February 15, 2010

What better way to watch Blue's Clues with your morning snack...

February 14, 2010

Ashley insisted on wearing ALL of her jackets/sweaters that she could find Sunday afternoon. When she put them on, I thought she would quickly ask for them to come off, but no, they stayed on until it was bath time! I love her pose in this picture - she is so proud of herself!

February 13, 2010

I didn't forget to take pictures this weekend - just didn't get around to posting.

I love it now that Ashley is able to play with others. She loves her big brother and they had a great time building Saturday afternoon.

February 12, 2010

Watched my little girl eating dinner tonight, looking so big. She was sitting at her table using a spoon and it hit me that she will be 2 in just five months!

February 10, 2010

Shocking...you mean grades and behavior in class are connected?

February 9, 2010

I couldn't get myself to post this picture last night. This is a picture of the new attendance boundaries for our part of the county. It's hard to see why this would make me so upset if you aren't from this area, but we live just above the "d" in Sherwood in the red area of the map. For years, our area has been zoned for Sherwood Elementary. My son has been attending there since Kindergarten and will be entering 5th grade next year. We are less than a mile from the school and Robbie walks or rides his bike often. We will now be zoned for Creel Elementary. What you can tell from this picture/map is that Creel is not nearly as close. So, our district has chose to take children who can walk to school (costs them nothing) and bus them to a school 3 miles away (which I'm sure is a waste of money).

February 8, 2010

We joined yesterday and my first goal is to make it at least once a week. I start Wednesday...

February 7, 2010

I had to pick a few pictures for today because one just wouldn't do this story justice.

Ashley decided she needed to roll around with several stuffed animals today - smiling, laughing and giggling as she did it. It was so cute that I wish I had thought to have one camera recording video and the other taking pictures!

February 6, 2010

Many years ago, 2003 to be exact, I met an amazing young man while working with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Just to show how small the world is, he was the son of someone I graduated high school with (but knew only by name). In my search for a Big Brother for him, matching him with a Big and through various BBBS events, I built a relationship with his family. Several years later, I left BBBS and he attended McNair Magnet School. During all this time, Robbie developed a great relationship with him. Although we don't see him often, Robbie thinks of him as a Big Brother. He came to watch Robbie play in his basketball on Saturday. He hung out with us for several hours later and we went that evening to watch him play in his last basketball game for this season. His team is one of the top teams in their division within the state. He's such a cool kid - funny and hardworking. He's the only freshman on the team and is already a top recruit for his graduating class. One reason I said that he is amazing is because he's hearing impaired and in spite of that, he hasn't let the fact that he's completely deaf in one ear and has an implant/aide in the other stop him or slow him down. Even more, I'm so glad that my son has such a good role model to look up to in his life - literally and figuratively (he's 6'6" already at 16 years of age!).

I Suck...!

I made it a month and then found myself with no inspiration and absolutely no desire to even touch my camera. I did pick up my camera again on Saturday, however. I really hope that I can do better.

January 31, 2010

Even with her snotty nose, how can you not love her???

January 30, 2010

I went to a baby shower today for a high school friend that I haven't seen in years (which is a shame since until recently, she lived in the same town that I work). I'm super excited for her and the journey she is about to begin as a mother with her son, Austin James. Her aunt made her shower cake and it was delicious, not to mention very creative.

January 29, 2010

As I was out purchasing a gift for a friends baby shower, I came across some bathtub crayons and decided to buy them for Ashley. She LOVES to "draw" and "color." My decision to get these for her was very much appreciated (at least I believe by her focus and the look on her face!). Also notice that she is using her left hand. When it comes to coloring or drawing, this is always her preference. However, she usually uses her right hand when eating with a spoon. (We are both righties; although both of my parents are lefties!)

January 28, 2010

Along with my headache last night, Robbie had a writing assignment that he needed to finish and turn in today. When I picked him up from school yesterday, he started by saying that he needed extended time for his writing assignments. Students in Florida take a writing assessment in 4th grade called FCAT Writes. They have 45 minutes to write something based on either a narrative or expository prompt they receive. He swore up and down the entire way home that he is a horrible writer and there is no way that he could pass the Writes test. I, of course, told him otherwise and tried to encourage him to do better. He was given a prompt on Monday and the final draft was due Thursday (today). I'll be honest, his first draft was not good at all. He had a good idea but then went all over the place with it. I made him re-write it after that point where he started pulling strings. I gave him some ideas and sent him off to write. In total, he probably worked a good 2 hours on this assignment. Obviously he won't have this much time when the assessment comes but I think my re-direction helped him realize some where he needs to focus and expand in his writing. Anyway, long story a little bit shorter, he came home today with a high score. Students are scored on a 6 point scale. If you notice in the top left corner, there is a green 6.0 circled. I have a feeling this is Robbie's handwriting. He told me that the teacher went back and forth on how many points to assign. Over on the right side, there is a 6.0 that is circled and crossed out that is his teachers handwriting. In between those two is a 5.5 and a 5. I didn't notice before bed that this was probably his handwriting so I'll have to investigate that more closely. However, whether it is truly a 6, 5.5, or 5.0, he still did an awesome job. (Students need to earn a 4.0 to be considered on grade level.) We'll have to deal with the possibly falsified grade later...

January 27, 2010

Sorry...no picture by me for the 27th of January. I had a splitting headache and there was no way I was going to force myself to do anything but be lazy! Not to mention that I had to struggle with Robbie to complete a writing assignment!

January 26, 2010

On Tuesday, January 26th, the school I work at celebrated its 50th anniversary. The history of McNair Magnet School is amazing and I am so proud to be part of it. Our advanced band, chorus, dance troupe and World Drumming group performed. I took several pictures that evening but my favorite is of our World Drumming group. This group is a big reason I want Robbie to attend McNair for 7th and 8th grade. You can't help but move once this group starts banging on those drums!

January 25, 2010

Went back to the doctor today to review my blood work for my thyroid. Still within the normal range but things not what he wanted to see. My dose was increased once again but he also highly suggested I add Green Tea Extract, Chromium Picolinate, Cinnamon, and CoQ10 to increase my metabolism. We'll see how it goes...

January 24, 2010

One of Ashley's favorite things to do is stand in the cart while we are shopping. She will hold onto the front, stick her butt out and smile away. We call it her "queen of the world" stance. We know it is the not the safest of things but we stay close.

January 23, 2010

I missed Friday's picture. We were out late getting first dibs at a friends garage sale items. However, I did take pictures this weekend but failed to get them posted. That just may be the way it goes, though.

Robbie had a basketball game on Saturday and I finally remembered to bring my camera. I was able to try the sports mode which would take many pictures in sequence. It's a pretty cool feature. I wish the lighting was better in a gym, but I'll take what I can get. Robbie's team ended up winning 23-13 and Robbie scored 13 of those points. They are 4-0 for the season, with 4 more games left in the season. Here is a shot of one of his first lay-ups of the game.

January 21, 2010

You get two pictures today! Same thing, different angles, but I wanted to be able to show how my crazy cat, Moochie, can sleep just about anywhere, in any position. I guess she felt the need to be curled up close to me and was going to find a way to make it happen. She found a way to squeeze in between Robbie's lunch box (not quite sure why it was left on the couch but that's where his backpack had been) and one of Ashley's stuffed animals. She seems amazingly comfortable even though it looks anything but!