November Update

November has been a fun month, full of things to keep us busy. We started the first week of the month by going to Parent Teacher Conference for McKoy and Carter. How grateful I am to be able to go to these things and hear positive and uplifting things about my kids! Damien had basketball so I had Carter and McKoy be my babysitters while I ran to meet with Mrs. Weist and Mrs. Meikle. (They are getting to be WAY better than any Beehive or Miamaid in my ward, who I'd hand at least a TWENTY, then grimace at the tornado they allowed the kids to make in the living room, the blaring tv turned to a less than kid friendly channel, the smeared chocolate pudding in Eden's hair-at least I think it's pudding...yeah, Carter and McKoy is the obvious choice when I need a sitter!)


Mrs. Weist has been teaching kindergarten for over 20 years, but to be honest I was a little worried when I opened up McKoy's placement letter this summer and saw he would be in her class. I'd seen her classes when helping with Carter's kindergarten things a couple years ago, and always thought she had crazy wild classes! But she has proved to be a perfect fit for our Koy, and he just adores her and loves going to school! She has a very blunt way of doing things, and talks to the kids like...hmmm....how do I even describe it...how about I give you an example of something McKoy has come home and repeated: "PHILIP, BLOW YOUR NOSE-IT'S DRIPPING! WHAT, YOU CAN'T FIND A TISSUE??? PHILIP, THERE IS A FLIPPING BOX OF TISSUES ON EVERY FLIPPING TABLE!" McKoy came home and shyly said, "Mom, you know that game we all play at Christmas and have a partner and tournaments?" I thought for a second and said, "You mean Flip?" He said, "Yeah. If you add a -ing sound at the end, is that a bad word?" I was so confused for a second and then figured out he was trying to ask if FLIPPING was a bad word...and the above story was why he was wondering. I about died laughing when he repeated her words! I'm sure there are times when she'd like to say a few more! At the first of the year, I was a little concerned about the way she handles her class and students, but the more time I spend talking to her and helping in the classroom, the more I appreciate what a great teacher she is! She is a big goof, and the kids just laugh and laugh at her silliness! And it fits McKoy's personality to a tee-he is shy and timid at first, but really a HAM once he gets comfortable. Mrs. Weist had oodles of good things to say about him. He likes to help some of the other students who have a hard time "focusing" (that came out of McKoy's mouth) and he has really taken to letters and sounds and blending and wants to read SO bad. He is very close too! He loves having homework (Carter assures him that will end in 2nd grade...) and does his best on each assignment.


Mrs. Meikle is only 24, and this is her third year teaching. She is amazing! She is really creative and never does anything halfway. Her classroom is decorated to the max and her activities are so fun. I helped out for the Halloween party-she was dressed as the cutest witch you've ever seen and spoke in a funny, spooky accent all day. She is a great story teller and I found myself more than once getting behind on my juice pouring skills and getting caught up in her stories. She has been super helpful when Damien and I had concerns that Carter was behind his grade level at reading, and it was nice to have her assurance he was right on track and was doing great. She said Carter is the leader for all the boys in the class, and if anyone has a question at all sports related, he's the one they ask, including her. She can count on him to get things done fast, but he really worries about being his best. (Don't have to tell me that-he was the same kid waking me up this morning at 6:20 because he was worried about his spelling test today and wanted to go over the words again with me....) Carter has raised his AR reading level a whole grade level in the last semester and slashes his weekly goal for number of books he needs to read each time. She has continued giving him the 3rd grade math homework, which he still likes to do. Carter plays football at recess almost everyday, and I love to hear all about the game when he comes home.


Speaking of when they come home, that is the hardest hour of my day!!! But let me explain before you start getting the wrong idea-because I need some suggestions of how to make it smoother. The boys walk home from school, and as soon as they open the door, they are fighting and tired and hungry and ornery! And here us girls are, all up there faces, "Hi, how was your day? I missed you! Do you have homework? Do you want a snack? Tell me about school!"...I've tried letting them come home and have some down time, like watch one show, but it seemed to be an even bigger struggle to get them to open their backpacks and begin homework, so now I have them come home, we grab a snack, but basically it's me making lunch all over again, which kinda gets me in a bad mood because I have to clean the kitchen up yet again...and then make them do their homework, do their chores, and then they get free time. Just wondering if anyone else has the same problem....


Carter was using the camera recently and snapped some shots of McKoy and Addison. Here's a couple of my favorite. On the 10th, Damien celebrated his 28th birthday! Words cannot express what a great guy we think we have! He is the light in all four of our kids eyes-they love him so much-as do I! He had school and basketball practice on his birthday, so we tried to make it special for him when he walked in the door. (Not sure if we accomplished that, turned out kinda crazy really!) The boys had a hay day decorating his door while the girls and I made his cake. Well, tried to make his cake...


Looks a little sad, doesn't it! (the cake below, that is) First of all, I was running a little behind so instead of letting the cake cool completely, I tried to hurry and flip it out of the pan. Big mistake! It of course stuck in the middle and fell apart completely. I tried to put it back together-sort of, had it all frosted-sort of, all the while with the two little girls watching my every move while atop the cupboard, when Eden decided she couldn't take it anymore and grabbed a big handful. She didn't even eat it, just kinda wanted to see how it would feel, I guess. Needless to say, by the time my husband walked through the door, his wife was a tad bit flustered and wondered to herself why the heck she does this anyway?!?!? Hopefully, he knows that we love him so much and hope he had a great 28th birthday!

 Damien did have a jamboree at Madison on his birthday, so after it was over, we headed over to Gringo's for dinner.  We were joined by Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin, Nathan, Meggan, and Ledger, who traveled up to Madison to see Damien's team play and get a look at the brand new high school they have now.

McKoy drew him this picture...

 

Since I wrote a little update on how the boys are doing, I wanted to include one for each of the girls. (Remember, this blog is more for my lack of brain cells and I desperately want to be able to remember them as they are today...) Addison is just as sweet as ever. She is getting to be super funny, and I love hearing the things she comes up with. She follows her brothers around, putting a girly twist on anything they are doing. She still loves playing dolls and gets excited when Eden wants to play with her. Eden is really beginning to show her personality. She is quite hilarious! I had to snap some pictures of her while she played in the sink one day. This entertained her for about 20 minutes, such a rare occasion for her! She is busy busy all day long, and loves to move fast now that she can walk (she figured it out in the middle of this month).
Damien started the basketball season this month. This is such a time consuming job, but we make the best of it by visiting him at practice sometimes and traveling to all the games. I have been working on a highlight video to give to the girls at the end of the season, so we watch lots of game film together as I cut the film and organize great plays into a film. I am still trying to figure out good music to put on it--if you have any suggestions PLEASE TELL ME!!!

Thanksgiving was held at Marie's beautiful new house this year. It was such a great meal and so fun to be all together.

All the kids loved watching their moms and dads duke it out in the annual "In-Laws vs. Out-Laws" basketball game.