Train Time

No trip to my parents would be complete without running the trains! I think we ran them all but one or two nights while there.

The boys got their hands dirty this time as Grandpa needed to clean the tracks before they could get the trains out. I think Ian found a new love of the trains this trip.

Alex always has some hand in running the trains. This trip, Alex showed Ian the ropes.

I love it when the boys discover new interests.

~*~

Ian also was able to spend quality time with Daniel (who you may remember from other posts as the little boy who lives in the lower level of my parents home with our long-time friends) even getting to go out to the Children's Museum with him. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the two together but these boys have a special connection.

The Things I Come Home To

Sometimes, they really are too cute for words :)

Tooth Fairy

I love this cheesy grin!

I think Ian broke the Tooth Fairy's bank this week! He lost the first tooth on Sunday, the second on Monday, and number three came out last night! Poor Tooth Fairy has to be exhausted :)

Excellence

The last week of school is more celebration than work, LOL

Yesterday was Ian's award assembly at school. He received an award for Excellent Attendance (missing less than 3 days) and an award for reaching his sight word and reading goals.

Way to go Ian! Reading has been such an uphill battle for you this year and we are so proud of all you've accomplished!

Hello second grade!

Report Cards and Grades, oh my

I don't have a WiP post for this week.  Haven't been cross-stitching and decided not to continue with the revision updates, ain't y'all lucky?  The revisions are going better since I took the pressure off myself of the weekly update, go figure.

So I'll plug in a little family update instead.

Report cards came in for Alex and Ian.  Both are doing well.

Alex is a strong A-B student, once again on A-B honor roll for the year.  He received A's in Math (very much his strongest subject), Writing, and Social Studies.  The B's were in Science and Reading.

Alex is an amazing student; he excels in science knowledge and multiplication facts. He has incredible illustrations to go along with his stories and books.

Ian received A's in Math, Science, and Social Studies; a B in Writing; and a C in Reading. His writing has improved so much over the course of the year! He still holds his pencil weird but his control, therefore his legibility, is 100% better than the start of the year. Reading continues to be a struggle. He's receiving an extra half hour of intervention a day. For me the joy is in watching him actually pull a book out and curl up in bed to read it. So while he still struggles he seems to be developing a joy in reading and that is more important to me than a score on a test!

Ian is a delightful little boy. I am very proud of Ian. He continues to blossom.

Grades for the third quarter are in for Cam.

It's no surprise that he received A's in Science and English. He has found a new love in science this year after a skill test said he'd be good at astronomy. I guess the Rocket Burger dream finally bit the dust. He received B's in everything else: Band, Reading, Math, and Computer.

He is now in a situation of having to select his electives for next year and is torn. He's been surprised at enjoying band yet it is far from his first love. His band teacher has recommended him to move up to the intermediate band, which is great because it means he's mastered the beginning band skills. We agreed he would apply for publications (working on the yearbook/newspaper) as a first choice, band second, and in a surprise move he selected working in the cafeteria third. 

And not to be left out -- I've filled out the registration for Robbie to start kindergarten in the fall.  Oh where, oh where has the time gone?

Fun Facts

Well, hello 2011

As per our New Year's tradition, we lined the boys up and measured them.

Cam grew a massive two inches in 2010.  Poor kid is hanging all his hopes of height on 'late blooming' and swears he's going to shoot up in his late teens to be the tallest of the boys.  Keep hoping kiddo.

Cam's waiting for the day he's taller than me but I still have seven inches on him, LOL

Alex grew two and a quarter inches, and at age 9 is the same height Cam was at age 10.  Currently, Alex is five inches shorter than Cam.

Ian grew an even two inches, and at age 7 is the same height at Cam was at age 7.  Only six inches between Ian and Alex right now. 

Robbie grew only one and three-quarter inches.  He's almost 5 so I'll use that age.  He's about half an inch taller than Ian and Cam at age 5, about three-quarters of an inch shorter than Alex at age 5, and currently sits at four inches shorter than Ian.

Dang, but they grow fast!!

Happy 7th Kiddo!

Ian, our Christmas baby, turned 7 on Tuesday. We just had a little family party with Ian picking what we had for dinner and the type of cake.

Mark's Texas Chicken Nachos

Opening presents

Trying out the Glow Dome

Okay, the Glow Dome is beyond cool!

Ian blowing out his candles. 
Hope your wishes come true, little man.

Faux Gingerbread House

On the last day of school before Winter Break,
Ian made a gingerbread house out of graham crackers.

It's pretty cool looking.

My Ghouls

Today, Nevada is observing Nevada Day, aka no school. What kid wouldn't love to have a guaranteed three-day weekend for Halloween? LOL, too bad for my kids this is a bah-humbug holiday for me. The school has a Halloween parade every year.

Robbie as the Cowardly Lion

Ian as a Fireman

Alex as I have no idea, LOL

Ian showing off one of the cool treats he got at his Halloween party.

Cam -- the big, bad middle-schooler -- didn't dress up though he came home wishing he had as the entire sixth grade hall was done up as Hogwarts, even the teachers dressed within the theme. Now, that sounds like fun!

First Day of School

LOL, I guess Mom not being there equals casual first day of school photos.

Cam -- 6th Grade

Alex -- 3rd Grade

Ian -- 1st Grade

The boys started school last Monday. From all reports they've had a good first week.

Cam ended up with three accelerated classes -- Reading, English, and Math -- but didn't get his first choice of elective and is instead in band.  It still blows my mind he's in middle school!

Thus begins the challenge of having kids in more than one school for the first time, LOL

Just Keep Swimming

Swim lessons. 

Robbie and Ian are together in the inside pool.

Cam and Alex are together in the outside pool.

All He Wants For School

are his two front teeth!

He lost the first one during lunch eating an apple.  Funny, I lost a tooth that way too, almost swallowed the thing if I remember correctly.  Then the second one came out mid-afternoon.  Is there some kind of Tooth Fairy bonus if you lose two teeth in one day?  If so, I missed the memo, LOL

So, Ian had a visit from the Tooth Fairy last night.  Good thing she has wings because I wouldn't have been able to get past the obstacle course the boys staged by the door!

School Excellence Part Trois

This afternoon the kindergarten class had a little program/graduation celebration. Ian received an award for Great Work Ethics. Awesome job Ian!

August Goals

1. Writing -- I finished the first draft of Act One in July so my goal for August is to finish the next quarter of the story (aka Act Two, part one).  My goal is to write 15,000 words this month but a fair amount of this section of the story was written in June so I may not make that word count in new words.  However, I'm aiming for 485 words per day.
2. Writing -- My secondary goal is to get the character sketches and plot down for Andrea and Colin's story. 
3. Cross-stitching -- I've GOT to get Ian's stocking finished!

Making myself accountable here has seemed to work for the last couple months, so please bear with me as I continue doing that.

School Excellence

The boys are wrapping up the last weeks of the school year and awards abound.

Ian received an award and pin for Excellent Attendance, which means he had no tardies and missed less than 3 days during the year.  Good job staying healthy and on task at school.  You've come a long way this year, Ian, and we're proud of you!!

Alex is on A-B Honor Roll (assembly tomorrow) again this trimester.  Honor Roll all year long...way to go, Alex, we're proud of you!

Cam is also on A-B Honor Roll (assembly tomorrow) this trimester, which means he also made Honor Roll all year.  Cam was very active with his art this year drawing cartoons for the school paper, making cards for teachers at the request of the student body, and making a poster as part of a challenge that resulted in the principal shaving his head.  Cam received a 300 Club Award for scoring above standard (in two subjects) on the state tests (that 'no child left behind' stuff).  Cam also received an award for Outstanding Citizenship for the month of July.  You've got a good foundation for middle school, Cam, and we're so proud of all you've accomplished this year!

A-B-C's and 1-2-3's

Cam started Robbie practicing his numbers this morning before leaving for school. Robbie did amazingly well and asked me to write out numbers to ten for him to copy. He wrote all the numbers though four were backwards. He was especially proud of his four *g* 

Ian's big challenge in school has been his penmanship. See his finger placement?  No matter how often we show him how to correctly hold his pencils, he reverts back to this.  So I had him working on that.

Which had Robbie wanting to work on his letters. Writing out the whole alphabet overwhelmed him so we focused on just his name.

Proud moment when he got this.

WiP Wednesday

July Goals:

1. Writing -- I've got my plot, my character sketches, and over 14,000 words from last month on Reese and Jace's story.  My goal is to write 15,000 words this month.  I've already lost 7 days so in the remaining 24 days I'm aiming for 625 words per day.
2. Writing -- My secondary goal is to get the character sketches and plot down for Andrea and Colin's story.
3. Cross-stitching -- I've GOT to get Ian's stocking finished!

Making myself accountable here has seemed to work for the last couple months, so please bear with me as I continue doing that.

Kidlet Update

The boys had a field day at school last week. Cam and Alex's were spread throughout the day so I didn't try to go. Ian's was almost as soon as I dropped him off, so Robbie and I stuck around to watch.

After Ian had gone in to class, before the field day started, Robbie and I went into the office to sign-in. Due to liabilities, the school has had to change policy and we weren't able to go onto the field, so Robbie and I watched from the fence.

Ian in race on a hippity hop ball. Man, I remember having these as kids. We used to have so much fun on them. Not sure why we never bought one for the boys -- bad Mom, LOL.

Cam and Alex's progress reports came home earlier this week...both are strong A-B students.

Way to go boys!

Our new business venture. *snort*

One of the advantages of Mark's job is the surplus that he often comes home with. This time...deli meats!




Cam, our carnivore, bowing to the meat, LOL

I tried to get all the boys to do it for the photo but only Ian joined Cam in the meat worship.