Out of Town

I am out of town for the weekend and then some....... I have to pull a long work day on Tuesday to make up the hours because I had a, um, "Family Emergency" over the weekend. So I will return on later in the week.

Can someone help please......?

See this "Sweet-boy".

How can you not just fall in love with those big blue eyes and those round cheeks and that oh so innocent face. With Uncle Gary, his fellow train lover.
Celebrating his birthday with a Thomas Train cake.
Friend Skyler at his train friend party.
Doing a jig at the end of school Kindergarten program.
Rizzo the class pet that came home several times and got to hang with our crazy family.

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So why do I show you all these pictures of my little guy that I love so fiercely that it hurts when I hear things that I do not agree with. I do this because, as a parent I love unconditionally, I have tired to raise him as best as I can with his unique personality. My kids are challenges, that I will not dispute, but when I have a Kindergarten teacher that repeatedly tells me that he has ADHD - yes I know people that is grounds for legal action- you begin to doubt all that you have done as a parent. Of course when accused of having ADHD I immediately had him checked by our Pediatrician and my fears were confirmed. No my son did not have any of the charecteristics of ADHA. The teacher did not want to find a way to work with him. She wanted conformity, obedience and no bucking of the task at hand, and if that did not work then she wanted him medicated. We tried rewards and that did not work there was no motivation to get the work done.

That is my sweet-boy.

When a worksheet comes out, he goes glassy-eyed. When the repetition of doing the work comes he sits and plays. He struggles to stay on task and focus, although when you talk with him and do the individual testing he has it all down. If not would they have passed him to the next grade or it is just someone elses problem this year?

It is day three of first grade and we are already seeing the blank work, the empty sheets coming home, the notes of problems. I spent so many hours sitting beside my son last year trying to help him stay on task and all it showed was that he saved the work till I came so we could have a game to play of doing the work together.

I love that my son is an individual, he is not a go with the flow kinda kid and I do not want to squash that wonderful trait, BUT, I also want to give him the skills that he needs to survive in this world. That even though he does not like doing the work, that in life you have to do things that you do not like, that sometimes we have to conform to get by.

I need help, from anyone that can help me to help my son. We are a Love and Logic family but I am stumped at how to get him to want to do the work.

Help, help, help....

Tag, your it!!

Four Places that I go Over and Over
1. McDonald's for a 99cent Mr. Pibb - yeah I know that I am totally addicted
2. The restroom
3. Library
4. Target


Four Places I'd Rather Be
1. A Carribean Cruise with my Sweety
2. Lake Powell
3. Touring Europe
4. Sleeping


Four People I talk to on a Regular Basis
1. Parents both sets
2. Hubby
3. Nicole through the power of e-mail
4. Christy or Daniele


Four Places I like to Eat
1. McGrath's
2. Nicole's kitchen for homemade Mexican - yummy
3. Marelia's
4. Japanese Steak House


Four People I Tag
1. Nicole
2. Megan and Meghan
3. Jennifer P
4. Aubrey

Happy Birthday Momma C

Today is Momma C's Birthday!

She is not only a great mom to me and my family but also a dear friend. I am so glad that my dad found her and brought her into our crazy family.

So Happy Birthday to you!!!!

We Love you!!!!

I am so Retro and I love it!

You Belong in 1980

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

Your Japanese Name Is...

Riko Nakamura

What's your Japanese Name?

Yeah I did that.....

So this is what I did with my first day alone.

You better believe that I enjoyed all of those Truffles. I did not have to share, they were for me and me alone and I savored each and every one.

Then I read the paper, cover to cover. I even read the classifieds - WHY -because I could.
Then I went and smelled my roses. I have not done that all year and they are all in bloom and look wonderful and smell so good. It is the little things today.....
Then I checked on the pool.

It needs some attention and to be vaccumed, but not today......add it to the list.

I passed by this room often, it has laundry waiting, it still has laundry waiting, and now the door is closed. Go away you foul-good-mood-killer.
I even got to drink this all by myself! Again no sharing, no having to go looking for my drink, there it was beside me all the time waiting to refresh just me, ahhh!
With all this peace and tranquility you better believe that I took some much needed time to examine the inside of my eyelids.
And that is what I did with my first day of school.

No guilt, no pressure, not having to listen for a yell or something crashing down.

Ah, I could get used to this...........

First Day of School

It has come!!

Ten years I have waited, missed sleep, been the human napkin, put their needs ahead of mine, grown a good crop of grey hairs, and it is finally here. The First Day of School and I do not mean Kindergarten that is really not school and that does not start till September 2nd anyway. I mean both kids out the door, to school, all day. I know that I should be crying but right now I am so happy that I can hardly stand it. The house is so quiet, there is no fighting, the beds are made and I can hold a thought in my head. Now that is something to celebrate!!

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Okay, enough of the celebrating. What I really want to show is my cute kids and the first day of school, so here we go........ Sweet-boy all ready to go. They even made their own lunches while I was at work last night. I looked and they are not nutritionally great, but they made them and I think that is a great habit to start.
My girl, can I tell you that I love the long shirt-dress look. I am so tired of all these kids with their bums hanging out everywhere.
The very brave face. He was so excited to go to school that he was up at 6am and dressed and already telling me it was time for school. Both kids snuggled with me this morning till my alarm went off and then it was the start of the busy morning hustle.
Drama Queen lost a tooth last night. She is falling apart. She did not want me to help with the hair, but she has alot of gel in it. My big 5th grader.

Sweet-boy at his classroom. Their theme is "Cars", something that he really likes. Already kids are in and getting busy with their first project. We found his locker and put his backpack away and got to his desk. I think that this is going to be a good year. His teacher is new to our school but not first grade. She is so nice and so calm and she understood my little guy right off. He is so tender and wants to be every ones friend, but already the boys are being tough. He is energetic, full of life and she understood that her job is to love him. That was it, after that I was sold on her being the teacher for him. Last year I hope we never repeat, but I have high hopes for this year. We will see at 1:30pm when they get home, he might fall apart the day is so long and maybe not.
Drama Queen in on the other side of the building. Last year they were 3 classrooms away, good and bad on that one. Her teacher is also new, but has been a substitute teacher and so she knows her and was excited to have her. Their theme is the ARMY - A Real Mighty You!
Kids from last year that will make her feel right at home. I think I have about a dozen pictures of "The C man" with his tongue hanging out. Drama Queen is sitting right next to one of her friends, so this could be good or something that gets changed right away.
One last look in on Sweet-boy and I am off. Look at the learning that has begun. What a fun room it almost makes me want to be right there with them, but then again.......

I walked home with the other mom's and listened to them talk about their day and I began to think about mine. What to do with myself? Thank goodness I did not have to think long, my sweet VT dropped off this little goodie to help me celebrate the first day of school.

Now that is what I am talking about, Truffles, a Diet Pepsi to myself and a quiet house. This is the good life.

Happy First Day of School!

UPDATE:

So the kids are home and I can tell that they needed to have more play time. They are nutts and fighting and wanting to go swim. I think that is a great idea and something that they need to go do. Both liked school and are happy and still excited for tomorrow. That will be the real test, can Sweet-boy handle the all day thing? We got a nice note from his teacher that he did great and that the rest of the year will be wonderful. I can only agree. However, only time will tell and I am learning that I have to let go and let them figure things out on their own.

And to Quote my bloggy friend Elena - And.....they're off!!

To Grandma Jeans' we go

In these last two weeks before school begins we are sure packing in alot. The last was our trip to see Grandma Jean. It was her birthday and we could not think of anything better then spending it with her and helping her at Kolob.

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Upon arrival, Drama Queen began teaching herself a song that Grandma has been working on for months. It was amazing how quickly she picked up the song.

Sweet- Boy making sure that Grandma's heart is alright and judging by the dial it is alright for the fun-filled week ahead.

So serious about her song, such a beauty she is becoming.

After the heart checking and the harp playing it is time to cool off in the pool. It was 105 when we reached our destination despite a down-pour earlier in the day. That was exciting, as we hydroplaned and went off the freeway backwards. Needless to say that mom drove like an old lady the rest of the trip, it took a good 25 minutes to stop shaking after that one. Another small miracle.

Swimming in the pool is the best thing that we can do in the heat.

Sweet-boy is so excited that he can swim under water and the whole length of the pool now, even the deep end with mom and sissy.

She is the only kid I know that makes a swim cap look good. The kids swam and swam and only came out for dinner and then went right back in till it was dark. They were having so much fun until the bats came out and started skimming the water and that freaked them out enough to get out for the night.

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Next day we headed up to Kolob and the cabin to finally do some burning. The ban to burn has finally been lifted and we had piles and piles of wood to get rid of.

The kids got good practice from our camping trip in gathering wood and were good helpers in keeping the flames high in the fire pit. I loved getting to play pyro and burn things. There was so much that at the end of the day we hardly made a dent.

Drama Queen made a game of chopping the twigs to size. It was hilarious to listen as she was the executioner and Sweet-boy was the voices of the accused. In the end no matter the plea all lost their heads and were burned. I know kind of twisted but if it kept them going and helping to get the work done then I am all for that.

We brought up some dinosaurs and the kids built a cave house for them with a bark roof. They both were so dirty and yet so happy to have spent the time with Grandma.

Happy Birthday Grandma Jean.

XOXOX

Spring Hollow

We headed up Logan Canyon to enjoy our favorite camping spot. We had been there before but as I am prone to do, last time I scoped out the best spot and that is where we were headed. It has the most shade and seclusion and with the river running right behind us, provided the best little hideaway for our camping adventure.

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We arrived and began setting up camp only to discover that the batteries on the trailer were dead, so we pulled the car around and gave them a good charging from the Explorer.

Finally the camp is all set, our new little home is all ready for camping. See the seclusion and the river, ah, it was a beautiful camp spot!
So with the kids out exploring we set about working on the pile of wood that we need for that night's fire. Notice the delight on Drama Queens' face. Although she did not want to be gathering wood, she is the best little gatherer I have seen and we never ran out of wood.

"Sweet-Boy" is in the river, big shocker.
Along the river we met a really nice family that was more then willing to let the kids experience Kayaking. So "Drama Queen" went out first and she picked it up like a pro.

Look at that determination. She really got the hang of it quickly.
What an accomplishment for her, all by herself.
Next, "Sweet-Boy" took a turn. Troy, whom we met up there, was more than willing to let him take the paddles and go for a ride.
Look at the little man, doing so good all by himself.
I know that this will be something that we will need for the future, fun for the kids and fun for the grown-ups as well.

Next day we prepared for the big hike of the day and some more exploring.

We let the kids pick the route for the hike and needless to say it was straight up and very hard on the adults. After a while we all decided that down was the way to go.

"Drama Queen" and I decided that we wanted to explore some more and took the hike that we should have gone on. It was easier and took us to the top of the mountain so we could look down the whole canyon. It was a great time together as she sang to me the whole time we hiked.

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This is when the scary part of the trip began.

The kids wanted to use the Bow Saw to cut the long pieces of wood. Something that I was not so sure was a good idea, but Dad supervised all cutting.

Even "Sweet-Boy" cut some logs. Again a big accomplishment for the kids on this trip.

As with every other camping trip we read a book together around the camp-fire. This time I picked this book since the movie is due out in a few months. It has been hugely entertaining and also has allowed me to use my long forgotten Dramatic talents to make the characters come to life. We are not quite through but have really enjoyed this tale. Definitely a good kids read.

And thus, our camping trip came to an end. It was really fun to escape the regular schedule of daily life and to have no obligations but to have fun and fun we did.