Working in the yard

Bobbie Jo took Max to the Dr to get him checked for strep throat (he's got it), and Lily and I worked in the yard.

We put on her new, too big, hat

and slid down the slide a few hundred times

I mowed the lawn and she helped in the garage.

Once the garage was swept, she hit a few balls off the tee

25 Pounds

I have no idea what Lily weighs. Probably somewhere around 25 pounds.

For the last few months Bobbie Jo has been on Weight Watchers. I found this in her car today.

Congratulations to my always beautiful wife on your outstanding success. We are so proud of you.

The Tigers end their season

Lily was not happy when I told her of the Tiger's disappointing loss last night.

Imagination

Lily has found her imagination. And she's been very busy showing it to us in the last few days.

Yesterday, Lily brought Bobbie Jo a plastic baby that somehow found it's way into our house. It never had any clothes, and its back was scribbled on with an orange crayon a few weeks prior. She wanted the baby wrapped in a blanket that she carried with her. She cuddled the newly swaddled newborn, kissed it on the head, put it on the floor, waved goodbye, and walked up the stairs. She must have been going to work.

The day before, Bobbie Jo found her 'washing things'. She had a piece of turkey "lunch meat" (a round piece of felt from Max's sandwich making set) was dipping it in the cat's water, wiping down the wall, the table, and the floor. While initially disgusted, it was quite impressive.

Last night she brought me a small empty pot from her kitchen. She reached in, grabbed some invisible morsel, and crammed it in her mouth. We added some salt, and some bananas, and played for quite awhile.

I know that Max had, and still has, an amazing imagination. It awesome seeing it present itself again with Lily.

3 years of Boy Days

As we have been doing for the past 3 years, the first Saturday of the month is always Home Depot Kids Workshop. Our first time was exactly three years ago. It's always easy to remember because it was Fire Safety Day, which is always in October.

Here is the post from that first day: Boy Day

And here we are this morning

With one pin every month, you can see we've built a lot of stuff (and it's all in a giant box in the basement if anyone wants to buy poorly constructed wooden toys).

Sleeping Monster

This one fell asleep on the couch, woke up and ate an entire can of cold raviolis.
She's definitely mine.

(Second) First Day of School

Since Max's "First Day of School" pictures ended up in the bottom of the river, it worked out well that we decided to move him to a new school; thus giving us another chance to take his picture.

Max is now attending Knapp Charter Academy, and we've been extremely pleased with the few interactions that we've had with the school. We will really miss Max's teacher from Ridge Park, but are confident that this move will be the best for him in the long run.

A Tough Decision

When we were applying to schools for Max, we applied to quite a few of them. While we are happy with Max's teacher, the school was not our first choice. On Friday morning our first choice school called to let us know there was a spot for Max. We would need to let them know by Monday, today, if we wanted it.

It seems like an easy decision when comparing the two schools. And on paper it was a no-brainer. Max's feelings, however, were going to be a whole different thing. Max LOVES school, and he perceives that love as love for his current school; he can't imagine anywhere else. All of us love his teacher and think she's been outstanding.

We don't know what the next few years will bring, but this move will help us guarantee a good education for Max, one that challenges him, and prepares him for his future. Bobbie Jo and I are not looking forward to telling him about it. Today when I get home from work we will tell him that tomorrow he starts at a new school. In a few weeks we're sure he'll be fine, but tonight is going to be tough.

Max-when you read this someday you probably won't even remember the old school. We hope you know that we are always doing what (we hope) is in your best interest whether you understand it or not.

Updated 5:30 pm
Looks like our fears were unwarranted. He's excited for the 3 recesses. Looks like we agonized for 3 days over nothing.

Tomorrow is his (second) first day of school!

The Kids

If I had known they would stand still for a picture I would have dressed them better.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Last night Bobbie Jo and I met with Max's teacher for our first Parent Teacher Conference. We know that Max is an easily excitable kid, and that he frequently comes home on "yellow" (the class has a Green/Yellow/Red behavior chart). We know he's smart, but didn't really have any idea how he was doing at school. We pretty much just drop him off and pick him up every day.
We got to spend almost 30 minutes with his teacher as our 15 minute slot was the last of the day. She showed us Max's work, some of his informal tests, and told us all about him.

• Max is a 'brilliant kid', and his desire for learning is contagious. The other kids want to finish their work first to "be like Max"
• Max's bad behavior is never mean-spirited or malicious. He likes to help other kids and gets a bit too excited at times. Sometimes he will get so excited the teacher will have him sit in his seat for a few minutes to settle down (sound familiar?).
• Max is in a small group with other kids like him and the group gets along real well. It sounds like Max gets along with all of his classmates, his teacher, and the aides.

Both Bobbie Jo and I are overjoyed. We both felt close to tears hearing such great things about our kid. I couldn't wait to get home and tell him how proud we were of him.

It's so awesome to have someone else objectively tell you how special your kid is. It's great to hear, even though we already knew it.