Football Frenzy

Our family is getting football frenzy!  Samuel had his very first flag-football game yesterday.  It was a family affair with grandparents and Aunt Ann in attendance.  Samuel's team finally got their uniforms.  They're the Dallas Cowboys.  His jersey looks really cute on him, but it's about five sizes too big.  Samuel really has the concept of the game and is trying really hard to pull flags (although I think he'd prefer to tackle!) and to follow offensive instructions.  Samuel scored a touchdown at the very end of the game.  He was so excited.  (Last week during a scrimmage, he intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown!)  Fortunately, there aren't too many games in the season, so practices and games will be short-lived and shouldn't eat up too much of our time.

I Was Sleeping, and Right in the Middle of a Good Dream . .

all at once I wake up . . . . with Jacob telling me that the power is out. Hurricane Ike (a tropical depression by the time it got here) was pelting rain and wind on Fayetteville. Our power was out for about two hours, something that caused Jacob to have an absolute inability to stay asleep. I was sleeping just fine; in fact, I might have slept through the entire storm were it not for the constant updates of "the power's out, the power's back on, the power's out again, it's raining really hard, the wind is really blowing, you should go look outside, etc." This morning, the sun came up, and I couldn't believe it. I thought it was supposed to rain all day long, but it has been absolutely gorgeous! Bright sunshine, blue sky, and cool temps. The high today has been 68 degrees. Just about as close to perfect as you can get.

Now, if you recognized the lyrics from the title, you'll be excited to know that I have been listening to the best of the Partridge family on my ipod this weekend while doing housework. Now, I'm not really old enough for this to be my generation's music; however, I do have older sisters who had this record, and I played it over and over again. John is amazed that I still know every word. John has worked hard over the past few weeks to update music on my ipod, and I now have quite the collection - old music, new music, things I haven't heard for years. Bobby Darrin, Bobby Sherman, Billy Joel, Barry Manilow mixed in with the new Steven Curtis Chapman and the Imperials Greatest Hits. I now know what I want for Christmas - a docking station so that I can force others to listen to my great tunes.

I have had a great school-free weekend (well, almost . . I did work this afternoon on some lesson plans, but they're lesson plans for in the future, and I enjoy doing searching and reading if I'm not under pressure for what I'm doing tomorrow!). I have done some much needed house cleaning (not that you can tell!). I spent several hours cleaning in Hannah's room and closet. I weeded out clothes to consign, clothes to give away, and toys to throw out (shh! I can't let the kids catch me). It's amazing how much I can get done when I don't have my nose buried in a book. I have read about 3500 pages of fiction in the past week. I read the entire Twilight series (I started the first book at the insistence of a student in my reading class; I didn't think I'd like it at all) and I couldn't stop reading until I'd read all four books. Now, if I could just make myself read for my grad class - - history of education. I need to read several chapters on education in the middle ages. Not quite as entertaining as a romance novel.

It's Official!

We have finally gotten a call from Panasonic. We really did win and will become a part of the Panasonic Living in HD family! I think it took so long because so many of the people working for that part of Panasonic were in Beijing for the Olympics.
We got a more complete listing of all of the incredible things that we'll be getting and have a tentative time for installation. We will be getting a visit and "training session" from one of the top guys, Greg, sometime in early October. (There are several winning families scheduled in front of us.) My sister is excited that he's the guy coming; he's evidently really nice and will be very enthusiastic about helping us get all of our stuff situated and working. I was very excited to find out that the tv is internet capable as is the video camera and still camera. I can post pics directly to the tv. I may even be able to blog on the tv!
John and I plan to go shopping this weekend (if Ike allows us to get out of the house) because we have to find a new piece of furniture for the living room that will hold the tv and other media components. We have to get rid of our large armoire - - fortunately, I think Ann is willing to take it and use/store it until the day we might decide that we want it back. We had the option to have the tv mounted on the wall, but we've decided to get furniture instead. We have to get something new anyway that will hold the dvd player and assorted media stuff like dvds, wii games, etc. That stuff is currently in the armoire that will be going away. Panasonic is giving us an allowance that we can use for furniture or costs incurred in upgrading to HD, electrical work, etc.
To check out the contest, visit http://www.livinginhd.com/ Check out my sister, Susan, who is on the website already. It's not to late to enter the next round of the contest, but the deadline is soon!

Finally

Well, I'm finally getting around to writing another post. I can't believe that it's been so long. I've written several posts in my head about different things, but never got around to accomplishing much. I have tried to keep up with reading other blogs, though.

Things have pretty much settled into a routine around here. Mornings have been pretty good, actually. I'm now taking Hannah in addition the boys. John's school is starting earlier this year, so he has to be out the door more quickly. I just didn't think I could have Hannah ready to leave by 6:45. (Although, I think she's been ready that early pretty much every day). We try to leave between 6:55 and 7:00 to get to Montessori. That gets the boys back to Vandergriff around 7:20 and me at McNair around 7:25. Yes, it can take five whole minutes to get from the Vandy parking lot to my parking lot; you would not believe the traffic!! The boys still walk to my classroom in the afternoons. We stay long enough to get things wrapped up for the day and anything done for the next day that still needs doing.

Samuel has started football, finally. We were wondering if they would ever find enough coaches. His team is the Dallas Cowboys, which he's excited about. All of the practices are at Vandergriff/McNair, so it's pretty convenient. I think the games are at the Boys & Girls Club across town. Both boys have joined Cub Scouts (I thought we were just going to have Jacob do this, but John came home from the meeting with both boys signed up!). Fortunately, the den meetings are also at Vandy - very convenient, and we don't have to stay. Yea!

Wednesday nights have gone well so far. I take the kids to church for the Wednesday night meal, and John joins us there. The kids leave around 5:30 to go to choir (and then AWANA), and I leave to go to my class at the U of A. John and the kids are done at church around 7:45. My class is out at 8:50. So, there's not too much time when I'm not available - - the kids don't seem to notice that I'm not there (although I'm quite sure that John does). My class, the History of Education, has been ok so far. Not terribly exciting. I have to come up with a thesis for a paper (if I want to be eligible to get an A I have to write a 20 page paper) - - yuck. Any ideas? It can be on anything in the history of education - - anything that I could talk about for 20 pages.

Things at school are going well. I really like my kids this year. They are really sweet. My team is getting along really well too. I'm doing GPS stuff with my classes this week. I have parents coming to help. I'm really hoping that the weather will be ok. We can't really go geocaching in the woods if it's raining. I guess I need to have a movie handy.

John took the kids to church this morning while I"m at home. I woke up on Friday and felt kinda strange. I looked in the mirror to discover that my face was all swollen. I look like I've had my wisdom teeth taken out! I went ahead and went to school Friday morning (because we were having a special team day) but I left around 11:00 to go to the doctor. I have something called Parotitis. It's basically a virus like the mumps, except it's not the mumps (although they did a blood test for mumps!). Yes, I've had the MMR - - like three times! Yesterday was even worse. Jacob told me I looked like I did when I was in the hospital with Hannah - - great, I didn't know that I looked that bad! I told John that I was NOT leaving the house for anything! It's maybe a little better today, but it HAS to be better tomorrow. I have to go to school; a sub cannot do my GPS stuff, and I have parents coming the next day, so we have to do our intro tomorrow. John wants to take a picture of me, but I said no.

So, here's a picture of my little cub scouts. . . .

One Week Down

We all survived the first week of school. Other than being exhausted by the time it was Friday, it was a really good week. I seem to have a really good group of kids. I have to admit to being really worried because we have about 80% boys this year. Putting that many 12-13 year-old boys together in a classroom can be a crazy thing. But, all of our boys seem wonderful. No noticeable behavior problems at all - - which is wild because usually I can tell even in the first week. My team of teachers also seems to be functioning well thus far which is a praise. We have a new team member, and he seems to be catching on quickly and nice and laid back.

The kids all seem to love their teachers. Jacob is the one I worry about the most, just for social reasons, but he seems to be doing well. He is in class with his best friend, a true blessing! Samuel actually seemed disappointed on Saturday morning when I said we weren't going to school. Hannah cheered tonight when I told her that tomorrow is a school day. I just hope their attitudes stay like this in the early morning when we're scrambling to get out the door in time.

We haven't heard anything further from Panasonic about winning the Living in HD contest. However, my sister (the one in China!) has spent the past week with the guy in charge of the contest. She told him about our connection (the one hitch I was worried about), and she said he was cool with the fact that we are sisters. He even remembered our entry and said that what we wrote about Jacob (his intense interest in weather, forecasting, maps, computers, blogging, etc.) is what got their attention. Needless to say that Jacob has pretty much got the big head now. (Of course, I think he is a pretty unique little guy!) We hope to hear something soon. Since many of the Panasonic crew are in China with the Olympics, I'm thinking that's the reason we haven't heard anything.

Fabulous First Day

4th Grade - Wow!
new class - P5
first day of first grade

Well, the first day of school has come and gone. For me, it was a whirlwind! The first day always seems like such a blur with the craziness of making sure everyone is in the right spot, assigning lockers (and making sure students can open them!), and giving the same introduction over and over again. My kids all seem pretty sweet so far. I am looking forward to tomorrow which will seem like a more traditional school day. I just hope I can remember all the names and faces that I learned today.



Jacob, Samuel, and Hannah seemed to have a great day as well. They were pretty quick to get up and ready this morning. Well, Samuel was dragging a bit and had to have some prodding. Hannah even got into the excitement and was quick to get in the van and get buckled. We actually left home on time (about 6:55) and got to Montessori in record time. Hannah's new teacher was there to greet us; it's nice to be able to take her to her classroom instead of to an early drop-off room. The transition is just smoother. After dropping her off, we headed back towards Vandergriff and McNair. The boys jumped out of the van (yes, I slowed down) with smiles, ready to go to their new classrooms. They anxiously shared stories this afternoon about their days.



Tonight we went out for ice cream after dinner as a traditional "First Day of School" ice cream treat (an Aunt Ann tradition that seemed like a really good one to me). It was a yummy evening!

Split Again

I went to Vandergriff tonight for a meeting about Jacob's class placement for this next year. He will be in a "split" class again this year - a 4th/5th grade class. This is the second time we've done a split class. He was in a 2nd/3rd split as a 2nd grader two years ago. I must admit that two years ago, I was a little apprehensive about Jacob being with older kids, especially because he was already a year younger than everyone in his grade. I have a little twinge of that this time when I think about my sweet 8-year-old being in class with 5th graders! (Of course, he's almost nine.) We had such a wonderful experience with his split class before (primarily because of his awesome teacher) that I don't really have any big qualms going into this year. Now that I've spent an hour listening to his teacher talk about her plans for this year, I am feeling great about what's in store for him. His teacher appears to be nothing short of absolutely fabulous. I will be praying that she will be understanding of his special quirks and needs, but from everything that I've been told, she will be good for him. Another blessing is that Jacob's best friend is also going to be in this class. That's the biggest praise from my viewpoint. It took him so long to make some friends; I'm glad that he doesn't have to start over in that area. Jacob seems a little apprehensive, but he was excited when I came home excited. Once he knows the routines and gets to know his teacher, I think he'll be fine.Tomorrow is "Meet Your Teacher" day at Vandergriff. We'll go and find out Samuel's class (since Jacob's isn't a surprise) and see classrooms, meet teachers, pick up school supply boxes, etc. Samuel is very excited. His question tonight was, "Do we get to start going to school the next day after that??" He would start tomorrow if he could!Hannah is slowing getting into the school routine. It's been hard for her to start a different class. I'm anxious for her to start with the gal that will be her regular teacher. She'll also be better when tap lessons and tumble time start back.I have Open House at McNair on Thursday night. I'll get to meet the students in my classes as well as their parents. I'm hoping to have my room completely finished as well as the area right outside my room because first impressions are so very important. The kids have seen everything before, but the parents haven't. I can't believe that school starts next week!! I feel like the week is going at warp speed!