Stuffie Scarecrow

It's harvest festival time around Piedmont again and that means scarecrow making time. I had an idea for an easy to make scarecrow so I got Michael's buy in and we officially took it on for Elizabeth's class. Kids donated unwanted stuffed animals and we skewered them on some pvc pipe that Michael set up in the formation of a person of sorts.  Unfortunately, we didn't really account for the weight of the animals or the last minute mistake of the direction of the body piece so it was kind of falling over most of the time and in fact, fell over at some point.  We didn't win any awards, but were pleased with the outcome overall.

The firehouse problem

Parker's class was given this problem the other day.  You have to put down the smallest number of firehouses such that each firehouse is only one block away from a house. The circles below are either a house or firehouse.  Parker quickly got to 7 and thought that it was impossible to get any fewer, but had heard another kid got to 6. We all worked out it and got nowhere last night. I even emailed it to the Marcuses hoping one of those smart people down there would figure it out and fill us in.

Then I went shopping this morning and while I was there, I got a text from Michael with a picture of the solution with 6.  Parker figured it out after he gave up and was working on another problem trying to do 3 blocks away.

Go ahead. Try it. If you get 6 in less than 24 hours, let us know.  You'll be officially smarter than Parker.

Overheard while watching PE

"Yay we got Parker on our team!"

"Unfair! We never get Parker!"

Bikes.

The girls outgrew their 16 inch bikes so we got them the next size up.  They are both green, but I got different color bells so they could tell whose was whose. I picked them up the other day and that evening we went to the school to practice.  With hand breaks and gears and a bigger frame, I had a feeling we would have some difficulties. I even warned Michael to be ready for some hysterics from Miranda since she was the last to learn to ride and usually has the hardest time with this kind of thing.

But...Miranda had no problems.  She even fell off a couple times, bouncing back up saying, "I'm ok! I'm ok!"  She used her breaks, went up hills, went down hills, and loved it.

Elizabeth, the one that has ridden a bike without training wheels since age 3, was totally freaked out. She WAS hysterical and Michael had to stay with her, holding the bike and generally being patient for her ongoing meltdown.

The next day they both wanted to try again, but I said we would wait until the weekend.

"math"

Some of Parker's Math this week.


ELF + ELF = FOOL

EGG + EGG = PAGE

SEND + MORE = MONEY


Now parker is trying to make up his own. Which is hard.

*I got the first two quickly but struggled with last one. Oh Boy.

Spelling

When I went to pick up Parker today, he never came out of the room after everyone was dismissed.  I went into the classroom to find him and he was with Anjuna (Ms. Lohnes).  I asked if everything was ok and she motioned me in.  She said that he had gotten all the words right on the pre-test in spelling so she was trying to find words he couldn't spell.

She tried Product, Remainder, Atmosphere, Quotient, and Syllable.  He got Quotient wrong (Quotiont) and Syllable wrong (sillable).   You should have seen her eyes roll when he spelled Atmosphere correctly.  Then she said, "can you spell Trilobite?" I said, "What is a trilobite???"  He spelled it trilibite and she was pleased he got it wrong.  Then she showed me one and we were on our way.

Elizabeth, Miranda or Rachel?

Kamping!

Took the kids to a new KOA this weekend in Santa Cruz. The first night there were about 50 Russian men be t to us having some sort of meeting with a screen and loud speakers. I was not happy. But they left Saturday morning and no one else came so we had tons I'd space. Leigh came with her daughter Ava, Sara with her kids Simon and Penelope, and Teresa with little Nico. All the girls were six years old and got along great.

They swam, rode bikes and scooters, played mini golf, arcades games and pingpong and climbed trees. Our new hammock ripped but otherwise a very successful Kamping trip.

On Sunday we went to boardwalk where Parker was in heaven, Elizabeth was freaked out, and Miranda was just happy to be there.

Enrichment Classes

After school enrichment classes started this week which means I've been busy since I'm in charge of all of them.  I spent a lot of time re-explaining things to parents, finding kids lost in the hallways, dealing with refunds, helping teachers set up, etc.

The kids all got to take classes too.  Miranda is doing a Sewing class and an Art class.  Elizabeth is doing Circus Arts and Cheerleading (which looks totally awesome.)  They both also do ballet after school one day a week off campus.  Parker is doing chess where he is convinced he is the best. Only one class for him because he already has Piano, Soccer, and Swim team (three days a week).

Miranda was nervous about the Art class class since it's all big kids and lots of them. She was crying and hiding behind me, but got over it and enjoyed the class. She is the only first grader in Sewing but did great there.  Elizabeth LOVED her classes and was so far superior than anyone in the circus class it was amusing. She is currently practicing her cheers.

No classes on Friday.  It's a day to play and relax.

Things I am volunteering for...

Enrichment classes at school
Library duty at school
Computer lab at school
2nd grade workshop time at school
Room parent coordinator at school
Lunch duty at school
Fix our ferals vet tech
Twins club support chair
Twins club webmaster

Too much???

Aunt and Cousin

Amber and Lori came down for the girls' bday party.  Everyone was pretty damn happy about that.  Except Amber when she had to light saber fight with Parker.  She did amazingly avoid jumping at Pump it Up.

More Party Pics

More pictures from my phone at pump it up.

Before the party began.

Waiting in line to go to other room.

 In the throne. The whole reason the girls wanted their party there was because of this stupid throne.

 Miranda was sung to first.

 Beck, Bauer and Ellie (front)

 with Pia, Lily, William and Caroline too.

 Present from Greta. A big hit.

Presents from Emma. Also a hit.

 Roller skates were the biggest hit.

For both.

Parker grows a carrot

Birthday (party) girls

Kids

Cheating

Parker is realizing that kids cheat. A lot. At chess, wall ball, four square and any other games. This is hard for him and he isn't sure what to do about it. and neither am I.

Parent teacher conferences

Michael and I went to parent teacher conferences this morning.

Miranda was first. She is going great.  "Like a puppy dog wagging her tail at every morning eager to see everyone and learn."  Doing well in math, reading, and writing. All around...super.

Elizabeth was next. Also doing very well, as expected. A bit stronger than Miranda in reading, but not much. Likes school, behaves, enjoys it all, etc.  "She's delightful!"

Parker was last and took the longest as his math specialist and the principal joined us.  The meeting was to make a plan for him.  It was decided that he would not to do the standard curriculum. They assessed him as knowing a lot, but not all of, fourth grade but were hesitant to just work through a different "work book" with him because that wasn't very interesting. They are going to delve deeper into certain topics and look at things more conceptually. Parker will always have the choice to work with the class or do his own thing. We asked that his status be documented in his permanent record somehow and they agreed this was a good idea.  We left satisfied with the plan.

I guess our kids are doing all right.

Lanyard

When I taught aerobics in 1999 and 2000 I taught at about six gyms including the berkeley YMCA. They gave me a lanyard to wear to show I was employed there. After I was no longer teaching I started wearing the lanyard as a key chain. Except for people thinking I am a teacher or employee at target it worked extremely well. I never lost my keys with it and could lock the car while still holding groceries. Which was huge considering I lost them on a regular basis. So I stuck with it and have used them ever since.

Until the other day when I was holding my keys and the lanyard fell off. I had no idea where but it was gone. I went through a period of grief over the lanyard that I had for over 12 years. I wondered if I would actually buy another one even taking a second look at an angry bird one the other day when I passed that section in the toy store, but immediately realized how incredibly lame that would be.

So I just resigned myself to not having one anymore, to losing it being a sign that perhaps I was ready to have keys that I didn't lose.  And then, today, when I was crossing the street to go to Parent Teacher conferences, there it was, on the street, run over multiple times, but there nonetheless.   Since I had picked a random place to cross the street, I figured this was more of a sign than losing it and decided that after a nice wash, it would be good to wear for another 12 years.

Funny Story

I was at the pool today waiting for Parker to get dressed after swim team when a mom of girl who sat next to Parker all year last year said Hi.  We started chatting and then she tells me the following:

"Sadie came home one day last year and told us that Parker had a different math book then the rest of the class.  Since Sadie is pretty good in math, my partner (Sadie's other mom) got a little upset that she didn't have a different math book too.  So at the parent teacher conference, we asked, "How come Parker has a different math book than Sadie and why can't Sadie have that one too?"  Mrs. Sears then chuckled a bit and said, "Well...Parker is different.  I've never seen a kid like him before and I don't think I will again.  But don't worry, Sadie is very good in math too.  Just not like Parker.  Her book is fine.  And I'm having her sit next to Parker because she is one of the only ones who isn't intimidated by him."

The moms laughed a good deal about it after the fact, but never told me about that until now.

I was amused.

Letter

Look who wrote a letter to the President today.

Tps: health

You know dad you could have a heart attack today.

Soccer

Parker had his first soccer game yesterday.  The coach said he did great since he wasn't afraid to get in there.  He also likes to hustle and run.  He had a great time.

Cakes

I asked the girls what kind of cakes they want for their birthday.

Miranda said a "horse cake". Whatever the hell that is. Chocolate with chocolate frosting.

Elizabeth wanted a strawberry shortcake cake with a big picture of herself on it.   Nice.

Since I'm doing absolutely no work for the party, I'll put some effort into the cakes.

Just like old times.

I took a ballet class tonight.  First one in over 25 years.  And I actually didn't totally suck.  I wasn't the fattest one there. I wasn't the worst one there.  And I wasn't the only one from Westside Ballet there.  This college graduate who studied there was in the class. She was better than I was, but I had about 20 years and 20 pounds on her.  We did stuff from the corner together and the teacher said he could tell we studied at the same place. We had the same arms.  She was in the nutcracker too and we both agreed we would never forget the choreography.  My teacher Yvonne is 92 years old now. Which is funny because she seemed like 92 years old back then.

The teacher was very nice and kept reminding me not to over do it. Most stuff just came back to me quickly. I remembered the terms and my body remembered the moves.   I couldn't quite do a double pirouette, but I'm betting I will soon.

I'll be sore tomorrow.

Trash Talking

Miranda asked today, "Mommy, Why did Daddy say that people in cars think you are a bad driver?  And that Daddy is the best driver in the world?"

Hmmm...

Bloody Murder

Tonight, after soccer practice, while waiting for a slice of pizza, Parker said to me, "Mom...have you ever yelled 'bloody murder'?"

I responded, "What? Why would I yell 'bloody murder'?  That seems kinda strange doesn't it?"

Parker, "Yeah I guess. I was just wondering."

If I were rich...

Today Elizabeth said if she had a million bucks she would buy a house, then a car, and then an umbrella.

Which is strange since she has an umbrella.