And now with the Sports....Here's Curtis

This is what I saw walking into my classroom after school. His class is doing book reports. His group picked a book called, Running out of Time. They read it and now have to do a presentation. They are doing a newscast. Curtis' teacher told me that he has whipped up replicas of a cell phone, a laptop complete with a USB port and removable drive, microphone, etc....

Apparently he has also whipped up a mustache for his role as sportscaster and man on the street reporter. I always considered this kid shy and quiet. This special class has done extraordinary things for him. He is showing his real, creative, wonderful self. His teacher is fabulous and really gets wonderful things from him. I am thankful for her!

All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth

My little late bloomer is finally losing teeth. He lost 2 bottom teeth about 8 months ago, but hadn't lost any more. Last week he lost one of his front teeth and the other is hanging by a thread. I hope he looses it fast! It so grosses me out to see him pushing his tooth back and forth.

Curtis

Let me tell you a little about this cute little boy. He is usually the easiest kid in the world to parent. He is kind, thoughtful, sensitive, intelligent... The list truly could go on and on with all of his positive attributes.

One thing he isn't though is organized. If any of you have seen this child's bedroom, you could testify to this. Another problem is mornings. You would think that this child has never had a working mother, and that getting ready in the morning is a new thing.

Yesterday was particularly awful. It was well past our time to leave and he didn't have his shoes on, hadn't fed or watered Rory, hadn't combed his hair, or brushed his teeth. He was reading in his bedroom. When I called for us to get into the car and discovered that nothing had been done, I was upset. I was very calm though and we had a discussion in the car on the way to school. Now, this discussion has happened many times in the past, sometimes loudly, sometimes patiently. He always says, "Yes Mom, I will try and be better." I truly despaired of anything changing.

Fast forward to this morning: when I called he got right up. I asked him to lay out his clothes and he said it was already done. I looked over at the couch and sure enough there they were. He told me he'd laid them out last night so he could get ready on time. I still didn't think anything of it, although it was nice to not have to say it fifty times. Next he quickly ate breakfast, brushed his teeth, and got dressed. All with out me asking. I complimented him and he told me that he'd thought a lot about what I'd said and made a list last night of all he had to do and he was checking them off as he did them. Here' proof :

Here is the list. It is also more proof of what a truly wonderful kid he is.

Here's another reason I love this kid: For the culminating project for his class' study of Egypt they made death masks. Curtis' teacher told me his was the best. If you can't tell, it is a dog. When they brought the masks home he had made himself a tail and had drawn paw prints on the palms of his hands. I asked if everyone else had made tails, etc to go with their masks. He told me that he was the only one. I asked if anyone had laughed at him. He told me that some did, but he didn't care, because he was having fun. I am so glad he isn't like his mother. He didn't care what the other kids thought, because he was having fun.

Sweet!

Before going to bed I always check on the kids.

I find myself standing and watching them for awhile, thinking how sweet they look. Last night I thought they were particularly cute. What do you think?

Old Fashioned

We had pack meeting a couple of weeks ago. The boys had a great time. Sister Duhrmeir did a great job! She told the boys that they were going to bob for apples and asked if any of the boys knew what that was. My son piped up with, "Yea bobbing for apples is an old fashioned game." I looked at Mike and he looked at me and we both were thinking, "Where in the world did he get that?" It was really funny!

When Sister Duhrmeir asked who wanted to go first Curtis readily volunteered. He worked and worked at getting that apple. After awhile, he got it and in the process got thoroughly drenched.

Then they went outside to find ghosts in the trees (suckers wrapped in kleenex) tied up in the trees. The boys had a great time and Curtis talked about it the whole way home. Alyssa also had a great time. I wouldn't let her bob for apples, since she was just getting over a cold.

That disppointed her, but when she got to find ghosts, that cheered her up.

First Day of School

Today was our first day of school. I wasn't ready for it. I was stressed in fact. The budget in California is horrible and as a result school funding is being cut right and left. Many, many teachers were pink slipped and didn't get rehired for the school year. Supply funds have been slashed as well.

A consequence of all this, is that the state and district no longer think that small classes in the lower grades are important. Kindergarten, first and second grade have in the past not had any more than twenty students. Supposedly, they were going to cap classes at 25. Bad news: I have 26. Good news: only 24 showed up. Bad news: I might be getting a new one tomorrow. More Bad news: They are the most ill mannered group of children I have ever met. Good news: I have four great students from last year and there are a couple of other nice kids, including Harrison, David and Starr's son, to help make me believe maybe there is a chance for this class.

Curtis and Alyssa were excited for school today. Curtis was a bit nervous, because he would be going into the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade Gifted and Talented Class. He thought he wouldn't have any friends, all the kids would be bigger than him, it would be too hard, etc. Alyssa was just excited. She has been telling anyone who would listen this summer that she is a first grader. So here are the official pictures of the first day of school:

Junior Rangers

Curtis and Alyssa participated in the Jr. Ranger program while we were visiting Yellowstone Park. They had several tasks to do. Curtis had more to do than Alyssa because he is older. The morning we left, we stopped by the Visitor's Center by Fishing Bridge to turn in their assignments. The rangers asked them questions about the things they did and looked through their papers well. When they were finished, they made an announcement to the visitors that they had two special Jr. Rangers that would be getting their patches. The kids were thrilled. When they were finished with the presentation, the Ranger had them try on her hat. The program was good for both of them.

To be continued.....

The Thoughtful Men In My Life

One of Mike's friends from work who is in one of the Twenty-nine Palms wards invited Mike and the kids to go camping. It is a camp out sponsored by the Cub Scouts for families. I was gearing up to go, not feeling very happy about it, because I love sleeping in a tent, on the ground, with a bunch of people I don't know, but I wanted to make my family happy so I was going to grin and bear it.

Last night, Mike, bless his heart said, "How about I take the kids and you get to be all by yourself for a night." So he and the kids started planning our their menu of the food they would eat and Alyssa was getting really excited about this. She has never been camping in the tent, unless you count our front yard.

A few minutes later I heard Curtis softly talking to her saying, "Alyssa I think you should stay home with Mom. She'll be all by herself." I overheard this and said that I would be fine. I told Curtis that it would be fine if they both went camping. Alyssa looked at me and said, "You can be in charge and you will be not scared. Right?" I assured her that I would be just fine and since she put me in charge I wouldn't be scared.

I appreciate Curtis for thinking of me, but think it is really interesting that while he was not ready to throw himself on the sword and stay home with me, he was willing to sacrifice his sister for the cause.

I Caught a Fish This Big

After the Pinewood Derby a couple of weeks ago, Curtis went with his friend Matthew's family on an adventure. They were planning to go down to the Lego store at Ontario Mills, after what was to be a brief stop at the Bass Pro Shop.

Their stop at the Bass Pro shop turned into an adventure. The kids wanted to fish, so they waited in line for about an hour, and then fished I guess for a couple more. Curtis caught a fish after about 2 hours of fishing, but the other kids kept fishing for another half hour or so. The other kids never caught anything. It was reported to me that there was much crying about leaving. I am sure that stopped once they hit the doors of the Lego store.

Matthew and Curtis are crazy for Bionicles. They love them. Curtis has waaaaay too many in my opinion. Anyway, we had given him $20 and he came home with two new ones. Happy day. He got home really late, about 10:30 or so and then climbed in the shower. After he got out, he went to get dressed, but didn't make it that far, because I found him putting together a Bionicle naked. I guess it is all about priorities.

Pinewood Derby

Today was the Pinewood Derby. Curtis and Mike have been working on their cars for several weeks. Mike let Curtis do as much as he possibly could. When I asked if he used the saw to cut the car, Mike told me that he had with his help. What a good Daddy! It was a fun day and the boys seemed to really have a good time. Mike had built a car too, but let Matthew, Curtis' friend who isn't old enough for Cubs yet, to race it.

There were some dads there who were very competitive. I hate that part of it. I am glad that Mike just wants Curtis to learn good sportsmanship and have joy in the experience.

They did this weird bracket elimination kind of like the final four stuff. Even though Curtis consistently had the second fastest car, he didn't even place.

Mike's car is the red one on the end. Curtis' car is the wider of the 2 dark blue cars. There are three cars in between Mike's and Curtis'.

All in all a good, successful day.

Curtis

I love this kid! He is so awesome. I can't say enough nice things about him. Let me tell you about a little experience I had with him last night. I put him to bed at 9:00 and about 9:30 he came to me crying and said, "Mom I don't want to die." I guess Belle peed on his floor and because he didn't want his Dad to get mad at Belle, he cleaned it up himself. I guess he didn't wash his hands and accidentally put his hand in his mouth and got Chem Dry carpet cleaning solution in his mouth. He had been spitting up and imagining himself dying for awhile before he came to me. I had him wash his hands and brush his teeth again and reassured him that he wasn't going to die. He got back in bed, still kind of crying and said, "Mom thanks for telling me what to do. I really appreciate it." I told him no problem, that's my job.

He is just a wonderful kid. So thoughtful, caring and kind. He genuinely wants to do the right thing. I am not saying he's perfect, but maybe pretty close!

Awards, Baths, and Christmas trees

The month of December was been a very busy one for our family. It seems that we are always going. The kids and I are looking forward to two weeks off after this next busy week. We have Winter/Christmas programs at school on Tuesday and Thursday. Alyssa will sing Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer and recite the poem "Eight Little Reindeer" with her class. My class will be performing on Thursday night. Last year it was so crazy they decided to split it up and have the Kinders and 1st graders on one night and any other classes who perform do so on another night. I don't think Curtis' class will be performing.

Curtis recieved two awards on Friday. One was the Outstanding reader award. He is reading over 130 something words a minute with no mistakes. The other was an Outstanding Effort award. Luckily his award assembly was during my prep period and I was able to run over. We are really proud of him and all his efforts.

We bought our Christmas tree this year at Home Depot, rather than drive all the way down to the Christmas tree farm. We were short on time and decided to take a look at the trees at Home Depot, Tuesday night after going to our nephew Joel's 2nd birthday party. They had some really pretty ones and so we decided to get one there. We saved the trip down to Yucaipa and probably about $25. The kids were upset that we weren't following our family tradition, but we told them that sometimes we have to create new traditions. (Not that I really want a trip to Home Depot, being part of a new family tradition.) We decorated our Christmas tree on Thursday night and here are the results. I think it looks beautiful!

I took the dogs to the groomer today. They were both so dirty and Belle was matted. I try to brush her all the time, but she cries and makes it difficult. I realize I need to be the boss, but her cries her pitiful. Anyway, she got a really close haircut. She looks really cute, but it is so cold outside that I put her cute t-shirt that Maury got for her on. The groomer also put these cute Christmas bandanas on the dogs after they were groomed. Here is one final picture of Belle, before I post our first and hopefully not only post.