Beautiful Saturday

We are having beautiful weather this weekend! We plan on spending most of it outside. The weather is perfect - in the high 60's, so not too hot. The sun is shining - not a cloud in the sky. We started out this morning with a trip to the library. Today our local library and police department are taking photo IDs of the kids. They will have an ID with their picture, their statistics and a fingerprint. I think this is an important thing for kids in case they ever get lost. Take advantage of this service in your own city/town. Check with your local town offices or police stations is see if it is offered. Once the kids are 10 years old, have them fingerprinted at a local police station so they are also on file (under 10 years old the kids are too little and fingerprints may not be fully developed). The line was long! That was good, I thought! The kids were really good. They had coloring activities to keep the kids busy while we all waited. We had a chance to measure and weigh all the kids, and that was fun! Here are their stats:
Arlington- 44 inches (Space Mountain here we come!!), and 36 pounds.
Finley - 36 inches and 24 pounds (she is an inch taller than Cainan!)
Cainan - 35 inches and 25 pounds
The babies are neck and neck, but Finley has passed Cainan by a whole inch! We had no idea. No wonder she looks so skinny next to him. A pound less and an inch taller makes a big difference at their size!

After they had their cards made, we spent some time at the library getting some books. Arlington has to read some magazine articles for school, so we got a magazine to accomplish that (Kid magazine that is). Then we came back home to enjoy some time outside.

We stayed outside until lunch time. We made a fire in our fire pit (so nice on a cool day) - the kids helped add wood to the fire. Mat moved some more rocks around to build up our rock wall we are surrounding our property with. It is looking pretty good. And I raked a ton of leaves into a large pile for the kids to jump in once the babies get up from their afternoon nap. The kids ran around and played until it was time for lunch.

So we had a great morning! While the babies napped this afternoon, Arlington and I worked on her vocabulary words, and read her three magazine articles she needed to read for school. Then I let her watch the Curious George movie she got at the libary. While she did that, Mat went back outside to work and I made sandwiches for the homeless shelter that we are taking to the church tomorrow. I made 30 sandwiches - half tuna and half ham and cheese. I am happy to be able to contribute something to people who have basically nothing. I feel it is about the least I can do. We will take those with us to church tomorrow and church will distribute them to the local homeless shelter.

After naps we went outside for some fall fun. The kids have never lived somewhere with actual northern fall weather, so they were very excited about the prospect of jumping into a big pile of leaves. So this morning I had raked all the leaves in our front yard into a pile. It made a pretty big pile! The kids had a blast jumping and throwing the leaves - this went on for over 1 hour! I took pictures, which you will see below. Cainan was a little unsure - he didn't want Arlington to throw the leaves on him. But after he realized that it could be fun and he wouldn't die from the leaves, he joined into the fun. This is typical for our boy, so we weren't surprised! He is a little cautious with new stuff, and that is okay. We are just glad that eventually he gets over the fear with some encouragement to try it out, and then realizes how fun it can be to do some of these things!

After the leaf jumping, the kids proceeded to play outside with their toys and I raked the leaves into the woods. We are making a large pile there that will be nice fertilizer next year. We then took a walk down to the mailbox to retrieve the mail and let the kids play for awhile in the cul-de-sac for a little while. It started getting a little chilly and the kids started to get a little hungry, so we ended our beautiful day outside and came in. We are going to enjoy some dinner and some hot chocolate and call it a night.

To recap the week, we had a good rest of the week. I stayed constantly busy at work, but that made the week go by fast! I finished screening the 3rd graders for hearing and vision. Wednesday was my hardest day of screening. I had a couple of bad kids that came down that day, and that made it tough. Plus, my diabetic was having a really hard day and was requiring a lot of my attention and I ended up having to send him home he was so sick. So it was a day of trials.

But we got through it. Friday was by far the busiest day for me for visits. The weather was really nice outside, and we were heading into a three day weekend (plus the kids have two half days next week for teacher conferences) so they were wound up! I saw 52 kids - that was a record for me!!! It may not seem like a lot, but remember my school only has around 200 kids total! :) I saw 1/4 of the school in a 7 hour period. :)

A couple cute things they said this week:
"can you check my head for dandruff?" (3rd grader)
"my head is hot because my brain is breathing" (1st grader)
"everyone in my family has had a fever except for Ray" "Who's Ray?" (I ask),"my dog". (1st grader)
"I am getting so tall - I come all the way up to my mommy's boobies!" (1st grader)

I am apparently very popular. I do pride myself on taking each visit seriously, and being sweet to the kids, giving out stickers, letting them read fun books or color while they are resting, giving hugs when needed, letting the kids talk if they need to talk. I think that is where the trouble is also coming from! And ALL I mean about trouble is the number of kids that want to see me daily. The teachers tell me the kids love me, and they are only sending me HALF of the kids that are asking! They come to me and say "what do you give out in here? Candy? I have so much trouble keeping the kids in class - they want to see you!" We laugh. I have parents that call and say, "I hope so and so isn't bothering you. He/she absolutely adores you and want to see you all the time". I should feel good about that! And I do, for the most part. The little ones are easy to like. They are cute and sweet, and innocent. The mean no harm. They truely feel like they need the nurse. It keeps my job fun. But I want them to stay in class and learn. I need to find a balance for them. :)

Cainan did end up having speech therapy this week. It was on Friday. I don't know why I thought he was off the hook this week! But he did very well. He is engaging more and asking more for things on his own. School has been the VERY, VERY best thing for him. I know a lot of people believe that staying home full time is the best thing you can give your kids. I think that is true to a point. But socialization with other kids and adults is equally important. I can't tell you the difference I see in Kindergarteners who NEVER went to preschool and those who did. Socially more than anything. In Cainan's case, he needed this. In a house where his two sisters are VERY, very talkative, he doesn't have the chance to say much. He just follows their lead. At school - he is given the chance to be independent from them and hold his own. Mat and I understand what he is saying, but it has always been harder for outsiders. At school he has to work harder to make himself understood, and it is showing. We are proud of him!

Finley is doing fine. She is back to not wanting to eat much. Not that she was doing great, but she was doing better. Today and yesterday has been a huge fight to get her to eat even a small amount. We feed her really fatty foods because she is such a bad eater, and I think sometimes the girl just wants a salad! I joke, but I do think she gets sick of it. We are working on balance. She is such a goof. She had a good rest of the week at school - took naps, was a nice girl, and has been pretty nice to Cainan!

Arlington is doing great! We are nearing the end of her "Reading Hall of Fame" required reading. She is also doing a monthly reading program for her class, where she gets a "treasure box" when it is finished, and a monthly reading program at her Kindergarten enrichment. So she stays busy. Luckily for us - she loves to read. We are also working on some math with her as well. She is getting really good at drawing and writing what she drew. It is fun to watch her work.

So that is our news! Just keeping busy! We are off from school on Monday for Columbus day, so we are looking forward to that! Plus, for MY school, Tuesday and Wednesday are 1/2 days for the kids (the staff has to work all day, but in the afternoons are just meetings and chances to catch up on work). So it will be a pretty good week, I think!

Oh, before I forget - I am nearing the end of the Stephanie Meyers book series "Twilight". I am reading the end of the 4th book right now. I LOVED the first book, hated the second book, liked the 3rd book, and like the 4th book. I stuck with it because I am a sucker for....a love story. Yes. Believe it or not - that is what this series is. It is romantic in a lot of ways - the main character guy is perfect. It is true fantasy, and it is fun to read. I do recommend it if you can suffer through the 2nd book!

The pictures below are from Friday night after school/work playing in the yard, today playing in the yard, and a few from around our house - our first fall!

I leave you with the quote of the day - this is how I felt this week:
"Fall down 7 times, get up 8" -Japanese proverb

Enjoy the pictures and I will see you on Tuesday!!