Merry Christmas!

Christmas is always such a fun time of the year!  The boys love to decorate the house, put up the tree, bake cookies, and wrap presents.  And, boy did we do all of those things....many times in some cases!

The hardest part is Christmas Eve.  Its waiting all day for Christmas to officially start!  That's the evening with NaNa, PaPa, and Aunt Robyn come to our house for a big dinner and lots of presents!  And, the waiting is soooo hard....because we sure have lots of fun!  

Waiting is sooo hard!

FINALLY!!!  Ripping open their packages!  

Adorable pic of Aunt Robyn and Chase!  :)

Daddy taking a picture of PaPa taking a picture!

Robyn showing the boys how to work their new Royal's fans!

What did you get, Aunt Robyn?

All the presents are opened now.  And, look at all those Lego's boxes!

After everyone left, the boys headed upstairs to get ready for bed.  Although its difficult to leave behind the new toys they desperately want to play with, they know this night, TONIGHT, is the most important night of the year for going to bed on time!  After a quick check of the radar to see Santa's location, and fast change into PJ's and brushing of the teeth, they jump into bed with no fuss.  They wouldn't dare be bad at bedtime on Christmas Eve!  That might jeopardize 12 months of worth of earning a place on Santa's good list!  

Early the next morning, Chase was the first one up!  He ran into Mommy's and Daddy's room so full of excitement and ready to go downstairs to see if Santa had come!  We told him to go wake up Cole (which didn't take more than a few seconds!).  And, the boys then both so excited to go downstairs that they decided to give each other a Christmas hug!

Hugs on Christmas morning!

 Sure enough, Santa had come!!!!!

Santa was here!!!!!

We got those disco balls we asked for!

Santa even left some bones and toys for Lucy too!

They both got each other the same duct tape!  CAMO!

Cole opening his MU Tigers shirt!

 After Christmas at our house, the next stop on Christmas morning was Nonnie's and Grandad's house!  It was fun to visit with lots of family we don't often see.  And, the boys were thrilled with their gifts!  Cole got a lathe (for kids!) so he can work on some woodworking projects he wants to build!  And, Chase got his very own Kindle!

I'm packed and ready go to home and get to work with my new lathe!

KINDLE of my very own!!!!!!!  (He's just a tiny bit excited!)

I had to get a picture of Daddy carrying Gracie.  I think the is the ONLY time this has ever happened!  Ha ha!

 After Nonnie and Grandad's house, we all headed over to MomMom's and Big Grandad's (aka "Biggie") house for lunch and more presents!  It was a little different this year because Uncle Mark was in Colorado.  Grandma NeeNee and Herb were missing because NeeNee had just had surgery on her leg and is confined to a wheelchair for a bit.  And, we were blessed with a visitor:  Dr. Charlie Jessup!  He has been the "family" eye doctor for years has grown close to our family.  He was alone this year and asked if he could join our family.  It was awesome to have him there!

The boys were so excited that we would have a special guest this year that they immediately went to work making him pictures.  Chase painted 2 pictures and Cole made a giant slowflake for him.  I love their big hearts and the way that they always want to give to others!

Hmmmm...who's present is THIS?!?

The boys opening their stockings!

The boys, Katie, Nonnie, and Aunt Mary.

WOAH......look at this giant mess!  Christmas must be over!  :)

I'm sure you noticed that has time went on, the amount of pictures we took were less and less.  I'm not sure why that happens, but we need to do a better job next year of taking more pictures on Christmas Day!  

At any rate, Christmas was super fun!  And, we all appreciated all the new stuff we got!  Can't wait to do it all again next year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Card 2013

Milk and Cookies with Santa!

Today was a big day!  It was the day the boys finally got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas!  Our small town hosted an event called "Milk and Cookies with Santa" where kids could enjoy some cookies and hot chocolate, hang out with friends, and visit with Santa when they were good and ready!

Luckily, Chase had been keeping a list of all the things he wanted for Christmas.  So, it was easy for him to pick up that list and be ready with his ideas.  Cole had no such written list but, rather, had his list right in his head!  Fortunately, even though he blanked a little on the drive, with a little prompting, it quickly came back to him!  Whew!

Cole telling Santa what he wants!

Santa is looking over Chase's list.

This is the first year that Chase has been brave enough to actually go near Santa!  Typically, he freaks out and runs the other way.  This year, as you can see from the picture, he didn't actually sit on Santa's lap, but he worked up enough courage to at least stand next to him and present his list!

Both boys informed us that this was not the real Santa.  But, he understood that Santa just cannot be everywhere and he has lots of helpers!

The real Santa will send the boys videos from the North Pole and let them know whether or not they have made the good list or the naughty list!  We can't wait to see what Santa has to say about that!  :)

Privacy

Chase is so funny these days!  We are all the time finding little signs around the house, especially around Chase's room and musical instruments.  Usually, the signs are directed at Cole - "Cole - Do Not Touch" or "Do Not Enter" on his bedroom door.  Or, the "Keep Owt" sign he made to ensure that no one would touch the music studio he had set up near the computer.

Today's sign was especially comical.  Chase (as usual) was the first one up on Saturday morning.  So, when Daddy and I got up and came downstairs, we found this:

 (Its a little hard to see what this - But, it is Chase's legs sticking out of a fort made of pillows and blankets.  Chase has his head in the fort watching TV.  And, if you look closely on the arm of the couch, there is a little piece of paper.  A note for anyone who walks into the room.)

The note reads:  "do not dustrv."

Not a morning person, this boy.  Not at all.

Veterans' Day

Cole's school had a Veterans' Day breakfast this morning.  Egg casserole, hashbrowns, fruit, coffee and milk.  Cole had invited Herb to come again this year, and he was so excited when he woke up this morning that Herb was going to come to school today!

The Elementary School posted his picture on Facebook, and I was so happy to find it!  Not sure that there are any other pictures of them enjoying their breakfast, so it was a nice surprise to find this one!

Its so awesome that our little school district honors veterans like this! :)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween....from our ghoulish little ghost and our gangster!

End of 1st Quarter/Parent-Teacher Conferences

This week held Parent-Teacher Conferences for both boys.  And, I am so proud so say that each of them had great report cards and nothing but good news from their teachers!  YEA!!!

Cole | 4th Grade
First, I met with Mrs. Armstrong (the SpEd teacher).  She started off by telling me how much she loves Cole and how smart he is!  She said that he provided one of the most creative answers to a math problem in class today that she had ever heard.  And, as always, she loved that he was so full of imaginative stories.   And, while she is still working hard to on trying to get Cole to focus on his work, and staying motivated to keep working once he gets started, he is pleased with his progress so far this year.

Handwriting is still a major issue for him, and she is transcribing the majority of his work.  However, he is doing some writing  himself.  Next quarter, there is a research project/paper coming up.  And, rather than having Cole write it, she stated that she may have him type the paper.  I thought that was a fantastic idea and encouraged her to allow him to type more of his work.  (Now, hopefully he will be more eager to type than he is to write...Ha!!)

Mrs. Voorhees, his "regular" 4th grade teacher spoke with me next.  She reiterated many of the same items Mrs. Armstrong talked about.   And, also told me how much she loved having Cole in her class this year.  Then, she shared his report card.  Of course, his grades were all A's!!!!!   (With Satisfactory in his "specials" (art, music, etc." and a Proficient in Writing.

Way to go, Cole!!!!  :)





Chase | 1st Grade

Chase's assignment to write about what he thought Mrs. Pickett would say about him at conference.  Yes, Chase, you were right, you have been good!  :)

The meeting with Mrs. Pickett went very well!  She stated that Chase is a very smart boy and she loved having him in class!  She said that Chase is very smart in Math (go figure!), but she was surprised that his grade was a B rather than a A.  She attributed it to the fact that Chase seems to second guess himself and change his answers on his math tests.  She is trying to encourage him to go with his first answer and not second-guess himself.  Aside for that minor issue, he is doing extremely well in school!  His report card shows an A in Spelling (comprehension and writing are not graded during the first quarter) and a B in Math!

Mrs. Pickett also tested the children to see what their reading level is.  And, Chase is currently exceeding where he should be for reading!  Woo Hoo!  The report card does not reflect it, but he actually tested at a level 15...which is where he should be toward the end of 1st grade!  I can't wait to see where he tests later in the year!

Great job, Chase!

Awards!

Cole receives TWO awards!

Today was an awards assembly at Cole's school.  We knew he was going to receive one award, but we got an special surprise when he received TWO!  We are soooooo proud of this boy!  :)

The first award is a "TrackMaker" award for scoring in the 95% percentile on the MAP Test!  He took this test at the end of 3rd grade, and the scores were received at the beginning of 4th grade.  The test covered 2 areas:  Math and Language Arts.  While he scored average on Math, he ACED the Language Arts section!  He was in the top 5% of kids in the State of Missouri!  Woo HOO!

The TrackMaker is also the highest award giving out by the School Board!  Can't get any better than this!

Kinda blurry, but waiting for his TrackMaker award!

Just received his TrackMaker award from Mr. Adamczyk of the School Board!

A few of the 4th Grade TrackMakers!

Walking back to his seat.

After the TrackMaker award were announced, the school then gave out Excellence in Academic Achievement Awards to the students to had all A's and B's for the first quarter of this school year.  Wouldn't you know it?  Cole received one of those too!  And, even Cole was completely surprised by getting this one!

SECOND AWARD for Excellence in Academic Achievement for 1st Quarter!

So proud of his (surprise) second award!

 

Pride

Today was a good day!  It all started when I went to the mailbox this afternoon and found a letter from the school addressed to "the parents of Cole".  I wasn't expecting any paperwork for his IEP and normally most communication is handled through email, text messages, or phone calls.  So, I thought a letter was a little bit strange. And, can letters from school ever be a good thing?

After I opened it, I beamed.  The letter was from the principal of the Elementary School informing us that Cole was earning a Track Maker award for scoring so high on his MAP test last spring.  He was in the 95th percentile in Language Arts!  That means, out of all the kids throughout the state, he was in the top 5%!!!!  WOO HOO!!!!!!!!! 

We had a little bit of fun that night after dinner when we told him that we received a letter from his principal and maybe he should go read it.  He was nervous as could be and kept telling us that he had been good at school.  And, once he read it, he was jumping up and down!  He was so proud of himself, and we were just as proud of him!  (And, isn't it funny that the child who scores that high in Language Arts is the same child who hates and refuses to read or write???)  Ahhhh....irony.

Later that day, we went to Chase's guitar lesson.  His teacher (Ms. Beth) introduced the class of beginners to the guitar by teaching them some simple "number" chords, meaning the frets had a number and the kids strummed the numbers.  But, once October rolled around, she would dive into actually teaching them to read music and learn notes on the guitar.  I have been a little worried that he might get frustrated with that and find guitar "too hard".  

Apparently, I was worried about nothing.  Ms. Beth pulled me aside and said that Chase did a really great job site reading and that he had a natural ability for it!  He said that reading the notes actually came easier to him than learning to play with the simple number chords!   He has some talent to read/play music that didn't come from either of his parents, that's for sure!  I was so proud of my boy!!!  Look out, American Idol!

What a great day!  :)

Cole's creation

It was 7:15am.  Cole was supposed to be finishing up breakfast. (He eats his breakfast in the dining room so as to not have any distractions, or fight with Chase, who eats in the kitchen.)  I knew he had his iPod this morning, but was busy running around getting the last minute things together before school.  So, I really wasn't paying that much attention to Cole.  He's pretty self-sufficient in the morning...he typically eats, then goes to watch some SpongeBob until its time to leave.

After the boys went to school, I checked my email and found this pic.  Apparently, he took a selfie while he was eating his cereal.....and did some editing. 

Isn't he creative?  Ha ha ha!  Maybe he's going to be a graphic designer like his daddy?

Some backyard camping

Cole and Daddy just love to camp.  And, since our trailer isn't finished yet, there's no camping in that.  Sometimes, setting up the tent just seems like too much work.  So, the guys decided to camp in the backyard and in the old truck! 

Good morning, sunshine!

Football game!

Chase is still not loving football, but he does enjoy the games a little more than practice.  I think he likes putting on that uniform! 

He doesn't have a lot of playing time during the games, but that suits him just fine.  Its more about social hour for Chase.  And, playing in the dirt and mud, and pulling out the grass.  Not sure he realizes that he is supposed to be paying attention to the game.  But, he's having fun nonetheless!

Waiting for the game to begin.  Giving "knuckles" to one of the coaches!



Simmons.  #5

 

Lined up and ready to go!

Making their plan of attack!

 

 

All done for now.  Heading back to the sideline.

His favorite part of football......pulling grass and playing in the dirt/mud with his buddies!