Amelia's First Day of Kindergarten

I had to do another separate post for Amelia, since today was her first day of school ever. She was so excited she could hardly contain herself all morning! I thought I was going to be all sad dropping her off, but once we got to her class I didn't have time. She was like bye mom and dad, and then flew into her classroom and sat down at her desk, where she immediately began coloring a welcome picture that was waiting for her. No nervousness or hesitation at all. I guess it helps that she will be one of the oldest (if not the oldest) in her class, since the cut off date here is Aug. 31, and her birthday is the end of September. She has been MORE than ready to go, and I felt bad last year that she had to wait, because if we had still been in California she would have gotten to go. However, I am happy that she was so ready to go and not scared. I saw some kids there crying and not wanting their parents to leave, so I'm glad she was just like see ya! I know I totally would have cried if she had even acted like she was a little sad having us leave her there. Instead, I snapped one quick picture of her at her table, and we were on our way.

Super excited to be at school!

First Day of School!

Today is the kids' first day of school, so as usual I had to take a picture of each of them before we headed out the door. They were all super excited to go (although I don't think anyone could have been as excited as Amelia, since she started Kindergarten today). It was pretty funny just how excited they were. I got up a little after 7, and as I headed to go upstairs and wake them all up, I found them all sitting on the couches in the living room all dressed and ready to go. It totally cracked me up! I know that won't last very far into the school year. haha!

I can't believe how big they are getting. This was the first year that I didn't walk the older 3 to their classes. It was nice that John was able to come with us, because even though he couldn't switch his days off, his work let him come in early when he told them it was Amelia's first day of Kindergarten. We all walked together into the school, but then I let the kids go their own way. Hailey and Austin went together, because even though they're in different grades, their classes are directly across the hall from each other. Tyler, who started 7th grade, headed to the cafeteria to get his schedule, and then off to 1st period. I dropped Brooklyn and Camren off at the 3rd grade bldg. where they went to their separate classes, with Brooklyn upstairs and Camren downstairs, and then we headed to take Amelia to kindergarten.

Tyler - 7th Grade

Hailey - 6th Grade

Austin - 5th Grade

Camren - 3rd Grade

Brooklyn - 3rd Grade

Amelia - Kindergarten

7th Grade Walk Through

Tonight we went to the 7th grade Meet the Teacher night for Tyler. Man we're starting to feel old! It is crazy thinking that John and I have a 7th grader, but at least we don't have to deal with Jr. High. Our school is Kindergarten through 8th grade, so I will be able to have all the kids at one school for a couple more years. I dread the day I have to start driving to multiple schools every day.

Anyway, for the first 30 minutes it was a walk through in the cafeteria where we just went to different stations to talk to people about P.E. uniforms and electives and stuff. It is a little weird since they are still part of the elementary school. The kids take an elective that exposes them to a bunch of different things for the first semester, instead of picking a particular one, unless there is a specific one they want to be in like art or band. I was SO happy after talking to the band teacher! Last year, when we moved here, I had the kids ask about band and they said they were told that it was too late because they hadn't started in band from the beginning. I thought how unfair that was, because this is the first school they have gone to that offered band as part of the curriculum and not an after school activity that you have to pay for. Fortunately, after talking to Mr. O, I found out that is not the case. It will be harder for them, since Austin, Hailey and Tyler are in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade, but he said if they really want to do it and are willing to put in the effort, he is more than glad to work with them and do whatever it takes to help them to get caught up. Thank goodness Brooklyn and Camren will be able to go straight into band next year without being behind! So John and I are going to figure out what will happen about that. We have to rent instruments, and of course none of them want to play the same thing, but at least your rental fees build equity toward the purchase of a nice instrument, instead of them being a waste every month. I told Tyler he had until the end of the week to decide if he wants to do band or not. It will be hard and require a lot of dedication from him to practice and get caught up with everyone else, but I think he could do it if he wants to. I figured I would let him think about it for a couple days because it is a big commitment, and I am not going to enroll him in it just so he can decide he doesn't want to do it after a few weeks.

The last hour we rotated through the 4 core teacher's classes: Math, History, Language Arts, and Science. All the 7th graders have the same 4 teachers, and they just rotate throughout the day. It was nice to meet teachers, and hear their teaching philosophies and plans for the year. I think Tyler is in for a rude awakening when it comes to their discipline system, but I think it will be really good for him. Instead of each class disciplining individually, they all stay in contact throughout the day and the discipline is cumulative. That means you might get a warning in 1st period, a written warning in 2nd period, and if you don't behave in your next class it could land you in detention. He has always had a major behavior problem at school (bothering other students, touching/taking their stuff, refusing to do work, etc) that I think this will be really good for him.

We also found out how much more strict they are about class/home work. After hearing from the 4 teachers, John and I told him he better really buckle down and take his work more seriously or he is going to end up failing. They have homework every night, Monday through Friday (Something I had told him before, but I don't think he believed me. haha), and you're expected to have your homework out and ready to turn in and if you don't, you get a zero. That's it. I am SO glad, I can't even tell you! He is famous for lying about having homework, or "forgetting it" or whatever, so I think that should put an end to that real quick, once he realizes his teachers aren't going to give him second chances and extensions like he has managed to get most of the time in the past. Also, the teachers each have a class website where I can not only look up his exact homework every night, but I can see every grade for every assignment he does. I think things are looking up for this year already! Ha!

Crazy Goings On

Man, things have been crazy around here! The kids had spring break this week. I only had 5 kids for the week (which doesn't sound like only, unless you have 7. ha!) because I sent Hailey and Tyler to their Grandma Sandy's house for the week. They have been gone since Tuesday. I have to say it is amazing how much quieter it is with the 2 of them gone, and with Tyler not here to be a jerk to his brothers. It has been nice, but I am ready for them to come back. They were supposed to come back tonight, but they will be back tomorrow some time. Dave called and asked if they could bring them back tomorrow. Jessica was supposed to bring them today when she came to sleep over and watch the kids while John and I are in class tomorrow morning, but she forgot that she had ACTs tomorrow. So now Chris is coming to watch the kids, and the kids will be home sometime tomorrow.

Also, while the kids have been off 3 of them have been sick. All week Brooklyn, Camren and Amelia have had fevers and been complaining of stomach pain. Not nausea, just their stomach hurts. Hopefully they will be feeling better by Monday. I guess it's lucky that Austin and Hayden didn't get sick too. I'm just glad that I didn't get sick. With school and all the kids, I just don't have time for it!

It is almost the end of the semester at school. Although I am excited that it is almost over - ok that my math class is almost over - I am going crazy from all the end of semester work that I have to do. Just this weekend I have to finish 4 math chapters, math final review, 3 page literature paper for humanities, and a 1500 word argumentative essay for english. On top of that I need to finish up my sociology class. It's enough to make me want to pull out my hair! I am just relieved that I am getting good grades! I have A's in everything except math, which I have a B in. I am ok with that. It is my worst subject, and lately it has gotten hard enough that I thought I might end up with a C. However I got my current grade today, and it was 88%, so almost an A. If I can do great on my chapter 9 quiz, and my final, I might be able to get an A after all! I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Also to do this weekend: Brooklyn's birthday. She will be 7 on Sunday! I can't even believe it! I am excited because Jacob and Natalie are coming down tomorrow, and they will be coming over Sunday. I haven't told Brooklyn because I thought it would be more fun as a surprise. We don't have a lot of money right now since John's work has cancelled him so many times recently. This week he only worked 2 days! Lame. They keep saying that they don't have enough cases. I told John that they should make all the scrub techs salaried, because it's not fair that they're not making their 40 hours because the surgery center is not getting enough surgeries scheduled. Grrr! It's so frustrating. John has still been looking at jobs back out in California, but I really don't want to move out there so I hope that something works out with his work soon!

School

So I said I would post about school at some point, so here it goes.

John and I had been talking about going back to school for quite a while now. In fact, I have wanted to go back to school ever since I had Hailey, but my ex-husband was totally NOT supportive of that. And then when I was divorced it was just too hard with a new baby and a 3 year old. So for the last 5 years that John and I have been married I have been trying to talk him into going back to school. I know how gifted he is in the OR, and he gets told that all the time by the surgeons he works with. He is certified in suturing, and the DR.'s let him do work for him all the time and tell him how immaculate his work is. I kept telling him how he was wasting his gift, and that people could be benefiting from it and so on. It has become a joke between us, because of that scripture that talks about the servant that buried his talent. I tell him that he is burying his talent, and that Heavenly Father is going to take it away because he 's not using it. He tells me the same thing about my singing. Haha!

So this past December we started talking about it seriously. We checked it out, and went over to UVU and decided to enroll. So this January we both started school, he in pre-med and me in pre-nursing. We decided to just go year round and get it over with, so that we could finish school as quickly as possible. At that point, I will be done with school and ready to get into the work field just as John is ready to start med school. Which would be perfect timing, because it would be impossible for him to work full time and do med school, and then residency. So our plan is for me to work nights (which I would prefer because I am more awake at night, and it pays more) and he will take classes during the day. At that point the only child not in school will be Hayden, unless we have our one more baby. (Yes, I know that people think that's crazy, but I also know there is one more baby waiting for us. I have seen him and I know his name. Enough said.) Anyway, we will make it work.

I am SUPER excited to finally be working towards my BSN!! I have wanted to do this my entire life. I even have an essay I wrote in 7th grade, and the whole thing is about how I wanted to be a nurse in the NICU with all the little babies. And today? Yep, still want to do the same thing. Yeah I still work on my singing. I am in talks with a band to be their lead singer, and I sang in Sacrament Meeting earlier this month. But I honestly don't believe that it is something that I will become famous for or anything, and being a NICU nurse has been a lifelong dream of mine. And if I can squeeze in singing gigs on the side, then even better. I have been working my butt off, and as of now I have straight A's. After I finish school. I plan on going back and getting my Masters (MSN). I tell everyone I know that if I can do it, so can they. I have friends who want to go back to school, but don't think they can do it. Well if I can be a mom of 7 kids under 12, and go to school full time and get all A's, then I know they can do it too.

Parent / Teacher Conferences

Well, tonight we went to the school to meet with the kids' teachers. I am really involved with my kids schooling, and talk to their teachers on a regular basis. So no surprises, but here's what we chatted about:

*Tyler (5th grade) - Really smart, not turning in all his work and being a total brat in class. This wasn't news to us. Tyler has had a behavior contract every year that he has been in school. Not just being mean, but because he is so annoying. He will walk around (during class) talking to other students, touching their stuff, taking their stuff and playing with it. Just generally being really annoying. To the point that he has had to be sent to another classroom to get away from his classmates and miss recesses. I have told him before that when he acts like that he is not impressing the other kids and making them want to be friend with him. He is making them think, Gad he's so annoying! I wish he'd get away from me! Not a good way to make friends. His teacher told him that when he is acting like that, he is being a bully and that is not acceptable. They are really strict about that there, and he is going to be facing a lot of trouble if he keeps it up. I let her (and him) know that John and I support that 100% because his behavior is just totally unacceptable! The hard thing is that he is one of the very youngest in his class (his birthday is 2 weeks before the cutoff) and extremely immature. However, because he is so much younger, I feel good about our position that if he doesn't start turning in all his work and behaving in class, we are going to hold him back next year. I really think it would be better for everyone if that happens, so we will see how the rest of the year goes. We have discussed this with his teacher and she agrees with us.

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*Hailey (3rd grade) - Nothing really to tell here. She has never been a problem. She turns in all her work, is at the top of her class, and very helpful. The only problems she is having are being a little to chatty (no surprise if you know her) and really needs to work on spelling. Spelling has always been her biggest problem. She spells everything just how it sounds. So that is something that we will continue to work on at home.

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*Austin (3rd grade) - Major problems here. However, I email back and forth with his teacher on a regular basis, so no surprises. He has not turned in one assignment since the beginning of school. Not kidding. He would tell his teacher that he had left it at home and then tell me he left it at school. So once we started emailing, that all stopped. However, the not completing homework continues. I just don't have 3 - 10 hours (NOT exaggerating) to stand over him and keep trying to force him to do his work . So John and I have told him that we are not going to fight him to do his work, but if he doesn't do it and gets an F on his report card he will do 3rd grade again. He is old enough to know what he is supposed to do and do it. The problem is that his whole goal in life is how little can he possibly get away with doing, and he is like that about everything. He is also having problems behaving and not doing things like having crying tantrums and going under his desk when he doesn't want to do something. Um, not acceptable. His teacher is in agreement with us, and like Tyler, he is also one of the youngest in his class. So we shall see how this year goes.

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*Camren (1st grade) - Still fighting the school to get him into speech. The school says that they usually wait til they are older, because they think he will outgrow it. I don't, because I went through the same thing with Tyler and he just graduated speech last year in 4th grade. Camren has had major speech issues since I have known him. When John and I first got married, he was 2 1/2 and could not speak intelligibly. It took me a long time of working with him, to get him to where you could understand what he was saying, but he still has stuff he needs help with. It is really frustrating. Other than that, he is doing ok. He is still behind, but I already knew that last year, so I had them enroll him this year in a program where he is getting extra help with reading and letter recognition and all that. So that is going well, and I am already starting to see improvement. However, he is having behavior issues as well. Is this a boy thing? His teacher said that she has to remind him several times an hour to be quiet, or do his work, or whatever. So we put him on contract. He will bring a chart home every day that is broken down into parts of the day and will tell how he behaved during those times. That way we know how he is behaving and he will have consequences when he's not doing what he should. I don't want his issues to turn into the major problems I have with his brothers.

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*Brooklyn (kindergarten) - She is doing good. Chatty during class, but no surprise as someone who lives with her. She is doing good with her school work and just needs more practice with her sight words. The only problem her teacher has had with her is that it takes several times to get her attention. Like if her teacher is calling her name to do something. I told her that it had been one of my concerns when she started school. Since Brooklyn was a baby, she has been in her own little world. When I tell the kids to pick up or whatever, it seems she thinks I meant everyone but her. It is very hard to get her attention and very hard to get through to her that she really has to do something that she is told to do. So that is something that we will continue working on.

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I was glad to meet with the teachers and glad that they agreed with where John and I are coming from. That is really important to me. I want to know if my kids aren't behaving or doing their work, and know where they are in terms of grade level. That's why I talk to their teachers all the time. I don't want to wait 'til the end of the year, and then have them be all, oh sorry your kid is way behind. Because if we catch it now, we can do something about it. If my kids aren't doing the work or behaving, I don't want them just passed along to the next grade when they shouldn't be. The work is only going to get harder and the expectations higher, so I think that would be a big mistake. So I guess it is just back to the daily struggle, and see how this year goes.