came downstairs and got him a banana, cheerios, and juice. He ate that in our bed and watched Little Bear so Wally and I could get some more sleep. A little while later we came downstairs and he had his usual morning breakfast of sliced grapes and strawberries. This is something he eats 7 days a week. As he shoves the last of the fruit into his mouth, he says (while still chewing) "My want more!" I tell him he can't have more fruit (because that's all he'll eat and his tummy gets upset when he eats too much fruit) but he can have yogurt or a Pop Tart. I never ate Pop Tarts growing up, but Aiden loves the strawberry and apple ones. He says he wants both. So Wally tells him if he finishes his yogurt, he can have a Pop Tart. He finishes the yogurt, which is a full size low fat Yoplait, not a kiddie-size yogurt. He then proceeds to eat a strawberry Pop Tart (one out of the 2 in the package). A half hour later he tells me "My fir-tee" (thirsty) so he drank some water. We seem to have quieted the beast for now, but at lunch and dinner it will be the same.
He's also becoming very much a Mommy's boy, which is funny since he has gravitated toward Wally since birth. He'll come up to me and say "My want you, Mama" or "Hold me, Mama" and who can complain about that?! He wants to sit with me, be held by me, for me to take him to bed at night.....right now he is sitting right up next to me on the couch with his arm resting on my leg while he watches this movie. I'm just in love with him at this age, and hate the fact that he's growing up so fast. I want to savor every moment with all of them.
Julia and Wally are at the PX right now, selling cookies at her Brownie Troop's booth. I'm sure they're having a blast, that's totally Wally's type of thing: talking to people and selling cookies...COOKIES of all things! He LOVES Girl Scout cookies. He'll come home with no less than a case (12 boxes) of peanut butter patties or whatever they're called. 2 boxes of Thin Mints and 2 Samoas and I'm a happy girl. I can't tell you how many times the Girl Scout Troops would ring my door in Melbourne and say "Here are the cookies your husband ordered, you owe us..." Now that it's HIS little girl selling the cookies, there will be no stopping him! Julia is really enjoying Brownies; she has earned her colors & shapes Try-it and a caroling badge and is now working on her Smart Cookie badge. We are really proud of her!
Well this post is full of nothing but bragging on my kids, but that's ok. Hope everyone is doing well.
I guess I will start with that since it's the biggest and most immediate news. Netzaberg Elementary is a school for military kids, so the kids are constantly coming and going. People are PCS-ing and relocating here all the time. However, there's been some overcrowding in the 1st grade, so a couple of weeks ago we got a letter saying that they were opening a new 1st grade class and that a few kids from each of the existing classes would be taken to create the new class. To make a long story short, due to some issues in Julia's class, we asked that she be moved to the new class. She helped us make the decision and is very excited about the class. One of her good friends in our neighborhood, a little girl she walks to school with every morning, is also moving to the class, as well as another friend who is moving with her from her old room. I'm excited for her too, I think this is going to be a positive change. The class starts tomorrow so please wish Julia luck!
Lexie is doing really well now. For about a week, she had a really bad cold and was just not herself. Two weeks ago, between Wally and me, we had the kids out of school almost a week. It was a horrible cold and made them all have fevers and just generally feel terrible, with coughs, runny noses, and lots of congestion. Aiden even vomited. It was no fun for any of us. But, Lexie is finally back. She's back to her happy, smiley, friendly self. She's very interested in hats lately. She calls them "hat-hat" and she pats the top of her head when she says it. So cute. We finally turned her carseat to forward facing (at 17 months, we kept her rear-facing the longest, she just seemed happy that way and since it's safer, we saw no reason to change until we had to) and she's starting to enjoy being able to see more, chatting with Aiden in the car, and of course, being able to see the screen when we show a movie in the van. :) She's not into TV at all at home, but will watch it a little while riding. One funny thing she did lately was when I went in the wake her up one morning. She sat up in bed, looked at me, and said "Hi" and gave me this sweet smile. She's such a nice girl. She's very helpful, always bringing things to us and wanting to sit with me or Wally and just snuggle. She loves to play with her daddy and laughs so hard when he tickles her. It's the best sound in the world!
I could write a 2 page post on Aiden. He is the funniest kid. He moves from one obsession to another on a monthly basis. Sometimes one will last 2 months and merge with another obsession before it fades away. Past obsessions have been Finding Nemo, Little Bear, Elmo, The Backyardigans, Cars (specifically "Yite Keen" Lightening McQueen), and lately he's been into....Wally will kill me for writing this....Strawberry Shortcake. He wants to watch it day and night. I don't care, I know he'll be onto something else before the end of February. I'm thinking it might be Monsters Inc next because right now he's watching it for the 2nd time since yesterday. And even when the obsession fades, he still really likes that movie or toy, and watches them, just not as often. He's been watching Little Bear again lately too.
Other funny things, hmmm.... he took some of the money from Julia's Monopoly Jr. game and put it in an empty Elmo dr kit case and has been carrying it around. For some reason yesterday morning he told us "My money cryin'" I have no idea why the money was crying, but it's ok now apparently!
We can't keep enough food in the kid. Wally says he's going to have to stay in the Army longer to be able to feed the boy. His standard phrase is "My hun-gie" He's always "hun-gie" For example, right now it's 11:15 on Sunday morning. He came up to our room at 7am. Wally came downstairs and got him a banana, cheerios, and juice. He ate that in our bed and watched Little Bear so Wally and I could get some more sleep. A little while later we came downstairs and he had his usual morning breakfast of sliced grapes and strawberries. This is something he eats 7 days a week. As he shoves the last of the fruit into his mouth, he says (while still chewing) "My want more!" I tell him he can't have more fruit (because that's all he'll eat and his tummy gets upset when he eats too much fruit) but he can have yogurt or a Pop Tart. I never ate Pop Tarts growing up, but Aiden loves the strawberry and apple ones. He says he wants both. So Wally tells him if he finishes his yogurt, he can have a Pop Tart. He finishes the yogurt, which is a full size low fat Yoplait, not a kiddie-size yogurt. He then proceeds to eat a strawberry Pop Tart (one out of the 2 in the package). A half hour later he tells me "My fir-tee" (thirsty) so he drank some water. We seem to have quieted the beast for now, but at lunch and dinner it will be the same.
He's also becoming very much a Mommy's boy, which is funny since he has gravitated toward Wally since birth. He'll come up to me and say "My want you, Mama" or "Hold me, Mama" and who can complain about that?! He wants to sit with me, be held by me, for me to take him to bed at night.....right now he is sitting right up next to me on the couch with his arm resting on my leg while he watches this movie. I'm just in love with him at this age, and hate the fact that he's growing up so fast. I want to savor every moment with all of them.
Julia and Wally are at the PX right now, selling cookies at her Brownie Troop's booth. I'm sure they're having a blast, that's totally Wally's type of thing: talking to people and selling cookies...COOKIES of all things! He LOVES Girl Scout cookies. He'll come home with no less than a case (12 boxes) of peanut butter patties or whatever they're called. 2 boxes of Thin Mints and 2 Samoas and I'm a happy girl. I can't tell you how many times the Girl Scout Troops would ring my door in Melbourne and say "Here are the cookies your husband ordered, you owe us..." Now that it's HIS little girl selling the cookies, there will be no stopping him! Julia is really enjoying Brownies; she has earned her colors & shapes Try-it and a caroling badge and is now working on her Smart Cookie badge. We are really proud of her!
Well this post is full of nothing but bragging on my kids, but that's ok. Hope everyone is doing well.
January 18, 2009
What a start to the new year....
We've had a crazy beginning to the year, but things are slowly getting back to normal. The kids and I have been a little sick and I started my internship on Jan 12. I really like the class and the teacher I am working with. Ms. Edwards is the teachers' name, and she is amazing. She's so easy-going, and she has so much experience and knowledge. I have already learned a lot from her, so I know I am very lucky and will be able to use what I learn from her throughout my teaching career.
The kids are doing okay. Julia is starting to get the cold that I am getting over, so I'm hoping it doesn't make her as miserable as I was last week. Aiden has a bit of a cough but he seems to be in better shape than Julia, and Lexie is not sick at all, thank goodness. One day last week I had Aiden at home when he was sick, and he was playing and watching TV and I was dozing off on the couch. I thought I smelled something so I asked Aiden "Did you have an accident?" and he turned around and looked at me and said "Mama, it not my fault!" It was so funny the way he said it...he held his hand out in this funny gesture, like he was explaining something to me and was very frustrated.
Aiden is now pretty much potty-trained except for the poops. He wakes up dry and says "My need go pee pee!!" and runs to the potty. He stays dry all day at school. The only time we have dirty clothes to bring home is if he had to poop. He just won't do it on the potty. He will hold it all day sometimes, until he can sneak off to do it in his pants! If you catch him about to go and run him to the potty, he will immediately hold it and refuse to go. He will sit there for 10 mins and just not go!! I know this is the hardest part, but I wish he'd get it! Once Julia had the peeing down, she pooped on the potty too, so I never went thru this with her. I know this is such a riveting topic huh? :)
It's been very cold the past couple of weeks but this past week it finally warmed up a little....meaning it got above 20*!! There has been snow on the ground since right after Christmas because it's been too cold for it to melt. Although yesterday was the first time it has snowed since then. A couple of mornings last week, it was 10* when we woke up. Brrrr.... I hate it when it's that cold, it's like it's too cold to breathe! I'm so glad it's a little better now.
I don't have any new pics to post right now, I'm still in the process of figuring out our new camera. It's complicated!! I need to ask Cindy Umpleby, photographer extrodinaire, if she can give me any tips! :) Don't say you're not amazing, Cindy, you are!!
The kids are doing okay. Julia is starting to get the cold that I am getting over, so I'm hoping it doesn't make her as miserable as I was last week. Aiden has a bit of a cough but he seems to be in better shape than Julia, and Lexie is not sick at all, thank goodness. One day last week I had Aiden at home when he was sick, and he was playing and watching TV and I was dozing off on the couch. I thought I smelled something so I asked Aiden "Did you have an accident?" and he turned around and looked at me and said "Mama, it not my fault!" It was so funny the way he said it...he held his hand out in this funny gesture, like he was explaining something to me and was very frustrated.
Aiden is now pretty much potty-trained except for the poops. He wakes up dry and says "My need go pee pee!!" and runs to the potty. He stays dry all day at school. The only time we have dirty clothes to bring home is if he had to poop. He just won't do it on the potty. He will hold it all day sometimes, until he can sneak off to do it in his pants! If you catch him about to go and run him to the potty, he will immediately hold it and refuse to go. He will sit there for 10 mins and just not go!! I know this is the hardest part, but I wish he'd get it! Once Julia had the peeing down, she pooped on the potty too, so I never went thru this with her. I know this is such a riveting topic huh? :)
It's been very cold the past couple of weeks but this past week it finally warmed up a little....meaning it got above 20*!! There has been snow on the ground since right after Christmas because it's been too cold for it to melt. Although yesterday was the first time it has snowed since then. A couple of mornings last week, it was 10* when we woke up. Brrrr.... I hate it when it's that cold, it's like it's too cold to breathe! I'm so glad it's a little better now.
I don't have any new pics to post right now, I'm still in the process of figuring out our new camera. It's complicated!! I need to ask Cindy Umpleby, photographer extrodinaire, if she can give me any tips! :) Don't say you're not amazing, Cindy, you are!!
December 29, 2008
Christmas 2008
The kids had a great Christmas! Santa brought Julia a trampoline, a lava lamp, and a Spin art kit. He brought Aiden a train table, a big bulldozer and Spiderman toy. He brought Lexie a HUGE stuffed bear, a baby doll, and a pink pony riding toy. Then he brought the three of them a Escalade Power Wheels car to ride with a toy gas pump! They were so excited! They promptly named the bear Rosie and she resides in Lexie's room. They tackle and jump on her. They've also had a lot of fun on the trampoline, which we put in the playroom. And of course the car has been a big hit. We took it out right away after we'd opened presents on Christmas morning. The kids each took turns driving and letting Lexie ride. We had a very good day.
On Friday we drove to Prague for the Christmas market. It was so beautiful! We bought some Christmas ornaments and a few small things for the kids then spent the night in our favorite hotel. Aiden is always so excited to go to Prague so he can ride the train! He loves any sort of transportation! We walked around some more on Saturday before heading home. It was very spur-of-the-moment, and it turned out to be a nice trip.
We are very thankful to have had such a good Christmas away from home.
On Friday we drove to Prague for the Christmas market. It was so beautiful! We bought some Christmas ornaments and a few small things for the kids then spent the night in our favorite hotel. Aiden is always so excited to go to Prague so he can ride the train! He loves any sort of transportation! We walked around some more on Saturday before heading home. It was very spur-of-the-moment, and it turned out to be a nice trip.
We are very thankful to have had such a good Christmas away from home.
The haul from Santa....you can see part of the trampoline on the right.
Julia coming downstairs.
Checking out the new car!
Aiden opening his gifts.
Lexie and Julia opening gifts.
Daddy and Lexie....Julia and Aiden are up ahead in the car.
Lexie is getting so big!
Riding in the Escalade!
Riding down our street.
Daddy and Lexie in Prague.
All of us in front of the big Christmas tree!
Aiden passed out at the end of the day!
The market.
December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! It's late and so already Christmas Eve here. I suppose many of you noticed that I chose to go the e-card route this year. I hope no one is offended, the truth is that I should've ordered them online like a month ago so they had time to get to me here and then back to all of you. The postal service is very unreliable time-wise. I wasn't thinking about those types of differences that I am still struggling to get used to. So e-cards it is this year. I'll have to handwrite a few letters to a few friends who don't use the internet (crazy right? but they're out there!!) I'm kinda sad about not sending out cards to tell you the truth. It feels like something's missing, but maybe that's just because I'm not in Florida for Christmas this year. :(
Anyway, here are some pics of the kids. That Christmas photo on the card wasn't my favorite....but it was the best choice when presented with the group of photos I was able to get. Aiden was so cranky, Lexie had little patience... (She was just so excited to walk on the wooden floors in her Mary Janes! She kept tapping her foot.) ...and poor Julia was trying so hard to get them to look at the right time. Lexie wouldn't give up the paci, Aiden wouldn't give up the Mee mee. What a disaster, but a funny memory. So I posted a few outtakes too, just for fun. The other pics are of the holiday party that Wally's battalion put on for the kids. It was Dec. 7th. We had a really good time, there were lots of crafts, tricycles for the little kids, and a Christmas movie playing on one whole wall from a projector. It was really cool. Aiden just rode the trikes or watched the movie. He could care less about arts and crafts right now....but he does like to cut with child scissors and he really likes to help me cook. I took a bunch of pics of him on the trike but the lighting wasn't good and our camera was acting all wonky. Wally and I got a new one as an anniversary gift to ourselves. I have NO IDEA how it works yet, but hopefully the pics I'm posting will improve and you will be able to see the difference. I will post about our Christmas in the next day or two....I should get to bed!
Anyway, here are some pics of the kids. That Christmas photo on the card wasn't my favorite....but it was the best choice when presented with the group of photos I was able to get. Aiden was so cranky, Lexie had little patience... (She was just so excited to walk on the wooden floors in her Mary Janes! She kept tapping her foot.) ...and poor Julia was trying so hard to get them to look at the right time. Lexie wouldn't give up the paci, Aiden wouldn't give up the Mee mee. What a disaster, but a funny memory. So I posted a few outtakes too, just for fun. The other pics are of the holiday party that Wally's battalion put on for the kids. It was Dec. 7th. We had a really good time, there were lots of crafts, tricycles for the little kids, and a Christmas movie playing on one whole wall from a projector. It was really cool. Aiden just rode the trikes or watched the movie. He could care less about arts and crafts right now....but he does like to cut with child scissors and he really likes to help me cook. I took a bunch of pics of him on the trike but the lighting wasn't good and our camera was acting all wonky. Wally and I got a new one as an anniversary gift to ourselves. I have NO IDEA how it works yet, but hopefully the pics I'm posting will improve and you will be able to see the difference. I will post about our Christmas in the next day or two....I should get to bed!
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