Whew..where did time go?

All of my followers must be thinking that I fell off the face of the earth. Actually I have been working hard at some various projects that just take up most of my time. One of them is this and the other is this.

For two weeks in July I was also away at jury duty which was a most awesome experience that I promise to blog about one day in the near future.

I've been working on some business stuff while trying to brace myself for the coming school year that is about to start in just 12 hours. The older ones are off to high school and the little ones are in elementary and preschool. Good thing I am organized or I fear I would never make it.

Back to planning dinners a week in advance, preparing and planning for school lunches, and waking up early in the morning to get everyone ready for school and out the door.

I have a new driver in the family so maybe I can get him to drive us to school. And then while he is driving us I might be able to catch a few zzzzzzzzzzzzzz's in the car.

End of a Great School Year

The school year is coming to a close and it is bittersweet for me. It's been a hectic year logistically because this is the first and only year that all 4 of my kids were in different schools. This made getting them to and from a big huge challenge. In all honesty that was the only draw back.

I enjoyed watching my princess in her first year of school. She really thrived in kindergarten much better than I had ever hoped she would. Her teacher was so wonderful and the year was filled with so many exciting lessons and activities. She started off the year learning how to read words and ended the year reading full books. Not only is she reading but I have noticed that she is actually understanding and comprehending what she is reading. She is able to feel what the author is saying. She is in love with the library and we just went and checked out 15 books this month for her to read.




I am also so pleased with the great progress that my baby boy is making too in his preschool. He is speaking so well now and his thoughts are so cute and keep me smiling. His latest venture has been on the computer. He loves the computer and enjoys playing on some of the reading websites like starfall and funbrain.




The older boys had a great year too. My younger teen ends his middle school years on a happy note. Straight As and a first place math trophy. He is off to a foreign school next year where the only person he will know roaming the halls is his older brother. He is going to miss his friends, I know that. But we are able to give him a really great opportunity at a wonderful private Catholic high school that will hopefully open more doors and teach him on a deeper level than he would have gotten at the high school near our house. I know he is sad but I have faith that he will meet some really great kids there too.



What can I say about my oldest boy except that I am finding bittersweet in all of the days that lie ahead of me. I no longer feel like I have oodles of time left before he is walking out the door to college. It's only two years away and suddenly two years feels like tomorrow. When he was on the JV baseball team I didn't worry because that meant he still had Varsity. But now he is at Varsity and there is nothing after that at high school. He is getting his high school ring in a few months and the milestones keep rushing in. It feels like it is all coming so fast. He is into men's clothing, shoes, and smelling nice. He is not shaving yet thank goodness. Still a baby face to me. I remember when he was a baby. I had all kinds of time with him then.




We are going off on our summer vacation next week and I think that there will only be a few more of them before he is off to college. I hear a lot of parents say our jobs are to give them roots and wings. I like the roots. I don't like the wings.

I promise to embrace the roots as long as I can and give thanks for all of my four wonderful blessings. I love them so very much.

Let Them Misspell

My daughter is in kindergarten and we are so lucky to have a really wonderful teacher. Early on in the year the teacher spoke with us about her plans to teach them how to write sentences and short essays. I was pleased with her aggressive approach. One of her requests to us what that when she writes that we do not spell any words for her. We were supposed to encourage her to write the words how they sound. Spelling them for her does not get her to think about the word and phonics. So we did what sounded reasonable to us.

I deeply feel from that logic that my daughter has really learned so much about phonics and words and has improved in her spelling all on her own. And the essays we get from her are so cute and funny. The words are sometimes really big and to see her give her 100% effort on getting them right really warms my heart...and helps her to learn so much more. So if you want to really help your kids learn words and how to spell them, let them make mistakes on their own.

Volunteer Hours

A few weeks ago when my teenager came home from his first night of CCD to kick off his last year he gave me a bunch of papers that describe what he is going to learn that will help him prepare for his upcoming Confirmation in March. I have been through this before with my oldest one. Part of the preparation is the requirement to do some volunteering at home, school and church. We talked about what he could do for the hours and some of his teachers recommendations. He tell me "my teacher says that every 5 hours of helping around the house gets 1 hour of volunteer time." I think that's all well and good and will get him to his requirement but is that REALLY volunteering? Is it really helping someone else out (other than me who gets the added benefit of extra help around the house)? While I could really use the help, I am not in desperate need of it and will he really learn something from that to prepare him for adulthood?

I ponder this thought and then listen to this where he speaks of something greater.."It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."

Surely we can find more meaningful work for a 14 year old to do within the community. So I start digging on the computer and find a volunteer organization within the county that we live. They organize all sorts of smaller groups and volunteers and match people up with their skills and the communities needs. Perfect. I join and next week myself along with my two boys are going to an orientation class where we will be able to pick from all kinds of organizations to help our community.

We are going to start off at my older one's Catholic school where volunteer students gather once a month in the cafeteria to feed the homeless and then take ourselves to other shelters where they will need us to help. We will sign ourselves up for Special Olympics duties. My boys are so fortunate to be able to play any sport they want without having to suffer a handicap. Wouldn't it be so wonderful for them to be able to give of themselves in this capacity to someone who does suffer? We have already started to make rosaries for troops and pitching in every week for our church's food bank. But it's all new to us and I suspect that for every thing that we do together we not only get to that service hour requirement but hopefully touch lives and enrich our own.

First Day of School - Bittersweet

First days of school are always bittersweet...for me, anyhow. It's yet another reminder that my dumplings are growing up. It's always a day of firsts. This week it was a major first for my princess - first day of kindergarten. I have been watching her excitement grow all year long awaiting this day. We bought her uniforms, new shoes, new belt, new bookbag, new supplies box, new lunchbox, new water bottle to go in said lunchbox. I made her a new pair of earrings.




We walked her in to make sure she got to where she needed to be. We briefly met with the teacher in the cafeteria. And then the teacher gathered them all in a line and walked them to their class. My princess waved to us the entire time she could see us. She was BEAMING!. And we were crying.



And then there were the older boys. One in high school, one in middle school. It's his last year of middle school.




Next year they will be going together. Maybe even driving themselves. I shudder to think that I have only 3 more years with my oldest before college. It's not that far away. Where did the years go?

When you first have kids, people tell you that the years will fly by. I know they do and I know they will. I try to make the most of each day but that doesn't stop time. You always want to hold them and kiss them like you did when they were firstborn.

So I do what I always do. Embrace the moment and let myself cry. Because this is life.

Graduation Song

This was my first look at the Pre-K graduation song. I am crying today. I can only imagine how I will be on June 6. I am sure I will be a mess. Time for waterproof mascara.

Handwriting Progress

I am so proud of my princess. Her handwriting is improving so much. Now if I could just get her to write the hanging letters on the correct line.....sigh.....

Learning How To Read

I absolutely love this book and so does my little princess.



I don't remember where I got it but she pulled it out of her library to read to her last week. When I looked at it to read, I stopped. I turned to her and said "no. You are going to read it to me today." She looked at me strangely and I told her that I would help her with any words she could not figure out on her own.

Little a had a box.
He said, "I will fill my box."
Little a put on his hat and went for a walk.
He found apples, apples, apples.
He put the apples into his box.
Little a found an alligator.
He put the alligator into his box.
Little a found ants, ants, ants.
"In you go, ants," he said.

She read most of it...slowly....but on her own. I had to help her with the words "walk, found, and said." The rest she sounded out and figured out.

The next night she wanted to try to read some more. Great! She did it again. I helped her with the same words. She wants to read it again tonight except I am wise to this. She tends to memorize her books so I have to be careful that she learn how to read and not memorize. I decided I would need to switch it up a bit.

So I went online to find the boxed set and I found a really nice set on ebay. I am so excited for it to come so she can read more and more. I am very confident that by the time kindergarten comes in 4 months, she will be more than ready.

Strange Coincidence

I walked into my princess' preschool yesterday to pick her up and I noticed a sign on her classroom door for her upcoming preschool graduation. It was the first news coming out regarding the date. I can't believe this day is quickly approaching. She has grown and learned so much. She is so totally prepared for school and I am so pleased with the choices that we made to place her in the preschool that she is in. I moved down to see the date of the ceremony and after party.

June 6, 2008

I didn't have to look at my calendar to recognize the date. My heart sank. I remember that I have prepared myself to be sad on this day. You see this day will be the 10th anniversary of the death of my mom. Even though I try to ignore this day every year that it comes, it is tough. This year I promised myself I would be sad on this day. Now I have to rethink my strategy because it will be a wonderfully happy day for my little girl and my family all of whom were too young to remember the date or not around to even know her.

Maybe that was God's plan. Maybe there is a tie there that is way beyond my understanding. My mom never knew my princess. But somehow they are now tied together in a bittersweet way. Maybe this was God's way of allowing me to be happy on this day. God sure does work in mysterious ways, doesn't he?

For now I will follow His plan and be happy on this day. I think that is what my mom would have wanted.

Math Isn't Easy to Everyone

I have to keep reminding myself that while I find math to be an extremely easy subject, not everyone is the same as me.

Case in point. Yesterday while I was getting ready for work and in the middle of brushing my teeth, my young tween asks me to sign two of his recent algebra math quizzes. One is a C and the other is a D. Both require signatures. I pause and collect my two immediate thoughts.

1. Why in the world did he do so poorly on his math tests?
2. Why in the world did he wait through the weekend to show this to me?

I look at him and (realizing this later on) must have had the worst look of disappointment in my face. I calmly ask him what happened on the quizzes? He shrugs his shoulders and says he doesn't know. I tell him that when he gets home from school we will need to review his mistakes so that we can move on from this and do better next time. I sign the papers and proceed to finish getting ready.

A few minutes later I go out to the kitchen only to find him bawling his eyes out over his cereal. The tears alone were enough to make his breakfast soggy. I felt terrible. I told him not to worry about the tests because even though we can't change the grades we can certainly learn from it and do better. He wiped his eyes and we went off to school.

I couldn't help but think about him all day yesterday thinking about him crying over a few rotten test scores. When I stopped by the house during my lunch break, I peeked in his room and saw that he had made his bed and cleaned up his clothes just as I asked him to do. He is a really good boy. And when I looked up his other grades online I notice he is making all A's in the rest of his classes. It's not like he is in a crisis situation. But it's math and math is so easy. Maybe for me. Maybe not for him.

So yesterday before I picked him up from school I decided to buy him a fruit smoothie because those always brings cheer. When he got in the car he was really excited to get the smoothie and we had a heart to heart talk. I explained to him that I just expect him to do his best and that we can both work on his schoolwork together like a team. I told him that on my lunch break I put together a few lesson plans for us to work on together and we did. He seemed to understand his mistakes and looked much more confident by the end of the night.

I learned a big lesson and that is that not all of my kids will have the enthusiasm for the same subjects as I do nor will they excel in the same things I exceled in when I went to school and that is ok. That's what makes them unique. What I love the most about him is that he listens to me, respects me as his mom, and is a kind, sweet and gentle boy. In retrospect that the most important thing to me.