When I was a child I seemed to be ill every Halloween. I remember 2 different ones distinctly - puking when I got out of the car from Trick or Treating, and another one going in my costume to the doctor's office.
So anyway... my children have been passing around a virus where they run a decently high fever for a couple days and then are fine. This morning, Perpetua was running 103.2 degrees. Some motrin is in her, and she feels better... but we had a talk about how Mom was *always* sick on Halloween. There were a few tears because we had to cancel a playdate and skip her dance/music class (which she calls a "dance party" and looks forward to EVERY week)...
Right now she and Aaron and Rosalie are in the kitchen with their Dad carving the pumpkin. It depends on how she feels if she'll come in the car to go trick-or-treating - I told her if not, we'd take a picture of her in her costume and have her brothers trick-or-treat for her. I suspect she'd crawl into that car to accompany us with her last ounce of strength though.
Last night I took the older 3 kids to the BRHS Halloween Carnival. It was the most crowded event I've been to in Bethel - ever - including Camai. There was barely room to turn around. We ended up getting a couple treats to eat and then taking off... I felt badly but it was just too crowded... we couldn't even get to the ticket area.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
a stop in at my son's 3rd grade classroom
I dropped by my son's 3rd grade classroom today to drop off a couple of extra classroom snacks and a pumpkin (they didn't have one to carve - not sure why, but I figured it would be fun with the kids so with the teacher's OK I brought one in for them).
The children were in the middle of their math lesson and the teacher asked if I had time to watch something cool. I sure did! They did a 4 digit math problem and checked it with two different ways. The kids actually knew the term "inverse operation"... way to go, guys! I was impressed. I really like Allen's teacher. She, like many (most) of the teachers in the LKSD is challeged with a very broad spectrum of learning abilities and current capabilities. Currently the district doesn't segregate kids by academic ability in classrooms, so teachers have to make the curriculum adaptable to the highest and lowest while trying to include everyone in the middle. I have to say she does an awesome job of this, while maintaining a well disciplined classroom (again, this is a HUGE plus, and I think, especially hard to do given some of the issues in our school district).
I also got to see the much ballyhooed Smart Board in action. I have to admit - those things are EVERY bit as awesome as I've heard! Aaron's 1st grade class just got one (haven't seen it yet). It looks similar to a pull-down board, but sturdier - and it's computerized. You can erase with a special digital "eraser" and write (in different colors) with these pens. It looks like a really versatile teaching tool, and I'm glad the teachers have these at their disposal!
I'm generally not a fan of "Computers in the Classroom" (disclaimer: computer literacy is important, yes - but a computer for every child is not going to necessarily equal increased quality of instruction... in fact, they can distract... topic for another day though!) but Smart Boards - awesome!
On an unrelated note: I'm traveling next week (solo, it's not a 100% pleasure trip) so I'll be gone from Monday night-Thursday morning. My husband will be here so the house will be hopping as usual though! Cross your fingers that everything on the trip goes and comes out well. More details next week.
The children were in the middle of their math lesson and the teacher asked if I had time to watch something cool. I sure did! They did a 4 digit math problem and checked it with two different ways. The kids actually knew the term "inverse operation"... way to go, guys! I was impressed. I really like Allen's teacher. She, like many (most) of the teachers in the LKSD is challeged with a very broad spectrum of learning abilities and current capabilities. Currently the district doesn't segregate kids by academic ability in classrooms, so teachers have to make the curriculum adaptable to the highest and lowest while trying to include everyone in the middle. I have to say she does an awesome job of this, while maintaining a well disciplined classroom (again, this is a HUGE plus, and I think, especially hard to do given some of the issues in our school district).
I also got to see the much ballyhooed Smart Board in action. I have to admit - those things are EVERY bit as awesome as I've heard! Aaron's 1st grade class just got one (haven't seen it yet). It looks similar to a pull-down board, but sturdier - and it's computerized. You can erase with a special digital "eraser" and write (in different colors) with these pens. It looks like a really versatile teaching tool, and I'm glad the teachers have these at their disposal!
I'm generally not a fan of "Computers in the Classroom" (disclaimer: computer literacy is important, yes - but a computer for every child is not going to necessarily equal increased quality of instruction... in fact, they can distract... topic for another day though!) but Smart Boards - awesome!
On an unrelated note: I'm traveling next week (solo, it's not a 100% pleasure trip) so I'll be gone from Monday night-Thursday morning. My husband will be here so the house will be hopping as usual though! Cross your fingers that everything on the trip goes and comes out well. More details next week.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
when do they learn to love sleep?
The kids were up before 7 yesterday. O-kayyy.... but then we watched a(n awesome movie - Robots! - uplifting, cute, funny for everyone) and we were up past 8:30. And this morning they were up before 6:45.
I can smell a cranky afternoon coming up here... :P I really don't understand the lure of having to cling to each possible second of waking time. It's OK to sleep past 7. Even 8. If I had my way, I'd be in bed NOW! But I digress...
What do you do when your little kids insist on such an insane schedule? I know there's going to be some enforced rest time around here later, because this particular schedule usually ends in tears and fighting somewhere around 2pm when we realize we should've continued sleeping....
I can smell a cranky afternoon coming up here... :P I really don't understand the lure of having to cling to each possible second of waking time. It's OK to sleep past 7. Even 8. If I had my way, I'd be in bed NOW! But I digress...
What do you do when your little kids insist on such an insane schedule? I know there's going to be some enforced rest time around here later, because this particular schedule usually ends in tears and fighting somewhere around 2pm when we realize we should've continued sleeping....
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Perpetua's hairstyle for her Halloween Carnival...
Here is Perpetua from this morning - we went to the Halloween Carnival hosted at the elementary school today. Aaron was unwell, but I took Allen, Perpetua and one of her friends and we had a really nice time! She wanted a "pretty hairdo" to go along with her flower costume and I think it turned out nicely!
oreo disaster, family game night, Rosalie falls asleep
How's that for a mixed bag? First up: Andrew gets ahold of half of an oreo discarded by his 2 year old sister. What a mess! So of course, I grabbed the camera before I washed him off. He was very pleased!
Here's our family game night from last week. The girl in the foreground is our awesome neighbor who came over and joined in!
Here is Rosalie after an evening of running in and out while her Daddy was at a City Council meeting. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and didn't wake up again til morning!
Here's our family game night from last week. The girl in the foreground is our awesome neighbor who came over and joined in!
Here is Rosalie after an evening of running in and out while her Daddy was at a City Council meeting. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and didn't wake up again til morning!
Aaron's birthday party
Below are some pictures from Aaron's birthday party that we celebrated on the 17th. We have more pictures with all of the kids there (these are just a few, plus an early game) but for some reason they aren't in my folder... so here is what we have!
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