Nora turned two on Saturday. We spent her birthday camping at Lake Powell. (For a great re-cap of the trip check out my friendVicky’s blog). I knew the day would be spent rolling around in the red dirt, but I still wanted to make it a special day for her. I made a cake to take with us, and we all sang Happy Birthday to her around the campfire. It was a bit windy and we had a hard time getting the candles to stay lit. Then, one of our friends twins kept getting upset that she missed singing. We ended up singing about 3 times–which was great for me because it gave me more opportunities to get a good photo

Emma was really excited about Nora’s birthday. She made her and adorable card and some drawings before we went on our camping trip. First thing in the morning Emma gave her a big hug and told her happy birthday. All day, whenever anyone said happy birthday, Nora said it back to them. It was adorable!

She has been the sweetest and cutest little girl lately. She has such a likable personality. She is so friendly and outgoing. She loves to smile at people and is constantly saying “hi” and waving to strangers. She has such a cute little smile and people are just drawn to her. She is cute and tough at the same time. She gets hurt and she just rubs it and goes on with hardly a whimper. Lately she has had a speech explosion. It seems like she can say everything now. She is so funny when she talks. She says somethings that are hard to understand. If you say what you think she said, and it is wrong she keeps saying no and correcting you until you get it right. When you finally get it, her face lights up and she says “uh-huh”. I am still savoring all the little baby talk and cute little baby things because I know the time is just flying by.

This birthday, for some reason, I wasn’t quite as emotional. I know she is growing up, and it is all going so fast. But I felt OK with it this birthday. Maybe it is because she is at such a cute stage and I am enjoying her so much. Whatever the reason, I am so glad that she is my little girl and that she is a part of our family.

My friend Vicky told me about “Princess Day” at the Paul Mitchell School. They were doing a charity fundraiser where they invited little girls to come and be treated like princesses. They did their hair and gave them tiaras to wear. They they did manicures and made a picture frame. It sounded like it would be so much fun for the girls. We took them, and it was cute. I think Emma and Denali were both more interested in watching “The Little Mermaid” that they were showing on flat screen TVs. Emma looked like she was being tortured most of the time. I am not sure if she had fun or not

Emma did not want to smile. This was the best I could do. We did stop at a park on the way home and I was able to get some good shots of Emma there. They turned out pretty cute. The lighting was terrible in the Paul Mitchell School, but it was nice in the park. I’ll post some of those later in the week.

Last night was New Parent Orientation at Ian’s school, Soaring Wings. Being there made me feel so good about my decision to change schools. They did a few little presentations mostly to show what a Montessori education is all about. I just found myself nodding in agreement with so much of what they said. I really love the Montessori method and all that it does for my kids.

One of the the demonstrations they did showed a language work called the step board. I hadn’t seen that work before, and it was amazing. There are “problem strips” that have words on them. The child takes the problem strip and looks at the picture, then spells out the word. Only the correct letters will fit on the problem strip. Once the word is completed, then they take a paper and trace the words with a pencil. You can see a demonstration of it here.

As Ian’s teacher Ericka was demonstrating it, she explained that it is usually a skill that the 6 year olds work on. A little light went on in my head, as I recognized the small strips of paper with the words spelled out on them. We had a whole stack of them taped to our refrigerator at home! Ian has been working with the step board all week, and he has been doing great with it.

After the presentation I went to talk to Ian’s teacher. Her eyes just lit up as she told me how much she likes Ian. She was so excited to tell me that he had been working with the step board that she demonstrated. She was thrilled with how much Ian knows, and how willing he is to work and to learn. That is one of the best parts of a Montessori education for Ian. He is a bit advanced compared to some of his peers, but since they teach to each individual child’s level, he is continually challenged. He is lagging behind a bit on his writing, but they didn’t seem too worried about it.

I was happy that I juggled my schedule to be there last night. It just reinforced for me that the move was a great choice. Now I get to hear positive things about what a special boy Ian is, instead of hearing about all the negative things he did on the playground. I am so happy that they are able to see Ian for what he is–an energetic intelligent BOY!

The kids started school on Monday. I really can’t believe that our summer is over already. It went so fast!

This year the kids are in two different schools for the first time. I have to juggle two different schedules and different start and end times. Luckily, both schools are close together and it all seems to be working out. Emma starts at 8:10am and Ian starts at 9:00am. Emma is starting her first grade year in a new school. She is going to the elementary school down the street from our house. It feels so strange to have her in such a big school. I can’t believe that she is already in first grade!

For the first day we all got ready together and the whole family went to take Emma to school. She did great! We drove up to the school to the drop off area. I decided to walk her over to her classroom. Her class was just lining up outside the door, ready to go into the classroom. She got right in line and literally ran into the class. She hardly looked back to wave. I was just glad that she was so comfortable in her new school. She came home in the afternoon just raving about it.

After we dropped off Emma we had some time to kill so Scott and I went over to the bagel shop and had a little first day of school bagel with Ian and Nora. Then we were off to drop off Ian.

He was excited about his new school too. I walked him in to his locker. He knew just what to do. This is a new school for him, but he is not new to the Montessori method. He just marched right into the classroom and immediately got out a work to do.

He hardly said goodbye either. But, I wasn’t sad about it. I am just happy that my kids are well adjusted and happy to try out new things.

The first few days have gone really well. Both kids have come home from school saying that they loved school. When I picked up Ian yesterday the head of the school, Duna, had some nice things to say about Ian. She was his substitute yesterday. She said she really enjoyed Ian and that he had a big personality. It was so nice to hear some positive things about him. I am glad they are able to appreciate his personality because he really is a funny and sweet kid.

Today as I was driving Ian home from ice skating lessons we had the cutest little conversation, I just had to write it down.

“Mommy, I love you.”

“I love you too, Ian. I think you are a really special boy.”

“And I think you are the best Mommy in the world……and I think you are the beautifulest mom in the whole world too”

It was so incredibly sweet. I got all teary eyed because it made me feel so special.

Our interview at Soaring Wings Montessori went really well. Ian was right at home in the Montessori classrooms. He tried out a few of their works. As usual he gravitated to the practical life areas. He wanted to play with the water works, but since it was summer none of the water works had water in them. He was thrilled to see the computer in the classroom, and wanted to spend time playing with that. While he played the director and I talked while she observed him. She loved him. He was his usual charming self. He carried on conversations with her. He was so excited to see the animals in the classroom. When they saw the gecko, Ian yelled “Hey, that is a leopard gecko, just like the gecko we have at our school.” I think she was impressed that he knew what a leopard gecko was

I talked to her about the reasons I wanted to move him. I explained how he does great in the classroom, but struggles when the surroundings get chaotic. I told her he has been struggling on the playground. She watched him and told me he seems like a totally normal 4 1/2 year old boy. She said she said based on our visit she thought he would do wonderfully in their school. I think he will do well too.

The main difference I see with the two schools is the way they deal with problems. Soaring Wings has a plan when they encounter problems. They talk about them to the student, then they talk to the parents and explain how they are going to work on it in the classroom, and what the parents can do at home. My friends have experienced this throughout their kids years at Soaring Wings. I also think they are more structured and more strict Montessori. I think it will all work out better for Ian.

I am feeling good about the move. I think it will be better for Ian. I think he needs a fresh start with new teachers. I think he needs to get away from the situation where the teachers are expecting him to act out. I am sure that he will have issues at the new school as well, but I am confident that they will be able to help him work through them.

Ian and Emma have been going to camp at Little Miners last week and this week. It has been a nice break for me, but it hasn’t been going very well for Ian.

Last year, his first introduction to school was at Little Miners camp. He struggled when he started. He was thrilled to go, and had no problems saying goodbye. But, he had a hard time controlling himself at school. He was active and too physical with the other kids. But once school started he calmed down, and the physical issues decreased. He did great in the classroom–he was extremely focused and really loved all the Montessori works. Academically he excelled. Where he struggled was on the playground where there wasn’t as much supervision. He does well with structure, but when it gets more relaxed and chaotic he has a hard time controlling himself. He isn’t mean spirited, he just gets really hyper and wiggly. He waves his arms around and sometimes hits people. He starts doing his “karate routine” and just forgets how to act around other people.

I think this has been a big part of his issues this summer at camp. The environment is much more relaxed and less structured. The playground is more chaotic. There are new kids that have never attended a Montessori school. Ian has already spent a year there, so the teachers are expecting him to be a good example to the other kids. But, so far that hasn’t happened.

The fist day he had an issue in the sandbox. The teachers told me he kicked sand in some kids’ faces. I asked Ian about it. He told me they were making a sand cake. He asked if he could make it with them. They said no, so he kicked sand at them. I talked to him about it, and we went over better options. I asked him what he could do, and he said next time he would say “That isn’t very nice. I’d really like to play with you.” I’m not sure what the teachers said to him, but I know that they had him sit in the office until the end of the day–about 2 hours. When I picked him up the teachers never said anything to me. I just assumed he had a good day.

The second day Sue B. stopped me when I picked him up. She told him about the previous day. She said that he hadn’t gotten to eat popsicles like the other kids, and that he had spent “most of the last 2 afternoons in the office”. The second day while he was in “time out” in the office he crawled under the desk and ate someones chips. I definitely think his behavior requires discipline, but I am not pleased with spending the afternoons in the office.

First of all, he isn’t learning anything by sitting in the office. When the school has a problem, I feel like they should come to me and say “Here is the problem, and here is what we are going to do about it.” Instead, I feel like they just tell me about it, with no solutions. Sue B. keeps telling me about him, and she just looks exasperated when she talks about him. I’m worried that he is being labeled the “bad kid” and no matter what happens, it must be Ian’s fault.

Last week he told me one of the boys had punched him. He went to the teachers and told them. They didn’t see what happened, but Ian got a time out again.

Today he got in trouble again for hitting someone. The teachers just told me he punched someone, and he spent the afternoon in the office. When I asked them about it, they just rolled their eyes and said he was up to the same old stuff. When I asked Ian about it I got a different story. He told me they were play fighting–which I don’t think they should have been doing in the first place. He said they both hit each other, but when Ian hit the other boy he cried. Ian went back to the office.

It makes me sad to hear that Ian is struggling. Nobody wants to hear that their child is having a hard time getting along with others. But I am worried that the school isn’t doing enough to help him learn from his mistakes. They aren’t giving him any alternatives or any lessons. They are just sending him to the office. I am worried for him, and thinking that Little Miners just might not be the best fit for him.

There is another Montessori school in town that everybody raves about. They seem like they follow a more strict Montessori curriculum. I have two close friends who send their kids there. They are opening a new school right down the street from our house. They have space available, and I am thinking about moving him there. I thought about switching there at the end of last year. Scott and I discussed it, but we felt that the last part of the year had gone well and so we would leave him where he was.

I just want to make the right decision for Ian. I am not condoning his behavior in any way. I don’t think it is OK for him to hit other kids. I just want the school to be more proactive. I want them to have solutions to the problems he is having. I want them to help him avoid the situations that lead to rough play. I think he needs more supervision on the playground and more direction. When they see him getting involved in an activity that could lead to him getting too physical, I want them to talk to him and redirect him to better activities. I want him to learn better ways to interact with other kids. I think that is part of what preschool is for.

I have a meeting set up at the new school tomorrow. I think we will go and have the interview and just see how it all feels tomorrow.

I was dreading today. We had a busy day planned, and I was just stressed out thinking about it.

Scott had a meeting early, and then he was off to Logan for his weekend century. To start off, I first took Emma to her last golf clinic from 9-10am. Then she had the closing luncheon at 12:30pm. My mom made plans for me to meet her and the Gonzalez kids at the Glenwild pool. Then we were supposed to go to a horse show with Vicky.

My mom decided to take Ian with her to the pool in the morning, and I would go meet them after lunch. She picked up Ian at 10am. I picked up Emma and decided to run a quick errand before her lunch. It didn’t turn out to be so quick!

My tire pressure sensor has been on for a week or so. I figured I just needed air in one of my tires. I figured wrong It turns out one of my tires had FIVE leaks in it. Lucky for me, since my car is AWD, I had to replace all 4 tires. But, they were worn down anyway. I guess my car had been out of alignment and I didn’t know it. The inside of my front tires were totally bald. I have the run flat tires in my van, so I was dreading having to replace them. I knew they were going to be outrageously expensive. I was right. About $1000 later, I got 4 new tires, and an alignment. All this on a day when I hardly had time to breathe!

But, it all turned out OK, and I actually had a nice day.

I decided yesterday that I just couldn’t pull off the horse show too. I just thought I would be too rushed at the pool. If I didn’t get there until 1:30pm, there wouldn’t be much time to swim and then shower and be in Oakley by 4:30pm. I was sad to miss it, but I felt a lot less stressed when I cancelled.

Before we left for the pool, the Gonzales’ called and said they were not going to make it to the pool. Livette had the stomach flu, and one of the kids wasn’t feeling well. I was disappointed that they weren’t coming, but that helped me feel more relaxed too.

The kids had a great time at the pool. All 3 of them loved the pool. Nora did so much better in the pool today. She ran around in the kiddie pool, and she only went under about 10 times instead of 100 like usual They played so hard and they were exhausted when we got home.

I am just happy that I made it through the day!

It looks like Emma’s bed wetting alarm did the trick! We have been using it now for about 2 months. Once she was dry for 2 weeks straight, we were supposed to start using it every other night for 2 weeks. But, honestly she has been wearing it for about the last month with no accidents and no alarms. I don’t think it is going to make a difference if we use it every other night, or if we just discontinue it. So last night we stopped.

I am so happy and so proud of Emma. I am so glad that I decided to go ahead and order the alarm. It was really easy and painless, and it has made her so happy. She is very proud of herself that she is totally potty trained. I promised her she could have a dry bed party when she filled up her chart. So, tonight she was busy planning out her party.

She has been wanting to go to Classic Skating. Tonight I suggested that we go to Bouncin’ Off the Walls and she was thrilled. I told her she could invite one friend, and that we would plan it for one day next week. I am going to try to combine it with a “Bye Bye Kiki party”.

We have been talking to her about giving up her blanket. I think it is time, especially now that her teeth are falling out. Her permanent teeth can’t be far behind. I think if she gets rid of the blanket, we can start working on getting her to stop sucking her thumb. I think it will be impossible without getting rid of the kiki first. She seemed receptive to the idea of making it a two for one party. Hopefully she will still feel the same way as it gets closer!

Today my mom watched the kids while I went to the Dirt Series Mountain Bike Camp. It was lots of fun. I really could tell a huge difference this year in how comfortable I was on my bike. I remember last year being so timid. Just riding around in a big group freaked me out. I was always worried I wouldn’t be able to stop in time, or that someone was going to run into me. This year I just feel so much more confident. The skills didn’t seem as hard–but I think many of them really were not as hard. Last year we did the teeter totters and bigger boxes on the first day. But I think we will do more of those tomorrow.

Anyway, I wanted to write about a funny story my mom told me. Today at my mom and dad’s, Emma decided that she was going to have a party. She has been doing that lately, and it is so cute. She made up little invitations and a guest list. I guess something happened and Ian and Emma were fighting over something. Emma had it, and my mom made her give it to Ian. Emma was just heartbroken. She is used to getting her own way with Nana, so she was just really mad. She told my mom “Nana, you are not nice to me. I am not inviting you to my party!” and she proceeded to cross of Nana’s name off the list. Then she thought about it and remembered that Grandpa had yelled at her one time, so she crossed him off too. Then she decided that Scott and I had been mean sometime, so she crossed us off. Ian, of course, was the first one to be crossed off. So, just her and Nora were left. She told my mom that just her and Nora were going to have a private party!

I thought it was so funny and so Emma. She has been so funny and sassy lately!