Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Happy Birthday Tara
Yesterday was Tara's 9th birthday. We are so happy she is growing up so healthy and making good choices and is generally a happy girl. We can't believe it's been a year since her baptism. Time does fly. For her birthday she wanted to take her friends to see "Hotel for Dogs". So, we all met at the Pinnacle 18 Theater, only to find a firetruck out front. There had been a gas leak and a "small fire". So we quickly found out the next show time at another location. We took all the kids back to our house to "play" for a little over an hour. They had a great time. We then went to the Winnsong theater at 4 and we found out that all the shows until 7 were sold out. So, we ended up seeing "Bolt" in 3D....and the guy at the counter saw my distress with 6 kids and no movie that we wanted to see and gave us all the senior citizen discount. How nice. We got 2 large popcorns and I refilled one twice. So, they had 4 large popcorns between all of them. Instead of a birthday cake at the theater, Tara gave huge Hershey bars to all her friends for coming. It really turned out alright. Her favorite gift from us was the chocolate poptarts...something she asks for everytime she goes to the store and I ALWAYS say NO! She was thrilled. I will try to add pictures here some time today so you can see the fun. She designed her own birthday cake....unsolicited by me...one night. I thought it would be fun if we could figure a way to make it. So, we tried. You can tell us what you think. This could be a career for her, designing and creating cakes.
I worked 3 days last week. One day in resource (so boring) and 2 in Mrs. Kelly's 4th grade class. It was a good insight for me to see what Tara will be doing next year. I was amazed at the behavior problems of some 10 year olds. To me, that is still young...but some of these kids are really a handful. The second day was much better than the first. Mostly because of the cold. (our low was 8), it was an excused absence if parents thought their kids couldn't get to school safely. So, the 4 kids that were trouble the day before stayed home. I am really enjoying the school atmosphere and like being with the kids.
Emily started Dance class....she's taking a Modern dance class. She's been begging for so long. We finally found a dance studio that was close that I felt comfortable with. She only has a couple girls in the class so she gets alot of one-on-one instruction. She goes Monday and Thurs. right after school.
Both Emily and Tara started piano last week with their grandma Borden. They both are doing great and Tara has remembered alot since her "hiatus" last year. Now we have to schedule "piano time" each day. The girls are excited, I think I'm the one that is going a little batty hearing "jolly old saint nicholas" 10 times a day!
Tara had a dentist appointment and has to have one of her "baby teeth" romoved because the permanent one is coming in sideways and it's not loose at all. She will have that removed next Monday.
Jacob is doing fine. He's found a happy place in his class. He had a talk with his teacher this week and promised not to "race" anymore. When I aske what that was about. I said "you shouldn't be running". He said "no, not running. I race to be first in line, race to get my lunch box first, race to turn in my seat work....and i can't do that anymore." He look defeated. We've been dealing with that for a long time. I thought that was a "first-born" issue.
Today is our first "real" snow. It's not sticking yet, but it's supposed to snow all day. So, I sent the kids out to play.
I worked 3 days last week. One day in resource (so boring) and 2 in Mrs. Kelly's 4th grade class. It was a good insight for me to see what Tara will be doing next year. I was amazed at the behavior problems of some 10 year olds. To me, that is still young...but some of these kids are really a handful. The second day was much better than the first. Mostly because of the cold. (our low was 8), it was an excused absence if parents thought their kids couldn't get to school safely. So, the 4 kids that were trouble the day before stayed home. I am really enjoying the school atmosphere and like being with the kids.
Emily started Dance class....she's taking a Modern dance class. She's been begging for so long. We finally found a dance studio that was close that I felt comfortable with. She only has a couple girls in the class so she gets alot of one-on-one instruction. She goes Monday and Thurs. right after school.
Both Emily and Tara started piano last week with their grandma Borden. They both are doing great and Tara has remembered alot since her "hiatus" last year. Now we have to schedule "piano time" each day. The girls are excited, I think I'm the one that is going a little batty hearing "jolly old saint nicholas" 10 times a day!
Tara had a dentist appointment and has to have one of her "baby teeth" romoved because the permanent one is coming in sideways and it's not loose at all. She will have that removed next Monday.
Jacob is doing fine. He's found a happy place in his class. He had a talk with his teacher this week and promised not to "race" anymore. When I aske what that was about. I said "you shouldn't be running". He said "no, not running. I race to be first in line, race to get my lunch box first, race to turn in my seat work....and i can't do that anymore." He look defeated. We've been dealing with that for a long time. I thought that was a "first-born" issue.
Today is our first "real" snow. It's not sticking yet, but it's supposed to snow all day. So, I sent the kids out to play.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Shoe shopping with Tara
I am very sad I did not take my camera with me to record this event...shopping for black knee-high boots with Tara. We went to three different stores. We started at payless....thinking surely they would have something. They only had rainboots....the guy said "in fact, boots are so out of season, we are already getting sandals in." Really? I thought winter just started. I'm pretty sure it's only 35 degrees out there today. Why are you selling sandals? So, we decide to move on to K-mart...because it's going out of business across from the mall. All they have are shoes no one would be caught dead in....big clomping snow 'moon boots' like I had in elementary school....this is Knoxville, it rains, sometimes is chilly but we never have snow we have to shovel or plow.
So,we head on to Target. We find alot of boots there. We realize she is a size 4, which is really the last of the "kid" sizes....a 5 is a woman's shoe. Which, to get her foot into the boot, she needs at least a 5, a 5 1/2 is better. Which means the style is far more fancy than a 8, almost 9 year old needs to be wearing. This was a sample of our conversation. "Ok, Tara, here is a black knee-high boot, try it on",I say.....she replies"Ok, but it's too heely"...meaning the heel is too high (I agree it's 3 inches, she puts it on and falls over forward). "Ok, here's a brown boot, try it on"...she replies "ok, but it's too pointy" meaning the toe is pointed...it's a small heel, it's knee-high and it fits her foot but, then she tries to walk in it and I realize her excuse of "too pointy" is good enough to get it off her. I don't want her walking that way down the halls of church tomorrow. We try on suede with 3 inches of indian fringe. There is nothing in her closet that she could wear with those. We try on flat boots that are "too buckley" they had about 3 large buckles up the side, we tried on short ankle boots, and just for fun the rainboots but, walked out of the store with nothing. I think for now I'll just stick to my beloved way of shopping. Which entails me going to the store while the kids are at school. Picking out something I think fits or they will like and keep the receipt for a definite return.
So,we head on to Target. We find alot of boots there. We realize she is a size 4, which is really the last of the "kid" sizes....a 5 is a woman's shoe. Which, to get her foot into the boot, she needs at least a 5, a 5 1/2 is better. Which means the style is far more fancy than a 8, almost 9 year old needs to be wearing. This was a sample of our conversation. "Ok, Tara, here is a black knee-high boot, try it on",I say.....she replies"Ok, but it's too heely"...meaning the heel is too high (I agree it's 3 inches, she puts it on and falls over forward). "Ok, here's a brown boot, try it on"...she replies "ok, but it's too pointy" meaning the toe is pointed...it's a small heel, it's knee-high and it fits her foot but, then she tries to walk in it and I realize her excuse of "too pointy" is good enough to get it off her. I don't want her walking that way down the halls of church tomorrow. We try on suede with 3 inches of indian fringe. There is nothing in her closet that she could wear with those. We try on flat boots that are "too buckley" they had about 3 large buckles up the side, we tried on short ankle boots, and just for fun the rainboots but, walked out of the store with nothing. I think for now I'll just stick to my beloved way of shopping. Which entails me going to the store while the kids are at school. Picking out something I think fits or they will like and keep the receipt for a definite return.
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