Embrace the Camera: September 9

Week 2:
I have been waiting all week to share these pictures. Last Friday, Jason was able to make a special appearance in Kalyssa’s classroom as a “guest” reader. We decided to show up a little early so that we could sit with her while she ate her lunch. We waited for her in the hallway that leads to the cafeteria. When she turned the corner with her class, she was very surprised to see us. We could both tell that she wanted to run up to us. She was so great at keeping herself calm, cool, and collected :)

We sat at her class table and chatted with her and some of her friends about school. As you can see in the pictures, she couldn’t stop smiling. She was on cloud 9. Daddy doesn’t get to make surprise visits to school very often so this was extra special for her.

After lunch, we walked back to her classroom. Her teacher introduced us and explained that Kalyssa’s Daddy was going to read the class a story. He was the first special guest reader for her class. I have to say that my smile was bright as I watched Jason sit on the reading rocking chair with the kids sitting around him. Kalyssa sat quietly on the class bean bag watching her daddy as he read one of her favorite stories. She was beaming the whole time. I don’t think her smile ever left her face :)

Kalyssa and her class made a one of a kind card for their special guest reader.

   

Happy Thursday!

Stellar Stallion's

I mentioned in a previous post that I would keep everyone updated on Bryanna. WELL............She passed her interview with flying colors! As of this week, Bryanna is a part of the 5th Grade Ambassador Team!! Last Thursday, she had an interview with the people who are responsible for organizing and leading the team members. She went up against 26 other students. When she came home, she told us that she was really nervous and that she didn't think she was going to make the cut. I asked her why and she said that she wasn't prepared for all of the questions they were going to ask her. I told her that I was sure she did an amazing job. I asked her if she felt like she gave it her best shot and if she was comfortable with the answers she gave. She said YES! So I told her "that is all that matters."


She brought home a note from the school on Friday congratulating her on her accomplishment. The letter stated that she is a part of an elite group of students; a group of students who will lead the Stockwell Stallions towards success in the 2010/2011 school year.

She was so excited when she walked through the door that she could barely get the words out to fill us in.

 There is one more thing I have to share. The other day while we were waiting outside of Kalyssa's classroom, we noticed a little something that she made. I just HAD to share this beautiful piece of art work :)

!!GO ANGELS!!

I suppose that I shouldn't leave Travin out of this one :) He actually had somewhat of an adventure himself over the weekend. While out riding his bike on Sunday, he took quite a fall. He was going pretty fast. We are guessing that he either ran over something or just couldn't stop. He ended up falling off of his bike face first right into the blacktop. The only thing that saved us from a trip to the emergency room was the fact that he was wearing his helmet. He ended up splitting his helmet in half. Is it somehow drilled into a boys brain while they are in the womb that everything has to be done at “lightyear” speed?

Until next time......

~Natchitoches~ Bet you can't pronounce it?

With the long three day weekend ahead of us, we decided that we wanted to do something extra special. Unfortunately, our family time during the week is very limited. Jason works long hours and the kids are busy with both school and after school activities. By the time we get home from either karate, cheer practice, or girl scouts, we have just enough time to finish up homework, eat dinner, get ready for school the following day, and plop ourselves on the couch to read a couple of books before its time for bed. We do our best to keep our weekends free so that we can have special family nights. You can usually find us playing board games, inventing games outside, or just having a good ol’ fashion family movie night with a popcorn picnic on the living room floor.

Since moving here at the end of June, we haven’t really had a chance to venture outside of the Shreveport/Bossier area. We have done a few things locally (like attending the Captains baseball games :) I think most of you know that we are a baseball family at heart. We are completely out numbered living here in the south. People here eat, live, and breath football. I think at some point I might have to learn the game :) Anyhow, after a couple of hours of doing some research on the computer we decided to plan a trip to Natchitoches. I bet many of you can’t pronounce the name of this cute historical town. It's not "Natch-a-tish" and it surely isn't "Nacogdoches.” So, how exactly is it pronounced? The Louisianan folk pronounce it "Nack-a-tish".

Natchitoches was established in 1714 and is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory. We later found out that one of my favorite movies was filmed there back in the late 80’s. Steel Magnolias put this quaint little town on the map. Bryanna and I actually ended up watching the movie after our visit. It was neat to see all the little places we visited play out on screen (I know I’m a total dork :)

Saturday morning I got up, made some coffee, and tossed together a quick breakfast. The kids were up before the sun (the school schedule has definitely kicked in). Luckily, I didn’t have to hear too much whining or complaining :) Jay and I kept the day’s agenda to ourselves. The kids had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. Everyone got ready and by 9:30 we were on our way. I have to say I was very impressed with my family of 5! We were only 30 minutes behind schedule :) There wasn’t much to look at as we made our way south (trees, trees, and more trees). By 11 am we pulled off the highway and ended up in the beautiful city of Natchitoches. We passed through the historic district and crossed the Cane River. Our first stop was the Melrose Plantation which was about 15 minutes outside of the historical downtown area. The plantation was closed until noon so we decided to take a drive around the river. The river loops around the whole city. A few miles up the road, we found an old church and a cemetery. We decided to stop since we had some time before our plantation tour. It was neat to read some of the headstones. There were a few that were so old that we couldn’t make out exactly what they said. There were family names that dated back to the early 1800’s. We also noticed a lot of military veterans that were buried there. Some of them dated back to WW1. We took a peek inside the church. We were both shocked to find that it was a Catholic Church. Catholicism is not the most practiced religion in the south. The church was beautiful and very old. We walked around and took some pictures. We later found out during our tour that the church was linked with the Melrose Plantation. It is possibly the oldest Catholic Church in the south and the first Catholic Church to serve the African American community. It was also the church that hosted the wedding of Shelby and Jackson in Steel Magnolias.

St. Augustine Catholic Church

The tour of the plantation was amazing. I’m not a huge history buff but I do love to learn about the many things that define our country. I love to be able to stand in the places and look at the things that hold memories and history. We learned a lot, more than I could ever share on here (my bogs are too long as it is :) The kids were able to learn a lot too. Our tour guides really did their best to include the kids throughout the tour. They talked to them and allowed them to try different things. All three of them did exceptionally well on the 2 1/2 hour tour. One of the tour guides actually came up to us at the end and asked if he could give the kids a candy bar. He told the kids that he was very impressed with them. They were the most well behaved children he has ever had the pleasure of meeting. And he meets a lot of children :)

We walked the grounds for a little bit and then headed over to the historical district. This was by far my favorite part. The town is so beautiful. It has an old-world charm about it. One side of the street is lined with old-fashioned French colonial style buildings. Most of the buildings are shops and restaurants. We got to see Louisiana’s first general store. Some of the houses have been turned into family owned Bed and Breakfast sites. The town sits up on a hill and overlooks the Cane River. We enjoyed our walk down the street, browsed through some of the shops, and eventually made it down to catch a glimpse of The Steel Magnolia House (the home of M’Lynn & Drum).

On the way back, we walked along the Cane River. We ended our amazing family outing with a delicious ice cream treat and three tired kids. Needless to say, the drive home was very quiet. We are definitely looking forward to going back soon.

Embrace the Camera: September 2

Well, here I am again trying something new. I got a message from my sister this morning telling me to check out this super cute idea. She has been doing this for a few weeks. After taking a peek at a few blogs and looking at some rather adorable photos, I decided that I wanted to play along too :) The idea is so simple yet so great! As moms, we are usually the ones behind the camera. Embrace the Camera is a creative way to capture some priceless pictures with your kids. Pretty neat right? So even though I’m not a fan of having my picture taken, I am taking the plunge and putting myself in front of the camera once a week with my three favorite kids in the whole wide world.

For our first Embrace the Camera photo, I thought it would be cute for the four of us to lie on the floor together. Our dog Millie thought she would join in on the fun too. After we took a couple of pictures, we realized that Jay’s foot was captured too. I guess it was meant to be a family affair :)

School In Full Swing

I can’t believe that September is already here! In just two short weeks my son will turn 5 years old. As if starting kindergarten isn’t hard enough for mom to handle now we have to add in a whole hand in years!

The kids have been in school for a couple of weeks now. We are slowly adjusting to life as “Trotting Stallions” It's been a bit of a bumpy road but every day gets a little bit easier.

Yesterday, we attended the official back to school night event. I had been looking forward to this event ever since the kids started school. Back to school is one of my favorite events because as a parent you finally have the chance to really meet and understand the teacher. I have always loved to listen to the teacher’s expectations. Not only do I want to know about the expectations they have for my child, but I also want to know what expectations they have for themselves. I like to hear about how my child’s year is going to play out. I want to know the many things that they will try to master throughout the year. I want to know how their day is set-up and what types of activities they do in class in order to help them reach their goals. I am curious to know all of these things because I want to make sure that I am doing my part at home to help my children succeed in school.

This year has been a little different for all of us. We are all adjusting to a brand new school with new rules and new policies. I have had so many questions floating around in my head. I’m probably the nightmare parent for these teachers. Not that I mind being that parent, after all we are talking about my children :)

We made it to the school a few minutes early. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I wanted to make sure that we had enough time to spend in all three classrooms. Bryanna had mentioned that we were supposed to be in her classroom by 6 pm and that we should plan on staying there for the entire hour. This concerned both of us because we had three different classrooms to visit. I tried to catch the principal before the event started to ask some questions but unfortunately, I never found her. We stopped by Travin’s classroom first. His teacher didn’t really host anything to spectacular (which I am now very grateful for). Trav was able to show us around his classroom. There were a few papers on his desk that we looked through. We talked with his teacher for a few minutes but her main goal was to set up individual conferences with the parents. So we picked a time to meet with her and then headed off to Kalyssa’s classroom. I have to say that I really like Kalyssa’s teacher. As Kalyssa would say, she is FANTASTIC!!! (This is the word of the week. She likes to find a reason to use it). Kalyssa’s teacher invited me to sit at her desk. She had placed some supplies on each desk so that the parents could make cards for their first graders. This is something that I will definitely be adding to my great big book of teaching ideas :) As the teacher got started, I realized that she was going to share a lot of information. I told Jason that he should probably head to Bryanna’s classroom. My plan was to meet up with him as soon as Kalyssa's teacher was finished. Well, I didn’t get to meet up with him until after everything was said and done. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. Kalyssa’s teacher had so much important information to share. There was no way that I could just get up and walk out. Everything that she shared was exactly the information I wanted to know. I wasn’t upset with the teachers by any means but I did walk out of the school completely frustrated. Being there for Bryanna was extremely important to me. Just as important as being there for Kalyssa and Travin. Remember how I mentioned that this year was a little different? Well for Bry, it’s a huge difference. This year, she has a total of 8 different teachers. Fourth and fifth grade students rotate classes for each subject. We had already had the opportunity to meet her homeroom teacher. She is “FANTASTIC” :) However, I was really looking forward to meeting the rest of her teachers. I’m interested to learn about what they will be working on in each subject. I am also curious to learn how they integrate the subjects. Most of all, I really wanted to be able to place a face with a name. I was really hoping to get some of my questions answered. Rotating classes has been a bit of an adjustment for Bryanna. She doesn’t really get a break and things seem to move very quickly. Anyhow, that didn’t happen last night. I felt awful that I missed out on things that concerned Bryanna and that Jason missed out on things that concerned Kalyssa. This is a first for us. We have been very fortunate that both of us have been able to be there for every step of our children’s education.

Needless to say, when we left the school I was pretty upset. The event started right at 6 pm and the lights were out by 7 pm. I know that we are not the only parents with more than one child in the school. How can the school plan this night and not take that into consideration? How are you as a parent supposed to be an active part of your child’s education if the school doesn’t take this into account? Then I started thinking about the number of military children that attend this school. What happens if a parent is deployed? A single parent weather military or not should not have to choose between their children. Everything that each teacher had to share last night was important. It was important for me to hear the information and it was important for me to be able to be present in each classroom because this directly affects my children.

When we got home last night I sent out several emails. I will personally be meeting with all of Bryanna’s teacher over the next week. I also have an appointment with the principal. The girls have been in school for three weeks and Travin has been in school for two weeks. In that time, I have managed to visit the principal’s office three different times. I really hope that this isn’t a trend that I will be following over the next 9 months:)

WOW!!! Well now that I got that out of my system, I can share some more POSITIVE news. I actually came on here to share more exciting information. I wanted to share some of the things that the kids have been doing in school. They have all been busy bees. We are so proud of them. They are all working very hard.

Travin has been working on the first set of sight words. He can recognize 4 out of the 8 words right now. Today he read his first sight word book. He was pretty excited because “I did it all by myself” He is also working on things like writing skills and letter names and sounds.

Travin's version of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night

Kalyssa has been working really hard too. First grade is a big jump from kindergarten. I am so thankful that she had an amazing kindergarten teacher. This year she will start the AR (accelerated reader) program. She is very excited. Her personal goal is to read chapter books like "Junie B Jones" :) She has already started taking tests. Every week she has a spelling test and a math test. Spelling tests are her favorite. She loves to learn the challenge words of the week. The word “fantastic” was one of last week’s challenge words. This week she has unique, genuine, and cheerful. She tries to make up her own sentences. It's actually pretty cute to watch :)


Kalyssa's contribution to the classroom alphabet.



Bryanna is busy balancing eight different subjects. She starts her morning with her homeroom teacher. Throughout the day, she makes her way around to PE, English & spelling, science, social studies, reading, and then ends her day with math. She also alternates her mornings between art and music. She is starting to understand the importance of time management.

Bryanna doesn't have anything fancy to share just yet. She is working on her own version of "Starry Night" She explained to us the other night at the dinner table that "fifth graders take their time on art, especially when we have to paint something by van Gogh"

There is one thing that we wanted to share that is pretty special. Bryanna was chosen by her homeroom teacher to be a part of the fifth grade ambassador team. She brought home a letter the other night that explained how hard she has worked. All of the fifth grade teachers feel that she would be an incredible addition to the team. Her teacher told us last night that during the last meeting she brought up Bryanna’s name to the other teachers. School ambassadors are usually chosen during their fourth grade year however, Bryanna has proven her abilities and everyone agreed that she is a positive role model and a great leader. She is so excited to be able to be a part of something that is so important. Her interview is schedule for next week. We will definitely keep you posted on how she does.

As you can see, school is in full swing. We have had a few bumps in the road but nothing that couldn't be fixed. We have a lot of faith in our kids. We know that they are going to have a FANTASTIC year ahead of them!