Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
How many days is 4K?
So we are well into our new school year. Ansley? loving it. Love her teacher, loves PE, loves being with me at school. She even went to breakfast by herself this morning! Proud of my girl.
Stephen? Well, here are a few highlights:
1. Stephen has been able to write his name fairly well for a while now. Ms. Debbie had them working on that skill from early on. But last week Stephen decided that he would only write his name as "Step." I asked him why. He replied, "Thats how I like to write it." I asked him if he would prefer Steve and that his teacher could help him learn to write Steve. "No." he said. I like Stephen. I just want to spell it Step."
Well, alright then.
2. They serve food in the cafeteria at St Vincents in dog bowl. Dog bowls? Yep. Here is Stephen's explanation on that one: "They give you food in dog bowls. You know, like when you don't eat all your meal at the Mariner and they put your hush dogs (aka hush puppies) in a dog bowl for you to take home."
Ahhhhh...making more sense now.
3. Stephen was in the bathtub the other night and said, "I can count to 20!" (which he can minus the number 15. He has never acknowledged the number 15. This is strange to me.) I said, "you are learning a lot at school." To which he replies, "how many more days of 4K? 20?" Um....way more than 20, bud.
4. All last week I had to peel him off of my leg to get him to go in. This morning????? He walked in alone!And this weekend he talked about his friends, and the playground and the playdough and tracing circles - all with a spark in his eye. I may not get the volumes of information out of him like I do his sister, but he is telling me in his own way that he is going to be just fine in 4k. "I have a friend at school and his name is Miles." he told me.
Proud of my boy...
And as for Jamey? He made a student teacher break up a fight today. Nothing like learning on the job :)
Stephen? Well, here are a few highlights:
1. Stephen has been able to write his name fairly well for a while now. Ms. Debbie had them working on that skill from early on. But last week Stephen decided that he would only write his name as "Step." I asked him why. He replied, "Thats how I like to write it." I asked him if he would prefer Steve and that his teacher could help him learn to write Steve. "No." he said. I like Stephen. I just want to spell it Step."
Well, alright then.
2. They serve food in the cafeteria at St Vincents in dog bowl. Dog bowls? Yep. Here is Stephen's explanation on that one: "They give you food in dog bowls. You know, like when you don't eat all your meal at the Mariner and they put your hush dogs (aka hush puppies) in a dog bowl for you to take home."
Ahhhhh...making more sense now.
3. Stephen was in the bathtub the other night and said, "I can count to 20!" (which he can minus the number 15. He has never acknowledged the number 15. This is strange to me.) I said, "you are learning a lot at school." To which he replies, "how many more days of 4K? 20?" Um....way more than 20, bud.
4. All last week I had to peel him off of my leg to get him to go in. This morning????? He walked in alone!And this weekend he talked about his friends, and the playground and the playdough and tracing circles - all with a spark in his eye. I may not get the volumes of information out of him like I do his sister, but he is telling me in his own way that he is going to be just fine in 4k. "I have a friend at school and his name is Miles." he told me.
Proud of my boy...
And as for Jamey? He made a student teacher break up a fight today. Nothing like learning on the job :)
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Fountain Fun
We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. ~Frederick Keonig
And look at what I have? These two precious little people.
I am committing to not sweat the small stuff this year. To focus on the good I can do at home and at work. And to soak in my little family of four.
Ansley will be tackling 2nd grade tomorrow. She is thrilled.
Stephen is tackling K4 with a brave face, but not without stating his opposition to the idea of formal schooling for the record.
Let the school year begin.
And look at what I have? These two precious little people.
I am committing to not sweat the small stuff this year. To focus on the good I can do at home and at work. And to soak in my little family of four.
Ansley will be tackling 2nd grade tomorrow. She is thrilled.
Stephen is tackling K4 with a brave face, but not without stating his opposition to the idea of formal schooling for the record.
Let the school year begin.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Airport security vs. us.
The kids have been great travelers this summer. Lots of fun trips. A few ups and downs with flights (pun intended) but overall we have done well. Our last flight of the summer was a flight out of Denver headed to Memphis. We arrived at the airport with lots of time to spare. The Denver Airport is really designed in a most perplexing way. Enter from passenger drop off, go down escalator to giant room that looks like it was supposed to be a mall.shopping.food area, weave through security lines, then take elevator back up to the level you were already on (separated by those velvet ropes - high security methods I am sure) and then back down another escalator to the tram. Ride tram, get off tram, and then, you guessed it, back up another escalator.
If that wasn't absurd enough, here is my list of Denver airport craziness:
1. Three people are working the new "pay some money and skip everyone in security line" (What the heck?) I don't understand this really. I am guessing I submit to extra background checks and then give them money and I skip security with the common folk?? So three people working this elite line. For how many people??? That would be ZERO. No one. There were hundreds of us in the common folk line. One guy was yawning and playing on his cell phone. Wow.
2. Once you go past the man who sits on a bar stool and looks at your boarding pass with the little light thing, there are two security lines branching off behind him. There are about 6 of these men on stools. So how many lines should there be? 12. how many does Denver have? Oh - about three lines funneling into one security checkpoint. The lines are funneling wrong. But people,once past the man on the bar stool, chose a line and then they were committed. No matter that three lines are funneling into one checkpoint here while 1 line goes to 1 checkpoint there. People start getting annoyed. People start bonding with their neighbor over the ridiculousness. That no one that works there is helping funnel lines for quicker service.We start losing lines and morphing into a crowd which scares the bejesus out of me when flying with the little people/ And that brings me to ridiculous point #3.
3. Security Man Leroy (he real name - no fake names on this post) is standing between checkpoint lines 4 and 5 giving the same speech over and over. And I quote, "It is hot in this airport and the lines are long. And I get off at 3 no matter what is going on, so no need to get upset."
Um - WHAT? Replay that in your mind for a second. Was this a pep talk? Was this a test by some Candid Camera tv show to see which passenger would punch him out first? He should have been glad that afternoon when he drove home at 3 that no one from that line was writing down his tag number and I am pretty sure I heard more than one specific threat to his tires.
All of that brings me to this: we finally make it to the conveyor belt. My children know the drill. They know to take shoes off, to place bags in bins, to stand there until directed. They do this very well. We make it through the xray machines and its time to put shoes back on. For a moment, I am tempted to tell Stephen to hurry. To tell him to put his shoes on quickly, that people are waiting behind us. But you know what? I don't say it. I stop myself before the words come out. Stephen is four years old. He has stood in the security line without complaint or tantrum. He followed rules and procedures that even some adults have following. He did a good job. So if it takes him a minute to put his shoes on by himself? If someone behind us has to wait 2 minutes for him to get himself and his backpack and stuffed lion situated, Then so be it. I am not hurrying him.
He plopped himself down to the side of the "put your shoes back on area" and promptly began the task. I stood like a wall on the other side of him daring any grumpy adult (security personnel or not) to tell me to move him.
I don't want to be the ones telling my kids to hurry all the time. "Hurry, we are late, hurry" It rings in my ears when I do have to say it. I made up a fun march a few years ago about shoes on and getting out the door. We all sing it together and we make it out the door on time (mostly). And the times we don't, well, it seems that nothing catastrophic came from our periodic tardiness.
I will save that word "hurry" for rare occasions. It's a little thing I can do to respect the awesome job my kids are doing of growing up.
If that wasn't absurd enough, here is my list of Denver airport craziness:
1. Three people are working the new "pay some money and skip everyone in security line" (What the heck?) I don't understand this really. I am guessing I submit to extra background checks and then give them money and I skip security with the common folk?? So three people working this elite line. For how many people??? That would be ZERO. No one. There were hundreds of us in the common folk line. One guy was yawning and playing on his cell phone. Wow.
2. Once you go past the man who sits on a bar stool and looks at your boarding pass with the little light thing, there are two security lines branching off behind him. There are about 6 of these men on stools. So how many lines should there be? 12. how many does Denver have? Oh - about three lines funneling into one security checkpoint. The lines are funneling wrong. But people,once past the man on the bar stool, chose a line and then they were committed. No matter that three lines are funneling into one checkpoint here while 1 line goes to 1 checkpoint there. People start getting annoyed. People start bonding with their neighbor over the ridiculousness. That no one that works there is helping funnel lines for quicker service.We start losing lines and morphing into a crowd which scares the bejesus out of me when flying with the little people/ And that brings me to ridiculous point #3.
3. Security Man Leroy (he real name - no fake names on this post) is standing between checkpoint lines 4 and 5 giving the same speech over and over. And I quote, "It is hot in this airport and the lines are long. And I get off at 3 no matter what is going on, so no need to get upset."
Um - WHAT? Replay that in your mind for a second. Was this a pep talk? Was this a test by some Candid Camera tv show to see which passenger would punch him out first? He should have been glad that afternoon when he drove home at 3 that no one from that line was writing down his tag number and I am pretty sure I heard more than one specific threat to his tires.
All of that brings me to this: we finally make it to the conveyor belt. My children know the drill. They know to take shoes off, to place bags in bins, to stand there until directed. They do this very well. We make it through the xray machines and its time to put shoes back on. For a moment, I am tempted to tell Stephen to hurry. To tell him to put his shoes on quickly, that people are waiting behind us. But you know what? I don't say it. I stop myself before the words come out. Stephen is four years old. He has stood in the security line without complaint or tantrum. He followed rules and procedures that even some adults have following. He did a good job. So if it takes him a minute to put his shoes on by himself? If someone behind us has to wait 2 minutes for him to get himself and his backpack and stuffed lion situated, Then so be it. I am not hurrying him.
He plopped himself down to the side of the "put your shoes back on area" and promptly began the task. I stood like a wall on the other side of him daring any grumpy adult (security personnel or not) to tell me to move him.
I don't want to be the ones telling my kids to hurry all the time. "Hurry, we are late, hurry" It rings in my ears when I do have to say it. I made up a fun march a few years ago about shoes on and getting out the door. We all sing it together and we make it out the door on time (mostly). And the times we don't, well, it seems that nothing catastrophic came from our periodic tardiness.
I will save that word "hurry" for rare occasions. It's a little thing I can do to respect the awesome job my kids are doing of growing up.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Colorado Day #3 - Zoo Day and the Will Rogers Shrine to the Sun
Our last day in Colorado was at the zoo. It was HOT but lots of fun. The crowds were surprisingly low and the food was surprisingly fantastic! Noodle bar? Fresh veggies and fruits? grilled meats? fancy desserts? (including a $3 cake bite on a stick) I was surprised to say the least. Bravo, Colorado Springs Zoo.
Our first stop was to give the giraffes their breakfast. I don't have any pictures of the kids' faces here b/c neither one of them would take their eyes off those giraffes for one second. Luke and Sara were happy to pose though.
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| Ansley feeds the giraffes |
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| Stephen thinks about feeding them. |
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| Ok. I will try it. (Check out that tongue!) |
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| Luke's favorite activity of the day. |
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| Riding the skylift to the next level of the zoo. |
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| Rock climbing at the top of the zoo |
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| Stephen and this baby gorilla are the exact same age! |
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| Feeding the chickens (yuck) |
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| The hippos were having their habitat cleaned while we were there. Not a job I would want. |
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| Petting a wallaby. |
http://www.cmzoo.org/aboutZoo/history/willRogersShrine.asp
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| The Shrine. |
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| The view from the top of the shrine (it was A LOT of stairs) |
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| Looking down on Jamey from the top. (He chose NOT to climb up) |
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