Sunday, September 28, 2008

Ben is 6 and other tragedies














Ben turned 6 on September 24th. He is very happy to be six and feels he is fairly close to being a grown up now, if only Elijah would let him.
We haven't had a party for him yet--we met Grandma and Grandpa in Cambridge on Friday just long enough to send the oldest 4 kids home with them.
Henry, his BFF, is out of town for a week and we will arrange something when he gets home. I was thinking a trip to the bounce depot maybe. Henry is the guy who gives Ben cleaning supplies for his birthday (and vice versa).
Note in these pictures that Zac looks like he has a bad case of hereditary dwarfism. Rest assured he doesn't--he's just extremely short!






Thursday, September 11, 2008

They're Off and Running

The beginning of the school is well underway and I have much to blog about. The hold up hasn't been school, or kids, but a very busy work schedule. The unit has been full to the gills with very difficult patients (they make me feel so sane) and I haven't had a chance to sit. Usuallky we get at least a break when we can sit down and do something like blog (or eat).



OK, so where are we at? Ariana is having a great year so far. She got 100% on her first spelling test and as a result gets to be in challenge today. She got 100% on the pretest for that, too. Best of all, she has been beating a girl known as "smart Ashley" (and I think Ana is the only kid who gets the joke...haha) in math. She's been so cute, too; she and I bought her a bunch of clothes at once upon a child and we did really well. She has been doing a good job putting her outfits together and keeping her hair combed and nice. She is turning into a big girl, and such a nice one.



Elijah likes 2nd grade and he likes his teacher, Mrs. Posch. He still seems to be playing on the playground with his friends from last year, Allie and Noah--I think they are going to stay besties for a long time. He had to draw pictures of his friends and family and they are so cute. I'm going to try to get a picture with my phone and post it up here (can't do that at home; home computer won't let me). The family picture had a person with a spiral of black across the top of the head (guess who?); a person with 3 lone hairs on top (Dad), and small person with yellow hair (Wils). The others looked more alike--brownish hair, etc. Elijah's "friends" picture had Allie and Noah and the Noah was soooo cute. He is Korean and Lij gave him a brown face and made triangular eyes. It was pretty good!



I dont even usually bother with Ben's homework because he already knows it. He gets these little flashcards for sight words and he knows them already so there is no point. We do sit down and go through the motions, usually. He likes it when he gets homework that involves cutting and gluing. He said he likes reading best and does like math too. Judging from the papers he brings home, they are both pretty breezy for him. Interesting guy. Getting him to tell me about it all is like pulling teeth. "I don't know."



Wils! He had his first day of preschool on Tuesday and did awesome. He made a new friend, whose name he didnt know (but his teacher told me: Bella). Friday was day 2 and I was able to take him because I was off work, and he made TWO new friends this time. His teacher's note said "Wil's eye's sparkle!" and they do.

Zaccy is doing great. Much less crabby since 2 surprise molars popped up out of nowhere. They go along with 2 teeth on top and 2 teeth on the bottom, all in front, so they are extremely silly. He is growing more wide than tall, which is funny. Not at all fat, just shaped like a square. The spoiledness is going to get worse because there are days when he is the only kid at home--alone with DADDY.

A few stories: yesterday I took the boys to the pier in Avon to fish. A guy pulled up and put his boat in the lake, and he had two big dogs with him (they looked like labs or lab mixes). Elijah, in his best authoritative voice, turned to his brother and said "Ben, those are chihuahuas".

(He was serious, too).

Later i was telling Ana (she hadn't come with us) and she said "Were they labs?" I said they were. She said "He always thinks labs are chihuahuas"

Driving home from the pier we were behind a Winnebago with one of those big plastic luggage carries on top and I heard Elijah say "Ben, that's a tackle box for muskies".

He was serious then, too.

Wil also announced as I was buckling him in that "Mommy, you're always wrong." He said it very nicely so I have NO idea where it came from.

He wants to put his bejamas in his packpack and go to Grandma's house to kick papa's butt.

All 3 big kids came home with 100's and lots of stars on their schoolwork this week.