Fantastic in First Grade!

Jackson's picture and narrative for back to school night!

It's been a month! Wow. I can hardly believe we've been in school for one month. The weather is starting to cool off (ok, for us that means we're not hitting 110 anymore...only low 100's), our after school routine is settled and activities have started. Jackson, you have always enjoyed school, but you are thriving this year in the classroom! You've still got your disc that you sit on in class, and have now added a snake to your tool box that you wear around your neck on and off throughout the day. I was afraid that other kids might make fun of you for it, but you told me that they all think it's really soft, so it seems to be a non-issue (yay!). Your teacher is wonderful, and you love to go into the classroom in the morning. You're not so big anymore about going out to the playground before school starts. In fact, I had Kelly try one morning, and that blew up in my face (almost literally), so we stopped that. We've had lots of talks about that, and as long as that's what you choose...I'm good. You told me you like to do that so you can "get your energy for the day." Works for me, that's why I drink coffee :).

Dad and I messed up the first night you had homework. We misunderstood the directions (parent fail), and only had you do part of the papers because we both thought that the papers were to be done over the whole week. Nope. The following day, I asked you about recess and you told me you didn't have much time because you had to finish your 100 chart. I remember questioning you because I thought it was to do all week, and you said, "No mom. That was homework. I have to do it every night." Yikes. Sorry buddy! We get it now, and actually, so do you which is good because that first night....there was no way you were going to finish it all, there were quite a few meltdowns. Now, we get through your homework without meltdowns. You have two pages every night, one of math and one related to your spelling words. You have a spelling test with 8 words and a dictation sentence every week. You also have a book that we read together every day for comprehension that is tested on Fridays, plus another book that you read to us that we are working on getting through. Convincing you that you CAN read something is what we are working on right now. I will tell you though that something is wrong with our education system. The first Friday you had all these tests, you told me after school that you "take too many tests." I kind of gave you a half smile because I agree....there are definitely too many tests!

We worked so hard this summer with OT, and then towards the end of the summer started going to the chiropractor. It was exhausting, and rewarding, because we could see the difference at home. It's made a huge difference at school too!!! People who were helping us last year have now seen you in the classroom this year and are amazed at the difference. It's totally night and day. Yay!!! The biggest was probably your acro teacher this past week. She totally noticed a huge difference, enough to say something! We're going to be continuing all of it throughout the year, with more concentrated at home than going as much as we did over the summer because of distance. But knowing it's not just me, that other people see your growth just reinforces how much work we did do this summer!!!

We also went to back to school night and got to see your classroom. Mrs. D is putting a big emphasis on writing, which is awesome. Not just the actual letters and such, but the content and structure. She is going to give you a strong foundation. You had papers up on the board for getting a 100% on  your spelling and reading comprehension tests. One night when we were practicing your words, I tried to come up with a sentence from your spelling words and was just having a difficult time. I gave you a nonsensical one, and you turned around and told me, "Mom, that's not a sentence. It doesn't make any sense, and sentences HAVE to make sense." Win for Jackson.  We figured one out, and you then told me that "Every sentence in the whole wide world begins with a capital letter and ends with punctuation." You also have told us that you "discovered that you like to color." Your strength in your hands is getting so much better!!! You are also reading out loud in front of your entire class, and helping other people with their reading.

We are definitely off to a strong start bug, and I can't wait to continue to see how the year unfolds.  Keep thriving Jackson, the world is yours and you are learning so much! Your attitude is amazing and you are eager to learn. You are still questioning everything, and they are not just your basic questions. You really want to understand things. It's awesome. You also still have your love for books, and now as we continue to read, hopefully you will start to love to read as well!! We love you and are so proud of you bug!! Keep it up!

Love,
Mom

Stop.

Jackson loves his Uncle Bubba! He loves to wrestle with him the most. Over the weekend, they were wrestling (ok, really, Bubba was laying on the couch and Jackson was wrestling all over him) and Bubba told him to stop. He didn't, so Trav asked him what part of stop didn't he understand. This is his answer....

"The only part of stop that I know is 'op'."

Gotta love the sounding out and blending he is learning!!! 

camping...part 4

While fishing is fun, playing in the creek in our t-shirts is even better. Daddy had a rough time fishing, so Grandpa B took him to another spot and we hung out and played in the water. They had an awesome time running across the creek to the other side. It wasn't big, but certainly made for big adventures! Kiddos had an awesome time, until they were done. After that, we hung out in the truck and read books and ate snacks. 

Brother and Sister.

Gotta help each other out!

Teamwork gets us there faster.

RUN!

Ready, set, go!

Jackson with the catch of the day!

Jackson and Grandpa B.

We also had awesome rain storms. We had one that knocked the power out of Lucky. I know, not real camping, but it works for now! We discovered Charlie does NOT like thunder....at all! And it's really funny to watch a great dane try to hide under anything so that the thunder will go away. I always have a few new games in Lucky for our rainy afternoons because we are at least guaranteed one. Jackson loved the "tangram" type game and made all kinds of shapes with the blocks. Addison loved running in the puddles with Charlie after the rain. Charlie, not so much. She would run, but didn't particularly want to go through the puddles.

She did like to drink them though.

Addison and Charlie.

Jackson and his puzzles.

On one of our last afternoons camping, we took the kids horseback riding. Jackson rode with me and Addison rode with Dave. Jackson has been on a horse a few times through his occupational therapy, but Addison has not. The horses were super calm, and we had a great guide. He listened to Jackson's whole story about how he was a viking who saved the world from dragons. It was great. As we got into our ride, it because increasingly funny because Jackson was having a hard time sitting in the saddle. It hurt. When we got done, Addison got off and the first thing she said was that she had fun but that it hurt her bottom and I just burst out laughing because Jackson had said the same time. It was definitely an activity we will do again.

Getting ready for the horses.

Jackson and Mommy on our horse.

Dave and Addison...all smiles.

Almost all smiles!

Family picture!

Now our adventures are never complete without a tutu...so it was only fitting that the last afternoon, Addison busted out her leotard and leopard tutu! I mean, really, camping isn't better than this!!!

camping...part 3

I don't think it gets any better than fishing with dad! It's guaranteed the ONLY time we will ever voluntarily wake our children up before they wake on their own. If you know our kids, you know this has to be early because they were both born with the innate knowledge that the "early bird catches the worm." We were able to get Grandpa B to go with us, and the only thing I would change next summer is to take more coffee in a travel mug so it stays warm!  Jackson and Addison had an awesome time. Addie caught one fish with Dave, and then was left to me...and we didn't have quite the same luck. Jackson hung with the girls for a bit and then took off with Grandpa and caught quite a few fish with him. Not only did he catch them, but Grandpa taught him to clean them also! 

Addison, Daddy and her fish.

Smiling, but wouldn't touch it!

Jackson and Daddy.

Fishing buddies!

Proof...I was there! Puffy eyes and all :)

Loving the outdoors!

Quiet moments.

What mom???

camping...part 2

This trip, we spent lots of time at the creek. The kids played, walked and fished all over it! They loved that they could go anywhere. The rocks in the creek made it a bit more challenging, but that didn't stop them. They dug for bugs and watched the roaming cows. Charlie loved splashing right along side the kiddos and thankfully left the cows alone!

Addison.

Jackson on the bug hunt.

What happens when you lightly touch the water?

Getting ready for a mud bath!

Grandma and Grandpa, Chuck and Kathy took us on an all day ride. It was absolutely beautiful! The scenery was breathtaking, definitely a must! We made it all the way to the top of the canyon, and then headed down to the other side to the old beaver ponds where Dave went as a child. I've heard about the beaver ponds for years, so to see them was awesome. I could have done without the mosquitos, but they are what they are. Grandma and Kathy had a great time pointing out where they used to camp, and the stories they told were fun. Dave had a great time showing Jackson and Addison a little of his "history" if you will. One day, maybe they will be able to take their kids back...that's something to think about! Grandpa B also showed Jackson "alien" writing on the aspen trees. Dave said that his name was written somewhere around there, but that he got in a lot of trouble after he did that!

Me and my kiddos! Proof that I was there too :)

Being silly in the jeep.

More proof! I did well this trip!

Jackson digging for termites, the beaver pond is in the back...their house is to the left of his head.

Addison loved building her own house.

Happy!

Family pic!

Jackson and the "alien" drawing!

Camping...part 1

We had a fabulous time camping....a month ago. Holy cow! So the first debate while getting ready for camping was what to do with Charlie. Do we take her, or not? No one in the family wanted to leave her, so she came. This meant that halfway through our first drive I ended up in the back seat while she lounged across the front seat with Dave. Definitely not my ideal travel situation, but what else am I supposed to do? She stands taller than me! All that aside, she was a great traveler...and truth be told for the remainder of the trip she rode in the back! But we forgot her choke chain and a toy (and really, if that is all we forgot...we were doing pretty good), so a trip to the pet store was added to the agenda. And of course, because it was a "pet"store, Charlie had to go. We were all split up running different errands, so the boys picked her up and we met them there because Addison didn't want to miss out on this new adventure for Charlie. She did well, and people oohed and aahed. Dave was loving it!

Quick pic as they head in!! 

We always take two days to head to camping, mainly because it breaks up the drive. So early the next morning we all set out. This time, I was bummed because we actually forgot the camera, so I spent much of the drive playing with the camera on the phone (and it actually worked well). We got to our destination and met Grandma and Grandpa B because they had to show us their new house/cabin, so we could drop off the jeep for rides. It is beautiful, and sounds like it's pretty close to skiing...we're stoked! We had dinner that night at Chuck and Kathy's new house. Their kids, Jim and Mary and their families were also up. Dave grew up with Jim and Mary, so it was fun to hang out, catch up and watch the next generation play together! The kiddos had a great time exploring, looking for bones (gross) and getting muddy! I can't think of any better way to kick off our camping trip!

Lily (Mary's daughter), Jackson and Addison exploring

Jackson showing off one of the bones he found.

Jackson's muddy feet.

Addison's muddy bottom.

We went on our first jeep ride the next day and found a fabulous little creek for the kids to creek walk in. When I was little, we used to go to a family camp and one of the activities for the kids was always creek walking. We used to take old shoes and had a blast. Well, this one was not quite as big, and we had no old shoes so off they came. I even got in! Jackson was more excited to find the bugs and horny toads. He found a baby one, and then a big one. It was so nice to sit and watch them explore. We started hunting for grasshoppers after lunch. On our way back, we stopped at a cave spot. Addison was asleep, so Grandma B hung back with her, but Dave, Jackson and I went in the cave. You could have crawled all the way through them....we only went a little ways! We tried out Grandma and Grandpa's little creek near their house for fishing, and since it was afternoon, no one was biting, but we had a great time. I decided you can take the dancer out of the studio, but you can't take the dance out of a dancer. We had performances (complete with a tutu and leotard) in Lucky, followed by good snuggling with daddy during a storm!!

Creek walking in bare feet!

Jackson, Dave and I down in the mouth of the cave.

Grandma and Grandpa's creek.

Walking.

Waiting for Daddy to cast the line.

Waiting patiently for their bite.

Will dance where ever she is!

Addison, Dave and Jackson.