Justin: Oh, my boy. He's doing so well with school. Even after the change in curriculum. They have him on track with where he scored in his testing. He's very good in math so they have him doing multiplication now. He's excellent in reading/sight words... and they have DEFINITELY upped the difficulty on that. A few of his words the past week or two were "advantage", "argument", etc... He loves it... and the photographic memory is ridiculous! He can see the word on a note card a few times and he's got it. His school has introduced an incentive program in which the children "earn dollars" for their great disposition, concentration, help, grades, transition, social behaviors, and even if they were caught doing something nice for another student. At the end of the school week, on Friday, the children get to go into the "Life Skills Store" where items have been donated by parents, companies, stores alike... and depending on how much money they earned in school, they can "shop" and find an item (or two) that they can afford from their weeks earnings. Great tool. Teaches them about great work ethics, saving money, and calculations. Well the first week, Justin bought a bat. He was HAPPY! He also found while he was shopping a BRAND NEW copy of Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition Remix for Playstation 2... and decided that he would work his tail off to do whatever it took to earn the $50 needed to buy it. And boy you know he did! He earned $50 in one week and earned himself a brand new playstation game. Of course they approached me Friday morning to make certain it was ok for him to purchase. And of course I COULD NOT say no.... he earned that money and he deserved to buy whatever he wanted to with it... doesn't mean I cant put stipulations on it when he gets home. ;) And I did, he can only play on the weekends, while during the week, we are concentrating on school work and learning resposibilities at home. And he has done really well with it. (Although this is something we already have implemented at home with his other games). Overall, Justin is brilliant. He's a hard worker. And he's just so darn cute when he smiles and those dimples show....
Asilyn: Oh my adorable little girl. The first week of school, she did awesome! She had no problems going, had no issues at school, and loved telling me all about how her day was. Although on Friday, she woke up with a sore throat, cough and low grade fever. So she missed her first "swim" day. And she also became acclimated to being back at home without having the rigid routine... and being "top dog" again. Because on Monday, second week of school, she broke my heart. We walked into her classroom, I kissed her goodbye and turned to leave and the look I got, I KNEW she was going to cry. I, of course, asked her what was wrong, and she began to cry saying she wanted to go home with me and Kailyn, she didn't want to stay... I had to leave her with alligator tears streaming down her cheeks, and my heart in my throat... it was tough. I don't like it... and because of my past, things that happened to me when I was her age, all sorts of thoughts began rushing through my mind, possible explainations as to why all of a sudden my baby didn't want to go anymore... She continued to cry Tuesday and Wednesday... she had a field trip on Thursday so she was excited to go that day, but it was back to crying on Friday... I finally had a talk with her this weekend. Our talks tend to bounce around from subject to subject as her mind thinks thoughts that sometimes do NOT pertain to the subject at hand. But luckily, I was blessed with the patience of Job, and so I just go with it and eventually steer the conversation back toward the direction I originally wanted it to go. Well this day (Friday afternoon), I decided to ask her straightforward if anyone has ever tried to touch her (and I was more specific than I am going to be here) and she told me no... After asking several questions with soft spoken answers to my satisfaction, I eventually explained that only mommy can look/touch there... and even then, it was only when she had a "boo-boo" or during baths or whiping after potty (which is rare now). And if ANYONE else tries, to YELL no RUN and scream... and we practiced that part (which she rather enjoyed). And then the conversation turned toward why she was crying at school. I had my guesses (because like I said, my mind began coming up with it's own scenarios)... and I definitely guessed it correctly. Asilyn has been a little unsure about one of the teachers there, Ms. Tina. I sense her standoffishness, and have for awhile now. So this past week, I've made the efforts to talk a little bit more with Ms. Tina, become engaging in conversation with her rather than JUST with Ms. Angela (Asilyn's favorite). And the more I got to know Ms. Tina, the more I realized that she just takes some time to open up to people. As Asi has witnessed this display of open conversation, she has definitely warmed up to her. And now for the past week or so hasn't cried at all. Thank God for small prayers.
Kailyn: Oh what do I say about the most socialized, little talkative butterfly to ever grace this household! lol Her and I have had so much bonding time these past 3 weeks. Her 3rd birthday was August 26th and after we dropped "bubba & sissy" off at school, her and I (even though I was severly sick with acute bronchitis) went to the grocery store where I let her pick out her own birthday breakfast and drink (donuts & yoohoo). We had a small celebration for her that night with a mini-cake and a present (as her party was on the weekend). A Dora fleece blanket. And oh my! I have NEVER in the life of raising babies, living with brothers, and seeing other peoples children, seen a smile and heard a high-pitched girly squeal as I witnessed that night. The look on her face was priceless and one I hope to never forget. It was so adorable as she buried her face in the lush pink softness of what seemed to be the softest manmade material ever made! And boy did she want to carry this thing around everywhere even though it was big enough to cover about 4 of her!
On another note, my husband has been spectacular to me this past week. As I mentioned, I've been sick with acute bronchitis and it really was horrible for about 2-3 days. I don't know how I managed to continue to take the kids to school every morning as well as pick Asilyn up in the afternoons when I seemingly felt worse! But God gave me the strength to do it, but believe it when I say I crashed right back into bed when we got home. Tommy has really taken the lead during this time, cooked dinner, cleaned up, given baths, and tucked the children in bed at night. It was truly a blessing to be able to sleep/rest away this sickness. Another reason I believe God gave us a partner, for times like these, in order to not do this alone. We leave for our annimoon (or honeyversary) next week... our celebration of 10 yrs of marriage. There we plan to try out all types of things that at this point in our lives, we have not done or couldn't do because of our kids (and their young ages). We hope to surf, paraglide, catch every movie we could ever want to see, date, IMAX, and even quietly and personally renew our vows to last us another 10 yrs. ;) I am so excited, as is my husband, and we've not been able to stop talking about it. It's fresh on our minds at every turn, making every sacrifice we make to save another buck for our trip all that more worthwhile. We want to do it right. Not everyday we get to celebrate a 10 year anniversary. Especially still being so in love with one another, if not more than the day we said our wedding vows 10 years ago. I truly am a bundle of nervous energy because I can't wait to have 9 days of just me and my man.... heaven! (Believe that I will be calling my kids at least every night).
Anyway this post has grown rather long and I'm sure many of your eyes have crossed nearing the end of this. =) To enhance this post, I'm adding pics of the bday girl, the cake I made her, and some others! Have a blessed day! I'll be sure to post more often so as to prevent another post as long as this one in trying to catch up. LOL
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