First day of kindergarten

Sean was so excited to start at his new school.

They took name tag pictures for his English class and his Chinese. I made him get in front of the tree so a I could take his picture. I knew if I asked him to put the Chinese hat on again so I could take that picture he'd put his foot down.

I am amazed at how quiet they are at school. At the Montessori school a class of 12 sounded like 50. At Stewart a class of 30 is very quiet.

Watching the kids made me laugh. I've been teaching adults for 20 years. Every class has the same "roles", the know it all, the I have a story for that, the talk to the person next to you, the fidgety one, the sleeper, the class clown and the shy one. I was watching the kids and I could identify their adult roles. Little miss know it all was seriously getting on my nerves. She really did "know it all" and wanted to make sure everyone knew. She will be a cheerleader and class president in Jr High, no doubt. Sean is really shy at school. The teacher asked if anyone had ever seen a monkey outside of the zoo. I asked Sean why he didn't tell them he had and he said "I'm not going to raise my hand and talk."

Moving on to Chinese class. He goes to English kindergarten for an hour and a half, then lunch followed by two and a half hours of Chinese. The teacher doesn't speak any English. She gestures and jumps around a lot. Here she is telling them the story of the three little pigs in Chinese. At least I think that's what she was doing. There was a lot of huffing and puffing and blowing things down. The kids were staring at her with their mouths open (including Miss know it all.) I was overwhelmed and I'm not the one who has to learn Chinese.

As the kids were dismissed on the first day they had to come up one by one before they were dismissed and the class sang a song "we are so glad you are here....." Sean was the second one to get called up so he had to stand in front of everyone. He did not like that at all. He asked "why did they do that?" Not cool, not cool at all.

My big kindergarten dilemma is Sean wetting his pants. Sean has never been dry at night. He always wears a pull up. When he is home or we are on vacation he stays dry during the day because we are always reminding him to go to the bathroom. At Sunrise he was always peeing his pants. He stayed dry more at three then he did at four and five. I think in part because the teachers didn't make the kids go to the bathroom like they did when they were younger.  We bought a potty watch that vibrates to remind him to go to the bathroom. That worked really well for awhile but then he started ignoring it. Every day he would come home wet, smelling like an outhouse. It annoys me that he doesn't even care that he's wet. Apparently peer pressure didn't work there. I kept clothes at school for him to change in to but he wouldn't change unless one of the teachers insisted.

 

 Our family doctor said he could run test. Our doctor loves to run test! (and then not bother to give us results.) I really don't think it's a physical problem. I guess it's possible he could have a small bladder or that it's some sort of psychological issue related to adoption but I don't think it is either. He just doesn't like to stop doing what he is doing and go to the bathroom. If he continues to have problems after Christmas I will consider subjecting him to testing but the poor kid has had enough test and I'm not keen on having a catheter stuck inside him to check his urethral sphincter control unless I absolutely have to. Hence my dilemma how to keep him dry at school. I have him pee before he goes and before lunch and after recess. The school has a policy that if a kid is wet they go to the office, their parents are called and they stay there until their parents come change them. Well, heck he'd spend half his week in the office.

 

I did Google searches for enuresis in kindergarteners. Most of what I read said that putting a pull up on then during school would embarrass them. I don't see how wearing a pull up under your pants that no one sees is more embarrassing then wetting your pants.  I made him wear a pull up to school. He was not happy. He did not want to get out of the car. I told him it wasn't punishment I just don't want him being wet at school and being made fun of. He's more concerned he's going to get made fun of for wearing a pull up. I told him he shouldn't be showing his underwear to anyone so it shouldn't be a problem. He didn't want to get out of the car. I told him his choice was to wear the pull up or go back to Sunrise for the year. He got out of the car.

 

 As soon as he got home he changed back into underwear. He stayed dry all day at school! I told him if he stays dry for a week at school he can quit wearing the pull ups. I feel bad for him but I don't want people remembering in High School that he was the kid who was always peeing his pants in kindergarten and I sure don't want him being the smelly kid.

 

 







More cousin fun

We went to Jungle Jim's with the little cousins. Another year or two and Sean's going to have outgrown that place. It's a great place for little kids but by the time they are seven they are too big. (Don't anyone tell Shari!) Shari was good to ride the little roller coaster with Sean because I won't do it. Sean and Lisa loved it, Liam not so much.

Char and chunky monkey, Lennox.

Sean and Lisa on the airplane. Shari even got on that ride. How she fit her long legs into it I'm not sure.

Liam liked the airplanes.

Shari took this picture of Lisa Jean in the playroom. Ha, what's wrong with this picture.

Happy 86th birthday

Mom's birthday was on the 7th. We waited to celebrate after Autumn and Shari arrived. It seems like all the family parties have about the same number of people even though the faces are different. Funny how that works. Jaclyn and her kids were not here but Autumn and hers were. A couple of people asked me where John and Julie were. I totally forgot to invite them.

Sword fighting in the living room. I thought mom was going to have a coronary on her birthday yelling at the kids to quit running around. When I was a kid mom was forever screaming at us "NOT NEXT TO THE LAMP!" It drove me a crazy. For a couple of years her lamp was upstairs in the living room and she would yell about the lamp. Drove me crazy so I took her lamp and put it in her room thinking I wouldn't have to hear her screaming at the kids. Now she screams "NOT NEXT TO THE CLOCK!" Dang it mom, it's my stupid clock and I'm not screaming about it. Oh well, some things don't change.

Jackson and Chase at the computers.

Khloe looking cute in her little pink hat. It kept falling over her eyes and that made her grumpy. Won't be too long until she's putting her sticky little hands on my clock.  When Sean was learning to walk he would pull himself up on the clock and hit the glass and look at me and say "no, no, no." He knew exactly what no meant.

I told Harrison he couldn't make a face. I wanted one picture of him not being silly, he obliged. I told him he could make a face on the next one. Khloe wasn't too happy about the picture.

Mom's lost a lot of weight. She doesn't have much of an appetite. Watching mom get old makes me feel old. Mom is the only generation between me being the oldest generation.

Dinosaur Park

Run for your lives!
We went to the Ogden dinosaur park. Art and I both were reminded of going to the Durham Children's Museum when we were kids. They had big dinosaurs. I remember going there with my Uncle Ed and cousins. It's a fond childhood memory. It made me smile to watch Art carrying around his grand kids. How did we come to be the generation with grand kids? How is it possible that we are that old.

Shari protecting the kids from a wild dinosaur.

I caught him in mid air!

Not sure what they were trying to do.

They made dinosaurs out of paper plates.

Sean and Lisa seeing what dinosaurs see.

Not a picture from the dinosaur Park. Autumn posted this one on Facebook and I thought it was adorable. Khloe and Lennox looking cute.

Goodbye Sunrise Montessori

Sunrise Montessori has been big part of our lives for the past three years. Sean was only two when he started going there for pre-school and daycare. He was just a little guy. He has learned so much. He can read, write, speak a little (very little) Spanish. He is social and plays well with others. I've always felt like the Montessori school was like a home school. There are only 50 kids in the building and it goes from preschool to 6th grade. Though there aren't any 6th graders. The oldest kids there are in 3rd.

We really spent a lot of time debating where the best place for Sean to attend elementary school would be. He was doing really well at Sunrise. The downside was that he wasn't in school with the other kids from our neighborhood. In N.C. this wouldn't be as big a deal because the schools cover such a large demographic area but in Utah it's important. The schools are neighborhood schools. There are three elementary schools within five miles of our house. When Sean got accepted into the Chinese Immersion program it helped us make up our mind. Most of the kids in our neighborhood are in that program. AJ is still friends with kids he went to kindergarten with. Skyler was best man at his wedding and they were in the same kindergarten class. Those relationships are important.

As much as I enjoyed the kids at Sunrise they had more than their fair share of kids in tough situations. Parents of kids who struggle in public school look at Montessori as an excellent alternative, which it is. Though through the years there have been some that have been asked to leave because their needs were to great. There's Rylie who I've talked about before. Vance, one of my personal favorites is not happy unless he is wearing princess shoes and a dress. Not hard to see how easy a target he would be for bullies in a big school. At the Aviary on Friday Vance fell and skinned his knee. He was sobbing. I pulled out a band aid which usually cheers a child up but Vince was horrified. There was NO WAY he was going to let me put an Iron Man band aid on his knee. Unfortunately, it was all I had. There's Landon who was home alone with his mother when she died of an overdose. I'm not sure how long until someone discovered him but the little guy needs counselling. These are just the kids in the picture I took at the Aviary on Friday. There are lots of kids with problems in all schools but a higher percentage at Sunrise.

An itty bitty Sean his first summer at school.

I like this picture from 2010 because it has Sean, Dani, Vanessa and Jackie in it. The four of them are still at the school.

Becca, Dani, Vanessa, Vance, Owen, Landon, Riley, Sean and Lucy.

I took this picture Friday at a field trip to Tracy Aviary. Sean, Dani and Vanessa are in the picture. I'm not sure what's up with Sean standing instead of sitting. Wild child.

I will miss Marta, Rae, Liz and the other teachers at the school. They've given Sean a great educational foundation. I will not miss the monthly school bill! Sean is so excited about starting school at Stewart Elementary tomorrow. He will have the same kindergarten teacher as AJ did years ago. Sean is ready for a bigger school and new friends.

Final boat ride of the summer

I've never seen the lake this low. The boat dock was closed at Anderson Cove. We had to go to the other side of the lake to launch the boat.

If we don't get snow this year they may have to change the name from Pine View reservoir to Pine View pond or puddle. I don't recall the lake being this low in the fall.

 

Shari, chunky monkey and Autumn.

It's five o clock somewhere. We were wishing we had hammocks.

Liam and Lisa took their first boat rides. Autumn said it was the first time she'd been on a boat (not counting a cruise ship). I find that hard to believe but she says it's true.

 A very happy baby. He wasn't too happy when I shook a towel and the sand went in his sleeping face. He didn't like the boat ride so much. Sean asked "how come Lennox always smiles?

Someday I'm going to make a photo book of just boat pictures.

 

Captain Lisa. She was busy looking for treasure with her papa. She was very excited when she found an old pop top. It's been a couple of decade since they made pop tops so it was a novelty.

Liam really mad that he couldn't pull the boat up.

Serious hot babes in the pool!

Sean swam all the way across the pool with out his life jacket on. He is not a natural born swimmer but three years of swimming lessons is helping.

 

 Lisa Jean can fly!

We had to come back from the lake in time for Sean's kindergarten orientation for parents. The kindergarten information letter specifically said no children. I guess I was one of the few parents that read that line. Don stayed home with Sean because he was grumpy and didn't want to go over to AJ and Stephs. I met another mother of a kindergartner who is a grandmother too. Jacob a little boy who lives up the street mom was there too. She had Jacob when she was 44, he is her one and only. She is a labor and delivery nurse. I've tried to talk to her a couple of times over the years but she is always so negative and she seems REALLY old. I was talking to the other mom and Jacob's mom came up. I said here's another older mother. She said "I'm older than any of you, how old do you think I am?" I wanted to tell her it's not how old you are it's how old you look and act and you look and act ancient! I'm a year older than she is. I invited Jacob to play with Sean when they were two or three and his mom wasn't interested. Today she asked me if I wanted to carpool with her. Hmm, OK. Jacob and Sean will be in the same class

Sean is singing a night prayer, "God you're everywhere, you're in heaven and we're on earth, we can see you but you can't see us......" very cute. 

North Carolina Cousins

Autumn and her kids, Lisa Jean, Liam and Lennox and Shari came for a visit. Autumn hadn't seen Grandma since Lisa Jean was a little baby. Liam is part Spider Man, part Captain American and fireman boots. Kids got style. Liam fell about half way down my stairs. Made a big noise, scared us all. Fortunately his mask, shield and boots protected him from injury.

They practiced a little piano. We had tacos for dinner. I was at Walmart with Char and I saw a box of chocolate desert taco shells. I thought it was going to be a taco shaped chocolate cone. It was chocolate flavored corn shell. Gross. Autumn's kids liked them. I thought smelling them was nasty enough.

I used to call Khloe my chunky monkey. Then I met Autumn's baby Lennox who is a seriously chunky monkey. I will have to start calling Khloe my petite princess.

I think Lennox could eat Khloe. He is a happy baby. He was giving me raspberries on my arm and then bit me with his one tooth. He think everything is funny.

The rest of our weekend

 

We took a five mile bike ride around Farmington trail. We ended up at the campground store where we stopped for a treat. We stopped and looked at the buffalo and deer that live at Lagoon.

Went to Farmington Pond for a few minutes. Kylie waded in the water. Brie and Sean wanted no part of that nasty water. I can't say that I blamed them.

The kids played in the hot tub at home, painted rocks, played house, made a mess of my house and we went to the rec center to swim. Kylie is an excellent swimmer. Sean and Brie, not so much.

The kids went non stop the entire weekend.

A strange thing happened at the mall. We were waiting to get a Chick Fil A. There was a family of Indian's next to us. (India Indian's) I don't know who started it but all three of the kids were saying "WE DON'T LIKE BROWN PEOPLE!" I thought I must have misheard but they continued to discuss their dislike of brown people. The brown people were staring at them with their mouths open. I reminded Kylie and Brie that they their brother and sister Luke and Stephanie are brown and they said "oh yeah." I reminded them Ryder and Holland's new baby was brown. I asked if they disliked any of those brown people. They were kind of sheepish and said no. Kylie then said "mom, is brown" (referring to Jennie as Lanette is not brown). I may have over reacted, I just couldn't believe they were talking that way. It really bothered me. I told them when they talked that way they made people sad and that skin color is not a reason to dislike someone. I don't know where that came from.  I think they thought they were being silly and didn't realize they were being hurtful to others. I didn't say anything to the brown family that was standing next to us. I know they heard. They came over and sat next to us. Either they didn't hold a grudge or they wanted to hear what other bigoted comments the rude half white children would make. There's a little boy at Sean's school, Vance. The girls call him "fragile." He likes to wear dresses and play with Barbie's. He's seven so I think it's beyond a phase, he truly feels like he should be a girl. Some of the kids are unkind to him. Sean just ignores him. I don't expect Sean to have to play with him if they have nothing in common but I expect him to be respectful.  I really want him to be tolerant. I was watching Vance run around in his light up flowered flip flops, carrying his Barbie and I feel for him and his parents, that's a hard road.

Saturday night we took the Front runner to American Fork and met Lanette at the train station. It didn't give the kids much time for a goodbye because we had to push them off the train to Lanette and keep going or we would have had to wait an hour at the train station for the train home. We had Subway on the train. The kids talked a lot about Jennie. Where is she? I told them I didn't know but she was safe. Kylie said she missed her and sometimes she was happy she is adopted but sometimes she is sad. Brie said "I'm just happy." Kylie told me she lived with Jennie the longest. That is true she did. On the way home after the girls had gotten off the train Sean told me he wished they could all live together and I said I know how much you love your sisters. He then asked why I didn't adopt all of them. I told him I didn't feel like I could adopt three kids at the same time and he had lived with us since he was a baby and we couldn't let him go to another family because he was already ours. It's hard to explain, in part because I feel guilty that I couldn't adopt the girls. After a couple of days with all three of them I am reminded that I would have had a really hard time with all three of them. I like our quiet house with one little boy.

State Capitol

Sean had a field trip scheduled for Friday so I took the girls along. They were less than impressed with the Capitol. Sean looks interested in this picture. Mostly he just liked the ceilings.  Kylie and Brie remembered having their family picture taken on the steps. They are so grown up, almost 7 and 8!

Lying on the floor with Rylie looking at the ceiling. Note Brie's bored posture. Yep, that was pretty much Brie's demeanor the entire field trip. She wanted to get home and go swimming.

Group picture on the steps.

Brie smiling. We were on our way back to the car and the end of the field trip was in her sight.

It is an awesome ceiling.

Brie with her face covered. Good grief.