Our Celebrity

First, a bit of background. The mascot for Northwoods Elementary is a koala bear. The goal for every child there is to be a "koalaty kid." Get it? Yeah, we think it's kind of corny too.

The school has a closed-circuit news show called KNN which stands for, you guessed it, the Koalaty News Network. I remember how we had students do announcements in middle school and high school. This is kind of like that, but with TV. Way higher-tech than I remember!

Last year they asked for volunteers for KNN and of course we suggested that Lily do it. She was a bit reluctant at first, but between our encouragement and the encouragement she received from her fourth grade teacher she eventually agreed to do it.

This has been her first month. She's doing weather, but I think that she will rotate to other positions as the year goes on. So far, so good. She was afraid of not reading well and stuttering on the air, but she has done a great job by all accounts.

Unfortunately, Lily inherited my tendency to fear the unknown. This is one of those times when we're glad that we pushed her a little bit. We're also glad for the support of Ms DuPree who encouraged her to do it. Good job to our weather girl!

Teacher Conference

I had a conference with Noah's teacher yesterday. It went well. The main thing we discussed was how we see him reading better than his tests would indicate. A lot of it comes down to how they have to assess him. When his teacher said that they were under "Common Core," her voice sort of dropped at the word "core." I commented that nobody's voice seems to go up when they say "Common Core," and she just smiled. It seems that when Lily was in first grade they assessed students orally, but now they have to write. This is not so bad, but it is something for him to work on. He's going to keep reading chapter books though. The trick with Noah is figuring out whether he really comprehends what he is reading. He has no trouble decoding what words are, but he may not be taking it all in.

His other subjects are going very well. He goes to Lily's first grade teacher for math and she said that they love Noah. Noah occasionally talks when it's not appropriate, but overall he is a sweet, well-behaved and well-rounded kid. He's certainly not one of those kids who seems like he eats pop rocks for breakfast.

He is also well-rounded in that he is not just into sports, Star Wars, Mario, Angry Birds, and Wii. His teacher said, that "Noah likes the ladies." He has made friends with two girls - Nina and Jasmine (or Jazzy as she is also known). One day Noah came home with a purple scarf tied around his wrist. That was a gift from Jasmine. Mrs. Griswold said that they had to change Noah's seat because he kept making faces at Nina.

I'm afraid that those big brown eyes are already starting to attract attention. It's all sweet fun now, but in a few years it won't be. It sounds like Noah is starting to be like a guy in an Axe commercial.

Field Trip

Lily and I had quite the day today. I got up at 4:00 and she got up at 4:15. I took a shower and then made us omelettes to prepare us for the day ahead. We got to Northwoods at 5:30 and were on the road at around 5:50 for the trip to Wilmington.

Our first stop was to Masonboro Island. However, before we could take the boat over the kids waited in line to use single-toilet bathrooms. That took quite a while, as you might imagine. The boat ride was fun for everyone, though extremely cold. I would estimate that the boat traveled around 15 kts, so combine that with a morning in the mid-50s, no sun, and some breeze on its own and you have some chilly children. The adults all stayed in the cabin.

The island was a lot of fun. There were three stations set up. One was to learn about the various life that is on the island. The next was to try catching some crabs, which was wholly unsuccessful since it was too cold. The last was to gather shells, but in a focused way. All three stations were quite educational.

After that we headed over to Ft. Fisher and the NC Aquarium. We had a picnic lunch which was unpleasant due to no-see-ums and fire ants. We breezed through the aquarium and all the girls had a good time. The gift shop was of course the main attraction. 

We then got back on the buses and went to see the USS North Carolina. This was the main attraction for many of the kids, even one of the girls in our group. Unfortunately, we were really pressed for time so we had to hurry through it. Lily was a little nervous standing on the grating in the engine room. Unfortunately, by the time we finished touring below decks we didn't have time for the bridge or CIC. We plan to go back as a family.

We rode for a little while and then stopped at a McDonald's. This was a pretty rough experience since they were out of ice cream with no way of making any. I tried to salvage it by buying apple pies for the girls. I hoped that the kids would all crash on the ride home, but only a few did. Fortunately, most were quiet as we watched Rio on the ride home.

Lily, Lauren, Kathryn, and Madeline

Everyone said that they had a great time. I know that I did. I also know that I am very, very tired now.

Our Writer

Lily got a writing assignment back with a 4. To the uninitiated, that is the highest grade one can get. She got 3s for using great words and for using conjunctions, but otherwise she got all 4s. Here is a transcript of the story. I transcribed it as closely as I could so you can see how she really writes.

Oreo My Puppy

When I got home from school I was a little excited because I could be getting a dog. I really wanted a dog and my parents said they would get me one as an early birthday gift. My dad's mom and stepdad died and my dad's mom left my dad with alot of money, so they decided to pretend it was a last gift from them. We might get a dog named Toot I couldn't wait to see if we got him!

When I finished everything I had to do (homework) my mom wanted to show me something. It was a puppy! As soon as I saw him I said, "yes! yes! yes! yes! yes! YES!" But then my mom said someone else was coming before us. I started to feel really worried then my mom said, "There is still a chance." I looked at the time. "Mom! It's five fifty." "Hurry then." said my mom then I went to ballet class.

When my ballet class was done, my family picked me up. we got Zaxby's for dinner and went to the house. The people met us outside. When they opened the door, the puppy slipped on the floor, greeting the people. The people talked with my parents about the puppy's belongings, and then the puppy came to me first with my brother and parents. He chose me! Then my parents said yes, they would get the puppy. when we were in the car ride to the house we came up with the name Oreo because his face looks like one.

On the ride home I talked to Oreo. I kept looking at him because he looked so cute in his crate. We (my family) brought a towel in case Oreo was carsick he was. At first he was doing fine, but then I noticed he threw up. then, I noticed he threw up again. This time it was white. I asked my parents why it was different. The replied, "he had an empty stomach so he just spit." 

I thought it was the best day ever. I realized I was super worried in the beginning but, in the end everything came out alright. But my puppy chews everything! EVERYTHING! I love him though he's so cute. Oreo was the best birthday gift ever.

Our Reader

I took this video on Sunday afternoon after we came home from church. This is the introduction to Genesis in a study bible intended for children age 5-9. As far as I know, he never saw this page before. Please forgive my poor camerawork when I leaned in to help him find his place. Although it's hard to understand him, I think that this is pretty impressive for a five year-old who has only been in kindergarten for a couple of weeks. Of course, I'm a little biased too.

Open House

It's been a very hectic two weeks for us with some big news, but that will have to wait for another post. In the meantime, I want to update you on the open house I attended tonight at Lily's and Noah's school.

We started with a PTA meeting. The only real positive I can say from this is that I got to see what their new principal looks like. She's definitely not as dynamic as Dr. Chisnall. But then again, she's not from New Zealand and doesn't start by saying, "G'Day parents and caregivers!" in a thick Kiwi accent.

My first session was with Lily's teacher Ms Dupree. I have a feeling that Lily will learn much from her. Ms. Dupree seems to be something of a neatnick, which is just fine with me. Lily could use more of that in her life. For example, she has various teams in her classroom for the chores that come up. Since the school can only afford vacuuming once per week, Ms Dupree has a team called "bits and pieces" which picks up all the whatnot from the floor and throws it out. I can imagine why this is necessary. I am excited for the things Lily should learn this year and I hope that the annual field trip to Wilmington works out because I want to go. She said that last year there were 14 parents who came on the trip with 23 students.

I went to Noah's teacher for the second session. He has Ms Snoots, who is the same teacher Lily had. Ms Snoots spoke well of Noah. I asked her about his reading since he's been able to read independently for over a year now. She said that he has already read all of the end of year books. She semi-jokingly said that she wants to send him over to first grade to have him read to the students there. I asked if he causes any trouble when he finishes his work early and she assured me that he does not. That is good news considering I spent a good bit of my elementary school at a desk isolated from the other children. In fact, if I recall correctly, my first-grade teacher threatened to cut out my tongue.

It sounds like the kids are fitting in well and doing fine. They are good students, which is what we want to hear. It sounds as if they are blessings to their teachers, which is even more important.

First Day of School

Lily poses with the annual sign - is it me or do her legs make her look like something out of the 50s?

Today was the first day of school for the traditional calendar in Wake County. However, Noah goes in on Wednesday for "staggered entry." Wake County uses Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as days to evaluate the incoming kindergartners to decide placement in classes. You can think of it as a kindergarten combine. The way I put it, they identify the boys who drink Kool-Aid straight from the pouch, the girls who are extremely shy, the aggressive kids, the loud kids, the cut-ups, etc.

Lily of course knew the drill, though things changed a bit with the bus. Now we are at the end of the route instead of the beginning. Also, we get the bus on our side of the street instead of having to cross Thorpe. This is good except the waiting area is not as nice. At any rate, all went well this morning.

This afternoon was another story. Wake County is trying some new bus routes this year and it was a disaster. Lily's final bell is at 3:45, but her bus didn't leave until 4:53. She didn't get home until 5:45. I suspect that the school system is getting an earful about this today, as they should.

Amanda had prepared a lovely tea to surprise Lily, but it didn't work out very well. Amanda was going to make risotto since that is Lily's favorite, but after waiting at the bus stop for an hour she didn't have the time or energy to stir for an hour over the stove. We ended up going out to eat and had a nice time. I'm just glad for an excuse to eat frozen yogurt!

Koalaty Kid

Lily's school has a koala for a mascot and they have a bi-annual assembly to give out "koalaty kid" awards. Lily won the citizenship award in kindergarten and the math award in first grade. Yesterday she got one for reading. I took the afternoon off and really enjoyed seeing her sing in the "choir" and receive her major award (she's more or less in the middle of this video).

We also got her report card. She got a 3* in every subject except writing. For those of you who don't know the way they grade now, I'm not sure if Stephen Hawking could get a 4 in science. It seems like 3* is pretty much the ceiling for most kids, so we're very happy about this. She managed to get a 4 in PE for "Content." We have no idea what that means and I think I may email the PE teacher just to ask. It's hard to imagine Lily getting a 4 in PE.


Anyhow, we're very proud of this. Her teacher loves having her in her class. I think we're going to celebrate with a lunch at the Japanese steak house. It's a fun time with the kids and Lily loves it. Hopefully Noah won't be quite as scared this time.

Graduation

Here are two videos from my graduation. The first is me walking to get my diploma. The second is a short testimony I gave about my experience at Shepherds.

Making the Grade

We got Lily's third quarter report card last week. The only difference from the previous quarter was that she got a 3* in math instead of just a 3. For those of you who don't understand the grading system, that means she is above grade level in math. It does not mean that she is a super-genius in math, but that she is doing very well. Isn't that obvious? :)

I remember that I just got check marks when I was in second grade, so I guess that these numbers give us a little bit more to go off of. Either way, she's doing well and we're happy about that. I am going to meet her teacher for the end of year conference in a couple of weeks. We suspect that all is well, but it's always good to hear an experienced educator's opinion. We're also glad that Lily is 3 for 3 on having good teachers.

Glazed Doughnut

We had a legitimate winter event come through yesterday.  We got a tiny bit of snow, but as it warmed up a bit we ended up with somewhere around 1/8 inch of ice on everything.  It may have made it up to 1/4 on our cars.  This of course led to canceling school.  I didn't have to get to the office until 11:00, which was nice.

Both Lily and I are on a two-hour delay for tomorrow.  Hopefully she will get back to school.  She got to come home early on Monday in anticipation of the weather and was home today except for the time she spent at Katie's.  The day went really well, but after a while it's just time to get out of the house.

Making the Grade

Lily got her first report card yesterday.  She got all 3s, which is good.  It's hard to read these crazy report cards with numbers on them because I'm not sure how to translate them into letter grades.  Last year she got 3+ in math, but not this time.  It's hard to say why that is, but we're not concerned.  Mrs. Slocum had nothing but good things to say about her too.

We have heard that Lily will sometimes "cut up" in class.  I feel like my genes are being expressed pretty clearly here.  I think we'll be fine as long as she doesn't end up with a desk by herself somewhere.  That's what happened to me in elementary school.  Then again, we didn't have these clusters of desks with "stations" either.

School Days

Things are looking up for Noah at preschool.  As you know, it did not go so well on Tuesday.  When Amanda dropped him off on Thursday he let out a little whimper, but did not cry.  Yesterday he just walked into the room.  Apparently he's warming to the idea of preschool.  We'll see if he can make it two weeks in a row of doing well at church tonight.

Meanwhile, Lily had an eventful day at school yesterday.  The details are a bit fuzzy, but she got into a little bit of a fight.  Apparently some boy was threatening to throw her over a fence, so she hit him.  In response he picked her up and threw her down, hurting her knee.  This donnybrook was not enough to warrant a note from the teacher, but she did only get 2 out of 3 for "keeps body parts to herself."  Hopefully the boy was given more severe consequences.

I'm afraid that Lily's mouth may be writing checks that her body can't cash, but it's hard to say what happened.  The details get pretty fuzzy by the time she gets home from school.  We're not too concerned yet. She knows that it's wrong to hit someone, even when they threaten her.

Last Day

Today is the last day of summer vacation.  Sadly, it is an overcast and rainy one.  I am glad that I can work from home today as there was enough rain this morning to cause the NWS to issue flash flood advisories.  When it rains like this I'm glad that we live on such a steep hill, though we do lose a little bit of back yard every time too.

Amanda made some pancakes this morning so that there would be leftovers for tomorrow.  Although the details are yet undefined, they will do some fun things today.  They started the morning by reading more of Heidi in bed.  After all, today is the last one of unfettered leisure for a while.

I, on the other hand, have my first day of class this evening.  The class should be fairly easy and I am not too concerned.  It just means the beginning of yet another semester and the pressures that go along with it.  But with only one class night this semester it should be better than most.

Math Wizard

Lily came home with a big red paper apple that reads, "Great job in math!" She got this from her math teacher today because she got everything right. It isn't her regular teacher because they're trying something new where her teacher is working with the remedial kids and the other kids go to other classrooms. Her math teacher was thoroughly impressed with her today.

Lily explained that she has been playing blackjack with her daddy and that is why she is doing so well. She told me that the teacher was amazed. I suspect she was amazed at several levels, for better or worse.

All I know is that I remember learning about blackjack from my grandfather (the same one who taught me Rummy) and it was part of my ongoing fascination with numbers. Lily is enjoying it now and it's helping her in math. Plus, I hope that in the long run it will help her to understand probability a little bit better than the average Jane.

Home Safe

Amanda and her friends returned from the retreat yesterday. They had a great time, but it was little different than 10 year-old girls having a sleepover in terms of how much actual sleep happened. She came back spiritually nourished, but physically exhausted. Fortunately she was able to go to bed very early last night and won't have to get up for another 10 minutes or so.

Overall, the weekend with the kids went well. We didn't play nearly as much Lego Star Wars as Lily wanted or Amanda feared. We took advantage of the nice weather on Saturday and did a few things outside around the yard. We enjoyed our time at the McKenzies' yesterday, though Lily and Brenna are starting to fight more. Brenna has a very obstinate streak and Lily always wants to be the boss, so you can imagine how that goes over.

As has been noted many times, Noah loves anything having to do with a ballgame. He sat with me to watch some of the Jazz vs Lakers playoff game yesterday and was completely mesmerized. Were it not for the commercials I think he could sit through the better part of a basketball game. He just loves it.

It's hard to go back to work and to class today after Spring Break. I'm ready to finish up my classes and start the summer. However, I do think I will take at least one class online over the summer, if not two. I won't be idle, but I also won't be as busy as I have been. I only have two more weeks of classes and then finals. The problem with Spring Break being so close to the end is that it is something of a tease.

Who's That Girl?

This is the third consecutive morning we've had to wake up Lily for school. We get her up around 7:15, which makes for a little bit of a hurried morning. However, she still had time to watch Jelly Telly today.

It was interesting to listen to Jelly Telly today in light of the fact that Lily has a field trip to the museum of natural sciences today. On Jelly Telly they were talking about spiders and anteaters and how they seem to be designed not only for a specific purpose, but also with the innate understanding of how to do what they were designed to do. As we walked to the bus stop I explained to Lily that not everyone believes that God made them. I also told her that some people think that we came from monkeys. She was so flabbergasted she didn't know what to make of it.

She wondered why some people didn't believe in God and I told her what I thought was the biblical answer. I told her that it was because they didn't want to think that God was in charge and they didn't want to have to answer to Him. Therefore, they chose not to believe in Him. I also told her that some people will get very upset when you tell them that you believe in God.

I'm not trying to make her into a street corner evangelist, but I also know where the schools want to take her. I figure it's better to make a pre-emptive strike.

Done

I finished the coursework for my class this morning. I have some writing to do, but it will be nice to get back to normal again. The good news is that the kids behaved fairly well for Amanda and they did have some good distractions some evenings too. I'm looking forward to spending some time with Lily and Noah this afternoon. Amanda is going running with a friend today. It's a perfect day for it too -- low 50s and sunny.

We have my spring convocation tonight. It won't be the best time we've ever had, but it will be nice to have a little time together sans kids, even if it is just for a short while.

More Academic

October has brought homework into Lily's life. She gets assignments Monday - Thursday. She can do them every day or she can do them all at once. So far we are trying the every day approach. Each day has a regular assignment and a challenge. We're having Lily try the challenge.

Monday was math. She had to count as high as she could. The challenge was to write out the numbers. Unfortunately, with dance class Amanda had her doing this at Chick Fil-A and all Amanda had was her fountain pen. The writing wasn't pretty.

Yesterday she had to write the words "we" and "it" 5 times. The challenge was to use them in a sentence and write the sentence. Lily wrote "We went to dance class" and "It is purple." Her writing was pretty good, but I think we need to get her some of the fat pencils they use. A regular #2 breaks too easily.

She's getting it. So far it is fun, which is good. Hopefully that will last.

First Day

Lily's first day was pretty uneventful once she got to kindergarten. We tried to send her on the bus, but it turns out that the bus comes earlier than published. We thought we heard it just as we left our front door and it seems that we were right. We waited in the slow drizzle for about 10 minutes and then I took her in the Civic on my way to work.

I found the carpool lane for the school dropoff, though I was afraid of being told "you're doing it wrong"(a la Jack Butler). That didn't happen right away, but I was shooed away by a teacher when I tried to take some video of Lily going into the school. I won't bother posting one second of Lily walking away, though I will post some when we get her actually boarding the bus.

When I gave her the nap mat to carry I explained that she would have to carry it. She replied with a sigh, "Oh, okay."

Amanda said that it was difficult to get many details from Lily about the first day. Here is what we know:

• She mistook the goldfish in her lunch for her snack, so she never got to the healthy snack.
• She didn't really nap at naptime, but did lay there quietly while listening to quiet music
• She made friends with an older girl on the bus
• She found her stop on the way home just fine
• Amanda was nearly late for the bus home because it too was a tad earlier than expected

I think we're past the first-day jitters now and next Tuesday will go just fine. I wonder where the Sorting Hat put her?