My Madeleine Girl

We recently had our fall parent/teacher conference at Madeleine's school. I always look forward to this time, because while I know that we have an amazing little girl, it's always nice to have someone else brag on her. :)

Second grade has been a bit of an eye-opener to us. For the first time, she has nightly homework. And, while most nights it's only a 2-5 minute math sheet, there have been nights that she's had almost an hour by the time we do a reading book/response (20ish minutes), math homework, (5 minutes) and then our spelling words (30 minutes). This is most often on Thursday nights since spelling tests are on Fridays. The spelling tests have gotten HARD this year with her having to both spell the word right and also put it in the right catagory. We get 20 words on Mondays and another 20 on Thursdays to learn. Yikes! The first couple of tests were tough for her, but she quickly found her stride and was back to her "A" game! Mrs. L said that this was normal for most kids.

We found out that Madeleine is in both the highest reading and math classes this year. They've been doing ability grouping in literacy since kindergarten, but this is the first year for math. She's excelling in both. We got to see her report card at the conference and I was so proud of her -- mostly "E's" and a few "V's." This year they get a letter grade -- E=Excellent (95-100%) and V=Very good (90-94%).

Mrs. L. told us that she'd given her reading class which is the highest literacy class their first reading/writing prompt a few weeks earlier. She said this was the first time that any of the kids had seen anything like this and they expect them to struggle with it. Well, our Madeleine got the ONLY "E" in the whole 2nd grade. Mrs. L said she did amazing on it! It's no surprise because she writes all the time and her teacher even commented on that. She'd brought her chapter book she's writing to show the class a few weeks earlier.

We didn't meet with her math teacher, Mrs. S, this time. But, we know she's doing great in there! She got a 97% on their end of quarter test. :)

Madeleine never has to "move her card" and her teacher said she's a model student, she wishes she had a class full of her, etc, etc. :) I love hearing all of it!

This year, Madeleine is doing "art club" again. She loves the days she gets to stay late and make all kinds of fun crafty things. It's fun to watch her grow and develop into her own person and see her talents coming out.

Madeleine is so well liked by everyone in her classes. I love the days when I get to take her to school -- all the kids run up and hug her. One day last week we were early and they were just lining up to go to class. She didn't want me to walk her up -- sniff, sniff-- but, as they were leaving, I saw her let another little girl in front of her in line. Then the little girl turned around and hugged Madeleine. Madeleine's school is full of diversity -- with a lot of the kids there being from lower-income/lower-class families. And, I love love love that Madeleine doesn't see any of that. She only sees her friends and who they are never what they have. I pray that she will forever be this way and I feel so convicted that we made the right choice to drive the extra distance to get her not only a stellar academic education, but also these experiences that will stay with her as she grows.

Preschool Pumpkin Patch

Harrison's preschool class went to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago and Charlotte and I were able to tag along that day too! It was an awesome pumpkin patch/corn maze and one we'll definitely be visiting again! I'm so thankful that we were able to go to; it was so fun for me to see Harrison interacting with his friends and his teachers.
It was an absolutely bea-u-ti-ful day that day! It was at the end of their season (I think the owner said they had only 2 more days of being open) but there were still a lot of pumpkins and we had the place to ourselves, which was even more perfect. The kids were able to run around and play with the different pumpkins -- or gourds as Harrison pointed out.

After the corn maze.

Finishing the Hale Bale Tunnel.

I love this pic of some of the kids with the teachers. Harrison has been so blessed with the BEST teachers this year! In fact, I think Mrs. Julie is one of his top 5 favorite people these days (and I agree with him).

We did a fun tractor ride around the farm.

We had a picnic lunch and then they got to pick out a pumpkin to take home. It was such a wonderful day!

Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful for my girls.

They are each so different, not only because of their ages, but their personalities at this point are not at all the same. But, they love each other so much. Madeleine is like a little mommy to Charlotte, taking the time to read to her or teach her something new. And, Charlotte love her big sis -- I hear all day long "where sissy?" It's easy to tell that Charlotte's world is much better the moment her sissy gets home from school!

Let's Go Drive the Car

One of Charlotte's favorite new things to do is "drive" the car. Every time I open the garage door, she make a bee-line for the car and tries to open the door. And as soon as that door is open she's in there pretending to drive. I've started to let her do this while I load up the car which makes her so happy! However, she has a complete meltdown every time she has to get back in her carseat.

More to Be Thankful For

Today is one of those days that I'm feeling so very blessed. No real reason in particular, just one of those days that's reminded me of how good my life is right now:

Charlotte took a good nap today. The laundry is *almost* caught up. Matt will be home in time for dinner tonight. :) Harrison had a great day at preschool. I had a good chat with a good friend on the phone. There is a light at the end of the Ph.D school tunnel, a very dim light, but for the first time ever, a light. We've spend the day warm & cozy in our home while the rain has poured outside. And the list could go on and on. It's just one of those ordinary days where I'm reminded of how blessed I am.

Trick or Treat 2011

We had a great Halloween this year! The kids have been counting down the days for weeks and were sooo excited when the big day arrived! I actually had to hide Harrison's costume to keep him from wearing it out before Halloween even arrived! :)

Harrison was SpiderMan this year -- but only as a "bad" version of SpiderMan. He did NOT want to be any kind of a "good guy."
Madeleine was a ladybug. We found the wings and then I made her a black and red tutu (which is all bunched up in this pic).

Charlotte wore the ol' Hershey Kiss costume. Each kiddo has worn this costume and it's one of my favorites!

We did a lot of houses this year. We walked across the course behind the house and then trick-or-treated our way home. We were about 4 houses from home and Harrison told me, "Wow, mommy, this is starting to get really fun!" Ha! I'm not sure what he thought those first 20 houses or so, but at least I know he enjoyed the last few. ;)

When we got home, they all broke in to the candy. And, Madeleine and Harrison had a great time handing out our candy to the other trick-or-treaters. The constantly ringing doorbell confused Charlotte, but as long as she was eating candy, she wasn't too bothered!!

We ended the evening with some skyping with Mimi & Grandad. This is the first time for Charlotte to skype with us and she was enthralled by it! She sat happily in my lap in front of the computer and babbled on and on. If anyone else even tried to get close, she shoved them out of the way and pulled the computer closer to her. When it was time to end, Matt had to carry her away kicking and screaming.

We had a great Halloween! But, I'm also thankful it's over and we can start looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas! Yay!

The Thankful Month

Today is November 1st. I've been waiting on this day to get here for so long! I love the months of November and December. November means my favorite holiday -- Thanksgiving. I like that we focus an entire month on being thankful, and it's followed by a month that focuses on giving. Sometimes it's easier to give after remembering all that we've been given, right?

So, in honor of this month of Thanksgiving, I've decided to be thankful for one specific thing each day. Some days I may share them, others I'll keep to myself. I'm working on a fun project with the kids (and a little behind -- hoping to start tomorrow) that will help them to think about all that we've been blessed with this month, too.

So, today, I'm thankful that I'm able to live my dream of being a stay-at-home mommy. It means that I have a husband that not only supports, but encourages this choice. It means that I get to share in so many of my children's experiences. I'm thankful that this fulfills me in a way that I know that nothing else ever could. I wake up each morning excited about the day and I go to bed at night exhausted, knowing that I've given everything I have to taking care of my family.