Dancing Queen

Evie had dance class last night, as usual. Her teacher and I had a discussion about her abilities vs. those of the other students in her Combo I class. And so, it has been decided that next week she is going to try to move up to the Combo II class and see if she can keep up. They are learning the same fundamentals, plus a few, and at a faster pace. Evie is so excited! If she doesn't struggle too much, she will be moved up to the Combo II class for the remainder of the year. I know she's going to do GREAT!

Her recital is June 16. Start clearing those schedules and/or booking those plane tickets now. It should be an event to remember. :)

Alphabet soup

CQA...I can't remember what exactly it means, but basically, it was William's first achievement testing. I think it stands for "Common Quartly Assessment." He brought the results home yesterday and WOW! I am so proud! Here's how it breaks down:

Reading Common Quarterly Assesment - passing is 75%. William scored 100%
Math Common Quarterly Assesment - passing is 75%. William scored 100%
Hearing & Recording sounds - 28 of 36 is on grade level. William scored 35 of 36.
Text level - "D" is on grade level. William tested at level "G"
Writing - Level III is on grade level. William tested at level IV.
Sight words - 17 out of 20 students can read and write list #1, 9 out of 20 can read and write list #2. William passed both of these lists and only misspelled ONE word on list #3. The one he missed on list three was spelled phonetically.

Also listed on the CQA were the total number of students that passed/are on grade level. Mrs. Comstock has told me that he is definitely one of the top students in his class. He is the top performing male student. This report was even better for me, in terms of seeing how William is performing in the classroom, than his report card was. Way to go William!! So many outstanding academic reports in the last month!

IAT...This one stands for Intervention Assistance Team. His IAT meeting is tomorrow. We will be discussing special circumstances where William may be eligible for extra time/assistance - especially Standardized Testing which starts this year for him. It will also be an opportunity to discuss some therapy techniques/provisions that we can make that may help him focus in the classroom, since his level of academic achievement keeps him excluded from any sort of direct (outside the classroom) occupational therapy.

What are you Celebrating?

This question was posed on a dear friend's blog today. She is trying to reorganize and re-prioritize her life, and concentrate a lot more on the positive. I think this is WONDERFUL! So I've thought about that question...what are you celebrating? I just had to write some down--this isn't everything, of course.

• reconnecting with my Dad's side of the family (Dad, step-mom, half-sister, aunt)
• lots of time spent laughing with my sisters
• William doing well in 1st grade and enjoying school
• Evie being SO ready for Kindergarten already--thanks City Kids!!
• Christmas shopping
• In-laws coming for Christmas
• Being able to give some "Been there, done that" advise and reassurance to my sister Amy
• William wanting extra Mommy-cuddle time last night
• nice lunch with my boss yesterday
• the flexibility of my job
• wonderful teachers for both kids
• Pumpkin Cheesecake - YUM! Thanks Ann!
• Micheal's new position - I'm certain that something positive has to come out of this
• Someone actually reads this blog :)
• getting my rear-end to the YMCA finally
• having a far-away friend tell me that she was thinking about me all day once last week

As my boss always says, "If you THINK positive, you will BE positive." I'm TRYING to do better. :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year

With the invasion of the cooler weather and the breaking out of the comfy winter clothing, I can't help but find myself excited about the upcoming holidays! I have always been a been a big fan of the holiday season, but this year is especially anticipated. I don't like to cook for a huge number of people, so maybe its the fact that both holiday meals will be provided elsewhere this year. Or maybe it's the fact that I have a tendency to go completely overboard in spoiling my kids for Christmas and this year I have TONS of ideas for both of them so that tradition will continue. Or maybe its my absolute love for fall colors and Christmas lights. Or could it be that the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special was always my favorite as a kid. Or perhaps its that the crisp autumn air has temporary frozen that part of my brain that remembers how stressful all the holiday hoopla can be. Who knows?

Regardless of the reason, it promises to be a season filled with loved ones. My aunt will have a house-full for Thanksgiving. This year, we will be starting our own traditional touch football game and are bound to continue with our traditional board games that require lots of shouting (in the past, these have included "Family Feud-DVD version" and "Taboo"). There will be so many kids there that we could start our own version of the Osmonds. Though it wouldn't be near as sweet and sugary, I believe. Maybe more like the Osbournes?

Christmas will bring together all those kids again, this time at my Dad and step-mom's place. Everyone is so excited to be joined by my in-laws again this year. It's a long trip for them, but hopefully the joy of the grandbabies will overshadow the numb butt of the car ride. Hopefully my dear sweet brother can find a way to join us this year as well. We sure do miss Uncle David in our house. He's our big teddy bear!

This season will also mark the end of my Dad's long and distinguished career as an attorney for the United State Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. I don't, however, expect that this will slow him down. I'm sure he'll jump straight from retirement into something else fulfilling.

Now if I just knew what to get for everyone for Christmas(except William and Evie, I've got them covered FOR SURE)! Oh, well, I love to shop for others, so something is bound to pop out at me sooner or later. Hopefully sooner. However, if you have suggetions for anyone I know, please share. :)

Horray for Grandpa Chip!!

Yea, hurray, I'm so excited! My dad has offered to babysit the kids on Sunday so that my step-mom, sisters, and I can still have our "Ladies' Day Out!" They are SOOO excited about spending the day with Grandpa Chip! It's too bad that the Buckeyes aren't playing on Sunday. It would have been neat for my little Buckeye fan (Evie) to get to share in watching the game with the world's greatest Buckeye fan (my dad)!

That's Evie with the Ohio State University Buckeye cheerleaders and Brutus, of course.

So we will be heading out for Dayton on Sunday morning. I can't wait!

Proud Mom

William got his first report card of the school year yesterday and he did wonderful! The students were supposed to be at a reading level of "D" and William is at a "G." Math is definitely his strong point though. He loves art and music as well. Gym seems to be the bottom of the totem pole--can't say I blame him for that. I somehow always knew he would be a scholar and not an athlete (the multiple scars on the forehead should have given others the same impressions :).

Yea, William! Keep up the good work! You make your Mommy so proud every day! I am so lucky to have you!

Fashion Victim

Evie had an appointment with an orthopedist this morning. They needed to be able to get a good look and feel of her leg and she was in jeans, so they made her put on these big blue paper shorts. She was so mortified that she didn't want her picture taken in them. It was so funny!

This is Halloween

Trick-or-Treating was great fun last night. All together we had 7 kids in our "group" and 9 adults. We were probably a little overwhelming to the unsuspecting homeowner when they first opened the door to the rousing chorus.


William got his wish to be Stitch granted, thanks to a little help from his Nana Bobbie. And Evie made the cutest little bumblebee ever, though for some reason she kept wanting to meow instead of buzz.


Evie's friend Ryan from preschool was there. His dad works with Aunt Christy. They were inseperable. They held hands almost the entire time. It was so sweet! It was eveident, however, that Evie definitely prefers to be the dominant one in a relationship. :)

As you can see, even some of the grown-ups had fun. Those are my siblings...Aphrodite, Death, and Mrs. Claus.

The rains went away and we were left with a nice cool, brisk night. Stitch's feet were covered in mud upon our return home, and he probably could have kept going all night, but in the end he was ready to get back to ghost cake and Lego Star Wars II. Good luck to the teachers that have to deal with the aftermath.