Brandon's field trip and field day

Brandon had his field trip to the Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo yesterday. He had a lot of fun. They had tour guides so they learned a little bit about the animals and the zoo, not that he could tell me anything of what he learned. His guide was kind of slow so they didn't get to see tons of the zoo. It was really hot, but they had water bottle/misters so that helped. Since I wasn't able to go to that one I don't have much info on it. He just said it was fun. They did get to feed the giraffes though and they had a baby giraffe. At least no disasters this time so that was good.

Field day was the usual chaos. I stayed with Jessie's group for the first part and Brandon's the second part. One of the kindergarten moms, who hasn't done these before, was a little over the top trying to keep the kids in line and doing what she told them to do. Hopefully she will calm down before next year.  This year was very hot so the water games felt good. Last year they about froze. The only problem is that everyone got sunburned.  Brandon's group were too competitive when it came to some of the games like flag football and soccer.  I thought they were going to come to blows a few times. I don't think those games are good for kids that are overexcited to begin with. Scott did get them to consider using the firetruck to push the giant beach ball  against each other instead of pushing it with kid power for next year. Two of the kids in our group alone had to get ice packs because they got kicked in the face.  They got bored and tired watching the fifth grade versus teachers kickball game and were very glad to get home to an airconditioned house. Besides being hot, tired and sunburned they had a great time and that is all that counts.

Jessie's field trip and graduation

Jessie with her alligator hat and SME T-shirt (it has all the names of the kindergarten class on the back)

Yesterday Jessie had her field trip to the zoo. This year they had the good idea of giving the groups animal hats so it was much easier to track your group instead of looking at kids that look alike in the identical t-shirts. Jessie's group was the alligators. I was in charge of her and three other kids. They were easy kids for the most part except that the boys kept running ahead, Jessie stayed with me, and the other girl kept lagging behind. Plus Sienna had a thing for peacocks and kept following them around instead of looking at the rest of the animals. They had snacks to eat during the zoo, which was nice because in previous years, the kids had to go through the whole zoo and they did snacks at the end of the day, which by that time they were very thirsty and hungry. After the zoo, we met in the park for lunch and they were able to play until the bus came at 1:00. They had a lot of fun and I think this was the best zoo field trip I have been to seeing as this is the 4th time I have done this field trip between both kids. It will be kind of nice to do different ones from now on.

Jessie's graduation diploma and certificate

Her graduation was this morning. They were supposed to dress up, although not all of them did. She was so excited to finally wear one of the fancy dresses she got from her cousin.  They did a little poem which Jessie's part was "E is for exercise to make the body strong." Then they sang a song. The teachers gave each child a candy and certificate based on their personality. For example, a milky way candy bar for the kid that was the daydreamer, or whoppers for the kid that told the biggest stories. Jessie's was the Almond Joy because she was always happy and full of joy. Then they got their diplomas and were done. We had refreshments and she picked up the rest of her papers and stuff. She is very excited but also a little sad. She really loved kindergarten and her teacher. Mrs. Pagano said she was really going to miss her and if she had a girl she would want her to be like our Jess. Jess is also a little scared because next school year she will be in all day school. Scott and I took her to lunch at Wendy's and we are going to take both kids out to dinner after Thursday. She still has to go to school the next two days so she isn't competely done yet.  I can't believe my little girl is finished with Kindergarten already. Where has the year gone?

Brandon and the Rockies trip

So in my last blog I said that Brandon wasn't going to get to go on the special trip to the Rockies baseball game. Well the teachers decided to make an exception for him because it wasn't lack of trying on his part. So he got to go after all. It was an interesting trip. Here is how it was supposed to go: They leave the school at 8:15 for the two hour ride to Denver. They eat lunch at 10:30 at a park and then head to Coors field around 11:30 to find their seats and watch batting practice. The game started at 1:00 and they were planning on leaving around 4:00 so they could get back to the school around 6:30. The first part went as planned. The batting practice was a washout because Brandon said that they hardly did anything except toss a few balls around and completely ignored the fans. They were in the nosebleed section so they couldn't even see what was going on except on the screen. Their biggest thrill was there was a swarm of bees in the stadium that some guy sucked up with a vacuum. They played it on the big screen and all the kids thought it was great. It even made the news.  Brandon forgot his money on the bus so luckily a few of his friends' parents that were there bought him some food and he will pay them back on Monday. I guess that is better than him losing the money. I can't believe how expensive the concession stands are. For $16 he got a drink, popcorn, an air head candy and sunflower seeds. They left during the seventh inning so they could get home by 6:30 or so. It didn't bother the kids to leave early because by that time they were probably getting pretty bored and tired. The bus Brandon was on blew a tire on the way home right outside Fountain, which is about 30 minutes from Pueblo. The other bus had to drive all the way back, drop off the kids, and go back up to get the rest of them. We were at the store and Scott was waiting at the school for Brandon and we picked up food for dinner and figured it would work out about right that everyone would get home at the same time.  Scott called and said they just told him about the tire and were hoping to get another bus going up to save time so we brought Scott's food to the school and took BJ home because he went with Scott.  On the way home Scott called and said they just told him that the other bus, who just got to the school, was going to have to go back for the rest of the kids so it was going to be another 45 to 60 minutes. He came home to eat and then went back. Brandon finally got home about 8:45. I think the bus incident was more exciting to the kids than the game. Two state patrol cars stayed with the bus because they were on the interstate. When the kids transferred buses one of the state patrolman used a snake stick to make sure there were no snakes in the grass when they walked through. Oh, he said to say that he got a big foam finger and purple sprayed hair and a t-shirt so he's happy. All in all I am not sure it was worth all the hassle for them just for making a reading goal but they got a good adventure out of the deal anyway. Next year maybe they will stick to something closer to home and not so long of a trip for a bunch of elementary students. Now he is bugging us about getting a cell phone so he can call if something like this happens again. This coming from the boy who forgets his wallet on the bus. I told him if he shows more responsibility we will consider one for Christmas. A nice cheap prepaid phone that won't be a big deal if he loses it. Now we only have to get through two more field trips, graduation, field day and the last day of school. All next week.

update on GG and Brandon

GG is still having trouble with her back. The first epidural failed and the second did help and she is in a lot less pain, but it still didn't work 100%. She still has pain and it is hard for her to do a lot of things. She is debating whether to go into assisted living or hire in help.  Mom and I have been helping her as much as we can but she doesn't want to be dependent on me because if one of the kids is sick or I have to get a job she doesn't want me to be put in that position of deciding what to do about her. She goes to the doctor again on Monday so we will see what he says and make decisions after that. It is hard on all of us seeing her suddenly go downhill but especially for the kids. They thought she would live forever and now they got a big dose of reality that she is human and almost 97. They are taking it kind of hard. Since she can't get out here to have her hair done easily any more, Mom has been going to the apartment and I take the kids every few weeks so they can still see her and know we aren't lying to them about her. For a while they thought we were and she was gone because they hadn't seen her. I didn't say much about her to them because I didn't want them to worry and she wasn't up for much company when she was at her worst. Once they saw her they felt much better though. Please pray for GG that they find something to make her comfortable so she is not in pain her remaining years.

On a different subject, the school has finally acknowledged that Brandon does have a learning disability. They can't tell me an exact term, like dyslexia, just that it is an cognitive learning disorder. He has major focus issues, as in he doesn't focus much at all. His listening skills are pretty good, which is his saving factor. They are going to keep him in small groups a few hours a week to assist him and next year he will have someone take notes for him because he can't copy from the board. He is unable to do several things at once and can only follow one step at a time. They say that with work he will eventually work around it and learn to cope and hopefully some of these skills will start to kick in better with time. They were doing a focus study but I haven't gotten the results back yet to see if he might need medication or what we can do to help with the focus. He doesn't have ADHD because he doesn't have the hyperactivity but just the focus issues. It is frusturating because there is nothing I can do to make it better for him except help him through his homework and extra help on the weekends. They are doing an AR field trip for the kids who met their AR goal all four quarters, which of course he didn't since he has difficulty reading. He already missed out on a McDonald's lunch in the classroom last quarter. Only he and two others were left out. I don't know how many won't be going on the field trip. Does that seem fair to single out the kids that didn't make it? I realize that the kids should be rewarded for their efforts but not so pubicly. It is like rubbing it in the faces of the kids who didn't. Some of it is his fault because he keeps getting books that are almost, or are, out of his reading level but they won't help him pick out the books and they are color coded, but with different shades, and I don't think he really pays attention to shades, all he sees is green, yellow, etc.

School is almost out for the year so that will be another blog or maybe several. The last week of school, which is the week of the 21st, we have Jessie and Brandon's field trips, Jessie's kindergarten graduation, Field day and the last day of school assemblies. It will be a busy week.

St Patrick's Day

Since St Patrick's Day was on a Sat this year, the kid's school decided to celebrate on Thursday instead. Brandon didn't do much being in third grade but Jessie's class went all out. They made a leprechaun out of a paper mache balloon and they made leprechaun traps. They each got to make a trap however they wanted and then place them around the room. Jessie was so excited to go to school today to see if she trapped a leprechaun. She was so excited coming off the bus she started talking before we even took a step. Apparently the leprechauns visited their classroom but were too smart for the traps. All the traps were sprung or tipped over and a green coin was left in each trap for their effort. Leprechauns are pretty wild because they also left green footprints and flipped all the kids' discipline cards to red. Mrs. Pagano was teasing the kids saying they all would have to go to the Principal's office since they were all on red. She wasn't too disappointed in not catching one, she had too much fun. The trap has gold coins and nuggets (rocks painted gold) inside and she put some lucky charms cereal in the box. She wanted leaves and stuff to make the leprechaun feel at home and gave him a ladder to crawl in the box with a camouflaged stick so when the leprechaun goes into the box he would hit the stick and close him in. I assisted with the ideas a little but most of them were all hers and I just helped with the gluing since we had to use a hot glue gun.

The outside of the trap and her balloon leprechaun

The inside of the box as best as I could get.

We also did Chris' birthday on Saturday so we had a green theme. He had a good day and good presents. GG didn't stay as long because of her back. She was hurting too much but I think she had a good time anyway.

update

On the way home from school, Jessie was telling me there was a new girl in her class named Pavin. She said she was completely deaf . I asked her if the T.A. was translating for her and Jess said yes but her teacher also knew sign language. I told her she would have to learn more signs so she could talk to her because it must be hard for a little kid to not be able to communicate easily with friends. She said that Pavin could speak and read lips. I asked if Pavin had a cochlear implant and Jess said yes. I asked if she was making friends with her and she started laughing and I asked her why she was laughing and she said it was because she made up the whole story. She does have a T.A. who is deaf and has a cochlear implant so I am thinking that is where she got the idea. Nothing wrong with her imagination.





She was sick this last week with what we thought was just a bad cold and fever but when she went to the doctor for her regular checkup, she had a major ear infection and we didn't know it because her ear wasn't hurting her. She is feeling much better, especially now that she is done taking the antibiotics, which was torture for both of us to get her to take. She still loves school, although I have trouble getting her to do her homework because she gets bored easily. Especially the sight words; if they aren't in a story she doesn't care. This new kindergarten teacher is much better than Brandon's was though and Jessie is much farther along and already reading pretty good on simple stories. Her biggest problem is that she is so used to making up the words she forgets to actually read what is there and still tries to make up the words.






Brandon is starting the TCAP testing in school. It used to be CSAP but they changed it. I am not sure if it because of the testing or what but his attitude hasn't been very good lately. You would think he was a teenager already. All he can say is he is stressed but he doesn't know why. I think he does know what's wrong, at least to a point, but he doesn't want to put more pressure on me so won't say. He is way too observant for his own good and he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Yesterday he was asking me about the tornadoes that killed all those people and wanted to know if we were safe. I told him that it was unlikely but yes we have had tornadoes in Colorado and if one did happen all we could do was pray. He told me that we would not only pray for ourselves but for everyone else. Like for instance, if a family was divorced and a mom had one kid and the dad had the other then you would not only pray for yourselves but for the other family that was separated from you so that they would be safe also. I am not sure where he got that analogy from but it gives you an idea of the thought process he has. Nothing is simple with him. Which is why it surprised me when he picked a really simple science project for the science fair at school. Why does pop explode when you shake it? Brandon was liking school better, especially since he has started to go to small groups for some of his work and was feeling more confident, but he is starting to not want to go to school again. Maybe because of the testing.

BJ is just as onery as ever. The winter is hard because he is stuck inside a lot. Not that he minds the cold but no one is out to play with him. He is having trouble because Fear is not playing with him as much as he used to and he doesn't understand why. Fear is doing good considering he is almost 12 but he doesn't tolerate a lot any more. It is hard because he gets so grouchy and growls and snaps at everyone when he is not in a good mood which is more often than not but we don't have the heart to do anything about it as long as he is still doing ok. BJ will be much more controllable when he has a younger playmate. In the meantime luckily it is starting to get warmer so the kids can take him outside more often. He still likes to play with Socks (the cat) but they have to be careful since he is bigger than Socks. They chase each other around and will lay on the ground next to each batting at each other while BJ "talks" to him.

We had to take Socks to the vet and spent a fortune on him because he got some sort of infection that almost killed him. They don't know what is was but he is fine now. He must have been not feeling well for a while because he is a lot more active than he had been. Now he goes crazy tearing around the house. We changed his food to something hopefully a little more healthier and he likes it so much we have to hide the bag because he was tearing into the bag during his transitional phase between the new and the old.

Scott's unemployment has completely ran out now so hopefully fire season or something else will happen soon. It is so frusturating to apply to so many jobs and not even hear back. At least he doesn't have to waste a lot of time putting in 7 applications a week for jobs he know he doesn't stand a chance at to satisfy unemployment any more and concentrate on ones he stands a chance on. We still have money from the last fires so we are still ok as long as we only do bare necessities. It is amazing what you can get by on when you have to but I am so tired of telling everyone no we can't do that all the time. Somehow I became the responsible one in charge of finances so there the bad guy. Scott backs me up but I still feel like I am the one saying no since I do the books. I am hoping to use a little of the income tax refund money to do something fun after we buy things we need like another shed. We want to move Brandon into the other room this summer and we need something to store all the stuff in so that is priority. They are really looking forward to having their own rooms especially Brandon. I have posted Jessie's birthday pictures to shutterfly so if anyone is interested in seeing more pics they will be there shortly.

Jessie's Birthday

Jessie's birthday cake

Jessie just turned six already. How could that have happened? Just yesterday she was a little baby in my arms. We had her family birthday party the weekend before her birthday. She got lots of great things, among them two new dolls.

Elizabeth and Emma

She also got a bike basket and some art stuff and a necklace with a diamond J from Brandon.

We had a girls day on her actual birthday after she got off of school. She got a crown and Happy Birthday sung to her at school and then Mom and I picked her up from school and went to the mall. We ate at Subway and she played on the little playground they have there. We didn't intend to stay there as long as we did but a friend of hers named Ashton, who has a crush on her, showed up and they played together forever. She said he offered to help her into the school that morning so she didn't slip on the ice (there was no ice). When we got home she posed for her six year old pictures in different dresses. I will post those later, they haven't been fixed yet. She was going to do more by changing hairstyles and jewelry but she was getting too tired by then. I guess we just have to have a fashion show later. Brandon came home and she opened her card from Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim. She had a good birthday but now she is sad that it is all over and Brandon is already talking about his.

Some of her decorations


Puzzles



car seat carrier for dolls