I Get Excited over the Craziest Things

As this past school year wound down, I was already putting together plans in my head for next fall. I've been doing quite a bit of reading and just recently re-read The Daily Five which describes how to set up your literacy time. It was a fantastic book. I found out on proteacher.net that the authors just came out with a brand new book called The CAFE Book, so I ordered it from amazon on Sunday. Because of the holiday on Monday, it took until today for me to get it. I got it this afternoon, and I just finished it. What can I say? It wasn't very long, and I loved it! Suddenly, how to teach reading makes so much more sense. I went to college when everyone was doing whole language, and I never really kept up on new research when I first started teaching. Now, though, I can't read enough! I've already got three or four more books on my summer reading list. Unfortunately, the public library doesn't really carry the latest in teaching techniques, so amazon is really going to love me.

Why We Need a Schedule

So yesterday I was enjoying the beauty of a schedule and how it was working for us. Well, today proved that we really do need a schedule.

It was my birthday today, so I was lazy. :-) I got up around 8:30 am. I wanted to get up earlier, but I closed my eyes thinking I'd doze for five more minutes and ended up sleeping soundly for over an hour. I am trying to make up for five months of sleep deprivation, so I guess I deserve a few mornings of sleeping in. Unfortunately, it set our whole schedule off, and I didn't really stick with it. So what happened?

Nathan had a HUGE meltdown just before supper. They started fighting over the computer (because I didn't end their computer time when I was supposed to), so I told them it was time to turn the computer off. Nathan was not happy with that decision, so he flipped out. I sent him to his room, and that set off his meltdown. It's really hard to cook supper when you're listening to someone yell, scream, and kick the door. He finally settled down enough to eat supper and then went outside after supper for a little down time by himself.

So, tomorrow, I'm going to be much better about sticking with our schedule. We are going out to lunch with some mom friends, and then I want to take them to the Crocs store (I can get Crocs for $5!), but once we get home, we're sticking to our schedule like glue for the next couple of days. We really need the structure around here.

It's Summer Time!

Summer officially began for all of us today. Yesterday was my last day of work. I only stayed until about noon or so since my room was clean and packed up. We had an extra day of post planning this year since we had to use our workday in March as a snow make up day. Three days of working after school gets out is too long. One teacher said it was like sitting around watching paint dry. Someone needs to tell the county that was not the best use of their money.

The last day of school for the boys was last Wednesday. The school always has an end of the year picnic, and I was actually able to get some pictures of both Matthew and Nathan with their teacher.

Here's Matthew with Ms. Acton. He really enjoyed having her. Jeremy came to the picnic, but Matthew wanted to stay at school for the rest of the day because he wanted to stay with Ms. Acton. He also wrote her a really sweet note a couple of weeks before school let out which surprised both her and I since that is so NOT him. He likes to play things very cool, but I think that she really clicked with him. First grade was a great year for him.

Nathan's teacher was Mrs. McPheeters, and she was wonderful with him! She was so patient and understanding of all of his little quirks. He loved kindergarten even though he would have been much happier just staying home. I joke that Nathan would be perfectly happy if all five of us spent all of our time sitting together on the couch. :-) He is very much a homebody.

I started something a little different today. I set up a schedule of playtime, TV time, outside time, and computer time for the boys. If you've read any of the Babywise books, you'll know where I've gotten it from. I've never done a schedule before with the older two, but this summer I knew we really needed one. Otherwise, they would have spent the whole summer either watching TV, playing on the computer, or fighting with each other. I also set up daily chores for them to do as well. It was so funny because after we had been working for about 40 minutes or so picking up and cleaning Matthew looks at me and says, "Daily chores are hard work!" I laughed and told him it's hard work keeping a house up. We didn't stick to the schedule 100% today, but it gave us a good place to start. Plus, Nathan was checking it every five minutes, so I could tell it was giving him the structure he really needs. And there was no fighting over the computer! For that alone, I'm happy I took the time to put one together.

He's Walking!!!

Andrew finally decided to take off today. He was standing at the side of our bed, and just walked away from it. Just like I thought, he is already almost running. He has been everywhere! He walked all the way across the living room and into the kitchen. It's amazing that just yesterday he wasn't walking at all without support, and today he's walking like he's been doing it for months! Good thing, since we have two doctor's visits next week. Of course, that also means I have to go out and buy some shoes for the child now too. :-)

Here's some pictures of my little walker!

I'll update more about the start of summer tomorrow (when my summer actually starts), but here's a picture from Matthew's team party last night. This is the coach he's had for the last two years.

End of Baseball

Well, in less than a week, we went from the excitement of Matthew's extra inning game to the end of the season. Nathan lost on Monday night even though his team was up by two runs in the final inning. The other team had two outs and only a runner on first, and we really believed they were going to win. Unfortunately, they ended up giving up three runs to lose the game. It was a little disappointing since they hadn't won a game all season. They kept getting better and had a few games where it looked like they might be able to pull it out, but they just couldn't.

Matthew played on Wednesday, and his team lost 7 - 0. They really weren't even in the game. They looked like they were sleepwalking through a lot of it. I can't really explain why. It was just one of those games. They had to play Thursday, and while they played much better, they still lost 6 - 4. They were up 4 - 2 after the kid pitch, which is unusual, but they didn't field well or bat well during the coach pitch, which is also unusual. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Matthew was disappointed, but, as is his personality, he bounced back quickly. He's very laid back and doesn't get too up or too down. Our park offers a baseball league in the fall, and I think we'll sign him up for it. I probably won't sign Nathan up though. He just doesn't like baseball enough for me to justify the expense for him twice a year. He'll be much happier riding his scooter through the park while Matthew plays.

It's Tourney Time!

For baseball, that is.

Matthew and Nathan started their baseball tourneys today. Nathan's was short and sweet. Matthew's, on the other hand? Well that's a whole other story. Let's start with the easy one, shall we?

Nathan's team, while they are all sweet, little boys, is not very good. Which is good, in a very weird way, because that's means that Nathan's not the worst player on the team. Don't get me wrong, he likes baseball, but not more than digging in our infernal red Georgia clay. (Do you have any idea how hard that is to get out of baseball pants?) But since the team is so bad, Nathan's coach doesn't have a coronary every time a ball gets past him because he's trying to dig for China. :-) The team, while they've played hard and had fun, hasn't won a game all season. They were the 16th seeded team in the tournament which means they played the number 1 team in the tournament who hasn't lost a game all season. Thankfully, in T-ball, each team can only score four runs an inning. Nathan's team started out by scoring two runs in the top of the first, but it was all down hill from there. The game was called at the end of the fourth inning. Nathan's team lost 16 - 6. The tournament is double-elimination, so they will play again on Monday. I think by Monday evening Nathan's season will be over, so here are some pictures.

Matthew's game was dramatically different. His team, the Yankees, was seeded fifth, and they were playing the ninth place team, the Dodgers. His coach is much more intense than Nathan's coach. If Matthew was digging in the dirt, his coach could very well have a coronary. He's never mean to the kids, but you can tell he gets frustrated when they aren't playing hard. Matthew's league starts with the kids pitching with called balls and strikes for the first three innings, and then finishes with the coaches pitching for the rest of the games with only swinging strikes. The funny thing about Matthew's team is that they get better both offensively AND defensively once the coaches start to pitch. This game was no different. By the end of the third inning, they were down 7 - 0. They weren't hitting anything; they were barely getting the bats off of their shoulders. They weren't fielding anything either. Balls they should field were going right under their gloves. The coach's son had even given up an over the fence grand slam. It was looking really bad. Then, they started with coach pitch. For the next three innings, they did not give up another run. (They were also helped out by the other team batting out of order in one inning resulting in two outs. That was caught by yours truly since I was keeping the official score book.) They scored two runs in the fourth and four in the fifth. In the sixth, they scored one run to tie it up, and had the winning run on third when Matthew came up (and I started pacing). This is where I write that he had the hit that scored the winning run, right? Wrong. He hit a little nubber between home plate and the pitcher's mound and froze for a second at the plate. He was thrown out by a step at first. Bummer. I think if he had started running right away, he would have made it safely. The Dodgers scored one run in the top of the seventh, but Matthew's team came back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the game! The tension? Awful. The relief when they won? Awesome! They were so excited! The kids were too. ;-) They'll play again on Wednesday in the next round, and I'm hoping the game is not near as exciting. Matthew did end up with his own souvenir from the game. He got hit by a pitch his first time up. It hit him right in the upper arm. I think he's going to end up with a really nice bruise, but he told me after the game it didn't really hurt.

I didn't get any pictures of the actual game, but here are some of him warming up.

Baseball for kids isn't supposed to be this exciting, is it?

First Haircut

I took Andrew this afternoon to get his first haircut at Snip-Its. (BTW, very cute, very expensive place.) With his baby dedication coming up on Sunday, and the fact that he'll be plastered all over our huge hi-def screens, I figured it was time to get some work done to his hair. Unfortunately, it didn't start out so well.

He got a little nervous when we put him in the chair, he started fussing when she put the smock on, but as soon as she sprayed his hair, he lost it.

Thankfully, the manager came to save the day! With bubbles!

He still wasn't completely happy after the haircut, so I wasn't able to get a picture at the salon, but I got one in the car on the way home. The style is pretty similar to what he had, but it's shorter and more styled. She suggested not cutting it too short since it's still pretty thin underneath and very fine. Plus, I didn't want his scar to show too much. (Or his still lumpy head for that matter!)

I Have a Movie Review!

Cause I actually went to a movie!

This afternoon I went out with some moms from my moms group to go see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. It's got Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner in it, and it was really good. It's a take-off of A Christmas Carol. Matthew McConaughey plays a player who dates girls for all of about 35 seconds before dumping them and thinks true love is for losers. During the weekend of his brother's wedding, the ghost of his uncle (who's played by Michael Douglas) tells him he'll be visited by three ghosts. I'm sure you can imagine how the story ends up, but even though you knew how the story was going to end, it was still entertaining to see it get there. Matthew McConaughey is really funny. I guess I never really imagined that he could do comedy, but there were some laugh out loud parts of this movie. I would definitely recommend it, but it's most definitely a chick flick since there's no explosions or action. (There is one car chase scene that had us in hysterics!)

The best part of the whole movie? The previews for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Only two months until it comes out! I've already pulled the book out to re-read it in anticipation of the movie.

Evaluations

Andrew had his hearing and speech evaluations this week. He showed some hearing loss in both ears during the hearing evaluation. The audiologist suspected it might be from fluid in the ears, since the tympanometer test showed his eardrums were not vibrating like they should. She suggested I call the pediatrician to see what we can do to get the fluid out. His speech evaluation went much better. The therapist said he's making all of the sounds he should when he babbles, so she doesn't think he needs any therapy now. She said that when we get the fluid out of his ears, he should really make a lot of progress. When I called the pediatrician, she wanted to put him on a course of antibiotics and then see how his ears are. She wants me to go back to Children's Healthcare for a retest, but I may see if we can just go to the pediatrician's office for another tympanometer test. If he fails that again, then I'm sure we'll have to make some more decisions.

Only twelve days left of school! The boys' summer vacation starts on May 21st. I have to work until May 26th. (Don't ask me my opinion about having to come back for one more post-planning day after Memorial Day.)