Forgive me while I brag...

Thought I would take a minute and brag about my kids. It is not my thing normally, but they are both doing so great in school I figure I owe it to them both to give them a shout out.

Justin
Justin is doing better than we could ever have dreamed in Kindergarten. He LOVES every moment and got really mad one day when I picked him up early- even though it was to take him to the Big E, he was not pleased. I suggested he stay home one day due to a cough and he refused and ran out the door.

Even better, his teachers are so thrilled to have him in the class- yes those are their words, not mine. They say he is very mature, a wonderful helper, a great worker and their "go to" kid to help other kids. Seriously- I have questioned them and they are talking about my kid.

Now, as many of you know we have struggled with Justin's behavior in school in the past. We finally decided last year that he does have ADHD- emphasis on the H for hyperactivity. He is in constant motion and cannot sit still. We tried a few different medications at the end of last school year, never really settling on anything that won us over. At the beginning of summer we found something that seemed to be working, but it was truly hard to tell because the daily life in summer is so very different that school- so we stopped medicating him and figured we would try again in the fall. We began the school year on this same medication, crossed our fingers and held our breathe. Then all the positive reports started coming. Truly I began to wonder how bad the other kids are that ours is doing so well :)

Then Justin's doctor's appointment was coming up to reevaluate his medication. I told the teachers that I would be sending him without his medication to get their observations and feedback. Ooooh Boy! I got a call from the teacher half way through day 2. She couldn't believe he was the same child, he was being very "clumsy" with his personal space, blurting things out, constantly moving and swinging things around. Teacher said it was 180 degrees different than their "go to" kid. At the end of the conversation I told her I would put him back on his meds the next day- she said, "Thank you!". In his backpack that day was a note from the teacher attached to a picture that Justin had drawn of a very well endowed stick figure man- a picture that he was showing around to other kids much to everyone's amusement. That is the only time he has received a note about bad behavior, and it was on a non-medicated day. I love that the crazy kid is the exception and not the rule for them.

At his conference they had many wonderful things to say. Academically he is doing great, and he is always willing to help them. Even the things that he is struggling with, like his frustration with himself and his work, are improving every day. At the end of the conference they asked Marc and I if we had any questions- we said nope, we just wanted to get out of there before they changed their minds.

We are thrilled beyond belief and so proud of him and his success. He is showing great interest in learning and is always asking us to create Math problems for him and I have had to buy another workbook for him because he finished the other one we had.

Jessica
Jessica is doing great too, while I never doubt that she will, I think it is important to sing her praises as well. At her conference her teacher just lit up when talking about Jessica. She loves having her in the class [truly if there is one that that we hear from every teacher it is that Jessica is a pleasure to have in class]. Mrs W said that Jessica is such an avid learner, no matter the topic is always yearning for more and loves learning new things. She appreciates that Jessica comes to class everyday with a smile on her face and a pleasant attitude. When she read some of her writing to me she kept pointing out some of the phrases Jessica uses- one that I remember was about our trip to the Big E. She mentioned her favorite ride was the spaceship one where you go round and round and get stuck to the side of the wall "with a permanent smile on your face". Mrs W loved that perspective.

When we got her report card it was all As- some + and some - but all As. Of course being me I had to give her a hard time and harrass her about her bad report card- she just shook her head and said, "Mommeeeee". Don't worry I told her I was proud of her too. After her conference I said "oh Jessica Mrs W said.. tsk tsk tsk not good" and Jessica said, "tell the truth Mom you have been doing that to me for years- I don't believe you anymore".

In conclusion both kids are doing GRRREEEAAT and we couldn't be prouder of them both.

Jill Was Here!

Jill came to visit last weekend and she was raring to go! We decided to leave the woods to Jill. We have 1.5 acres of land, which is awesome, but unfortunately the previous owners used the woods to throw out their trash. And not just the small stuff, but the big stuff too. They used to have a hot tub- we found it in the woods. Well we sent Jill into the woods- she admits to losing her faith in humanity, but hopefully it returned before she left. I was gone all day on Sunday taking pictures and when I returned the change was impressive. Jill had gotten the driveway and garage under control in addition to the huge piles of trash that were amassed. I don't mean to give Jill all the credit- Marc was her workhorse and the results were impressive. Excepts for the toilets, everything in these two piles came out of the woods surrounding our house- hot tub, basketball hoop, trampoline- and much much more.


We called a scrap metal person who came and took the large pile of scrap metal. A dumpster was ordered and arrived yesterday- Marc and I filled it with the pile in the yard and all the carpets and pads that we ripped out. Feel like we are on our way now. Garage Door people are coming tomorrow to get the garage doors up and running- right now only 1 out of 3 actually work.