Parent Teacher Conferences

Yes, it is that time again. The end of the 2nd quarter and time to meet with the teachers again.

Jake is doing wonderful. He is always happy and willing to help. He's moved up to the next reading level and is getting challenged. I told her that I would rather Jake get challenged then have things come easy to him. He can learn great things from working hard to achieve what he wants. Jake does his best work when he is sitting in the front of the class and on the end of the row. He seems to get distracted easily and then looses where he is and what he was doing. That of course is normal and he will outgrow it as he gets older. With his birthday being late June, he is younger then other kids in the class. He is a great leader and helps the other kids in his class if they don't understand.

MaKenna. MaKenna. MaKenna. She is, well, MaKenna. She is very bright and has the ability to do really well - IF SHE WANTS TO. All of her work depends on her mood. Sometimes she is more then willing to put the effort in and do well. Other times, she just doesn't want to be bothered with school and would rather visit or play. She was being tested on how far she could count - she counted to 38 or so and figured that was enough to demonstrate she knew what she was doing - so she stopped. When her teacher asked to keep going, she looked at her and said "no, I don't need to". The next time she was told she needed to count to 100. She counted part way, skipped to 90 and finished to 100. Her writing is the same way - sometimes she wants to do it and sounds the letters and writes nicely. Other times, she just randomly writes letters to fill the page. You would be surprised how many words have "kenna" in them.

Kyler is helpful like Jake and stubborn like MaKenna. He recently moved to the "big boys class" at daycare. He loves it and usually can't wait to go to school to see his new teacher Miss Stephanie. We've been working on his letters - other then the usual ones he yells each time he sees them. K! for Kyler, T! for Taylor, M! for Mom and MaKenna, D! for Dad, J! for Jake...

Other Updates

I'm really bad about getting things posted as they happen. So here are some updates and pictures...



MaKenna did a cheer clinic with the high school cheerleading team. He practiced fro 4 hours one Saturday, and then got to cheer during 1/2 time at a high school basketball game.



She thought she was something else. She sure loves cheerleading and seems to have the right attitude for it. (I say that carefully, because I know what mom is thinking. I'll just clarify and say that No, I didn't have that kind of attitude and I don't know where she gets it.)



We skipped the big birthday party this year for Kyler and went on a family outing instead. We went to the Denver Aquarium. Since Kyler's birthday was during the week, we had to wait until the weekend to go. I know Kyler really enjoyed it and Jake and MaKenna are already trying to decide where they want to go for their family birthday party. I enjoyed it - no stress and no cleanup.





Let's see what else is going on. New Years day, we drove to Casper, WY to pick up a pellet stove we bought to help heat down stairs. We finally got that installed. It looks pretty nice and keeps the basement nice and toasty.






Steve is building a shed in the back. He did really good on it this fall and then things slacked off once it started getting cold. We had a couple nice days last month so we took the day off and started the siding. We got the back part completed - even the peak and the west side done. The East side is almost done - we have to cut 1 board for above the door, and then the front needs the peak boards cut.

Kyler is 3!

Where does the time go? I was all set last week to write a blog about Kyler's 3rd birthday, but of course didn't get to it. Better late then never...

Kyler turned 3 on Jan 29th. I took the day off to stay home and hang out with Kyler. 1st we went to the Dr for his 3 year checkup. According to the Dr. he's right on target for his weight, height, and attitude. After the Dr, we went back home to wait until it was cupcake time.

We played farm, watched Caillou, played with trucks, watched Caillou, ate lunch, took a nap and THEN it was time to go. We took cupcakes to his daycare class. He was so excited and could hardly wait. He had fun playing with his friends and he got to see Taylor (a little girl who was born the day after he was - and I work with her mom).

To end the day - we went to dinner. We kept asking Kyler what he wanted for dinner. Since it was his birthday, he got to pick where we ate. He said yes to every idea we had - pizza, ribs, chicken nuggets, steak... the list goes on. Finally, Steve decided we'd go out for Mexican. When we got there Kyler said "I'm so hungry for pizza!" Steve and I just looked at each other. I asked Kyler if he wanted a Quesadilla. He said "I'm so hungry for a Quesadilla!" I would call that a successful dinner.

O Ya - we had cake and ice cream when we got home.

Metro Junior Wrestling League

Well, we spent all day at the JV Tournament yesterday. What a big disaster. It was awful. Now, I know, wrestling never starts on time... but 2 1/2 hours! It was ridiculous. All spare y'all with the who's, what's and why's.


Once the tournament got started, Jake did well. He ended up with 5th place. He won 1, pinned 1, and lost 2. The matches he lost, he stuck with them and did his best. There were some tough kids there. Overall it was a good experience for him.


Jake said he'd like to do the spring wrestling (3 or 4 tournaments), as long as they aren't that long. I would agree with that.

Wrestling Update

Just a quick note on Jake's wrestling. He is doing so awesome. We went to a dual this past Saturday and he got to wrestle 7 times (in about 5 hours). He was tired at the end, but kept going. He got 2 Techs (won by more then 15), 2 Pins, 1 Win and 2 loses.

He has his big JV Tournament this weekend. It is for 1st and 2nd year wrestlers. His coach says he is tough and has great natural instincts. I'm of course a very proud mom.

Happy New Year

Just a quick note to say Happy New Year. We are all back at school and work. The Steve and Kyler were back to their routine on Monday. Jake and MaKenna started school again on Tuesday. I worked some over the vacation and worked from home on Monday.

The 2 week vacation was nice and at the same time long. We really just took it easy and enjoyed being at home. We kept it pretty low key for Christmas this year too. We really cut back on the number of gifts the kids got. They are kids - they don't need much! Jake got the honor of reading the Christmas Story. We used the Children Readers version. He liked that.

I needed to feel like I got something accomplished over the break, so on Monday - in between meetings we rearranged MaKenna's room. It was nothing like we did growing up, but maybe close. We swapped her bunk bed and dresser around, gave her new comforter sets, and stickers on the door. It was actually a pretty big ordeal. Jake's and Kyler's room is next (but they get paint).

December

WOW – I know I always say how time goes by fast, but it did it again to me. It’s already December. I need to be better about this blog – I always feel like I’m playing catch up. I’m not sure if anyone reads it, but here it goes…

The weather has definitely got us believe it is December. Saturday was in the 60’s so it didn’t seem like almost Christmas. Sunday we got snow, and then today I drove to work with the car saying -18 degrees. Way too cold. Weather.com is saying -5 degrees right now and its 11am. That is just “COLD”.

Our Thanksgiving was nice. We had our neighbors – Debbie and Shane over for dinner. The kids really enjoyed the long weekend off of school. Kyler got to go with me this year for the traditional Black Friday shopping trip. He did a good job, but wanted to keep everything I looked at. He kept saying “…but I love it…”. He eventually traded 1 thing in his hand for a piece of gum that he “loved”.

Jake is doing great at wrestling. I took him to Golden this weekend. He got 1 win and 1 pin. He wrestled hard and really does have the basics of wrestling down solid. MaKenna is patiently waiting for wrestling to be over so she can start gymnastics. I told her once Jake was done with Monday night activities, she could do something. She is a really big help to daddy while I’m gone with Jake. Kyler loves to play with MaKenna and tells me that MaKenna is his friend. She is loving it – he will do anything she tells him to do. He hasn’t learned that he shouldn’t always listen to his big sister.

We hope to get our Christmas tree tonight. Things have been so hectic the last couple weeks with just one thing after another. The main problem was – our washer stopped and leaked water all over the floor in the laundry room. So, needless to say, I got my Christmas present early – a new washer and dryer. I’m so ready for a relaxing Christmas vacation. The kids will be off for 2 weeks and HP has decided to close as well. So if I don’t get called into work – I’ll have 2 weeks off (meaning I will do email from home and not have to go to work in the way to cold weather). Maybe I’ll get my Christmas / New Year cards sent…

I’m sure I won’t get around to updating this before Christmas so… We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.