Russia

Russia
We went to Yekaterinburg

Thursday, March 31, 2011

So Long March...Where is Spring?

Ok. Sorry I haven't updated much lately. It has been a busy March. I can't say it's been a fun busy, just busy. March seems like such a long month. I never thought it would end.


I have been hard at work getting my 3-5th graders through the state mastery tests. These are HUGE! I wish so much emphasis wouldn't be placed on these standardized tests but there is. Schools here are actually put on lists for not making the benchmarks or not making enough progress every year. Unfortunately, the city schools never do that great. But we survived.

Colby has been hard at work at preschool and daycare. He is loving school and learning so much. We often have conversations about who's name starts with what letter. One day he chimed in with, "I don't like C in my name Mommy. I want the other letter that sounds the same. Just like Keith." Too smart for me. He knows all but a few letters. His teacher taught all the kids the letter that starts their name and Colby seems to have learned them all. Too bad he doesn't have friends that start with F, H, N, Q, U, or V. He does know Y because it is in his name. He is also starting to write his name and I can tell what it is although the C is a little upside-down and his "b" looks more like a tire-swing. But I am impressed. He also loves to read. He is enjoying his TAG reader and is constantly reading books. Today he picked up the student copy of the social studies book I had in the car and was "reading" it on the way home. However, he has told me he likes for Mommy or Daddy to read to him because he can't "say" the words like we can. He already knows there are words on the page and he wants to read them. He gets a little frustrated at times because he can't. But we do have him spell words a lot.

Colby is also still loving music. He loves to sing as we drive home from school. I have been serenaded by anything from Itsy Bitsy Spider to Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland and even the Jeopardy theme sing. Yes, that's true! The other day we were listening to the radio when one of his favorite songs came on, "All Night Long". He knows it as sung by Rascall Flatts on the Cars soundtrack. Well that day before we heard two lines of it Colby chimed in with, "But that's not right. It's not the same." Huh? I had to listen more closely. Oh, someone else was singing it. But boy did it sound very similar. And today....Today I was serenaded all night with "Baby, baby, baby. Oh!" Yikes! Where did he hear that? I NEVER would listen to that silly boy Justin Beiber. Thanks a bunch Miss Jenn!

Well, I'm sure you'd like a few photos. So here's a couple. I don't ahve many from Feb and March. We didn't really get anywhere and my camera battery died and the new one just came in. But enojy these few. The last one...a rare moment. Colby has been exhausted lately. That afternoon he jsut crawled on the sofa while I was working on the computer, tucked himself in, and fell asleep. Not sure when the last nap was before that. He hasn't really napped since he turned 2.



Now so long March. Here comes....more Snow? What? Is this an April Fool's joke. We are under a winter storm watch for tomorrow. Ridiculous. I want warm weather.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

A Bit of a Bump

I'm not sure where to start today. I feel like I have hit a bump, or perhaps a wall. Work is going ok, although tomorrow we start the CT Mastery tests (grade 3 and up) and that is a huge deal. Lots of stress to "pass" as a school. Last year, the school's scores were very poor and I am feeling the burden to boost them up. We've just finished about 3 weeks of test prep. The kids did well but I can only hope we haven't burned them out. We'll see when we get the results around June or so.

On the home front, we are definitely feeling the results of a long, cold, snowy winter. Spring can't come any sooner. Colby's school schedule was so messed up with snow days of and late starts which result in no preschool but going to daycare all day. It has not been good. We've been back on track about 2 weeks or so and he is exhausted. I think he is also fighting a cold/cough. Not sure what. I battled with a high fever and stomach bug myself for a couple days. We NEED to get outside and run and have fun. Bring on the sunshine! Too bad it rained all day today.

Colby has also entered into what I can only hope is another phase. Please let it be a short one. He has become a little controlling and demanding. His good manners have all but disappeared. Eating has become a chore. Going to a store is worse. And he has gained a little smart mouth. He has even begun to ignore me when I ask him a question. I usually pick him up after school and on the ride home we would chat about his day. Not anymore! He actually said the other day, "I'm not talking to you. Turn up the music." I was crushed. He won't cuddle with me as much and he is just overall a bear. He told Mike today during his bath, "Go away. You two aren't listening to me."

I'm at a loss. He says nothing is bothering him. He says he's happy. But I'm not. Mike's not. Time outs don't work. Nothing seems to matter. Any thoughts? I can only hope that those "terrible twos" that didn't show up until he was 3 will be gone next month when he turns 4.